Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Psychological Side to Pokemon

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Miamisportsfan45

Miamisportsfan45

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Seeing as the Pokemon TCG is a card game based on strategy and because it's a card game, it also involves it's fair share of luck. There's always that psychological side to Pokemon that nobody ever seems to think about or discuss... Every card game has it. Such as being able to read your opponent and determine moves in critical situations. Even play-testing your odds and strategies online may be a different experience in person because of being able to tell what an opponent may have the ability to do before taking a chance on a move that may affect your hand next turn, what you or they even have in their hand, or a few other examples to note.

What kind of role does this play in our TCG and the current meta-game and how vital is it - or has it been over the course of the TCG?
 
I can see this "psychological" side of any TCG In addition to not only that, seeing your opponent have ticks can intimidate, create anxiety, and also tell what the person is thinking. I think it is with any "sit-down" procedural sport. Even Texas Hold 'EM has it. In the current meta, I think people are very visible and can easily be read. It is just about getting to the point where you can read is the challenge. Often times it will determine how safe or gutsy of a move you might want to take, though usually you will find yourself in the same point. You can never tell for sure, anyways.
 
Just finished NC States with Durant. 9 out of the 11 people I played were playing something with Eels, a fairly tough matchup if they get a quick start. In a lot of my matches I found myself concentrating on my opponent's actions: facial expressions, body language, gestures, and so on. Mostly, I was trying to get an overall feel for how comfortable they were with their hand. If I could catch them without an energy in hand, for instance, it could easily define how the remainder of the game played out.

In addition to trying to read my opponents, I'm usually very still and quiet when I play. I'm not looking for the intimidation factor, it's simply a matter of trying to keep my body calm so my mind will follow. I've seen many opponents work themselves into a nervous fit, then make a game-changing misplay.

There are other psychological aspects to the game, but I have to be honest and say that one of the most "psychological" cards in the game was Power SPray. Yes, I couldn't stand the SP format, but if there was a good game to be had in an SP mirror, there were moments where reading the opponent correctly could either make or break the game. Another notable card for this is Team Galactic's Wager — RPS can easily become a very psychological game if both players are interested in playing it slowly and deliberately.
 
Psychological aspect of Pokemon? That's a lot of ground to cover, but understanding it is probably second only to deck building (as you can't do much without a good deck). The reason why few people bring it up I think is because it's often lumped into the term 'skill.' Being able to predict your opponent's actions, a prepare safeguards, or lulling the opponent into a false sense of security, among other things, is rather easily mistaken for skill.

-Being able to read your opponent's face and reactions is very handy (unless the opponent is like me and tries keep a deadpan for as long as possible)
-Being able to figure out your opponent's plans, or responses to your moves is crucial and can easily keep the tide of the match in one's favor.

As I said it's often mistaken for skill, mainly because how the player uses their interpretations affects their plans and tactics, almost merging with skill to the point that it's hard to make a distinction between the two.
 
You can also use deck tricks to see how the opponent play. Point in case- single oddish tech
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^ I've actually considered that as well. Makes for a good technique until the word gets out during a tournament.

I can't tell you how often an opponent makes it extremely obvious that they aren't satisfied with their current hand and the amount of luck that they're having - which results in the opponent changing their mind about using things such as Judge, N, Cheerleader's Cheer, Battle City, or anything else that may be useful for the opponent. Usually because people don't realize or acknowledge that part of the game is psychological to an extent.

I feel as if the most psychological aspect of the game is combining hand size of odds and threats to likeliness of getting what they need to psychology or being able to read someone.
 
There are few occasions where reading your opponent matters; because it's very hard to play around even if you knew what they had.

If they have a catcher, you're in a bad spot. But, it's not like you play around them having switch - if they have a switch, you dynamotor and attack. If they don't, you dynamotor and attack.

It's the same reason why I am looking at my opponent's discard less. The chance that I make a better play based on what my opponent has (or doesn't have) in their discard is much lower than the chance I make a misplay because i'm overthinking what they may have and miss what I DO have.
 
But again, you do read into things such as this when realizing both your N and PONT count is low and you have the option between the two. Which is where this likely comes into play along decision making goes.

Aside from that, you can tell when you're opponent is in a tough spot based on their expressions and frustration of particular things. For instance... I recently played someone at Cities a little while ago who took Regionals by storm. Beat him in Cities because not only did he get stuck in a situation where he couldn't make particular moves because things were prized. But because he made it completely obvious that all of the energy were prized and lost zoned at that point. Which resulted in me figuring out that he couldn't even bait me into switching to attack for the 2HKO.

Just a scenario to note.
 
I am curious to know if other people have experienced the "psychological warfare" my family has, and how they have handled it. At Nationals one year, my son was in Senior division and was undefeated by the 5th round. He was approached by a previous opponent and his mother, claiming that my son had cheated. Their finger-pointing and aggressive behavior threw my son off his game. He didn't win another match after that.

Recently, my son was asked by a "friend" to scoop to him if they paired in Top Cut. Due to the compassionate nature of my son's heart, I truly did not know how he would handle the situation. As it turned out, they did not get paired, but this did not stop me from being furious at the situation. One, because NO player should ask another player to scoop to them. And two, because this was psychological. Even if my son decided not to scoop to the other player, I doubt his mind would be on the game, and more on the fact he was playing a friend in Top Cut who asked him to scoop.

Looking forward to your responses!
 
NC-mom.

And you have just hit the tip of the iceberg.

I am fully convinced that Pokemon games are most commonly won at the tables by players who can handle the mental stress.

There are a lot of nice people in Pokemon. There are a lot of people in Pokemon who are really nice to you until you beat them or they consider you a threat.

