I have no problem with others voicing their opinions on things here at all. I think its good. Better to let all sides speak there mind.
GrandmaJoner- Since when does size really come into the equation? It obviously isn't as " Big as a business deal " but when there are stakes on the line, how does this change things? Sure, adults make a large amount of money, and probably gain alot off of a promotion. But to a teenager, or a kid, looking to pay his way through college, or to get money towards a car, 7500 dollars is a HUGE amount of money. Thats not even calculating other prizes and recognition and such for winning. While sure,it isn't as big, for most kids under 20, it is pretty big stakes, especially when you've spent well over a month awake until on average 4 am playtesting decks and match ups. When you put alot of time and effort into something with the intent to win, tossing that chance aside to be nice seems foolish.
Also, I RESTATE that I DO feel sorry for them. Theres a VERY basic concept that comes into effect here that I guess I have to restate. Ok, when making a decision of what to do, a person weighs the options. NEVER is it a clear cut, with one side holding all the benefits and the other all the complications. By weighing what you feel is most important, you choose which you do. Do you go to Wendys or go to Outback Steakhouse for dinner? Benefits of wendys? Cheaper. Less of a wait in line. You don't have to dress formally. You can get it to go. Problems? Unhealthy. Not all that tasty. Outback has better food. Healthier food. A better atmosphere. But it costs more, it takes up more time, and it is going to require you to dress a little more appropriately. In the long run, you weigh the options, and you choose to go eat at outback. Your saying that because you CHOOSE one thing over the other, upon weighing the pros and cons, that you can't feel bad that you spent 25 dollars for a steak and dessert over the 5 for a Spicy Chicken Sandwich? BUT YOU COULD HAVE EATEN AT WENDYS! Yes, I could have. But MORE pros come from eating at Outback, but there were still some to eating Wendys. Its the same thing as saying I have a CHOICE with what to do when my opponent plays a card and wants to take it back, or if I want to stall. Holding them to it very well could give me the win, or does give me the win, thus much close to the prizes. Not doing so would cost me the game, or possibly doing so, but I wouldn't feel bad for my opponent. Its perfectly fair to have both feelings and thoughts running through your head. Unfortunately for you I guess, I value winning and the chance to do well MORE than I value my opponents win. Does this mean I don't care how my opponent feels? Hell no! I can feel bad for them, especially if they were nice, like Blair and Kevin from Worlds, but did I even have a hard contemplation over whether to take the "cheap" route? No. I knew from the minute the tournament started I would do whatever it took. I weighed my options and made a decision. No decision is clear cut, and what your basically saying is that when you make a choice your 100% confident in it, and that theres NO downsides to it, because hell! Its what you think is right. No. A choice is what is the BEST answer in your mind. Not the PERFECT answer. Sure, this is getting a bit abstract here, but I feel its the best way to describe what I had to say.
I think the other thing you have to realize is that I have been playing at the competitive level of play for Pokemon since 2000 with the Qualifier Tours ( 1st place in Cincinatti. I was 14 at the time. ) and I have had my good share of success. ( 2nd at ECSTS 2001 day 1, 7th day 2.) ( 2nd CSC 2002 ) ( 1st Prof. Championship 2002 ) ( 2nd ECSC 2004 ) as well as 1st in 6 different Gym Challenge level events and 2 SBZs. I knew based on past experience and the amount of playtesting I had done and my success in it, that I had a very legitimate chance to do very well and make it far in the tournament. I had the CONFIDENCE that I could make it all the way to the finals. If your playing and have little to know real belief that your going to go all the way, its alot easier to take the game for fun. But when you think you stand a really good chance to win, you strive harder to do it. I really don't want to come off as egotistical, which i think I am, I am just trying to rationalize some of my thinking in terms of why I value winning at all costs so high.
