Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Is Pokemon still a popular competitive game?

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Timun

New Member
I recently picked up the Power Play and Toxic Tricks decks with my friend, and we had an absolute blast.

However, we came upon a question that bugged all of us: Is this game still even remotely popular?

Magic the Gathering seems to be completely dominating the competitive TCG scene, in front of other titles such as Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, VS, Legend of the Five Rings, etc.

Would you say that this game is still popular? Or is it dying off in favor of games such as MtG?
 
I don't know what your talking about imhotep, we haven't really stopped growing. Just look at the nats attendance the past few years.
 
It most definitely is a popular competitive game, with prize support and a year-round schedule of events. It was dying at one point, but for the past few years has been extremely strong.
 
1500 players at US Nationals.

1200 people at the Worlds Last Chance Qualifier.

Nah, there's nobody that plays this game anymore.

[/sarcasm]
 
Timun said:
I recently picked up the Power Play and Toxic Tricks decks with my friend, and we had an absolute blast.

However, we came upon a question that bugged all of us: Is this game still even remotely popular?

Magic the Gathering seems to be completely dominating the competitive TCG scene, in front of other titles such as Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, VS, Legend of the Five Rings, etc.

Would you say that this game is still popular? Or is it dying off in favor of games such as MtG?
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I guess the real question is, how long has it been since you played? Looks like you have a new account, so we'll forgive your lack of knowledge.
 
Articjedi said:
I guess the real question is, how long has it been since you played? Looks like you have a new account, so we'll forgive your lack of knowledge.
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My Pokemon story:

When I was 6, I saw my friends playing the latest Pokemon games on their awesome GBAs. I didn't have a GBA, but I loved watching them play.

Fast forward a year, and we began playing the card game (this was around 2000/2001). My parents didn't like the idea of a CCG/TCG, so they didn't condone my purchasing of cards -- I never got too many, and never actually played the dang game.

Fast forward to 2011, and I've grown sick of the costs of Magic the Gathering (my parents are fine with all my nerdy hobbies at this point) after having played for a number of years, and I randomly stumbled upon my humble Pokemon collection from the early days, and decided to see if there was any interest at my school. Surprisingly, there was/is, and I went out with a friend and picked up some decks. I've gotten other people who aren't remotely interested in this sort of thing to give me all their old collections, and before I know it I've received 1000+ cards from people.

What am I doing now? Well, gaining knowledge about the game on these forums (this is the most active online community that I could find concerning the Pokemon TCG), and I'm looking into other games as well (namely Legend of the Five Rings and the WoW TCG, after I played the MMO for about 4 years).
 
It is true that Magic gets Tens of thousands of players at Nats and Worlds while we only have 2000, but Pokemon is now growing rather than dying. It doesn't have quite as much prize support as Magic/Yugioh, it isn't as large comparably, however what you trade in players and prize support you get back in community. I've delve into ALL Trading Card Games at one point or another. Magic, Pokemon, Yugioh, WoW, Duel Masters, Legends, Lord of the Rings, Zach Bell, Naruto, you name it, and this is by far my favorite simply because of the people around here. Going to an event, even something as large as a Regionals, is more fun than competitive while also keeping healthy levels of both. I found with other games, it was the wrong way around with no healthy levels if things got large enough. The low amount of players can seem like family after a while. People help each other out, lend cards, and winning isn't the ONLY thing on their minds. Sure, this might be because there's a $2000 scholarship (another reason to play IMO) rather than $20,000 cash or gold, but personally, I'd make the trade any day. The people in the Pokemon community are some of the best in the world. So to answer your question with a summary:

It's smaller than the other TCGs that get to this level of popularity, and has smaller prizes, but is possibly the best game you can play.
 
Yes, it is still very popular. The one big "draw back" we see in Pokemon as far as "organised" or "competitive" play is that, remember, this is, for all intents and purposes, a "kids" game. So, a large portion of Pokemon's efforts in in marketing and advertising their brand, not the TCG. Along with the brand, the TCG prospers, but it is unfortunate that it may never get the recognition as a "real" TCG since all entities involved in Pokemon have other areas to promote, like video games and plushies and other toys.

