Previous formats....

[Top Cut Comics]

Hello,

I was hoping someone here could help me.

I am looking for a complete list of formats that include NINTENDO based sets only.
Example.... 2008 dp-on

I do not want anything printed by WotC.

While your at it some pros and cons about a particular format that you may have listed.

Example....

My favorite format was when Metanite, dragtrode, rock-lock, lbs, etc was being played. Those were the GLORY days of the game for me.

Thanks,
Jimmy

[tehmoe]

Originally Posted by ShopCCNC

Hello,

I was hoping someone here could help me.

I am looking for a complete list of formats that include NINTENDO based sets only.
Example.... 2008 dp-on

I do not want anything printed by WotC.

While your at it some pros and cons about a particular format that you may have listed.

Example....

My favorite format was when Metanite, dragtrode, rock-lock, lbs, etc was being played. Those were the GLORY days of the game for me.

Thanks,
Jimmy

Jimmy, are you gonna do what i think you are? because if so. i want in on this.

2003: Expedition-on
2004: RS-on
2005: HL-on
2006: DX-on
2007: HP-on
2008: DP-on
2009: DP-on again
2010: MD-on

[Scizor]

^ Looks right to me. I think 2006 Worlds format was the best of all time. From best-worst for me:

2006: Literally a dozen decks I can think of made an appearance over the season: Mewtric, Eeveelutions, Queendom, Dragtrode, Metanite, Powtar, Rock Lock, LBS, Delta, Ludicargo, Bancham, and Mynx. There was such an incredible balance in the metagame. So many games were close. There was a lot of skill involved with many great cards like Pow! Hand Extension, Rockets Admin. and Scramble Energy. Flaws? Can't think of any.

2005: While there were a little fewer decks than 2006 viable this season, the incredible amount of skill involved is a huge part of what makes this the second best format all time. Rock Lock had one of the most dominant runs of any deck in history during the Gym Challenge season, winning over half of them. This gave rise to Medicham, which took U.S. Nationals. Both decks were bested by Worlds' best surprise deck: Queendom. 2nd place was Powtar, which would become more popular the following season (although I think it is one of the most underrated decks ever). I guess you could say there was a little less balance this season compared to 2006, but not really. Hard to find many flaws.

2007: I am going to specify I think this format definitely rivals 2005 and even 2006 prior to Diamond and Pearl's release as the best. There were a good amount of decks running around during States and Regionals and there was enough left over from previous seasons to keep a lot of skill in the game. Speed Spread (or Absolutions) stayed under the radar much of the season and was able to capture States, Regionals, Nationals and World Championships. Speed Spread was hardly dominant, however. I think DP's release was bad timing as this season was great before it. Flaws: a lot of reliance on Holon's Castform starts and the beginning of T1 losses coming back into the game (Riolu winning 5 games alone at Worlds Grinder rings a bell).

2004: Not as many people played this season as the following ones, but I definitely think it is a solid format. The only thing that keeps me from putting it higher was Blaziken's early dominance in the season. Not only was Blaziken unquestionably the best deck during Cities, but it became even more powerful with the release of Blaziken ex in Team Magma/Team Aqua. Of course, had anyone actually came up with Magma before the Japanese did, it's possible that Blaziken wouldn't have taken as many States as it did. It was when Hidden Legends debuted that this season got really good. Stadium Challenges, Nationals and eventually Worlds had many different decks. A surprise deck won Worlds and many others did well there or previously (Walrein, Wailord, Bellossom teched into Blaziken).

2008: I really think this format gets a bad rap, especially on this forum. I admit I did not like it at times, but compared to the heap of garbage we've had the last 2.5 years 2008 looks like a great format. I won't say it was great but it was definitely solid. While there were basically three big cards all year that sucessfull decks ran (Gardevoir, Empoleon and Magmortar) there was still quite a bit of skill involved in mirror matches (because that's often what you played). Scramble Energy still being legal was the best part of this format. While Gardevoir dominated the latter part of the season, there is no way it was unbeatable and had it not been the choice of many great players for Worlds, Empoleon could have very well won. And the same goes for U.S. Nationals.

2009-2011. Ever since Luxray GL LV.X came out I feel as if things have gotten worse and worse. More fast cards keep coming out with little to no recovery. Just compare the recovery cards today to those back in 2004-2008:

Twins - LOL, not even close to the same thing as Oracle, are you kidding me? Decks like Vilegar that are somewhat reliant on Twins can crap out early and whiff Energy/stuff. Wouldn't happen with Oracle. No comparison.

Scramble Energy - Double Colorless Energy? Uh, DCE kind of causes some of the donks we have now and it speeds up the format even more. Scramble got decks and strategies built around it.

Pow! Hand Extension - No current replacement.

