Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Rochester Hills Michigan Tournaments

OK I agree that the Magikarp and the other weird decks that were used on Saturday had no strategy non other than to get a whole lot of league points. But, how is anyone going to have a rule that states " You have to have a limit on the number of pokemon that you have in your deck" or something like that. You just can't. Or, you can't say that all battles/matches have to be a certain amount of time either. You can not adjust the tempo of the game. Even though the games that are seaming to go uberly fast and the people that got all of those points on Saturday( me being one of them) their is no set rule that can stop it. If someone is to say "You can't play the same person two times in a row or something like that " then that would be just avoiding the problem, to me. Their probably would always be a way around any certain rule that is in place.( not just with this game!) I'm not going to go into that anymore because it is beginning to be quite confusing...
Hey, Shukuen Shinobi is EXACTLY right. We still need to have fun!!!
OK, so some people(Myself) like to get a whole lot of games in and a lot of points on one day because I never know when I can go back! Also, it is just my nature of the game to go by fast and do well by doing so. Just how I am.( Maybe not @ a Gym Challenge...) BOTTOM LINE: Some people are going to get the packs and the badges and the premeir trainer stuff before a lot of other people but, just hink of it this way... When their books are @ a maximum then others can step-in and control the playing field! ( Which will eventually happen) BTW, can their be certain rules against certain Cards?(Magikarp IS leagal, that I know of) In addition, is everyone now wanting to ban ALL weak cards that have potential for this "quick game???"
I'm not trying to offend ANY one on this so, that is just what I have to say.

EXgardevoir
 
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I'll just introduce myself first. I'm Matt T (currently ranked #1 in the world in 15+ for the 2004-2005 season, although I'm not quite sure how that happened :) ) and I finally registered for these forums.

In response to EXGardevoir:
There is a definite problem with the current league system at our league. The "alliances" formed are undermining the spirit of competitive play that the league is built around. They are turning a purely competitive game into a cooperative one, gaining benefits that other players who play competitively don't get.

Banning cards because they are too weak is, imo, a bad solution. A ban must be enforceable, warranted, and concrete, and banning "weak cards" from league games doesn't qualify.

About the "having fun," that's supposed to be part of the spirit of competitive play, not just letting your no trainer deck with 4 magikarps die 10 times in 5 minutes. If that's fun, do it for fun and not for league points. Justifying blatant abuse of the system as having fun doesn't work, although that thought does sound a bit harsh.

If Matt C. already has a solution, then excellent. But I'll just post my suggestions anyway.
  • One can't play the same person twice in a row. Although this isn't too great, it'll prevent two person "alliances."
  • One can't play the same person more than once each hour. This would, in effect, slow them down, but it would be hard to enforce and doesn't totally stop the problem.
  • One can't play the same person more than 3 times in one league session. This might actually encourage them, if they only have 3 games, to play competitively and to win, and is my preferred solution to the problem.
 
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Hey, welcome to the boards Matt!

Responding to what said: "One can't play a person twice in arow" Tried it @ other leagues and was horrible.
2nd one= Ah, so when you have played everyone ( That DOESN'T refuse to play you) then you are screwed. Just couldn't work out right.
3rd one=You know what? IMHO it's not the people it is the decks. Hmmm...Seems like some people want to turn league into as much sense as the Prerelease prize structure makes. So now we want to put a limit on how many games you can play. Hey, league is free last time I checked and the Tourneys mean MORE or should be to top players. Allready asked Matt C. and putting a limit on games is No to him(Me also). Come on, if someone would like to say something and it is putting league down( no one has done yet) then we have MORE than fun problems. We have frustraion among players that feel they should dominate both league AND league day which is just selfish.

Disgusted, but still

EXgardevoir
 
For the 2nd one, you're not screwed after you fight everyone. For one, it's only an hour. For two, if you used a competitive deck and tried to win instead of using Magikarp, games usually last 15+ minutes. Unless there are less than four people (and you're not in the tournament), I don't see a problem. If you do somehow hit the limit and play everyone in the whole place, then you can always play for fun. The only problem I see with #2 is the enforceability.

