It opened my eyes...

[shadowlion]

I think alot of people here are taking some of this out of the original context it was meant to be in. First off I do think there should be either a restructure of the Divisions or another Division added, all of the major tournaments this year at least have shown that Masters is to big compared to the other divisions...maybe a juniors of 0-12 seniors of 13-18 and a masters of 18+ or make another division maybe 25-30+ that would make the numbers and fields perhaps more even.

Second when she says the child was crying or upset she didnt mean ban the deck or all the good cards for as i know (the author of this is my woman lol) we have a large card pool but always have to run 4competitive decks....but anyway this season became so boring when STATES REGIONALS and NATIONALS were all dominated by the deck it was Play it or Metagame against it...it gets old and tiring and can be a major factor in driving people away from the game they get fed up with the same thing all the time and cant play a fun creative competitive deck anyway its not BAN the deck per se cause POP wont do that or they already would of and I dont think you can limit how many times you can play the deck but more a call out to players to be more creative. It wont happen as long as many and titles are at stake but it would be a GREAT CHANGE.

I think Pokemon does need more tournaments not only being greedy as a player that loves to play the game but to help the younger ones adapt to playing for extended periods of time. I think maybe some other prize structures would be great for people as well say at the big tournies give a prize to the best performing (record) of new players (less than a year of POP play time) maybe even a prize if people could decide on a most creative deck idea...as far as increasing prize structure hurt the game DONT FORGET NINTENDO owns Pokemon Rights there is no worry bout the game going bankrupt with $4 packs $40 games and $300 game consoles with alot being sold for 3 reasons Zelda games Mario games and yes POKEMON games all exclusive to the systems (and Nintendo giving away systems as prizes is great but shouldnt count towards the payout of prizes they make the things lol and though sell for $250+ probably cost what maybe $50 to make at most and that is pushing it.)

Well sorry my post is becomming longer than the article lol well think you get the point and ROCK ON BABY

 

[EHLERZ5]

I'm going to give this post a quick reply... I 100% agree with ILikeGengar... That is the FUN of Pokemon... If you don't let your kids build what they want... they will not play the game very long... At Nats this year, my daughter had a deck build that she knew pretty well (T-Tar EX), me & the boys from STL tried to switch her to Beedrill, she balked, and ended up playing a Raichu/Electrode... It was two pokes that she loves, it didn't work for her... but she liked it...

Nationals is an phenomenon... The long Day 1 is why people travel all those miles for... My kid stayed up too late the night before and when she was tapped.... she just wanted to play with her friends... Who cares??? It's all about the fun!!! I DID see the incedent, or one like it, that the person who started this thread described... You just gotta roll with that one.... Nationals is a big deal for the Heavy Hitters in this game.... There is some serious prize money and vacations involved.... Intensity is to be expected here.... Don't come to an event like this and NOT expect to see some people in it just for that.... Business is Business!!!

Deck limits??? No way..... You play the big decks or you tech against them.... Welcome to Pokemon! Or come up with something special that just flows.... (I.E. -- Colin Moll --- Beedrill & Torterra --- simply amazing!) Play what you want.... Build what you want... If you feel the need to play the top deck.... Then do so.... No one can tell you what to use....

More Tournaments ??? Sure EVERYONE would love to see a big event every weekend wouldn't they.... The boat that most of you are missing is this --------- LOOK AT THE TIME & EFFORT your Tournament Organizers & League Leaders ALREADY give to the Pokemon Cause EVERY SINGLE WEEK!!!!!!! How about a small thumbs up to the people that bring your kids the entertainment as much as they can already.... You want a tournament every week??? Have some fun at your local league.... Practice, Practice, Practice..... You need some space between the bigger events.... It's what makes them SPECIAL......

Just my thoughts!!!

 

[Jaeger]

Just something to think about, I wonder if parents who don't know how to build decks think it fair that you build your childrens

 

[smacktack15]

Ok, I have seen 2 big problems here...

a)You talk about creativity yet, you build you children's decks :nonono:

b)You payed 600$ to go to Nationals to complain about how long it it :nonono:

a) Why would you do that. If you build their decks, where is the creativity. How about you let them go through the cards, build a modified "legal" deck and aid them from there on. I may be a good player but, when I build a new deck, I test it out and get help from my family. The best way to invent creativity is by yourself.

b) If you are so worried about long days with little-no sleep, don't go. It is cool that your children want to play but, wasting cash is bad. Don't complain about 6-7 hours of Pokemon because it is..."just a game!" Like others have said, lower lever competitions (aka Cities and Battle Roads) are great for people who don't want to play for long hours.