As far as game design, I think things have gone really downhill. Although, Black and White looks like it could be heading the right direction. The implementation of the new rules in this format would be disastrous, but honestly, this season has been such a mess anyways that it is worth taking a Nationals and Worlds donkfest for (hopefully) years of balance and skill (like in 2004-2008).

Just my thoughts.

2006 format tournament at Worlds, PLEASE! I'll make it happen if nobody else will.

[Jason]

06, 07, 08 was the greatest formats I ever had.

09,10,11 sucked.... At least 11 is still better than 09 and 10.

Sigh.

[eriknance]

I agree with everything Scizor said (like usual, haha), except I didn't play during 2004. Also, I have a little more disdain for the 2008 format, but it relates mostly to various specific issues I had with that season. I still got a Regionals win that year thanks to the OP. :D

[bullados]

Unless I'm forgetting, 2004 was the Gardy vs Blaze format before Japan swept Worlds with Magma. But it was very similar strategies. Hide behind Dunsparce while building your accelerator and a big attacker, then sweep. For Gardy, it was Gardy ex. For Blaze, it was first Rayquaza ex, then Blaze ex.

[Shen]

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...rnament_format

That should include the promo sets as well. 2007 is the earliest I could find =/ Maybe someone else could pick up from there.

I really enjoyed DX-on. I was just starting to play competitively the year before (in HL-on) so I was able to start experiencing the metagame. I remember when I started going to out of town tournaments and actually prepared for them. I was pretty mediocre when I started off the season but I knew I was developing as a player when I made my first top cut at a BR's near the end of the season (lol). I was glad I was able to learn from that format, I feel bad for new players who get their experience from today's crap. A lot of the decks you play today, you don't play to respond to your opponent. Like take Uxie donk as an extreme example, you don't get to outplay your opponent... you just win >.> Gyarados feels the same way and Vilegar comes close but I guess it's a little more demanding. (I'm not saying these decks are easy to play, though some could arguably say they're easier than others. There's just no interaction with your opponent.)

I would love to replay DX-on with the experience I have now.

[chriscobi634]

Originally Posted by Scizor

^ Looks right to me. I think 2006 Worlds format was the best of all time. From best-worst for me:

2006: Literally a dozen decks I can think of made an appearance over the season: Mewtric, Eeveelutions, Queendom, Dragtrode, Metanite, Powtar, Rock Lock, LBS, Delta, Ludicargo, Bancham, and Mynx. There was such an incredible balance in the metagame. So many games were close. There was a lot of skill involved with many great cards like Pow! Hand Extension, Rockets Admin. and Scramble Energy. Flaws? Can't think of any.

2005: While there were a little fewer decks than 2006 viable this season, the incredible amount of skill involved is a huge part of what makes this the second best format all time. Rock Lock had one of the most dominant runs of any deck in history during the Gym Challenge season, winning over half of them. This gave rise to Medicham, which took U.S. Nationals. Both decks were bested by Worlds' best surprise deck: Queendom. 2nd place was Powtar, which would become more popular the following season (although I think it is one of the most underrated decks ever). I guess you could say there was a little less balance this season compared to 2006, but not really. Hard to find many flaws.

2007: I am going to specify I think this format definitely rivals 2005 and even 2006 prior to Diamond and Pearl's release as the best. There were a good amount of decks running around during States and Regionals and there was enough left over from previous seasons to keep a lot of skill in the game. Speed Spread (or Absolutions) stayed under the radar much of the season and was able to capture States, Regionals, Nationals and World Championships. Speed Spread was hardly dominant, however. I think DP's release was bad timing as this season was great before it. Flaws: a lot of reliance on Holon's Castform starts and the beginning of T1 losses coming back into the game (Riolu winning 5 games alone at Worlds Grinder rings a bell).

2004: Not as many people played this season as the following ones, but I definitely think it is a solid format. The only thing that keeps me from putting it higher was Blaziken's early dominance in the season. Not only was Blaziken unquestionably the best deck during Cities, but it became even more powerful with the release of Blaziken ex in Team Magma/Team Aqua. Of course, had anyone actually came up with Magma before the Japanese did, it's possible that Blaziken wouldn't have taken as many States as it did. It was when Hidden Legends debuted that this season got really good. Stadium Challenges, Nationals and eventually Worlds had many different decks. A surprise deck won Worlds and many others did well there or previously (Walrein, Wailord, Bellossom teched into Blaziken).

2008: I really think this format gets a bad rap, especially on this forum. I admit I did not like it at times, but compared to the heap of garbage we've had the last 2.5 years 2008 looks like a great format. I won't say it was great but it was definitely solid. While there were basically three big cards all year that sucessfull decks ran (Gardevoir, Empoleon and Magmortar) there was still quite a bit of skill involved in mirror matches (because that's often what you played). Scramble Energy still being legal was the best part of this format. While Gardevoir dominated the latter part of the season, there is no way it was unbeatable and had it not been the choice of many great players for Worlds, Empoleon could have very well won. And the same goes for U.S. Nationals.

