So on to the main issue….
I would like to address the T1 win potential. This is truly a sad, sad day for the game when this happens. I can understand that the creators want to speed the game to keep up with its competitors such as Magic the Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh! However, it is not something that fits our game well at all. There is nothing worse than spending countless hours perfecting a deck, only to lose 3 out of 5 matches before you even get to play a card.
Please allow me to explain further. In Magic and Yu-gi-oh there is NO win condition if they have NO cards on the field. This allows for speed and can accommodate for the overall power of the cards. If there were such a win condition in those games they would not be able to survive. This is, I’m afraid, were we are heading.
It seems, as of late, PCL has made many mistakes in printing cards that are to powerful for the game. Instead of banning or errating them, they choose to make a more powerful counter to said card. While I will agree with most about the metagame being diverse, I can not agree that it’s what’s right for the game at this point. There a many underlying issues with the current metagame.
First, where is the incentive to pick up a deck and practice? Seems like just about anyone can put off the game for months, pick up (Insert Auto-Pilot Deck here) and top cut at a tournament. I’m sorry, but I can’t see how this would be GOOD for the game. Obviously I can only speak from personal experiences and am looking for some other points of view. However, there is a CLEAR separation in the opinions on the gym. Those who run (Insert Auto-Pilot Deck here) vs. those who take the time to perfect a decent deck that is meant for the longer games to gain advantages over the course of games. The flaming in such threads is absolutely terrible.
Second, PUI has graced us with 40 minute time limits only to have 25% of games ending within the first 5 minutes. I am willing to bet that most games are also decided within that same time frame, win or lose. WHY??? This should not be the case in a game that once took a high level of skill to play. I will not get into a flaming war about how much skill it takes to play in the current format as that will get us no where. I will say that auto pilot decks have made it much easier for new players and less skilled players to compete at a higher level. This is NOT a bad thing. I am sure that it helps sales and makes the game look more appealing to other gamers. This is a great marketing strategy. Not so good for experienced dedicated players.
Lastly, I am convinced that the opening coin flip determines the winner more than 75% of the time. This is evidence that something is wrong. A coin flip is supposed to give each player a 50-50 chance at winning a game. Currently this is not the case. I am going to track my battle roads and see how many games are actually determined by the opening coin flip, as well as T1 wins and post it in this thread when my results are complete. I am really looking for some statistical facts to back up my concerns about the game. Is this truly good for the game? PCL did a great job steering us away from T1 wins a few years ago. Now we are headed down that dreaded road again.
So, I think I just about covered the meat and bones of our current state of the game. Now let me lay out one thing that I feel can help ALL players. New, experienced, casual, poke-parents, and even you Vince! :biggrin: I have heard many people trying to come up with a variety of different ways to help the T1 problem. Thank you all for at least attempting to correct a problem this is quite evident.
The largest suggestion I heard was, to allow supporters on turn one of the games. While that worked for us in the past, I am not so sure this will help us in the future. While reading spoilers I noticed there were quite a few supporters that would also assist in the T1 win/loss that we are trying to avoid. I recently spoke with someone who suggested allowing each player to search out 3 pokemon from their deck. This would keep it in line with the video game by allowing you to pick your initial team of three. That one seems to have some promise.
So on to the idea I believe could increase table time for all players without increasing venue time. This idea would also allow more table time even if you took a T1 KO.
Currently the rule book states…..
You win the game if any one or more of these things occur:
• You collect all of your Prize cards (collect Prize cards as your opponent’s Pokémon are Knocked Out).
• Knock Out your opponent’s last Pokémon in play.
• Your opponent is out of cards in his or her deck, when he or she goes to draw a card at the beginning of the turn.
Let’s take a look at the second bullet point. It is saying, if you cannot promote another pokemon from your bench into the active spot at the beginning of your turn, you lose the game. This is where I think we are being limited. Other games allow you to continue playing with no cards on the field and I believe it could also work here.
Here is the ruling change I would suggest to help the game.
You win the game if any one or more of these things occur:
• You collect all of your Prize cards (collect Prize cards as your opponent’s Pokémon are Knocked Out).
• Your opponent does not have an active Pokemon at the end of their turn.
• Your opponent is out of cards in his or her deck, when he or she goes to draw a card at the beginning of the turn.
Seems like a simple fix to increase playing time for all involved. This would allow new players to compete with experienced players without having a game decided by the opening coin flip. All the current rules would remain the same. No need to alter the current trainer rules, as now player one would get a chance to play the game. This is what we are looking for after all. This rule could apply throughout the entire game. Think of the options this would bring to building decks. What a fun time it would become.
So with a rule change, I have thought about how it would affect the game as a whole. There are certainly some questions that would arise with a change of that nature. I will list the ones I thought of and would be willing to talk through some I did not think about.
First, If I have no pokemon in play at the beginning of my turn and I play a Rosanne’s Research. Does one of the pokemon go DIRECTLY into the active or on the bench then promoted?
Now I am not a part of the rules team, But, I think I could handle this one…. I would have to say benching your poke FIRST would be required in order to PROMOTE it active. This would allow coming into play powers to activate prior to having it become your active.
Second, how would this affect the legendary birds? I would still think you would use them as the power states.
Lastly, If my opponent does not promote a pokemon and ends his turn, what happens??? YOU WIN!!!
Let’s face it, if player 2 takes a KO turn one, he/she is still facing a huge uphill battle. But at least it’s a battle!!! Table time increase the overall enjoyment of the game. It would also encourage people to practice, scout, and get creative with their deck choices. I want to make something very clear here…. I do not intend this to be a bashing session for players who run auto-pilot decks. There is no bashing anyone for wanting to win. It has been proven that these style of decks win tournament. Why not run them???
Please keep all replies logical and expressive as this may at some point get rolled up to the people who make these decisions.
Thank you and good luck at Nationals!!!
