Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

How good are U?

The top 5 best abilities in a Pokémon player:
1. To flip heads
2. To topdeck the cards you need
3. To build good decks
4. To think strategically
5. To catch other people cheating (Mmmm.... prize swap) :D

Edit: I'm a cross between a Spike and a Johnny: I like winning (duh), but like playing rogue decks if they work (I once won a tournament with LDrago/Espy/Blissey)
 
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Dunjohn said:
Spike probably holds the banning of Sneasel as the most traumatic experience in his life so far.
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Actually, the death of archetypes would be the most traumatic experiences Spike's endured in Pokémon. Spike doesn't care about the speed of his deck, he just cares that it wins, and that it wins a lot. Having no archetypes to fall back upon means Spike has to use creativity and lose some of his win percentages.
 
Heh. Never did understand Timmy/Johnny/Spike. I guess I'm 85 Johnny, 10 Timmy, 5 Spike... But I dislike combos...

Hey Marill, d'ju think Blaziken as an archetype? Seeing a goodly amount of those around...
 
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Pok'emaniac, welcome to the 'Gym.

Please take the time to read the different forums and get an idea of what type of posts go where. The place to ask deck questions is the Deck forum; however, you can't just post 'help me on my deck' or 'build me a deck'. If you post your deck people will make suggestions on how to make it better; reading that forum will also give you an idea of how one builds their own deck.

If you have not done so already, please be sure to read the rules of the PokéGym, in the Announcements Forum, here: http://www.pokegym.net/showthread.php?t=51 .

Thanks for your cooperation...

'mom
 
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The senior Magic R&D designer, Mark Rosewater, actually did up a test to see whether you're a Timmy, Johnny or Spike:

Magic Test

You'll need to know your Magic cards for Q1, but if you don't, I'll replace them with Pokemon names. Bear in mind that my knowledge of Pokemon cards is geared towards the older ones, but I'll try:

[]Suicune (Legendary Body)... []Dark Machamp... []Magcargo
[]Moltres (Fossil)... []Pokemon Trader... []Professor Elm
[]Scyther (Jungle)... []Misty's Duel... []Super Energy Removal
[]Maintenance... []Charizard (BS1)... []Electabuzz (BS1)
[]Slowking (NG)... []Shining Gyarados... []Gust of Wind
[]Feraligatr (Riptide)... []Cleffa (Eeeeeeek)... []Sceptile (Energy Trans
[]Scizor (AQ)... []Here Comes TR!... []Blastoise (BS1)
[]Alakazam (BS1)... []Sneasel (Beat Up)... []Dark Charizard
 
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Lord Ninetales said:
Most important trait? Having people under-estimate you :p
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Yeah, surprise factor works pretty well in local touneys. You have to talk like a newbie and make the other person think you are new to the game. Then, your opponent will not play as hard as he should, and he (or she) will react too late when you start playing seriously.
 
Tails said:
Hey Marill, d'ju think Blaziken as an archetype? Seeing a goodly amount of those around...
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It's Marril, not Marill, and Blaziken has yet to prove itself as an archetype. If Blaziken decks are around after the next expansion or two, and dominating most of its opposition so much that people are forced to play it in order to win, then yes, it'd be an archetype.
 
heh

Battles are decided before they even begin. Players deck building skill decide the outcome. Luck is, of course, always a factor. But that cannot come into account when measuring someones skills, as it is purely luck. Strategy does come into play during the battle, but if you do not know the limits and the strengths of your deck, you cannot possibly win by anything but sheer luck. And players levels of strength can only be measured in the heat of battle, making a guess between 1-10 is a waste of time.
 
You're right, Shadow. Since most of my peers don't have Pokemon cards, I keep two decks constructed, so that I can lend one to my opponent and use one. But before the game, I always say, "If you want to look through the deck, see how it works, you may." True, I have the inevitable advantage that I know my opponent's deck, often better than he does, but I allow that look through for just that reason. Once you know the rules, all that matters is the deck. A newbie with a good deck will tend to win against an experienced player with a bad deck. Given equal-quality decks, the advantage an experienced player has over a less experienced player is small.
 
dkates said:
Given equal-quality decks, the advantage an experienced player has over a less experienced player is small.
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What are you smoking? I'd like to test Scrubby McScrub against the Pokémon TCG world champ with equal quality decks.

The deck quality means nothing if you don't know how to play the dang thing as well. Also, experience means that you make better plays and fewer mistakes, since you've made the mistakes and you know what not to do. An experienced player with a deck of equal quality to a scrub will beat the scrub almost every times, assuming said player doesn't get energy-screwed or something.
 
hrhrhr

I'd say I'm a 100, simply because I'm better than everyone here.

The best traits in a player are drive, natural talent, and competition. If you've got the will to play 20 games a night-- especially in a new format, you're simply going to know the best decks and the format better than someone who isn't. Natural talent for the game is just what is needed. You can tell who is a gamer and who isn't just by the way they carry themselves. Someone who is good a Chess and Poker could pick up Pokemon and probably be competitive at it in a few weeks. If you're a gamer, you're a gamer. You've got the flair, and love of the game, you'll do well. Someone with natural talent has an eye towards strategy and competition.

Speaking of competition, that's another crutial factor. If you play with other really good players, you'll all elevate your gameplay. Someone could break out a Sneasel deck at a local tournament and crush random after random. But if they try to take on a sophisticated metagame, you'll get smashed by either players who know how to beat Sneasel decks, or another Sneasel deck that's very finely tuned. A good deck just doesn't cut it in a great metagame, and when you work cooperatively with other good players, you can develop great decks that are suited to great metagames. You feed off of the other players, and it's obvious that the result is more than the sum of it's parts.

Sportsmanship is nice, but the way I see it, Sportsmanship is a term diffacult to define. Sportsmanship in a game with my brothers is a lot different than it is in a game with my Grandma. As is a league/pickup game, a playtesting game, and a tournament game. I'll trash all day during a "fun" game, because it's not really insulting as there is nothing on the line. In a tournament game, I try to be either friendly or simply serious while playing. Over all, however, I have fun playing. I don't play the same way against every opponent, because every opponent is not the same. I know when someone isn't going to appreciate a few jabs, and when it's all in good fun. Because if you're not having fun, why play?
 
mossy2k4 said:
Someone who is good a Chess and Poker could pick up Pokemon and probably be competitive at it in a few weeks.
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It's about Magic, but this article has some relevant content about how TCGs are different than Chess and Poker. However, Magic and Pokémon have some similarities at their very core, so it shouldn't be too hard to convert it to Pokémon terms.
 
I would have to say playing strategy games competitively will allow you to catch on to other games strategies quite quickly compared to someone who is playing their 1st strategic games. Even non tcg games. I started chess 2 years ago & I think that playing strategy games for the last few years really helped me.
 
I'm a Timmy.
To keep this post on topic. I suck so bad as a player, nah, I win some I lose some, so I'm probably an average player.
 
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