Through Pokemon you can make lifelong friends, and then you get those who want to win at all costs.

The key for your son is to surround himself with like minded people who play.

We have a player who still comes to my league after over 10 years, and my sons will not play against in casual testing, because it is not a good experience.

There are nice people, and those who are not nice.

Nice people will always rule.

Vince
 
NCPokemom said:
I am curious to know if other people have experienced the "psychological warfare" my family has, and how they have handled it. At Nationals one year, my son was in Senior division and was undefeated by the 5th round. He was approached by a previous opponent and his mother, claiming that my son had cheated. Their finger-pointing and aggressive behavior threw my son off his game. He didn't win another match after that.

Recently, my son was asked by a "friend" to scoop to him if they paired in Top Cut. Due to the compassionate nature of my son's heart, I truly did not know how he would handle the situation. As it turned out, they did not get paired, but this did not stop me from being furious at the situation. One, because NO player should ask another player to scoop to them. And two, because this was psychological. Even if my son decided not to scoop to the other player, I doubt his mind would be on the game, and more on the fact he was playing a friend in Top Cut who asked him to scoop.

Looking forward to your responses!
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I have to agree with this. Scenarios like this take away from the game. There's this kind of psychological impact that can last throughout the tournament to benefit someone in particular, then there's game psychology that only lasts throughout the game. Nonetheless, what Meg45 said without a doubt is the truth. I stand to believe that it's a game that only those that can handle the metal stress involved benefit from. Along with players that understand cause & effect, strategy, logic and concept alike.
 
Hey Corey,
For me it is always reading what your opponent does. You know i run Vanilluxe which is a relatively harder deck to run due to lock. So as i do play n and other things that can help the opponent, I find it indubitably useful to completely break down every single aspect of what your opponent says, how they say it, what moves they make, in what speed they do it in, and how their attitude is. All of this really helps imo.
 
dragonfire said:
Hey Corey,
For me it is always reading what your opponent does. You know i run Vanilluxe which is a relatively harder deck to run due to lock. So as i do play n and other things that can help the opponent, I find it indubitably useful to completely break down every single aspect of what your opponent says, how they say it, what moves they make, in what speed they do it in, and how their attitude is. All of this really helps imo.
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It really does if you're understanding how to analyze your opponent. It comes to a point where you have to realize when you're being social and when you're giving too much deck information away. Do you really want an opponent to place a Mewtwo onto there bench thinking you may not have on in your deck/hand at the time? Or a Catcher combination with it? There's too many corruption cards in the format at the moment. I personally feel as if the TCG has gotten to a point now, where there are so many cards in the format that cause both opponent corruption or capitalize off of outside forces. Yanmega was a great example of this. Whether it was matching there hand with yours or the whole deck strategy revolving around being able to discard and match regardless of the situation - or just corruption of the opponent but then corrupting yourself of not being able to play. However, then there were drawbacks and there still are. Though, now it's gotten to the point where if you can read an expression or tell that someone's frustrated and you have the chance to help the situation knowing what it is, or just knowing it for that matter, you can take advantage of it. Why N them for 6 when you could Cheren instead?


Rambo1000 said:
none of these techniques work against a high-calibur player.
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Completely disagree. I'll give you an example of why you're wrong. I recently took advantage of a player that made it extremely obvious that what he had been looking for the entire game was prized. He nearly decked himself out cards, up until he searched his deck and realized - but then at that point, I knew exactly what he was looking for and where it was. I knew what NOT to target and go after just by the simple frustration of how he put his deck on the table, the body language of how he asked me to cut, and how he told to speed up my turns, etc.
 
Then that player is obviously not good/wasn't playing well.

There's always going to be a psychological factor but it's very, very small and generally doesn't play to either person's favor. This is of course assuming that both players know what they're doing. Bad players will give things away left and right
 
Son_of_Apollo said:
Then that player is obviously not good/wasn't playing well.

There's always going to be a psychological factor but it's very, very small and generally doesn't play to either person's favor. This is of course assuming that both players know what they're doing. Bad players will give things away left and right
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They're leading in championship points right now, are currently attending there third states and won several major events. I'm not going to give out any names or anything - but they're definitely one of the better players in the game.

Getting frustrated doesn't make you a bad player at all, it's just an instinct and psychology or being read/analyzed isn't something you necessarily think about as you're playing. If it really is, you're either reading WAY too much into this game or you're not necessarily thinking completely about your strategy/next move. Seems like you're just distracted altogether if you are thinking of psychology. :lol:
 
Interesting thread. Last year, when I played Steelix, I used Jirachi RR as a starter and ran 4 Judges. Much of my wins were decided by early game Judges. If I could judge early and call out another Jirachi with Call Energy, my set up was complete and their's destroyed, which was essential since my deck always set up slower (intentionally to Detour Twins). But, one interesting trick I learned VERY early playing Jirachi and Judge was to watch my opponent. I would drop the twins, shuffle my hand, we would cut, and I would draw my cards slowly without looking at them while I stared at my opponent. 9/10 of their face would tell me whether I need to Detour or not. And, 9/10 times, their reaction would reaffirm my decision.
 
Miamisportsfan45 said:
They're leading in championship points right now, are currently attending there third states and won several major events. I'm not going to give out any names or anything - but they're definitely one of the better players in the game.

Getting frustrated doesn't make you a bad player at all, it's just an instinct and psychology or being read/analyzed isn't something you necessarily think about as you're playing. If it really is, you're either reading WAY too much into this game or you're not necessarily thinking completely about your strategy/next move. Seems like you're just distracted altogether if you are thinking of psychology. :lol:
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were they good before 2008? if not then i really don't know how legitimate they are.
 
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