On Sableye: He wasn't always to be considered a T1 Donk card, was he? I mean, I understand his body/attack say otherwise, but originally when SF was released you really didn't ever see any Sableye based donk decks, especially with Dusknoir (Dark weak), and Kingdra (Horsea = Low HP) running the format upon SF's release. The donk factor didn't come until around GA Marathon last year. I mean I think there might have been some Sableye lists upon release, but seeing them in abundance during Cities/States/Regis/Nationals was not common at all, even after the release of PT/RR, nor did you see like.. any in Top Cuts or winning whole tournaments.
Coming from a player who indeed did play a lot of Machamp (upon its release, at least), and Sablelock, I can also attest that while donking is a very notable part of the game.. it really isn't that fun at all. I do feel very often like when I won a game with it, I kind of didn't even give my opponent a chance, and being a league leader/professor, I feel that takes away from what this game stands for. Don't get me wrong. I like winning, and when I chose those decks, I chose them due to the metagame, not because I decided: "Oh, lets go out and donk and win the game hurp". I agree completely that it is used for those people who are newer to the game and they want a taste of victory since.. its true, they really don't have a whole lot of skill just yet. Honestly, it really isn't insulting to say that. I'm not the best player in the world, nor will I claim to be. I will play these decks to get myself up to top cut if I choose to. At this moment will I? Definitely not. Machamp isn't quite as viable as he could be, and as much as I love my Sablelock, its just not cutting it against Luxchomp. Take that statement with a grain of salt.
Donks are donks. They're a part of the game, no matter who complains about it in the long run. I have donked, I have been donked. Its not a satisfying way to win or lose (Unless you're new and want the wins badly), there are ways to get an early win in almost every game (though Pokemon is the most common), and theres not much that can be done about it. (Riolu Vs. Castform seemed to be pretty common when I began playing this game, as did Rare Candy DRE Infernape dead) There really is not a point in complaining about it.
I also came from M:TG, where 50 minute rounds was typical, and match play was also around. I don't know if that would actually work for this game though. I judged a CC a couple weeks back and I can tell you a ton of games went to time and fully utilised the +3. A single match (Plus sideboarding and shuffling) of M:TG can finish 3 games in like 35-40 minutes unless you're playing some ridiculous cleric/stall deck. (Saw someone do that during Ravnica block. Prevented damage to the time limit then pulled out an angel and wiped his opponent every game..which was a little disgusting to me, but what can you do.)
On the Power Creep: The power creep lately has totally died down. I haven't seen a solid awesome set with bomb cards akin to Luxray GL/Garchomp C in a long time. Some of these sets definitely have had their fair share of good cards that are playable (Jumpluff, Junk Arm, Seeker, Twins), but they're either trumped massively by SP's, used by SP's, or got nerfed due to lack of other good cards (Claydol lol) Honestly, I'd rather see a solid set come around in which a large majority of the cards in the set are somewhat useful and you don't feel gypped when you see a useless vanilla Minun rare in your pack with no trainers to make your 3.50 spent appealing.
I am EXTREMELY concerned about the direction Black and White is taking us. Based on what has been shown on various sites, It looks as if we are going back to the stone age. 3 energy attacks for 30? Overall loss of abilities on the cards. (powers/bodies). I'm just not sure Pokemon can continue to hold its player base with such a huge hit in the power creep.
While you speak truth on some of this, I've seen a number of cards in this set that could become playable quickly. Zoroark being capable of copying powerful cards attacks for no cost, Jalorda with stackable healing, a Fire Rain Dancer, and a Stage 1 Jumpluff bring some inevitable healthiness to this game. With the possibility (I'm hoping) of Platinum rotating out and all of the SP trainers with it, I'm actually more confident that the TCG can continue its player base and be ready for the wave of additional players brought into it by this already high selling VG.
Besides, wasn't DP pretty meh at first until people saw what could be done with Ape/Tort/Empoleon?
I agree with much said in this thread, but I'm also confident that this game will continue to grow.