Heh, the prerelease prize structure does make no sense. But the league being a cooperative gaming environment is the same. It was designed to reward people who played and won the most real games, as far as I know. The problem was that two people played mass amounts of repeated games. I was there with Matt C. when someone came up and said "I just won 10 league games," all against the same person, and that was a problem. It's definately not the decks, it's the players. And if it is the decks, then it's the players who use them. The league was designed (once again, correct me if I'm wrong) to reward players who played and won the most games. However, playing a legitimate 20 minute game and winning is 2 stamps, whereas playing 20 minute long games and losing is 20. Isn't there a problem with the player who is trying to compete gaining so much less than the player who is "cheating" the system by trying to lose?

I'm not trying to put the league system down, but it does make almost as little sense as the prize structure in the prereleases. Allowing the people who undermine the system by playing cooperatively gain well over 5 or even 10 times the reward for doing so than the people who are doing what the system was designed to do, which is promote competitive games, is just plain poorly designed. Or, rather, well designed when it works, but easily abused. If you've ever played WarCraft III, think free for all Preteaming. It's when a 2 people search for a FFA game and team up against the other players in the game, almost always winning. Blizzard bans people for that now, as they should, because it's clearly cooperative play in a competitive play environment.

annisarich said:
your not allowed to play someone twice in a row
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If this is true, then there really shouldn't be too many issues this Saturday.
 
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Hello Everyone,

I know I have been quiet this week not posting on the boards. But, I have been reading our thread and listening to everyone’s' ideas, thoughts, complaints and solutions. I truly do appreciate what everyone has been saying on and off the boards.

I put in an email to the Pokemon League describing the situation and asked if I am allowed to ban a "technically" legal deck. I am stilling waiting to hear a reply from them.

Here are my ideas about the Pokemon League,

It is suppose to be non-competitive and I truly think it is, even including what happened last Saturday. This is the reason why, No matter how quickly or slowly a player fills up their book that player can only receive 2 POP packs a session. So, the players who are still trying to reach that goal of earning POP packs, the Magmar sticker or even the Premier Trainer sticker can still reach it by October 30. They just do it at a different pace. The League Kit comes with enough POP Pack for each book! The players that have their POP packs, Magmar and Premier trainer stickers all set for the session and yes they did earn them. I had no real problem giving them what they earned. However, they have to wait until the next session that starts in November before they can earn more goodies. The earning occurs at different times for all players but they still get them! This takes away any competitiveness for the Pokemon League because everyone has a chance to earn their POP packs.

The rule that someone is not allowed to play the same person twice in a row; I could have missed that one when I read my directions. I will go back and check.

Once again, I’m glad to see all the discussion on the thread. I am also glad that people are not trying to FLAME anyone on the boards and have been kind to each other. I know we have a lot of silliness at the Shack and people get on each others nerves from time to time. I know that we are a unique group with parents, young adults, college players, high school, middle school and elementary school aged players. I also believe we need a chance to cut loose from our week at school, work or studying. That’s why I haven’t been massively Iron Fisted toward a lot of the behavior unless you specifically ask for something. Like I said before we are a very unique group and I like our group. I really enjoy playing the card game a lot!

Oh, I'm glad to see that Matt T. is now registered on the boards! It’s good to hear from you and everyone who has been posting over all these years!

If I get a message from the League office before we play on Saturday, I will post!
:) :) :)
 
Sands said:
The rule that someone is not allowed to play the same person twice in a row; I could have missed that one when I read my directions. I will go back and check.
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Hey Matt,

Thought I would help you out a little with the above statement. You will not find it in your Read Me First Packet. It is in your Sevii Islands Leader book. When you open the book it has the schedule for the leagues start and end dates. Under the Season info there is a Paragraph that starts out saying"The Pokemon TCG League is designed" In the middle of that paragraph it states

Players may play as many or as few games as they desire; the only condition is that they may not play the same player twice in a row.
Click to expand...

It actually took me about 30 minutes to find it, so I figured I would save you the trouble.
 
farbsman said:
Hey Matt,

Thought I would help you out a little with the above statement. You will not find it in your Read Me First Packet. It is in your Sevii Islands Leader book. When you open the book it has the schedule for the leagues start and end dates. Under the Season info there is a Paragraph that starts out saying"The Pokemon TCG League is designed" In the middle of that paragraph it states



It actually took me about 30 minutes to find it, so I figured I would save you the trouble.
Click to expand...