Hope this helps

 

[Kiss_n_Fire]

Jaeger- My husband and I do not build our childrens deck completely. They pick the Pokemon they like and we help with how many energy/trainer line.

I thank you guys for your responses. I myself played Magmortar for quite sometime. I took it to Regionals and ended up dropping after all 4 magmar's were in my prize cards *sigh* in one game and my 3 Togekiss prized in the following game. It was rough!!

As far as at Nationals...I do give major props for side league play. We won some great stuff. Over 300 cards, posters, binders, deck cases, and even a UltaPro soft deck bag!!! My children did have fun and that is all that matters!!

As far at St. Louis running the tourneys and such....it's 100 miles from us and my husband works hectic hours. So, we cannot attend all of the tourneys in St. Louis. We attended States and Regionals in St. Louis. Like I previously stated we are having a no rare tourney in Rolla next week which I am excited about and so are the kids! They have thrown together some stuff (that's actually pretty darn good) and were very happy to make a deck with those restrictions! So any of you reading this that would like to come and live fairly close come on out! It would be nice to meet some of you all that post on here!!

As far as the "top decks" and "welcome to the TCG world", well....it's not really the whole TCG world. My husband played Magic for years and he and I dabble in it together a bit when we aren't doing Pokemon and there is no ONE top deck. There are several...which gives you many different options on how to counter those or run a version of your own.

I am not completely stupid to the TCG world. I DO KNOW that there are those couple decks that will be on top. When Torterra got into top at Nat's...I was ELATED that something DIFFERENT made it!! Regardless of GnG and all that stuff...my kids love Pokemon and I myself have begun to love it. Just to see the look on my kids faces when they play is more than I could ask for. We run 4 decks in our home so you can imagine the amount of money that we put into Pokemon in order to (for example) run 3 rare candy's in each deck and 3 night maintenance etc. We do it because of our kids. Our kids have the Pokemon Diamond and the Pokemon Pearl for their DS's and the Wii with Pokemon Revolutions....so I know we give Nintendo enough money!!! I'm not asking for MORE...just BETTER. I know things will "evolve" and get better. It takes time. And I give props to those who run the tourneys and who give their time for the events. Along with the judges!!!

Thanks for all your responses!! :wink:

Back to back posts merged. The following information has been added:

Smacktack-as you will see in the post I just did....when I said we build their decks I didn't mean we pick their pokemon and build it front to back. They pick their Pokemon and we set their energy/trainer line.

As far as the length of time....yes, we spent that money AND WOULD DO IT AGAIN because OUR KIDS wanted to go and wanted to play. MONEY and how much we spend DOES NOT compare to our kids happiness when they play Pokemon and got to go to an event such as Nationals!!!!! My "not getting sleep" did not matter. The kids wanted to go, and we made it happen. That is all that matters. I was not complaining about the money....

 

[Lucario EX]

You really think making people play a completely different deck at each tournament would encourage creativity? Come on, who wants to spend months building and perfecting a rogue deck just to have to build another deck by the next day/weekend?

 

[Heatherdu]

I am a pokeparent and I do understand what you are saying but I do not fully agree.

I have to say that I have been nothing but impressed with what Pokemon/POP/PUI does for the kiddos. My boys love our involvement and are constantly rewarded with items from POP packs to badges to hats to I lost count what they got at Origins. And all of that was free play. There was no membership fee, no tournament fees except prereleases where you keep your cards, and constant rewards. The game itself encourages reading, math skills, creativity and socializing.

There are so many different playing levels of Pokemon - league, prereleases, BRs, CCs, States, Regionals, Nationals, and Worlds. No one is required to play in any or all of them. If a huge tournament is too much for your Junior player then you as a parent need to make that call and either not attend or allow them to drop when they want. You will run into different parenting styles in almost any activity that your children attend. My husband ran into something similar at US Nationals when the lady he played had her 2 year old playing under their table! Hello? Different parenting styles as even though we both play we always have a plan so that either or both of us can drop at anytime if either of our boys needs us. When our youngest was too young to play, one of us always cheered from the sidelines and attended him. We always have something extra for our boys to do between rounds or after dropping or during top cut if the other doesn't make it. Video games are a very handy item for that - easily portable and there is almost always someone else playing. And books and coloring. We also bring snacks and make sure we take bathroom breaks, etc.

