The point of 45 2/3 is to have one single legitimate game. One game that is not donk. One competitive game. I can see using 45 2/3 for Swiss rounds to force the one legitimate game that might not happen in 30+3.
One single legitimate game is meaningless in a 2/3 series. I'll explain why. The problem with 45m 2/3 is you can actually win the only legitimate game, yet lose the series. Picture a player playing a slower deck. It can be a Chandelure deck, a Gothitelle deck, The Truth, Durant, Gengar...a ton of slow decks exist. This deck can go on to win a lengthy 30 or so minute Game 1.
Game 2, however, is a different story. The fast deck might get an early lead, and manage to draw their 4th prize as time expires. The slow deck may have had a chance to ultimately win had time not expired, but we'll never know.
Now move to Game 3, where the fast deck adds insult to injury. The fast deck now won a game on time and is in a Sudden Death match to send one player home. The player with the slow deck is now at an overwhelming disadvantage to a fast deck (such as Tornadus/Zekrom/Pachirisu/Shaymin.)
What ends up happening is that the lower the time frames, the fewer viable decks. Decks like Gothitelle, Chandelure, The Truth, Durant & Gengar all are punished in 60 minute 2/3. Reduce this time from 60 to 45 minutes and these decks actually become unviable decks. Expand the time limits to 75m and the amount of strong decks literally doubles.
Allow me to further illustrate the problem with 45m with another example. You may be under the impression that 45m works for slow decks because they can win a lengthy Game 1 and take the series as a 1-0 winner. Not only does this defeat the purpose of match play, but it's actually
worse than a one game series!
Example?
It's 45-minute match play. Player A is playing The Truth. Player B is playing Zekrom/Tornadus/Pachirisu/Shaymin. This match strongly favors The Truth. The game becomes a long, drawn-out game that the Zekrom player realizes he cannot win. He could sit there and play the long game and use up nearly all of the time, losing the series 0-1. He doesn't have to do that, though. Instead, all he has to do is concede halfway throughout the match to allow enough time to get 4-prizes in Game 2. And if he does that and wins Game 2, he has an overwhelming advantage in Sudden Death. Again, the winner of the match can end up winning 0 full games. All the Zekrom player has to do is win either Game 1 or 2 and he will usually win the series in a sudden death Game 3.
The player playing The Truth is helpless in these positions. If he loses Game 1, the Zekrom player will never concede Game 2, and simply play the match out, making the player playing The Truth "earn the win." By the time The Truth has won Game 2, we'll be playing a Sudden Death Game 3. Basically, if the Zekrom player wins either Game 1 OR Game 2, he will almost always win the series. The Truth has to win two games, Zekrom will basically have to win one.
