Hey everyones, Guess whos BACK!!!!
Yo yo yo yo yo! Everyones FAVORITE banned Professor Champion is back in action! *awaits chorus of cheers but ducks in time to dodge incoming vegetables*
Anyways, Im prolly not gonna be posting here regularly, but whenever important threads come up I am going to post my EVER so important opinion. The question of the new format just HAPPENS to fall under this category. First off, lets look at a few of the possible options.
Ruby and Sapphire On- Believe it or not, many players who I talk to believe this is a near 100% choice on the new format. Unfortunately, I do see it as a likely choice, BUT, I do not think it would be a very wise idea to use this. As said by some people, the trainer engine is HORRIBLE. A counter arguement was also made, saying that it makes you rely on POKEMON over TRAINERS, but this is absolutely not true. You stop relying on trainers. You stop relying on Pokemon. You stop relying on Energy. You start relying on DRAWS. Without steady draw power, the games will be decided almost entirely on who manages to top-deck the better cards during the game. The Holographic Delcatty also becomes BROKEN, as it lets you get 3 cards a turn. If you do NOT run this card, you are simply foolish. If one player draws into a Delcatty early on and the other does not, that player almost always wins. Thats 3 extra draws to get what you need than your opponent. Games often come down to who gets their Delcatty or Birches first. This is not a stable environment, and it gets incredibly frusterating to boot. Now, here is what comes with such lack luster draw power. Haymakers. Lots and Lots of Haymakers. Many players on the website I usually go to have done a LOT of testing of this " Format " as they believe they are getting the jump on everyone. The best decks are haymakers, often using simply a pokemon line consisting of Magmar EX Mewtwo EX and Delcatty. Evolutions almost always die, and VERY few of them work, and it is a strain to make them win. If you think Haymakers were bad in Unlimited during the beginning, with the low draw power to consistantly get any Evolutions out, the game is run by Basics. This is not a speculation, this has been proved by many games played by arguably some of the best deck builders in the game today. ( Rand0m, Big Chuck ( Alex Brosseau ) Myself, and others whose names may be slightly less recognisable ) This format is horrible, and with the powerful EX Pokemon in the game, Evolutions come to a screeching halt. Unfortunately, judging by spoilers, no solid draw power is coming soon either. Choosing this format leads not only to a vastly stale, but an overwhelmingly unbalanced game. By the time cards come out to correct what is going on, if they do, the damage done to the player base may be unrepairable.
Next up we have the format that many people here feel will be the format, myself included, and the one I think would be healthiest for the game.
Expedition On- Sorry guys, Im not gonna use the cheesy EON term just yet
Neon was bad enough. BUT, this format is not only effective in game play standards, but in terms of business as well. Business-wise, the sets are still new. TPC still runs things behind the scenes, and I also imagine they get a cut of profit WotC makes. SO, with the sets being mass produced in the past year to get them out, Id imagine TPC would like to milk to profits from them slightly more than they already have. Secondly, the Exp-Sky sets have the eReader compatability. This means that they are used in a Nintendo based product, unlike the previous sets, and help advertise for them. This gives it a reason to be included by Nintendo as well. SO, by allowing these 3 sets, it not only seems like it would help Nintendo AND TPC, but even us as players and WotC as well.
Now onto the game aspects of this format. With consistant draw power in the form of Bills Maintence, ORACLE, COPYCAT, JUGGLER, Oaks Research, Elms Training Method, and others, Evolutions have no problem thriving in the environment. Strong EX pokemon would also be able to compete I would imagine. With Feralligatr rotated out, as well as both Entei AND Magcargo, different decks would filter into the format and who knows what would be used. Scizor Furret Muk ( the Fan Appeciation Tournement winner! GO JASON! ) would still be viable without Muk if LC is dropped, but Blaziken looks likely to see play, and this is a strong rival, and Scizor loses the quick and easy Mantine support to deal with fire. Everything is a toss up again. Legendary Collection should NOT be included. Yes, Bill and Pokemon Trader are great cards. Muk is a metagame disaster at times. Unfortunately, the cards just do not apply to Nintendo at all, nor do they really help the format beyond clutter it and make it as much like Neo-On as possible. Mix it up a bit. As for the promos, that is a very debatable issue, and I would like to see at LEAST the BEST Promos, simply because Elm is such an incredible card and does nothing but boost game consistancy through the roof. Nothing is harmed by the inclusion of this card. Its an uncommon and easy for anyone to get access too. Its been reprinted. I have about 40 of them. I mean, seriously! Whats wrong with including everyones FAVORITE new hand of 7 generator?! This format keeps the cardpool new and diverse, while leaving it open for a few more RS sets before a format change is needed, thus not making yet another change too swiftly.
Now, we have another interesting, less probable format possibility. Unlimited. If I remember correctly, it was Wizards of The Coasts idea to push for new formats. Prop 15/3c anyone? Modified? That was not TPCs doing, and if I remember correctly, it took alot of pushing to get it done. I would not be overly surprised if TPC says screw formats, and leaves it open to everything. I do not think this is the best answer as the best Unlimited cards are very scarce now, plus many new cards have no impact on the game-state. Unlimited is still a GREAT format to play, and as a matter of fact was MUCH better than the 3 ring circus MF had come to at the end of the NEO-On days ( Gatr Sect, Scizor Furret Muk and Entei Cargo being the three strongest decks with a few rogue decks being viable, but still no where near as consistant ) But yes, I do not put it past unlimited as being the new format.
Now, the last option I see, and equally probable, is whatever they are using in Japan currently. I am not familar with the structure at all, but I see it as a real possibility as being what is used.
I would be very surprised if what Nintendo uses is anything but these four formats. (*laughs when its revealed to be a format consisting of Rocket, Base 2, Gym Challenge and Neo 4 for no reason what so ever besides someone got drunk and started pulling random sets out of a hat* )
