EDIT: Sorry if I upset some people with this topic. I do feel strongly that players should strive to use local language cards at local tournaments, but that's my personal opinion, and I should NOT have suggested that players/judges who don't share my opinion are somehow cheating or taking advantage of loop-holes. I still think that judges should scrutinize players who use excessive amounts of foreign language cards to verify that no advantage is being gained, big or small, intentional or not.
I have great respect for those who've dedicated vast amounts of time and money in Pokemon Organized Play. We'll always have our differences, but in the end, we all have one thing in common - our love of the game.
At a recent US premier tournament, we had one American player using a deck that had all Japanese cards except about a half-dozen English cards. As a judge, my initial reaction was that the player was doing this in order to try to gain an advantage. Obviously, this would be cheating (see POP Tourney Rules quote below).
I was very close to ruling against this player for using so many foreign language cards, but when I found out that one of the main judges had actually constructed this deck for this younger player, I refrained.
If I had to do it over again, and I were the Head Judge, I'd definately rule the deck was an attempt to gain an advantage. IMO, the majority of the cards in a player's deck should be local language, unless he just spent the last 10 years in Japan or something.
I have great respect for those who've dedicated vast amounts of time and money in Pokemon Organized Play. We'll always have our differences, but in the end, we all have one thing in common - our love of the game.
At a recent US premier tournament, we had one American player using a deck that had all Japanese cards except about a half-dozen English cards. As a judge, my initial reaction was that the player was doing this in order to try to gain an advantage. Obviously, this would be cheating (see POP Tourney Rules quote below).
POP Tournament Rules said:If a judge determines that a player is using non-local language cards and/or misprinted cards to gain an advantage, that player will be subject to the Cheating section of the POP Penalty Guidelines.
I was very close to ruling against this player for using so many foreign language cards, but when I found out that one of the main judges had actually constructed this deck for this younger player, I refrained.
If I had to do it over again, and I were the Head Judge, I'd definately rule the deck was an attempt to gain an advantage. IMO, the majority of the cards in a player's deck should be local language, unless he just spent the last 10 years in Japan or something.
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