If creativity is important to you and/or your children then have that be your focus. But you cannot force that onto others anymore than you want GG forced onto you. Some players spend the entire season testing, tweaking, and perfecting their deck and that is what they enjoy about the game. We have the same approach that someone above mentioned - my sons have tournament decks and then fun sometimes crazy decks that they play at league. It is the best of both worlds for them. They have something that can really compete in the big shows but often intimidate some of the other players at league and friends. So they get to build new stuff all the time and try them out. Sometimes the combos they come up with are good enough that we start fine tuning them to become the tournament deck. Sometimes it is just something fun like the only Unown and psychic energy deck that my 7 year old just made. It depends what is important to you and your kids. Pokemon is like any competitive event where there will be elite players, equipment, etc. If winning is what is important to you then you will need to train and have the right equipment. But if involvement is what is important then play for the fun of it and enjoy being creative.

 

[ninetales1234]

The metagame is changing my childrens perspective on Pokemon playing.

The metagame is always changing and it changes pretty much everyone's perspective on Pokémon playing.

It is a very sad day indeed when my children come up to me and say "Mom, I need to play Gardevoir/Gallade or Magmortar". It is disenchanting that my children cannot be creative because the other childrens parents/older siblings/etc. are building them decks simply to crush others.

Its called metagaming. A player will play something he thinks will win, based on what he thinks his opponent might play. Other players are playing decks they believe will win.

Why doesn't Pokemon make a rule that a deck used in a tournament by a player cannot be used in their next tournament?

...because that would be just about the worst rule Pokémon could have. It takes time to build a good deck. Some people have to "practice" a few times at tournaments to get a handle on how to play the deck.

In addition: what if I play a deck that's similar to a deck I played last time, but only one card is different. It's a different deck, right? This rule would accomplish nothing.

Have you ever played chess? In chess, everyone plays with the same "deck", and that game has survived centuries.

At my league, there is a player in the Juniors. He is really good, but he usually plays just one deck. He started playing just about 11 months ago. He has consistently done well at tournaments using just this one deck. He's a good player, but his deckbuilding skills are not so great. But he knows the deck he's playing right now works. A "unique deck rule" would just destroy players like him. Playing in tournaments is how he practices for future tournaments (in addition to playing at league). If he had to play a different deck every tournament, he would be lost. He would have no idea how to win. I know that he is not the only player like this in the Juniors (or any age group for that matter).

Yes, it would be a daunting task to go through each and every deck list and reference it with previous...but, this could be dealt with easily as well.

I don't think so. This would require the decklists of every player's list to be stored in an online database, which would require every touranment venue to have internet access. This would also require ever player to register for an online account (which would require them to have internet access). Not easy. I think you have a very poor understanding of how online databases and the internet in general work (unless you are a webmaster and have some really innovative way to get around these problems).

Having an online database of player's decks would create an incentive for crackers to access the online database to gain an advantage in the game.

If everyone had to enter every card in their deck into an online database a week in advance before a tournament, the number of people willing to play in a tournament would drop.

POP would be going to great lengths and be cutting itself off from good customers by prohibiting them from playing their favorite decks, just because there's a parent player out there who doesn't comprehend how the game (or games in general) works.

A site made where you MUST pre-register your decklist (say a week in advance) before a tournament.

Yes, because everyone knows what they're going to play a week in advance. Look up the US National Champions from 2006 and 2008 (Masters); they didn't have their decks done until the day before the National Championship!

First of all it would stop all the line hustle and bustle

No, because everyone's deck would still have to be checked, to ensure the contents of the deck matched the decklist.

I know everyone has a competitive nature and everyone of course wants to win

It's what humans do.

but when a 9 year old comes to me and tells me that he is tired of loosing to "stupid gardy/gallade"

Evolve. Adapt. Advance. etc.
Others decided to play Breloom [SW] to get around the Gardevoir/Gallade metagame. And they did it without grumbling about how unbeatable or stupid Gardevoir/Gallade is.

....there is a problem. Shouldn't children (most certainly) in Juniors division be using their imagination and having fun and enjoying themselves?

Yes. You can do that and win at the same time.

For heavens sake...if you are going to a Pokemon event with crushing another deck in mind merely for a win with ratings...you have issues.

