Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Know the reason no one plays?

They also barely sell this game anywhere. Heck I don't think the place that I play in league had any of the TFG.
They used to carry it at Target, but I have not seen it there in a couple of months.
 
I do not think it is a bad concept, just bad excution. I am sure they were trying to keep it simple for the younger players, but they over did it, and older players get bored with it quickly.

I run a League, and while the kids can play the figure game as well to earn points, it has been only the junior division playing it. Most of the figures look great, even though they break easy. There should have been a lot more thought put into the playmat! Maybe even do it more "map-like". Possibly have the figures moving on maps that resemble the different regions like, Sinnoh or other places.
 
I was talking to my PTO today.

The reason why groundbreakers is taking forever to come out is because of stores hitting the packaging.
Stores can only hold 3-4 packs of figures per hook, so they asked PUSA to change the packaging.
So that's what they are doing.

I would think PUSA is waiting for the new set to come-out before releasing any OP events or leagues.
 
I do not think it is a bad concept, just bad excution. I am sure they were trying to keep it simple for the younger players, but they over did it, and older players get bored with it quickly.

I run a League, and while the kids can play the figure game as well to earn points, it has been only the junior division playing it. Most of the figures look great, even though they break easy. There should have been a lot more thought put into the playmat! Maybe even do it more "map-like". Possibly have the figures moving on maps that resemble the different regions like, Sinnoh or other places.

I think that if they did a rarity scheme, it may attract more older players.

Drew
 
they had a rarity scheme here in the uk, but it was so unballanced (and boosters so costly) it didnt really work, to start with they sold boosters in solid colour packs in two's and still to this day i havent had a super rare other then the starter set ones (char n gatr were the starter sets and the other 4 were kyogre groudon ho-oh and lugia) and i must have bought over 40 boosters minimum (they ended up in sales at £2, retail price was £9)

ian e :)
 
I disagree with that. There are very distinctly good and bad pieces, and there is quite a lot of thought involved with each move. Experience counts for a lot, and I happen to speak from it. It doesn't take more than one wrong move to lose you the game against a good player.

Another reason why this game never picked up is because of the limited selection of figures available. If OP were to be established, any high-level tournaments would be flooded with players playing nearly the exact same team. Competetive place wouldn't be any fun.
 
I knew from the beginning this was a bound failure.

They should have looked at Dungeon Dice Monsters for Yu-Gi-Oh and seen how much of a failure that was. This is essentially the same idea.
 
i watched the demo on go-pokemon the game seems ok but very basic

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I knew from the beginning this was a bound failure.

They should have looked at Dungeon Dice Monsters for Yu-Gi-Oh and seen how much of a failure that was. This is essentially the same idea.

that was the worst collectable game of time it was horrible
 
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Shoot when this came out we had tournaments that could not wait with about 8 -10 players.

When the store ran out of figures we stopped playing.

I own so many and still play I could run a Demo and teach how to play it.

I still hear thye plan to release the next set soon.

I look forward to it since loved the game and it has some strategy to it.

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playability = horrible: play Pokemon TCG, its cheaper, there is infinite more variety, and you cant carry 2'000 TFG figures around like you would cards.

Collectability = alright: they look sorta cool sitting on a shelf, and you can say you have every different kind ever made(if you do)

overall, pokemon TCG is much more rewarding, less expensive, and muuch more established than the TFG.

-Kaz

What in the world cheaper?
It cost me more on cards to build my deck then the figures.
 
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Shoot when this came out we had tournaments that could not wait with about 8 -10 players.

When the store ran out of figures we stopped playing.

I own so many and still play I could run a Demo and teach how to play it.

I still hear thye plan to release the next set soon.

I look forward to it since loved the game and it has some strategy to it.

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What in the world cheaper?
It cost me more on cards to build my deck then the figures.
But you can also win back packs at tournaments....
 
