afstandopleren
New Member
So, people like to win. That's generally not a bad thing, but IMHO there are several downsides to winning. But first, I'll explain why I made this thread.
I've won very few contests in my life. It didn't and still doesn't bother me much. And then I won WWNN's DDDDC contest and I noticed I did not have the same reaction as normal people that win all the time have. No, I was more like "Okay, this is it? Now what?" I did not feel a 'kick' of any sorts. So I began to wonder, why do people want to win so bad? What makes people so motivated that they use decks like Macheap to have a glimmer of chance to reach that 'magical' point of having won something 'big'? I mean, we all win from time to time a game in Pokemon, but when on a tourny, being better then everybody else seems to come in first. Even at freaking Battle Roads and Prereleases people are like "Look at me and my deck having gotten first place! Whooo!". The worst part about it is there are always people that have the tendency to kiss butt with those peoples to just be part of the spotlight. This can be clearly seen on the Organized Play parts of forums. It's hard to tell who's generally happy for you, or disguising it just to cloak possible envy or what not.
As a side effect, you wil see certain type of decks exist: Metagame decks. Decks that everyone claims to be a winner. Strangely, those decks are nothing but a hyped strategy that has won once or twice and then put on the internet for the whole world to see and be played. There is no originality and creativity left as the only difference between 2 of the same meta decks is the techs or the amount of a certain card put in. So in the end, the meta is what people 'believe' what it is because they see a card combo and go bonkers on it's potential while there are more card combos to be explored then just the ones in the meta that people themselves created.
Don't get me wrong, I am most of the time happy with my results, tho loosing on coin flips and donks are a real killer for my ability of enjoying the game. The fact that people that put more energy and thought into their decks don't really have a place to shine at tournaments, is also a bummer for me as those people don't stand a chance vs people that are driven to an almost extreme to win.
I discussed this problem with someone from the Dutch Pokemon scene. After having gotten 4-2 out of every deck I build (Café Noir, Café Zone etc.) during the time that they were best suited in the meta game and had statistically a good chance to do better then that, I became doubtful whether there would ever be place in tournaments for original and creative decks to win for once. After a while, in the discussion the only choice left was to play metadecks if I would really want to win. Which just doesn't feel right to me. So okay, I can play metadecks, I've tried, but it just doesn't do it for someone like me. But that leaves the question: Should I play for fun and continuously lose? Or should I play a (to me boring) meta deck to have atleast a good shot and getting to the top cut. I find this to be a ridiculous position because it seems to boil down to "Play this or lose" which I'm sure of wasn't ever meant to be with this game. It also came up that some people seem to want to win to stroke their ego or to just feel good about themselves for once in a while. Understandable, but sometimes it seems to be a bridge to far in how it's achieved within the legal boundaries of the game.
I've won very few contests in my life. It didn't and still doesn't bother me much. And then I won WWNN's DDDDC contest and I noticed I did not have the same reaction as normal people that win all the time have. No, I was more like "Okay, this is it? Now what?" I did not feel a 'kick' of any sorts. So I began to wonder, why do people want to win so bad? What makes people so motivated that they use decks like Macheap to have a glimmer of chance to reach that 'magical' point of having won something 'big'? I mean, we all win from time to time a game in Pokemon, but when on a tourny, being better then everybody else seems to come in first. Even at freaking Battle Roads and Prereleases people are like "Look at me and my deck having gotten first place! Whooo!". The worst part about it is there are always people that have the tendency to kiss butt with those peoples to just be part of the spotlight. This can be clearly seen on the Organized Play parts of forums. It's hard to tell who's generally happy for you, or disguising it just to cloak possible envy or what not.
As a side effect, you wil see certain type of decks exist: Metagame decks. Decks that everyone claims to be a winner. Strangely, those decks are nothing but a hyped strategy that has won once or twice and then put on the internet for the whole world to see and be played. There is no originality and creativity left as the only difference between 2 of the same meta decks is the techs or the amount of a certain card put in. So in the end, the meta is what people 'believe' what it is because they see a card combo and go bonkers on it's potential while there are more card combos to be explored then just the ones in the meta that people themselves created.
Don't get me wrong, I am most of the time happy with my results, tho loosing on coin flips and donks are a real killer for my ability of enjoying the game. The fact that people that put more energy and thought into their decks don't really have a place to shine at tournaments, is also a bummer for me as those people don't stand a chance vs people that are driven to an almost extreme to win.
I discussed this problem with someone from the Dutch Pokemon scene. After having gotten 4-2 out of every deck I build (Café Noir, Café Zone etc.) during the time that they were best suited in the meta game and had statistically a good chance to do better then that, I became doubtful whether there would ever be place in tournaments for original and creative decks to win for once. After a while, in the discussion the only choice left was to play metadecks if I would really want to win. Which just doesn't feel right to me. So okay, I can play metadecks, I've tried, but it just doesn't do it for someone like me. But that leaves the question: Should I play for fun and continuously lose? Or should I play a (to me boring) meta deck to have atleast a good shot and getting to the top cut. I find this to be a ridiculous position because it seems to boil down to "Play this or lose" which I'm sure of wasn't ever meant to be with this game. It also came up that some people seem to want to win to stroke their ego or to just feel good about themselves for once in a while. Understandable, but sometimes it seems to be a bridge to far in how it's achieved within the legal boundaries of the game.