Ness
Member
Anyone ever hear someone say they are "declumping" their deck? You see them player a Pokemon Collector, and they start adjusting the order of their cards in their deck not to organize and look through it, but rather to spread their Pokemon, Energy & Trainers out in a more even manner. I've asked people what they were doing when I've seen this, and I laugh at some of the responses I've gotten:
"I am randomizing my deck."
"I'm unclumping my energy cards."
"I had 3 Rare Candy next to each other - that's not random."
Newsflash: A random deck should look like nothing. When you are "declumping" a deck, you are always doing at least one of the following:
1) Cheating
2) Wasting Time
But how is it cheating? I had 4 energy cards next to each other! That's not random!
What do you mean it isn't random? Of course it is. The energies in your deck will by probability sometimes end up next to other energy cards. Pokémon will be next to other Pokémon, trainers next to other trainers. Yes, even the same name card will be next to itself sometimes.
People who do this usually do a very brief shuffle afterwards - they are happy with the new order their cards are in and they attempt to maintain that order by not shuffling thoroughly. Some players will argue that it doesn't matter if they are "Declumping" their deck, since they shuffle anyway. Well, the truth is 9 out of 10 times that player isn't shuffling his deck enough afterwards to randomize it. Midgame shuffles are rarely long enough to truly randomize a deck. Some players may indeed shuffle long enough to randomize the deck after they "declump" it, in which case they are simply...
Wasting Time!
If you shuffle well enough, your energy cards might very well end up back together. Or they might not. Ideally, when you shuffle your deck, every single card in your deck should have an equal chance of being next to any other single card. That is the purpose of shuffling. There was no point in moving those 3 Rare Candy apart from each other if you are going to shuffle thoroughly afterward anyway; those Rare Candy can be anywhere in your deck after a sufficient shuffle.
Another very annoying thing I'll see at tournaments is someone shuffling their deck before a game...and then as they prepare to offer their deck to be cut, they pick it up and start looking through it! If they are satisfied with how their trainers, energy & Pokemon were distributed, they do a few quick shuffles and offer you to cut! This is cheating! Once you pick up your deck and look at it, consider the deck unrandomized. All your previous shuffles are now negated.
The sad part is, many players (especially younger ones) who do these things do not even realize what they are doing is wrong. I'm here to tell you they are. When setting up, shuffle your deck. Don't pick it up and look at it. Offer to cut. When you go through your deck for a search, don't spread your cards out in a desired order - simply shuffle well enough so that those cards end up in an order that you could not possibly predict!
"I am randomizing my deck."
"I'm unclumping my energy cards."
"I had 3 Rare Candy next to each other - that's not random."
Newsflash: A random deck should look like nothing. When you are "declumping" a deck, you are always doing at least one of the following:
1) Cheating
2) Wasting Time
But how is it cheating? I had 4 energy cards next to each other! That's not random!
What do you mean it isn't random? Of course it is. The energies in your deck will by probability sometimes end up next to other energy cards. Pokémon will be next to other Pokémon, trainers next to other trainers. Yes, even the same name card will be next to itself sometimes.
People who do this usually do a very brief shuffle afterwards - they are happy with the new order their cards are in and they attempt to maintain that order by not shuffling thoroughly. Some players will argue that it doesn't matter if they are "Declumping" their deck, since they shuffle anyway. Well, the truth is 9 out of 10 times that player isn't shuffling his deck enough afterwards to randomize it. Midgame shuffles are rarely long enough to truly randomize a deck. Some players may indeed shuffle long enough to randomize the deck after they "declump" it, in which case they are simply...
Wasting Time!
If you shuffle well enough, your energy cards might very well end up back together. Or they might not. Ideally, when you shuffle your deck, every single card in your deck should have an equal chance of being next to any other single card. That is the purpose of shuffling. There was no point in moving those 3 Rare Candy apart from each other if you are going to shuffle thoroughly afterward anyway; those Rare Candy can be anywhere in your deck after a sufficient shuffle.
Another very annoying thing I'll see at tournaments is someone shuffling their deck before a game...and then as they prepare to offer their deck to be cut, they pick it up and start looking through it! If they are satisfied with how their trainers, energy & Pokemon were distributed, they do a few quick shuffles and offer you to cut! This is cheating! Once you pick up your deck and look at it, consider the deck unrandomized. All your previous shuffles are now negated.
The sad part is, many players (especially younger ones) who do these things do not even realize what they are doing is wrong. I'm here to tell you they are. When setting up, shuffle your deck. Don't pick it up and look at it. Offer to cut. When you go through your deck for a search, don't spread your cards out in a desired order - simply shuffle well enough so that those cards end up in an order that you could not possibly predict!
