Simpler ways to use Dusknoir's Sinister Hand

[Gen1Gengar]

Hello all,

recently, I have started playing a spread deck centered around Dusknoir (the one with Sinister Hand). I had so much fun play-testing this card that I decided to take it to my local league to see if it stood a chance. However, once I started playing competitive acquaintances I started noticing issues. Keeping track of Sinister Hand was actually very tedious, and I had one player accuse me of cheating by applying additional damage as I was moving it all around. I was having to place around 3 dice on EACH of my opponent's EX Pokemon. This was obviously an issue I hadn't faced whilst playing with family/friends and the experience is almost putting me off playing Dusknoir altogether. Throughout the day I tried a few alternatives: I tried using individual counters but it seemed to make things worse for both me and my opponent, because neither of us could work out how much damage was on a Pokemon without individually counting up the huge tower of counters on the card. The counters were also flying around everywhere whenever my opponent would evolve a Pokemon.

I can imagine complications arising if I took this card to a sanctioned event. So my question is this: what other options are there to make Sinister Hand easier for me that are tournament legal? A friend recommended that I used a notepad or a calculator to make note of the total damage in play before and after the ability to prove that no damage had been added/removed by the effect. However, I have no idea if I'll be able to do this in a tournament. Other suggestions included using 20-sided dice to deal with EX Pokemon. Please give me suggestions on how you cope with Sinister Hand if you are currently playing a spread deck. :smile:

 

[PokePop]

Moving this to the Cards discussion forum.
This is not really a rulings question, so it doesn't belong in Ask the Rules Team.
There are players who were playing this card at US Nationals and the World Championship, so it is certainly manageable.

 

[Kooper Koushiro]

Like most game actions, communicating clearly to your opponent what you are doing is key.

If you're moving chunks of damage (e.g. moving a dice completely without changing the facing) then it's simple to just move the object. The only thing you would need to be cautious of is overloading damage. (e.g. moving a '6' to a Pokemon with 50 HP or less remaining.)

Against players I know well enough that they won't mind me touching their dice/counters, I like to give verbal indications of "Heal 50..." followed by "...hurt 50" on something else while adjusting the dice myself. Sort of a "what goes up, must come down" approach. Alternately, something like "Take this 40, and put 20 here...and 20 here" for splitting damage to alleviate Max Potion danger. This breaks the action into separate chunks that are individually easier to follow, especially when turning multiple dice may be involved.

If you don't know your opponent well or think they may have issues with you touching their damage counters/dice, you can simply ask "Move 30 from Virizion to Genesect", pointing at the specific cards if multiple are in play. You can then watch and make sure the totals are correct after they make the movement.

Either way, the last thing you want to do is just silently change around damage on the opponent's side without indicating what you are doing, especially if you're altering dice facing. Even against someone familiar with Dusknoir, you'll probably want to announce "Sinister Hand" to affirm the ability use. (Not unlike announcing 'Deluge' with Blastoise.)

A few related notes:

- If you can get in the habit of note taking that can be a big help. Just update the 'total damage' on your opponent's board whenever some is added or subtracted. (Be careful to update accordingly when you take knockouts.) So long as you keep accurate totals, this can help you speed up calculations in knowing your options and when you have the win on board, which is an asset to all involved. (Just make sure you follow note taking rules in regard to timeliness.)

- Don't be ashamed to end up reversing some damage movement if you discover you've made a miscalculation. Ideally you don't want to do this as it wastes time in the match, but as long as you make an effort to be quick you should be fine. (And despite the ability saying move 1 at a time, rarely is this what you will want to do in practice for the courtesy of time.)

- If you're playing a newer player, make sure they do not try to start their turn after Sinister Hand nets you a knockout. I've had many people draw a card after a moved damage KO only for me to remind them "That wasn't my attack for the turn".

Hope this helps and happy Dusknoir using!
-Kooper

 

[TuxedoBlack]

I've played Dusknoir (Sinister Hand) off and on for a few seasons. I believe extending common courtesy is important in game playing such as asking an opponent to see one's discard pile, etc. (vs. just reaching over and taking an opponent's discard pile) for review. So, as Kooper Koushiro mentioned above, communicating your Sinister Hand damage movement is very important (just like auditing the damage count post-movement to ensure the damage was placed properly).

I personally like using dice as damage counters; they don't require a lot on space on the card and one can easily see the total amount of damage (given the "right" colored dice are used). After moving damage around with Sinister Hand, I will sometimes announce the remaining amount of damage on opponent's Pokémon too. This provides another level of confirmation.

In regards to note taking, just be careful not to slow down the game by impeding "normal" game pace.

Dusknoir is a great Poké that, I believe, will continue to see some play this season too. So, enjoy.

 

[psychup2034]

I have also played Dusknoir at many tournaments over the last two years. I always count the total amount of damage on my opponent's Pokemon before the Sinister Hand, and after I move everything, my opponent and I will both confirm that the same amount of damage on the board. I've played 30-40 games with Dusknoir decks in tournament settings without any problems.

 

[Mekkah]

I played against a Junior that hardly spoke any English somewhere before Worlds, and I was playing Flygon. In general, pointing at cards does a very good job of communicating what you are doing.

One thing I like doing is using multiple dice whenever it's convenient for clarity. If there's a 4 on one Pokémon and I want to split it up, I take two other dice, put them both at 2 on the table (besides the cards), then remove the 4 from the Pokémon. That way, I'm making sure the total visible damage always remains the same, and I don't have to deal with accusations or confusion when I'm changing the face of a die.