It's called competition. If you go into any competitive field, whether it be football, soccer, business, relationships with the opposite sex, poker, or trading card games, (anything where people compete) with the assumption that there won't be other people out there to stop you, you are living in a fantasy land.

-Pre Juniors:6-11
-Juniors:12-16
-Masters:17-25
-Seniors:26+

If they increase the age groups, they're going to have less prizes for each age group. Some say the prizes are small now. You want them to cut up the prize pool into fourths?

I think Pre Juniors should have tournaments of their own where creativity plays a major role. No rares tourney (for ex.)

Give it some time, and this group will be filled with the very things you're trying to avoid.

Prohibiting rares will make these players very unhappy, as some will be prevented from playing their favorite cards.

A tourney where they cannot use any poke abilities is another great way for the children to still be creative

What's a "poke ability"?

children are starting to get more competetive

Where have you been? It's always been that way.

To be honest...when I am playing in a tournament, winning is not really on my mind.

Well, that's you. You can't expect everyone to be/think like you.

Why should someone in this age bracket be given a scholarship?

Because it's never too late to go to school. My father's fifty years old and he's going to school on a scholarship.

Did you know?- If you win a scholarship, you can transfer it to someone else? If you don't need it, give it someone who could get more use out of it than you. You can even transfer it to them in exchange for money.

No...take it away from this age group and give more to the younger kids. Give cards/trophy to winners in this division.

This won't upset anyone.

Pokemon needs to get back to the CHILDREN!!!!

I wonder if you'll still be saying this when you no longer have kids in the Seniors/Juniors division.

Pokémon should be for everybody. Remember: Who puts the most money into buying cards? Who drives to tournaments the most?
Children are the future of this game. I like kids. They are easy to influence and not set in their interests like older people are. They are a great resource. However, look at tournament attendance numbers. Who is usually the biggest age group? Pokémon is not "just a chldren's game" and you can't count on it becoming that, for long time.

Just because X amount of people show up...should not mean that children should play Pokemon for 10 hours. That is ridiculous. Both of my kids were tired, un-focused, and ended up dropping because they just couldn't do it anymore.

They could just do straight single elimination. How about that? If you lose just one match, you're out! Doesn't matter how far you drove to get there...

Either you have no understanding of tournament structure/mathematics, or you have some obscure solution to this problem I haven't thought of. If you do have a solution, that does not involve a barbaric system like single elimination, I'd love to hear it.:smile:

I even heard a lady have the nerve to tell her 7/8yr old "NO, you are going to keep playing..I don't care how tired you are!! You have won 4 and lost 1 round. You WILL NOT drop out and if you don't stop whining I will whip your butt." WHAT??? This is sickening and dishearting to me. Why would you FORCE your child to play??

I think that's pretty harsh. Perhaps the parent drove really far to get her child there and didn't want the trip to Nationals to go to waste. Or perhaps she's one of those parents that likes to "live through her children". Does not sound like a loving parent.

In my opinon there should be more tournaments so that our children can play more events and get more experience.

Okay, go organize some.

I think having more tournaments would help out our kids.

I agree. I think they should get rid of State Championships and give us more City Championships. Also get rid of National Championships and give us more Regional Championships.

They should not come to me crying due to the reasons above.

Agreed. Tell them to evolve. If they want to win, then they should play to win.

If their goal is to have fun without regard to winning, then I guess there's no problem. If they want to win, then they should do what it takes to win. If they need deck help, there are lots of people out there who would be willing to help. They can even post their decks in the deck forum on PokéGym. That's a good place for help. I reccommend Toxicroak/Weezing. I've been playing it for a while and it beats Gardevoir/Gallade and Magmortar most of the time.
-----

Perhaps you don't like the things I said, but, everyone evolves, everyone adapts. Players do what it takes to advance to the next level. Even people under the age of 11. This is how life works.

If you don't want to be outdone by the competition, you have to outdo them. You can do it without copying the most common decks.

 

[Shadow Zangoose]

^ You win. Forever.

 

[JuarezSuperStar]

This article intrigues me since my son just got started in pokemon and niether of us has experience a tournament yet. We are aware of the "popular decks" like G&G and Magmortar, but we honestly don't care. My son built two decks with his favorite pokemon in them and he enjoys using them. I think the Junior players have the most fun in this game. At the league I witness them playing decks and just trying to earn their POP packs. As a parent, I love seeing the kids have fun and getting excited to earn their POP packs and badges.