Prime- there are MANY things in a game in which the opponent has no say. A coin flip. Say I flip heads. He had no say in this. A players topdecks. What is in someones prizes. The pace at which an opponent plays, be it in an attempt to stall, or constant game pace. I've seen many opponents just play SLOW. They didn't want to stall, but they just play SLOW. Some players play EXTREMELY fast. This dictates the flow of a game. It is also a very important thing to note that stalling isn't just always a last turn play fest. If a player is up by multiple prizes, they should start to slow the game down. Keep track of the prizes. Keep track of time. If it comes to it, play defensively. Don't even play as if you play to win. This happened at a City Championship I played in. I had a HORRIBLE hand. Lone Torchic. He got a turn 2 Muk EX out. I managed to SOMEHOW get set up, and its a slug fest. We are 1 prize a piece. 5 minutes left. I TVR and Delcatty for 6 total. I didn't get the NRG I needed. He has muk out. I go into defensive mode. I retreat amonst Delcattys, and Combuskens, and Blazikens...because I know I could stall it out, not by playing useless cards, but by retreating pokemon over a combination of turns. In the long run, his hand was not as good as I had anticipated. He had 7 cards, but no energy. Had I gone offensive, I'd have won, instead we recieved a draw. I'd have won in the long run. By stalling, I had cost myself the win. Yet statistically, it was by far the better play as the odds of relying on him to have no energy or draw to get it that late in a game is astronomically against me. I had no regrets taking the draw when the win was possible, because I knew I had made the right move.
In the finals at this years Worlds, I was playing the Champion. He had played against Colin, and had done quite his share of stalling him out too. It was quite well done, getting up on prizes and taking the game the distance. The final game he likely would have lost had he not used up pretty much over an hour in game 1. He dictated the pace in a hard match up and he stalled in the final match up. Therefore, I knew I had to anticipate him manipulating the clock as much as I would when I played him. I had played 5 games vs Magma the past 2 rounds, and alot of times a close game takes FOREVER. Therefore, when game 1 started off poorly, the minute I knew I COULDN'T win, I forfeitted. An overwhelming number of people were shocked or upset at this, but I knew by how the match up is played and what I had lost already that I couldn't have won the game. I also knew that him being up game 1 was HUGE. He could have taken his good old time in beating me to drain the clock. Realistically that game could have eaten 45 minutes. Lets say this takes us to game 2. Even if I DO win game 2, its a tie and it comes to game 3. Again, being up a game, he can slow the pace down, as he doesn't have anything to worry about. If I win game 2 and we have to play sudden death in game 3, Magma is INFINITELY faster than Blaziken and every game I played I would start down a few prizes. If he never let it get to a third game, hed have a pretty much garunteed win. Maintaining a legitimate play speed throughout all the games, due to the close nature of blaziken vs magma battles, it could have easily taken 90 minutes for two games, or only enough minutes to get the opening of the 3rd game in, which he would be up on. I had to conserve time, and why waste time and mental energy on a lost game? Plus you reveal more of your deck. I fully expect my opponents to use the time as well. I have no qualms with it. He was an AMAZING player and knew alot about how to get his wins. I dont just abuse time when I see a chance to screw someone over. I am always aware of it, whether it can give me an advantage, or making sure it doesn't give my opponent one.
If you look at most Magic players, every aspect of the game which you can abuse makes you that much of a better player. Alot of TCGs promote winning over anything else. I play under that idealogy. I guess Im more of a Magic player at heart. I love how that term is flung around like an insult by alot of players on this board. There is nothing wrong with this being a cutthroat game. If it wasn't, I would have quit a long time ago. Competition keeps me in the game, and keeps me motivated. If I just played the game for fun, I'd be so bored within a month I'd quit. Its not a BAD game, but no TCG keeps me into it if nothing is to be won. Theres quite a large portion of players who have the " Magic " mentality even in Pokemon. I think the most annoying part about playing Pokemon,a nd I do kind of mean this in an irritated way, but not in an angry way, is how a large portion of the player base looks down on competition. In Magic, if you break a deck, or develop an archetype, you'll earn extreme amounts of respect. Players dont yell at someone for using an archetype like in Pokemon. If your using a fun theme deck you'd be more likely to get ridiculed. In the old days, you use a Haymaker the boards would eat you alive,a ndit was so stupid. In Magic alot of people respect the pros for their ability to be all around amazing players, including by acknowledging time presence and soooo many other out of game factors. In Pokemon its looked at as inethical. I guess theres a big difference in player bases, but I find it annoying. Anyways, I can't type any more. Its 330ish am now and I need sleep, I have a big Heroclix tournament tomorrow. If I get any more replies I'll comment tomorrow when I get home. Thanks for reading my long rant and ramble, sorry if I offended anyone,a nd I probably left alot of stuff open ended, but I'm about to pass out.
Hehe. 