Sabett: I think sudden death is a horrible thing, and very little fun. It is sometimes a neccessary evil, though.
When running best-of-3 with a too short time limit, the number of sudden death games increases drastically compared to a single game Swiss round tournament.
And Sudden Death when an ongoing match goes on time, and Sudden Death games that start out with 1 prize card, are two COMPLETELY different things. I have no issues with the former, only the latter.
And you're wrong, those are the exact same thing, same format, same outcome, same name, same thing.
Sabett, you have throughout this thread completely ignored blatantly obvious facts when they don't support your own argument, and you have completely dismissed input from people who have far more experience with the 45-minute Swiss Match Play format than you have. Have you EVER tried this format?
In fact, I'm tempted to ask if you have ever played in the Top Cut of any tournament, ever. Your absolutely absurd and offensively arrogant comment here makes me seriously doubt just that. I'm "wrong"? I don't even know what that is supposed to mean. It's not
my personal opinion that the two types of Sudden Death (1: when time goes out in a match, and the match is allowed to continue until the next prize card is drawn, 2: when time goes out after two completed games, and a Sudden Death match with only one prize card is conducted) are completely different, it's a fact and an objective truth.
Here are some differences:
Sudden Death A
when time goes out in a match, and the match is allowed to continue until the next prize card is drawn
Happens when: Game 1 lasted for 45 minutes and both players have the same number of remaining prize cards, or Game 2 is currently in process, but no player has drawn 4 prize cards yet, and also have the same number of prize cards
Is determined when: one of the players, who are past set-up and most of the time already a few turns into their game - often also at the very end of a long game, manages to draw his/her next prize car
Is biased towards these decks: Almost none, I'd say. All kinds of decks should have the same opportunity to draw prize cards every turn if they're past set-up, i.e. are a few turns into the match. The power inbalance between some deck types during the first turns of the game is undeniable, but this evens out mid-game. If Sudden Death A is biased towards one kind of deck, it would have to be decks that run switching (Luxray GL lv.X, Warp Point, Palkia lv.X) or sniping (Crobat G, Gengar, Garchomp C lv.X), because these have the best opportunity for knocking out a weaker benched Pokémon, which helps when you're tied mid-game and need just one prize. Still, virtually all kinds of deck types can run these mechanics.
Sudden Death B
when time goes out after two completed games, and a Sudden Death match with only one prize card is conducted
Happens when: Game 1 and Game 2 were both completed, with one win for each player, and time was called before the start of Game 3 (for example during post-game shuffling). The shorter the total allocated time for the Match, the more likely Sudden Death B is to occur.
Is determined when: the first KO of the whole game happens. I.e. when the first player has an able attacker that can KO something, anything. In this type of donk, not even running more Basic Pokémon in your deck will help you: You can have as many Basics as you want on your Bench, but if your active is KOed, it's over
Is biased towards these decks: Decks with attackers that only need one Energy. Decks like Dusknoir (needs two Energy cards to attack) or GG (needs three energy cards to attack) or Flygon without Machamp (needs three Energy cards to attack) have absolutely no chance of drawing the first prize card, while decks containing Sableye and Darkness Energy, or Kingdra, or Luxray GL lv.X, or Machamp, or Crobat G and Pokéturn combined with any one-energy attacker, are almost guaranteed a prize card within the match's two first turns if that's what they prioritize and focus their playing on. Especially with the heaps of options available to them thanks to having just one card from their entire deck prized!
Look at the result of any Pokémon tournament with an even number of Swiss rounds, and you will see that the most common result will always be to get an equal amount of wins and losses. (At a six round tourney, 3-3 is the most common result). In other words, it's common for the same player to win half of his games and lose the other half. Best out of three match play in 45 minutes will realistically only have enough time for two games to finish. That these two games end up with two different winners is extremely common, and thus every single Swiss round of a Match Play Swiss Round tournament see tons of Sudden Death B games setting up once time goes out. We tried Match Play in Swiss for the 08-09 BR and CC seasons in Norway. As a judge, I was not happy to see the room filled with 1-prize games and frustrated players who knew their deck couldn't pull off the win. These same players could have pulled off the win if it was a normal 6-prize game - your opponent drawing the first prize doesn't mean you lose! Upper Energy and Toxicroak Promo are good examples why. Also, generally, decks that live off speed and early KOs have lower mid-game and late-game strength.
I'm not being biased towards set-up decks. I just think we should have as much variety in decks as possible, and I don't think it's natural for so many matches each round to be decided by 1-prize games where the first KO is all that matters, because that is not how the game was designed to be played.