I feel a child has the right to choose what he/she wants to play, reguardless if it "Crushes other decks." One Junior I know has a G&G deck but he said he only used it for Battle Roads and at league he plays with an Articuno and Zapdos deck built off the Glaceon theme deck. If you think your kids aren't being creative enough, just have them build another deck and tell them to only use that at league, or force them to use a deck you built yourself.

 

[Kiss_n_Fire]

Ninetales: Thanks for your reply and I take it with a grain of salt just as most people do. I was stating my opinons, thank you for stating yours. I agree with a couple things you said and I don't with others...but once again, that is life. I am new to the game and still need to "evolve" myself in order to help my children out more. As far as your statement about getting "involved"....I am involved. I help run our local leage along with Bob (go Pop, we love ya!) I am sure you will hear more from me here on PokeGym especially in the deck help forum as I am always trying to build a deck that is out of the norm. I simply feel as those who play GG and Mag are not creative and simply following a trend.

Heather: I really did not mean to knock POP/PUI...they do have a lot for the kiddos. The side events and side league play at Nat's was great. It is nice that you don't have to pay to play as well. Thank you for your response. It is hard to let the kids run more than one deck as we run 4 decks in our home to begin with so most of the good supporters and trainers are taken between the 4, but the kids do make fun decks and sit around at home and play for fun as much as they can.

Lucario: I understand what you are saying here but I know several people in my league that have decks prebuilt that they test and play all the time. I understand it takes a lot of time to tweak a deck to make it "perfect" for the player, but I just think that it stops the creativity of new decks to run the same one over and over. Like I previously stated, I ran Magmortar and I got tired of it. Don't people get tired of the same old deck over and over and over??? I sure do. Thanks for your response.

 

[ninetales1234]

Ninetales: Thanks for your reply and I take it with a grain of salt just as most people do. I was stating my opinons, thank you for stating yours.

So, you have nothing to say about the difficulty of setting up a huge online database, which all TOs would have to have access to, which everyone would have to access one week before the tournament?
Are you at least going to defend your position?
If you're going to propose a new, unrealistic (there's probably a better word for this but I can't think of it right now) system, at least tell us how it would work...

And what about your objection to the tournament being nine rounds? What is your solution to that?

I told you that I think if you had a "no rares" tournament, the very things you fear (such as there being "less creativity" and "unbeatable" decks on the scale of Gardellade) would still occur. Are you going to refute that?

 

[Kiss_n_Fire]

Ninetails: The internet is not something rare. Just about EVERYONE has it or their friends do. So I have nothing further to say about that. I don't feel I have to "defend" a word I say. Online databases are not hard to run, it's quite easy. I only say this from working in the computer/internet field for 7 years. As far as a 9 round tournament: on adults it isn't that hard, but they could have pushed back finals on Sunday in order to play a couple rounds for juniors on Sunday rather than the long day. Regardless it won't be changed. I was merely stating MY opinions. I do refute your statement of No Rares Tourney. They held the Professor Cup which was just that. We are having one next week at my league location and the same rules apply at ours as did the Professor Cup (Wormadam illegal). It was quite fun coming up with a deck that has no rares and my kids loved the new idea. I am not going to argue with you nor am I going to "defend" my ideas...they are just that...MINE! If you don't like them, don't approve of them, or just simply don't care then make it known and move along. No need to "beat a dead horse". Thanks.

 

[TORCHWOOD]

playing.
It is disenchanting that my children cannot be creative because the other childrens parents/older siblings/etc. are building them decks simply to crush others.

Yes. Finally someone who agrees with me!! It is unfair that this happens as, as you said, the parents only want their kids to win. That isn't the spirit of Pokemon. Its about fun. Not Winning. Undoubtedly its nice for you or your kids etc to win but it isnt the be all end all. As for the metagame problem agreed. I had to scrap my Magmortar Deck because of Empoleon.

With your agegroups, in the 12-16 division 12 year olds don't wanna play 16 year olds. It will end up with the 16 and 15 yearolds winning the whole time.


I've got to say though, I agree with a lot of stuff in this post. Good on you!!!:wink:

 

[Jaeger]

Kiss: You really come across as a discouraged parent who just wants there kids to do well, and I understand that I personally am not parent but I have a mom and little brother who play and I always want them to well. I don't where your orginal post came from, if you were serious or just venting steam. If you are serious than, you really do need to defend your position to others, maybe try a few of your ideas in a non-sancuanted tournament, and then if they go well than maybe send them to POP. At least that way you will have some hard facts to support some suggestions that alot of people consider to be impossible or unpractical. If you are just venting steam becuase your mad at POP, the players, the game, whoever well more than likely this will get locked. Either way good luck to you and your kids like many have said next season will have far more viable decks.