But, as for the "scene" itself, Organized Play in Pokemon is bigger than ever (correct me if I'm wrong). Premiere events continue to grow and Pokemon's sales are better and better every year. And, while some still complain of the "free" prizes, the prize support isn't that bad. But, again, remember, its focused towards kids: they can't give away cash, but they can give away booster boxes and scholarships. Personally, I think the prizes for large tournaments are pretty good, but they problem lies in the smaller tournaments, which aren't that bad. And, as for sales, last I heard, they were still the highest retailing card game...so, I'm not sure how much more "popular" MtG is...
 
Pokemon still advertises this as a kids game, but competitive players lately haven't. I've been noticing a huge increase in competitive player related forums and websites. From six prizes, to wittenkeller's youtube channel, to the weekly top cut videos run by drew, pooka, pramawat, and crim.
 
If anything, YGO has to be dying, I don't think I've seen anything on it in a while...they've just become overburden with mechanics. MTG has always been as large/larger though, so no surprise, Pokemon is still a solid #2 though.
 
It's basically been said already, but I'll reiterate anyway. Pokemon is a pretty big game. As bullados pointed out, we get quite a huge turnout for Nationals and Worlds, and most everywhere you can find decently sized tournaments throughout much of the year, particularly during Battle Road and Cities season. Not only that, but the game seems to be growing more and more each day, with numbers at tournaments steadily rising. Sometimes the game is growing faster than at other, but it keeps growing regardless.

That being said, Pokemon isn't as big as Magic. No game is. Magic is by far the largest, most popular TCG on the market, particularly outside the US. Still, Pokemon has a lot of great players and a very competative and friendly player base, and that base keeps getting bigger. Now is a wonderful time to start playing Pokemon, just as good (if not better than) times in the past. So I say go for it!
 
Imhotep said:
I do believe the best way to grow this game is to simply ban the kids. Make it 18+ or at least 15+. You'll get better tournament environments and it will be taken more serious by those that (a) count and (b) have the serious money to put into the game. The image suffocates what is actually a very complex and well thought out game concept.
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Well game like The Spoils and Magic the Gathering attract kids and adults, but mostly adults show up to the tournaments due to the serious level of play attached to these games. If Pokemon did the same, it would lose a large chunk of its market value.
 
The game has been growing fine under the current model. Nats has expanded every year while the prize support has been dropping (I'm still trying to figure out how that works). I wouldn't ban anyone of any age. After all, the average age of your typical magic player is believe it or not 13 years of age, far below your very arbitrary age minimum (http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr5). Among those who buy pokemon cards it is probably even lower, even though attendance at tournament doesn't show it. If you go out and tell them that they can't play, sales will drop among your best selling age group. Catering purely to hardcore players hasn't worked for any card game, look at The Spoils, they tried to cater purely to competitive players and they couldn't make enough profit to support their prize support. You need a casual element to the card game with the lure of competitive play or you won't have a game, period.
 
Timun said:
Well game like The Spoils and Magic the Gathering attract kids and adults, but mostly adults show up to the tournaments due to the serious level of play attached to these games. If Pokemon did the same, it would lose a large chunk of its market value.
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^I'm not trying to be snide but ,do we play the same game? In my area, the only juniors that show up are the ones I bring w/ me; my kids. Seriously though, if you look at attendance for most br's, cities, even regionals and nats, you will see that a disproportionate # of adults play this game competitively. The younger kids drive the "wal-mart" sales with the "mom get me some pokemon cards" impulse shopping.
It's the older ones, teens and adults, that drive the secondary market/ tournament scene. I know this state is a smaller one than most, but it seems to be the general flow anywhere.

Magic has a larger base cause the organized play offers a larger prize payout. If m:tg players were told they could play tournaments for free, but the prizes were gonna be scholarships, they would drop the game so quick wotc would go bankrupt.

Pokemon may offer less, but you invest less. You also get the 'community' aspect that isn't in other games(yu-gi-oh I mean you)
 
Imhotep said:
I do believe the best way to grow this game is to simply ban the kids. Make it 18+ or at least 15+. You'll get better tournament environments and it will be taken more serious by those that (a) count and (b) have the serious money to put into the game. The image suffocates what is actually a very complex and well thought out game concept.
Click to expand...

your kidding right?
 
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