2009-2011. Ever since Luxray GL LV.X came out I feel as if things have gotten worse and worse. More fast cards keep coming out with little to no recovery. Just compare the recovery cards today to those back in 2004-2008:

Twins - LOL, not even close to the same thing as Oracle, are you kidding me? Decks like Vilegar that are somewhat reliant on Twins can crap out early and whiff Energy/stuff. Wouldn't happen with Oracle. No comparison.

Scramble Energy - Double Colorless Energy? Uh, DCE kind of causes some of the donks we have now and it speeds up the format even more. Scramble got decks and strategies built around it.

Pow! Hand Extension - No current replacement.

As far as game design, I think things have gone really downhill. Although, Black and White looks like it could be heading the right direction. The implementation of the new rules in this format would be disastrous, but honestly, this season has been such a mess anyways that it is worth taking a Nationals and Worlds donkfest for (hopefully) years of balance and skill (like in 2004-2008).

Just my thoughts.

2006 format tournament at Worlds, PLEASE! I'll make it happen if nobody else will.

I agree with a lot that you say here, but this format isn't all that bad. The only thing that makes us all hate it is because we are sick of Luxray dominating format after format after format. But ever since it's been out it SPs in general are very strategic, their cheap to use but still strategic.

If by some means possible you would throw some of those formats in between each of the 2009-2011 formats, I think we would all be much happier players.

[Scizor]

SPs have nothing on any of the previous formats' decks strategy wise. I completely disagree. You can't just say we are tired of Luxray GL X and then go on to say SPs have legitimate strategies, too. That really doesn't make any sense. We are tired of these years because they are just flat out horrible. There is not really any other reason why.

[chriscobi634]

Originally Posted by Scizor

SPs have nothing on any of the previous formats' decks strategy wise. I completely disagree. You can't just say we are tired of Luxray GL X and then go on to say SPs have legitimate strategies, too. That really doesn't make any sense. We are tired of these years because they are just flat out horrible. There is not really any other reason why.

So Power Sprays require no skill? So knowing not to have your board flooded with tools last format because of Relicanth's easy accessibility required no skill?

Your misreading my comment, I didn't mean it's up there with the best of the formats, but certainly is not last. The GG format was the worst IMO.

This format has LuxChomp, DialgaChomp, Gigas, Gengar and Gyarados as good decks. Certainly some don't win as much as the others simply because of the ration they are played in, but they are still very competitive.

That format had initially GG vs. Magmortar, and once Empoleon came out it replaced Magmortar as the top contender to GG. So it was either play GG and face a ton of mirror matches or play one of those two.

[yoyofsho16]

Honestly I liked playing 50% plox mirror for a few months way more than playing 33% SP mirror for 2 years.

[Prime]

Originally Posted by chriscobi634

So Power Sprays require no skill? So knowing not to have your board flooded with tools last format because of Relicanth's easy accessibility required no skill?

Since Claydol has been rotated out, I'd say No. All an SP player has to do is wait for an Uxie and play it. Perhaps hold two in case the opponent wants to play two Uxies in a row, but how often does that happen?

There aren't that many game-breaking poke-powers, minus all the SP ones, so this season there isn't much to Power Spray. Even last season, it was just Claydol (if you could snipe it next turn) or Uxie.

Originally Posted by chriscobi634

Your misreading my comment, I didn't mean it's up there with the best of the formats, but certainly is not last. The GG format was the worst IMO.

I don't feel the GG-dominant format was the worst. I kind of parallel it to people's fears that the next format will be dominated by (insert bw stage 2 here). No format dominated by a stage 2 could be worse than a format dominated by basics.

When GG dominated, there were still various options because of how GG dominated. Gallade, sure, could deal the damage, but only once or twice, because you'd run out of prizes to flip. Gardy didn't do insane damage, so it wasn't like the GG deck was beating you by doing 80 damage to any of your bench Pokemon or one-shotting anything.

That is why we saw a Stage 1 deck based around Scizor MD do well at Nationals that year. That is why we saw a spread-ish deck like Empoleon MD do well that year. Magmortar did well that year, another stage 1, because it could setup quicker than GG.

You can't setup quicker than a BASIC. Thus the problem with SP dominance.

Originally Posted by chriscobi634

This format has LuxChomp, DialgaChomp, Gigas, Gengar and Gyarados as good decks. Certainly some don't win as much as the others simply because of the ration they are played in, but they are still very competitive.

You say Gigas but it really isn't winning anywhere close to the other SP decks. Gengar and Gyarados, sure. That's two non-SP decks. Everything else is SP. The game has been in the hands of SP for a while, and not much can even be played because most cards aren't fast enough to keep up with SP while also being good enough to rival it in damage and disruption.