 

[PokeDaddy]

PokeGym Members -

This thread is a very interesting and somewhat a polarized discussion.

Please ensure we all keep it civil and within the rules and guidelines of the 'Gym.

Thanks,
PokeDaddy
Forum Mod

 

[Heatherdu]

Kiss_n_Fire: I appreciate that you are willing to point out possible problem areas and offer suggestions for improvements. I really do and I am sure that most other members do as well. Please do not ever keep yourself from expressing your concerns and ideas on this site.

I do understand your frustrations. It sounds as if we have very similar family structures but my family has been involved in Pokemon just a bit longer. I have a family of 4 and it is a challenge to have competitive decks for everyone let alone extra fun decks. It has become easier over time though as my son has earned packs at tournaments and I am now a Professor and earn packs for judging events. We do not attend everything in our part of Ohio. We just cannot. So we pick and choose the tournaments to attend based on distance and scheduling conflicts. We often skip the local league that I do NOT help run because the lawn needs mowed or there are birthday parties to attend or just non-Pokemon life in general. I love that your family has embraced Pokemon together and I hope that you continue to have fun and enjoy the game.

The major problem that I see with US Nationals is simply logistics. This year there were 900+ players! Wow! I cannot even imagine all the planning and effort it took to have promos and t-shirts and judges and equipment at Origins for this huge event. POP does have 3 age groups to keep in mind and they need to try and keep them all happy. And I think by making flights in the Master division it shows that they are quite aware of just how long a day it can be. Believe it or not, 2008 was so much smoother than 2007 from our perspective. Rounds basically started when we were told they would. There were adequate lunch and dinner breaks. My husband and I were overwhelmed by the long day well before my boys were.

There are two main problems that I see with splitting up the swiss rounds to two days. The first is many people only buy a one day badge. Some people come for the entire Origins experience but out of 900+ players many only came on Saturday. This could be due to work schedules, money, sports, etc. The second is that Origins itself ends on Sunday and it is in the afternoon (4PM?) not into the night as on the previous days. The top cuts themselves took almost the entire 'open' time on Sunday, I believe. And all those workers and volunteers still need to pack up and get themselves back home. So Nationals is a beast but it is a well-loved beast and I think POP does a great job taming it.

 

[DarthPika]

The metagame is always changing and it changes pretty much everyone's perspective on Pokémon playing.

Its called metagaming. A player will play something he thinks will win, based on what he thinks his opponent might play. Other players are playing decks they believe will win.


...because that would be just about the worst rule Pokémon could have. It takes time to build a good deck. Some people have to "practice" a few times at tournaments to get a handle on how to play the deck.

In addition: what if I play a deck that's similar to a deck I played last time, but only one card is different. It's a different deck, right? This rule would accomplish nothing.

Have you ever played chess? In chess, everyone plays with the same "deck", and that game has survived centuries.

At my league, there is a player in the Juniors. He is really good, but he usually plays just one deck. He started playing just about 11 months ago. He has consistently done well at tournaments using just this one deck. He's a good player, but his deckbuilding skills are not so great. But he knows the deck he's playing right now works. A "unique deck rule" would just destroy players like him. Playing in tournaments is how he practices for future tournaments (in addition to playing at league). If he had to play a different deck every tournament, he would be lost. He would have no idea how to win. I know that he is not the only player like this in the Juniors (or any age group for that matter).

I don't think so. This would require the decklists of every player's list to be stored in an online database, which would require every touranment venue to have internet access. This would also require ever player to register for an online account (which would require them to have internet access). Not easy. I think you have a very poor understanding of how online databases and the internet in general work (unless you are a webmaster and have some really innovative way to get around these problems).

Having an online database of player's decks would create an incentive for crackers to access the online database to gain an advantage in the game.

If everyone had to enter every card in their deck into an online database a week in advance before a tournament, the number of people willing to play in a tournament would drop.

POP would be going to great lengths and be cutting itself off from good customers by prohibiting them from playing their favorite decks, just because there's a parent player out there who doesn't comprehend how the game (or games in general) works.


