So you are saying you can beat me because I don't play meta. Might I add my rogue Pokemon team with the weird EV spread Vaporeon taking a Thunder from a max special attack Kyogre. That must have been luck as well I guess, but hey. I'm the Eternal Scrub so, what do I know.
No offense, but case in point, I run into many of rogue players at major tournaments and it really is as Pablo says..Truth be told, I got a couple wins off of said players at Nationals last year since none of them were ready for the insanity that is Sablelock.
Some people don't always realize that being a scrub isn't a bad thing. Being a scrub means you're still naive, you're still of the belief that you can make any combo of yours cool and interesting. I was in that pool once. My first year of playing this game, I tried every random deck possible. My random States "rogue" was Blaziken GE and Ninetales MT. I actually didn't do bad with the deck, but I was definitely delusional in the sense that I was going to make it into top cut and actually win with the deck. Having fun is all good. There is totally nothing wrong with enjoying the game, enjoying the playstyle and having fun with it, and its true you will probably beat some of the better decks in the game if you have the counter for it. However, knowing full well there is definitely a metagame means you may beat that one deck that is annoying everyone, you won't be able to beat the rest of them.
Case in point. I'm going off of Pokemon here for a second. I'm a MASSIVE Guilty Gear player and I play on my college campus a lot (Well, I used to. Not so much recently), there is a player there who doesn't think anyone is capable of playing competitive gaming because we don't have the drive. Truth is, I've been to a few tournaments myself and made it about 4-5 rounds before finally dropping into Losers Bracket. Every time I play him, I use my usual main, May. He tries to use all these flashy things to get me, combo's, ridiculous nonsense, and I hit him with the same move.
"Why do you keep doing that? Without that move you'd be nothing! I beat everyone else with this combo why can't I beat you?!"
Truth is, he doesn't know how to counter the move (which really only just involves back dashing..) and because its so simple to hit him into a 4-5 hit dolphin loop, I use it on him. And because I'm playing to beat him, I will beat him. Every time. He's trying to show off the combo and in the process, his naive mind doesn't realize that if he uses other things, he might be able to beat me. In hilarity, he tries to also use the same move over and over to beat me. Unfortunately for him, I am able to react to the move he tries to use, and I beat him in the process.
Being a scrub means a few things.
1. You are naive. You haven't come to the process in which you can constantly beat those people willing to play the meta decks to win.
2. You may be naive, but you have room to learn and experience with time. Everyone. EVERYONE EVERYONE was a scrub at something at some point in time. Our human minds want us to be better than everyone else and invent something in the process. Inventors go through this mind set all the time trying to figure out that new breakthrough that everyone else wants to know. Through loss/defeat comes experience. And no offense, those of you playing these crazy decks, you will lose. I don't remember the last time in this format someone beat me with a ridiculous deck (Okay, thats a lie, I lost to a Drapion anti-gengar deck at a cities this year.. but I know the guy personally and I know prior to beating me, he ran into a LOT of Luxray and could not beat those.)
Theres nothing wrong with enjoying the game and having fun. Absolutely not. There are many of you in this thread who meet that example, and I applaud you for enjoying Pokemon for its purpose of having fun. To me, having fun is not only enjoying this game, its having the thrill of a sweet game. Making my matches go to time with 2 prizes left on the board and adrenaline pumping, every move that needs to be made. The thrill of seeing watching your anticipated moves go through.. To me, its chess. I love having long games, I love the tension. This is a major reason I am loving this potentially new format, and why I'll love HGSS-on next season. No more Machamp. No more Luxchomp. Yes, Zekrom is threatening, but I think its at least significantly more beatable than either of the donk fest decks.
None of you guys should be taking offense to what's being said here. There are those of us who want to play to win. And those of us who don't.
Might I add my rogue Pokemon team with the weird EV spread Vaporeon taking a Thunder from a max special attack Kyogre.
I swept an entire legend team with an EV trained Gardevoir and a Choice Scarf back when Gardevoir was only in BL. Does that make me good? If you were to take this team to VGC's, I highly doubt you would walk out so easily.
and a few other. These decks have synergy. Luxray GL X and Garchomp C X are just powerful basic pokemon WITH a lot of techs in the deck to help them out. It's the SP engine that makes them good.
Now this statement I do agree with... ALMOST. Theres one thing people do fail to consider when considering Luxchomp and that is what is known as board control. Luxchomp has this aspect and this is why the deck is ridiculous. Luxray and Garchomp both have ways to remove critical pokemon from the field before they become threatening. This is why most Stage 2 decks barring Vilegar have not thrived. Yes, you are definitely right in that they are both powerful basic pokemon with a lot of techs, but look at something from another angle.
Luxray GL's most powerful attack does 70 damage to the active pokemon. There are some pokemon that used to be around in the format capable of far more damage for less energy cost (100 damage for two fire capable of coming out as soon as Turn 1?). Luxray is not powerful in attack, and I know for a fact that most of the time, he's not even the attacker, but his power is what makes him strong and thats because of board control. Claydol? Come on out. Vileplume? Get your locking butt off the bench.
Garchomp C Level X also brings the control aspect to the game via his snipe attack. Once again, being able to snipe anything on the bench that may be threatening for up to 100+ damage (Thanks for nothing Crobat G) is what makes him so capable of dishing out ridiculous damage. He controls the field just as well as Luxray GL Level X, and that is where the synergy lies. There might not seem to be any at first glance, but the control is where it lies.
Yes, its definitely because of the SP engine, and the fact that it can play so many counter cards to the format that the deck is just wicked versatile, but the deck does have synergy.
People do need to realize there are two groups of people here. People who are having fun, and people who are winning. Both sides need to respect one another, and maybe we can learn from the opposing side in the process. Yes, the people playing to have fun are scrubs, they may not do exceptionally well at big massive tournaments.. Does that mean we make fun of them? I think not. If anything, there are some people who need to lighten up a little bit and enjoy the game. Enjoy those high tension top cut games.
Those of you wondering why you can't win, the scrubs, could probably take a few tips from those who do win a lot and realize that sometimes its better to let the rogue deck go, and just play to win.. If thats what you desire, of course.
Rogue can work. I've seen it happen. We all know players like Jimmy Ballard and Scott Faust, and Rogue Archetype are amazing at the rogue and they've proven it time and time again, but I do remember someone did mention once that even in this format, you've gotta draw the line because it might not even work in it. After all, wasn't Destiny a rogue deck that came out of the wood work and surprised everyone?
In short, chill out. All of you. There will usually be opposing sides of conflict on every argument, going to the extremes of bashing the other sides are a little iffy. Thats why I got riled up when Amphy called netdeckers plagiarists, because thats a direct insult to people willing to learn.
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