Warning: The following is "wall of text" response to another "wall of text". The post I responded to isn't that long, but when I actually researched "wall of text", its a pretty scant definition. My own post is the longer, but it looks absolutely gargantuan thanks to being a respond so a lengthier post.
................
This is how the game has almost ALWAYS been.
S'funny, I remember some formats where it was different. Also... an ellipsis is just three sequential periods, as I just demonstrated. 16 is definitely overkill.
Remember when Storm was the best deck? $50 for a Lugia ex, and you generally wanted to run 2.
No... I don't.
When was this deck popular and are you using its most generic/common name? I went to the Researching Tower and the only
Lugia ex I found was
this one, a major component of
Lugia ex/
Blastoise ex/
Steelix ex decks
, known as "BLS" or "LBS" decks for short. It was one of the decks released as a World Championship deck... and alongside it was Suns and Moons, a deck built around cards that were all fairly inexpensive. If I remember correctly, you could build the deck for $40 USD.
Most of us don't have a huge problem with "expensive" decks when there's a reasonable alternative. What we have a problem with is when all decks built to competitive specifications are as expensive as they are now. Even adjusting for inflation, its hard to ignore what the need for Pokémon-EX and
Pokémon Catcher have wrought.
Remember when Mew ex was completely broken and MewTrick won worlds hands down? $50 for each Mew ex. 4 required.
I remember when it was one of the best decks in the format and guess what? It was printed as a World Championship deck... alongside the previously mentioned B-L-S plus Suns and Moons. The fourth deck accompanying them Eeveelutions (not to be confused with the
Skyridge theme deck of the same name).
Look at that; a format where we had decks built around Evolutions and decks built around Basic Pokémon competing against each other fairly well. I had my criticisms of the time, but what they got right they got right. For the record, the criticisms I recall I usually stand by, and they were often indicative of the problems I believe we are having now. For example, I warned people that this push for "T2" decks because of
Rare Candy was a problem.
Remember when Speed Spread was the best deck and you needed a $50 Jolteon STAR, multiple Absol ex, and multiple Eeveelution ex that also weren't cheap?
I vaguely remember it... that was when my life began to get really busy and I was getting worried about card prices so I practically quit the game. I mean, the game wasn't "ruined forever!" or anything, but yeah I didn't like it and I was worried if people put up with it, we'd get a pricey format like... now.
Remember when the Holon Engine was the required driving force of every deck and you needed 4 $20 Transceivers? And 3-4 $15 Holon Mentors (until it got reprinted)?
I remember when the Holon Engine was the preferred Trainer Engine, but how if you lacked it you had adequate alternatives... like several great Supporters and normal Trainers (now known as "Items") already available. The Holon Engine was so good because it was a collection of related Trainers, so it really doesn't compare too well; you can argue being such a collection made it
worse, or you can argue that it made it
better, but it most definitely isn't equivalent.
Remember when DR Rayquaza ex was $50? Rayquaza STAR over $100?
The latter was a card that was naturally restricted to one per deck. I am not calling that "good"; I have stated frequently that if it was at all commercially feasible, I'd want sets to contain equally rare cards, and baring that (and something that is feasible), restrict the upper rarity to "chase cards" to entice collectors and please random little kids getting them in stores... chase cards that are not "unique" cards; reprints, pre-prints, alternate art/gimmick treatment of something in the same set.
The former was a pain, and...
I didn't like it then either. Plus there were several alternative decks, at least some of which were not as pricey. The big thing is also... the game wasn't as old and had just had a major shift (WotC to Nintendo), so we cut them more slack. They don't have that excuse now, do they?
AND THE LIST GOES ON.
THIS IS NOTHING NEW.
edit, addendum: and ironically, most of those formats had *fewer* tournament-viable decks than the current format does.
You realize you're grossly simplifying. This has been a regular occurrence, but not with all other elements and not to the same degree. Few people like someone stealing from them, but most of us know that family member that will "borrow" something without asking, however when they "borrow" a pen is not the same as when they "borrow" a power tool and is not the same as when they "borrow" your credit card or your car!
One of the concepts people struggle to understand is proper format diversity. Having lots of decks that all play similarly is not the diversity we seek. Having decks that play differently but use largely identical lists also isn't "diversity". Is it rare to have that "ideal" format where a super majority of the card pool is used for the competitive format, and what is left is just "less competitive" and not filler, but that is still what we hope for and what Creatures, Inc. should be at least attempting to deliver.