Yes, because everyone knows what they're going to play a week in advance. Look up the US National Champions from 2006 and 2008 (Masters); they didn't have their decks done until the day before the National Championship!


No, because everyone's deck would still have to be checked, to ensure the contents of the deck matched the decklist.


It's what humans do.


Evolve. Adapt. Advance. etc.
Others decided to play Breloom [SW] to get around the Gardevoir/Gallade metagame. And they did it without grumbling about how unbeatable or stupid Gardevoir/Gallade is.

Yes. You can do that and win at the same time.

It's called competition. If you go into any competitive field, whether it be football, soccer, business, relationships with the opposite sex, poker, or trading card games, (anything where people compete) with the assumption that there won't be other people out there to stop you, you are living in a fantasy land.

If they increase the age groups, they're going to have less prizes for each age group. Some say the prizes are small now. You want them to cut up the prize pool into fourths?

Give it some time, and this group will be filled with the very things you're trying to avoid.

Prohibiting rares will make these players very unhappy, as some will be prevented from playing their favorite cards.


What's a "poke ability"?


Where have you been? It's always been that way.


Well, that's you. You can't expect everyone to be/think like you.


Because it's never too late to go to school. My father's fifty years old and he's going to school on a scholarship.

Did you know?- If you win a scholarship, you can transfer it to someone else? If you don't need it, give it someone who could get more use out of it than you. You can even transfer it to them in exchange for money.


This won't upset anyone.


I wonder if you'll still be saying this when you no longer have kids in the Seniors/Juniors division.

Pokémon should be for everybody. Remember: Who puts the most money into buying cards? Who drives to tournaments the most?
Children are the future of this game. I like kids. They are easy to influence and not set in their interests like older people are. They are a great resource. However, look at tournament attendance numbers. Who is usually the biggest age group? Pokémon is not "just a chldren's game" and you can't count on it becoming that, for long time.



They could just do straight single elimination. How about that? If you lose just one match, you're out! Doesn't matter how far you drove to get there...

Either you have no understanding of tournament structure/mathematics, or you have some obscure solution to this problem I haven't thought of. If you do have a solution, that does not involve a barbaric system like single elimination, I'd love to hear it.:smile:


I think that's pretty harsh. Perhaps the parent drove really far to get her child there and didn't want the trip to Nationals to go to waste. Or perhaps she's one of those parents that likes to "live through her children". Does not sound like a loving parent.


Okay, go organize some.


I agree. I think they should get rid of State Championships and give us more City Championships. Also get rid of National Championships and give us more Regional Championships.


Agreed. Tell them to evolve. If they want to win, then they should play to win.

If their goal is to have fun without regard to winning, then I guess there's no problem. If they want to win, then they should do what it takes to win. If they need deck help, there are lots of people out there who would be willing to help. They can even post their decks in the deck forum on PokéGym. That's a good place for help. I reccommend Toxicroak/Weezing. I've been playing it for a while and it beats Gardevoir/Gallade and Magmortar most of the time.
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Perhaps you don't like the things I said, but, everyone evolves, everyone adapts. Players do what it takes to advance to the next level. Even people under the age of 11. This is how life works.

If you don't want to be outdone by the competition, you have to outdo them. You can do it without copying the most common decks.

You just won the thread with that one. :thumb:

Lucario: I understand what you are saying here but I know several people in my league that have decks prebuilt that they test and play all the time. I understand it takes a lot of time to tweak a deck to make it "perfect" for the player, but I just think that it stops the creativity of new decks to run the same one over and over. Like I previously stated, I ran Magmortar and I got tired of it. Don't people get tired of the same old deck over and over and over??? I sure do. Thanks for your response.

Since youve just started playing, perhaps I should clear somethings up.

N1. Every year they rotate out old sets, and along with the old sets the decks that were in them go.

N2. As far as sets go PUI really screwed up on when they released them this year beacuse they time it with the movies. This resulted in not to many new decks.

N3. There are going to be a TON of new decks next year and I'm sure a never ending stream of good rouges. The format is going to change and creativity will blossom again, just like it does every year.

 

[ninetales1234]

Ninetails: The internet is not something rare. Just about EVERYONE has it or their friends do.

Try telling that to the people at my league.:frown: Over 400 people have signed up, and less than a fourth of them have "My Pokémon" accounts.

So I have nothing further to say about that.

Because you know you can't get this "unique deck" system to work.