Thank you!! You did save me time! :)
 
Hey Shackers,
FYI


I got the following e-mail this afternoon. I support this and will hold my league to this. So far all I have seen are a few decks with interesting Meowth, sparce and Pidgy in them :)

_________________________________________________________________________
Hello Richard *******,

It has come to our attention that a number of players are building league decks designed specifically to finish games in five minutes or less. These decks are typically built with very few Basic Pokemon, which all have low hit points. The purpose of these decks is to lose as quickly as possible, to maximize the number of points that a player can earn in one session.

The spirit of the league is playing games and having fun, not working the system to earn your prizes as quickly as possible. Players should be discouraged from using decks like this. League Leaders may choose to not reward players with league points if they feel that the spirit of the league has been violated. Please ensure that you are doing this in a fair manner.

If your players have any problems with this policy, please direct them to [email protected].

Thank you,
Pokemon Organized Play
 
Sands, in post #147 in paragraph 4 you said everything that I have been trying to get across to other players. Don't get ecstatic if your Friend has 4X the amount of points as you. You can get JUST as much as anyone can, no exceptions. That is how the league is designed and how it should be. ( But, that is not how they should give out prizes for Prereleases!)

In post #146( Matt T.), you said that the players who played the most real games should get rewarded. Actually, EVERYONE gets rewarded don't matter hoew long it takes them, the same as every body else if they just simply play in the league long enough.

Yep, know I know that we can't play the same person twice, that is fine. It is good to get in a variety of games against a variety of people.( Now the Magikarp will not work as easily for certain people and it will make them think a little bit. BUT, you can still play anyone as many times as you want but just not two times in a row.

Heh, if some people still don't like the way league is run, then simply play in a competitive environment like the Tournaments. ( Occasionally you can win Pop packs, too!)

Now I have a question... So on the first day of the new island( Probably Nov. 6th), you CAN'T win a pack for playing the premier trainer 6 times since it is the first week of the new island, Right???
 
My thoughts on the issue is that it's not that everyone isn't equally rewarded in the end, because they are. My real concern lies in the fact that one can gain points and therefore the rewards faster by playing to lose rather than playing to win. The League appears to be designed to be the opposite (because winning is 2 stamps and losing is 1), and playing to lose rewarding over a period of time more than playing to win over the same amount of time goes against the spirit of all competitive games (Pokemon is by nature a competitive game, even if the league isn't), which is, of course, playing to win. (Sirlin has a nice bunch of articles about playing to win in competitive games at http://www.sirlin.net/; they are really a nice read.)

This brings up the point: what is the goal of the Pokemon League? I highly doubt the goal is to get people to try to play the largest number of games in the shortest amount of time, nor do I think the goal of the Pokemon League is to try to get players to lose as many games as they can. Unless it's either of these, then there is definately an area of the Pokemon League that is failing.

I'm very glad to see things are being done about the League problems; I think it's definately a good step in the right direction.
 
The results for today's tournament have been entered with PUI! Congratulations to Matt T. for another win. I see you are now ranked #2 in the World.

I was happy to see all the new players that showed up to play in the league, Dylan, Charles, Spencer, Scott, Brandon and Gaberial.

We had a good league day with no Magikarp decks! Jeff is now a Premier Trainer!

I look forward to seeing everyone next Saturday!
 
annisarich wrote:
I am glad to see this cleaerd up and answered quickly.
Nice job by POP

Cya all in a week at the Shack.

Farbsman wrote:

I am also happy that everything went better in Rochester Hills

Since things are going pretty good up there, how about an award?

Team Rocket Returns Prerelease Tournament

Saturday November, 6th 2004

Location:
Rochester Hills Precinct Building #5
1551 E. Auburn Rd.
Rochester Hills, Mi. 48307

Cost: Yet to be decided, but it will be less then $20

In case your wondering, there will be no prerelease in Garden City this time.

I will start a topic about this prerelease once everything is finallized with PUI and on my end.


Alright! Thank you Derek!
:) :) :)
 
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I can't say anything agout the league anymore because having a prerelease @ the Shack is just AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Will be interesting to see how a Premier event will be ran in the Shack. Also will attract a lot of people for a Prerelease. :) :) :) :) :)
 
Having a prerelease is not only close to us, but it could attract a lot of people to the shack, and we might end up getting larger turn outs each week if parents see that we run leagues and tournaments every saturday. (More people to play league games with.) So yeah, this could work out in many advantages.
 
And what better *comments of Shinobi* He don't have to drive far. XD If we forgot something we can go and get it and be back fast. YAY for prerelease at the shack!!
 
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