My brothers wasted fifty dollars of accrued spending money on these at league. I say wasted because they've been collecting dust since they bought them, they break so easily it makes me furious to be asked to cart them around with our cards to league just to play with little kids.

Oh, and did I mention a lack of replayability?
 
The very first thing the Australian players started doing with the figures when we got them, well before anyone else (in the actual market test) was to create custom play fields, with a lot more avenues for movement and attack. Why that feedback was never taken into consideration when they released the proper version of the game outside Australia, I have no idea.

I've got to agree that while there was a lot of avenue for strategy in the game, the limited number of figures and the lack of alternative playboards did mean that strategy could rapidly become homogenized. The best players quickly realized that eliminating the luck variable as much as possible with reliable good spins was a better option than trying to play with pure power. However, when you think about it, that's not really all that different to how TCG players eliminate the luck variable of "what card will I draw next" through draw cards, draw powers, etc. It's unfair to consider the TFG more luck based than the TCG under that light.
 
My brothers wasted fifty dollars of accrued spending money on these at league. I say wasted because they've been collecting dust since they bought them, they break so easily it makes me furious to be asked to cart them around with our cards to league just to play with little kids.

Most of the figures wouldn't really break quite so easily as you think. It's mostly the ones that are held up on the thin pegs that you need to be careful with (Talking Ho-Oh and Spearow here.) Talking from experience since I managed to completely demolish a Ho-Oh by poking it, yet I dropped a Salemence and it stayed intact just fine.
 
Most of the figures wouldn't really break quite so easily as you think. It's mostly the ones that are held up on the thin pegs that you need to be careful with (Talking Ho-Oh and Spearow here.) Talking from experience since I managed to completely demolish a Ho-Oh by poking it, yet I dropped a Salemence and it stayed intact just fine.

I know i bought a Ho Oh and i put it with my team. when i spun it ,it hit my other team and it fell off lol
 
One of the other problems I feel is that it doesn't hold up at all against other collectible minis games on the market such as Heroclix ( currently in limbo, potential sale of property up for grabs since Wizkids went under ) Star Wars Minis, and than World of Warcraft and Monsterpocalypse as well. All of these games are simple to play, but also have a great deal of depth, collectibility, and support. Well, not Heroclix anymore, but at the time it did. The TFG therefore had minimal chance to succeed outside of dedicated Pokemon fans, and the older, more competitive players would likely gravitate back to the TCG.

Having got into Mage Knight back in....2000ish? I remember always thinking how awesome a Pokemon minis game would be...I even went so far to toy with the idea of making dials for alot of the Pokemon using the Clix system, and it was alot of fun. Needless to say when I heard we'd be getting a Pokemon figure game I was extremely pumped. I saw the system for the game and was borderline crushed because the concept was so appealing and I feel that it had such potential and that the opportunity was truly blown. I'm just glad I didn't invest any money into the figures when they came out.

Also, in relation to the "high cost" of playing the TCG...compared to other TCGs, Pokemon is EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY cost friendly. My current "standard" ( equivalent of Modified, aka new cards only ) Magic deck runs roughly 500 dollars worth of cards. And many of those are not "universal" like Claydol, where if you invest in your decks engine you simply swap them from deck to deck. It isn't as friendly. Yu-Gi-Oh's prices are really high as well, as are World of Warcraft's.

Yes, you only need 6 figures if you want "a team" but that lacks variety, and is like claiming you only need to buy 60 cards. While technically true, that is barely playing the full experience of the game. Also, lets look at re-sale value. If I invest the roughly 100 dollars needed for a good Pokemon deck, most of the cards will be very easy to re-sell ( Claydol, Uxie, the supporters, any playable lvl x, etc ) where as the figures will eBay for 50 cents. If I'm out to have fun, I'd rather invest 100 dollars and get back 90 of it than invest 20-30 and get back 2. Plus have the potential to play in organized play and win cards/scholarships/trips. Just my opinions.
 
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