I do refute your statement of No Rares Tourney. They held the Professor Cup which was just that.

Yes, and from everything I heard, it was filed with Breloom and Donphan. Reducing the pool of cards available didn't seem to increase the variety of deck types.

If someone who went to the professor cup and would like to correct me on this, please do so... But this is what I heard from someone on staff.

I am not going to argue with you nor am I going to "defend" my ideas...

If you post a bunch of stuff that sounds crazy without defending it or explaining how it would work, expect people to continue to think you're crazy.

If I start a thread saying something like, "The United States should invade Switzerland," people will probably reply, telling me how very much they disagree, and give reasons why they disagree. If I just sit there and don't give reasons for why they're wrong, if I don't debate them on the issue, the people who read my thread are simply going to think my position is crazy. "Well look at that guy. Ninetales1234 thinks the US should invade Switzerland. We're telling him why he's wrong and he doesn't even come close to trying to knock us down. He just sits there and tells us 'That's MY OPINION!'. He can't even defend himself. What a kook. Let's move on to the next thread."

they are just that...MINE!

You own your opinions? What does that have to do with anything?

If you don't like them, don't approve of them, or just simply don't care then make it known and move along.

I'm trying to get you to defend your position because, if you don't, it just makes it appear that your position cannot be defended.

 

[meganium45]

K n F...

Everyone builds decks they think will win. It is the point of a tourney.

Your kids have done very well this year, with their limited experience, and should be VERY proud of what they accomplished. Their regional finish was very powerful!

Pokemon has more potential deck choice than any other game out there.

For Nationals, there were at least 5 viable deck choices, all of which did really well..

1. Garde/Gallade
2. Empoleon
3. Torterra/Sceptile
4. Eeveelutions
5. Banette Variants

All of these decks took different skills, and different mentatilities to play.

There are attack decks, there are set-up decks, there are all sorts of decks in that mix.

There were other choices that could have been made, Skittles, Darkrai, Magmortar and others, which took a little more tolerance for luck, and you have to live by the luck and die by the luck with those decks. (Yes, I consider Togekiss reliant on luck).

As for Nationals...I really disagree that it should be watered down. If you play any major sport, if you play in the National Championship, that tourney is much more grueling than any regional qualifier. NCAA, Little League, you name it. As the prizes go up, the pressure goes up, and endurance becomes an issue. Hey, I know it, my 7 year old went 4-0 to 4-4 as he got tired and made more and more mistakes.

As for more tourneys, have weekly events at your league. We do in St. Louis. Getting 14-20 players a week to play in a tourney really helps out in the long run. Especially for the younger players. Alex does not like getting his teeth kicked in weekly by Brian, Zak or Andrew, but having the experience of playing them, and beating them from time to time really pays dividends.

Keep coming to St. Louis. I really like the players and leaders there. A good mix of competitive, and fun-loving people! Rolla is great too! Cary Lewis is A1A!!

Then again, for all I know, you consider me part of the problem.

I consider Pokemon a sport that must be trained for, and worked at to be an accomplished player. My kids have been gifted at the game for quite some time, and I determined that if they were this good at Baseball, we would spare no cost on equipment or teams, so the same is true of Pokemon. I spend more on cards than most people, but that is a choice we have made. The kids love the game, love the friends, and love to win. They make their final deck choices. My job is to provide the cards. Do I help and give suggestions? Yeah. Am I overruled by my 14 and 12 year old a lot of times. Oh, yeah!

We, before Nationals, had training sessions where our kids worked on their decks, and the matchups no less than 12 hours per week. Not counting the brother and home games. I make all the cards available to any of my kids for their deck pool. All my kids did not play the same deck. We had 1 go in with Flygon EX, 1 go in with Empoleon/Omastar, 3 Go in with GG variants, and 1 go in with Colin's Torterra deck! (No, I don't have 6 kids, I do provide support and decks to 6 players) Heck, then I went in with FlygonEX over my own kid's objections because it is what I wanted to play!

Pokemon can be played for fun. Pokemon can be played as a competitive sport. Both have places in this game.

Oh, and for the parent helping issue. You REALLY want to see how hands off a parent is...watch a prerelease. There are parents who have to be pulled away from their kids, because they want to make their decks. Other parents let the kid build all 40 cards themselves. Which parents are letting their kids have the fun, in that envio?

In any respect, play the game for the fun and growth it provides for your family. If the kids win, great! If they don't, you still give them a ride home!

Vince