PokeThoughts by Dave II: Alex, Jason and Jimmy Watch

[PokePop]

No way, it's debatable that it's actually MORE than 90% skill. Give me GG vs a bad player who has the exact same GG list. I guarantee I'll win 9/10.

Chuck: You just made the opposite point than what you were trying to make.
Sure, give each player identical decks and THEN it's 90+% skill.
But that's because you took the deck variability out of the equation.

How important is it to HAVE that GG or whatever top tier deck?

Could the best player in the world with a PCD beat an average player that has a GG deck?

Maybe, but I think the average player would win most of the games just because the deck does play a large part in it.
A well built deck gives the player options.
A crappy deck gives no options, regardless of how good the player is.

So, sure, skill is a large part of it. Especially when that skilled player is armed with a good or great deck. But you can't discount the contribution of the deck.

 

[dld4a]

Thanks all for all the kind words.

100% deck if it has Giovanni's Machoke. ;P

lol, I built an unlimited deck w/ that card once. It was a fun deck to play.

Nice article on 3 good players.

Interesting to see if you would get the same type answers from good players living outside of Illinois or maybe good players ranked higher than the 3 you chose?

How about something from the players ranked higher than 5th?

Once again, good job, keep it up.

Thanks Mike,
I decided to do this whole project when, after finishing 1st and 2nd in their 1st CC of the 2007 season, Jason and Jimmy had duplicated the results of the World Championship of just a few months prior, and I thought OMG this is shaping up to be an amazing story. Then Alex chimed in and informed me that also just like the World Championship Jimmy had knocked him out near the end and again I was OMG this is just tooooo good! I chose these three because of that and because they are some of the best in the world and because I know them all and have all their contact information. It was extremely difficult to keep up with all the results of all the tournaments. So, doing this again? I'm not sure, especially with players that I don't have personal contact with.

Good Read Dave,

The players like Alex, Jimmy, and Jason always do best with a consistent deck. They can out play most of players if the deck's get's up. They often can develop a good strategy on attacking an opponent and just out execute them. Not many misplays out of this group.

Thanks Rob,
This is the most important point to remember in the deck vs skill question, IMO.


All this debate over question #7? Although it is an interesting question and a good discussion I think that questions 1, 4 and 5 have the most informative answers.

 

[JohnnyBlaze]

Wow Dave that was impressive. You should earn a Pokemon PHd for that kind of work!!

 

[moza]

for a small tourney, I agree that skill is by far the most important aspect.

But for a large tourney, like states-regionals-nationals, a great deck is more important then skill.

 

[mattalvis]

% of skill and deck choice could also depend on the format. Evidence being Alex's results at the beginning of the season last year, which were sub par for him. I doubt that he all of a sudden became a worse player, his deck choice was just terrible. This format I have highly criticized most of Alex's deck choices, and I still believe Magsol to be inferior to a number of decks out there right now, but he has managed to out play most of his opponents in a format where a lot of people don't even have a clue. Regardless of the amount of luck or lack of diversity there is right now in the format, I think it is incredibly hard to be successful because many of the matches are very complicated. So this year, Alex's superior skill has kept him at the top of the rankings, where as this time last season his deck choice was really hindering him, regardless of how good of a player he is.

 

[MetronOob]

Once again good job dad. All three of them are very good players. Its nice to see how well all three of them did last seasion and I hope you will be doing this again after this seasion. Pesonaly i think that it is 75% skill 25% deck, because i have proven that you can play with a bad deck and still win, like yesterday i played against a starter deck and i lost, but i had a bad start and i couldnt get started. My opponit was able to get up walrine befor i was able to do anything so its more skill then deck.

 

[bonslypwns]

Sorry, but if you lose to a theme deck, then your deck isn't that good. You should be able to set-up and at least get going...:/

Nice article! It helped alot! Good to here from these guys, thanks! :thumb:

 

[I am Entei]

Mates,
A good deck trumps everything. Skill is great but a well-constructed deck can make a lousy player good.

Cheers

 

[MetronOob]

Sorry, but if you lose to a theme deck, then your deck isn't that good. You should be able to set-up and at least get going...:/

Nice article! It helped alot! Good to here from these guys, thanks! :thumb:

I just built the deck and I was testing it out that day so knew that it would most likly do bad.

 

[BANGINBOX]

The whole skill vs deck remindes me of....

What come first, the chicken or the egg....

Several ways this can be looked at.... Martin won because of a great deck. I'm sure his skill played a huge factor in it. However, without the consistant deck, all his skill is useless.

Great article Dave,

Jimmy

 

[bullados]

I wonder what would happen if all three of these guys took either Gallantry or Fire TRUK to a tournament. I don't even REMEMBER what Ness got top cut with at Rockford...

 

[HBK HaVoC]

If you lose to a Theme deck. Then the first thing you should do is shake your opponents hand. Because losing to a theme deck is nothing to be ashamed about. A Deck is a deck. If it has 60 cards then it is a deck. PROBABLY A VERY VERY LUCKY DECK. BUT A DECK. HAVE A NICE DAY!!!

 

[dld4a]

I wonder what would happen if all three of these guys took either Gallantry or Fire TRUK to a tournament. I don't even REMEMBER what Ness got top cut with at Rockford...

It would be interesting, but it'd probably never happen unless it was at a CC or Fall BR where the K values are low enough to risk the coin flip. Jason ran Gardy/Gallade w/ Furret I believe.

 

[Venjamin]

Man, this is amusing to see everyone going on about skill vs deck. But honestly, I have to say that it has to be 50 / 50 even. You have to have skill, and you have to have a decent deck, or you're going to fall behind. If you have no skill, your plays will be readable and easy to counter, regardless of how super awesome your deck may be. If you have a bad deck, no amount of skill will really salvage your game.

Which is not to say that you have to use archetypes to win - you can do well with rogue decks, too. It just has to be a well constructed deck.

 

[mewlover777]

Jason signed by best friend's hat at world's last year >.> :lol: good read BTW

p.s. i wonder how much that hat would go for...

 

[LILNINO]

great article...thanks