Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Sour Grapes: BR's dont make sense

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Chuck, you really underestimate the players in Washington, Texas and Mexico. It is not easy to go multiple tournaments in a row undefeated in any of these areas. I didn't expect to jump as high as I did, I won a lot of close games that I was close to losing. Really, I think more people should've played BRs. Kettler and I are two of the few good players I think that tried to take advantage of them, and had them pay off very well. We took the risk that you didn't, and I don't know about Kettler but I could easily be 100 points lower with the close games I played. If everyone did play BRs, there would be a lot more 2000s right now, but few took the chance.
I don't like the system though, 8 is just too small a number no matter how you do it. More fair would be every area's top rated player gets in, your examples of really easy competition certainly can happen. Not everyone has an equal number of tournaments either, as you said. Having all these extra tournaments matter towards going to worlds was annoying too. Week after week I had to be very secretive from my friends, my toughest opponents, as opposed to past years where it's just 3 weeks of GCs or something similar.
 
Maybe the so called top players shouldn't be sitting on their butts at home. They should be playing.
 
Yeah, Ross makes a great point. That's actually the reason why I chose to play in the last battle road of the season, despite being at 2020: I knew it was worth the risk, even when almost every player I spoke to thought it was insane.

I respect my local metagame enough to know that there are some solid players who give not only myself, but any player in the country a game (Soles, Jorel, Weldon, etc)...but I also respect myself to give it a go when I feel really good about my playing and my deck. I'm sure Ross was the same way.

Alex should know more than anyone how hard it is to X-0 one event anywhere, let alone multiple in a row.
 
hitmonchan93 said:
Well when he was talking about the Texas player base, that didn't come off as offensive to me. That's his own opinion and I respect it. I'm sorry if it did to you though.
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BigChuck01 said:
Johnny gets to jump up 200 points from going 50-0 at 10 battle roads against a bunch of mediocre SEMI-literate Texas players
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(Emphasis added)

? ? ?

In the words of Inigo Montoya, "I dinna thin' tha' word means what you thin' it means. . ."

Prime said:
Now, there probably wasn't as many cities as there were battle roads in texas, but there probably was a lot.
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North Texas had 7 City Championships: Fort Worth, Tom Bean, Grand Prairie, Lewisville, Mesquite, Plano and Garland.

North Texas had 7 Battle Roads: Fort Worth, Tom Bean, Dallas, Lewisville, Mesquite, Plano and Garland.

S.
 
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Every "leet" player that missed a Worlds invite in the past screamed for ranking/points invites bc they "deserved" the trip. Now, you get that and you gripe some more bc others are passing you by while you sit at home, "protecting" your precious points. I hope your points earn you a stuffed animal to cry on while you sit in front of your computer, with the web cam on, whining to your "my space" buddies! Players PLAY, whiners call "sour grapes"!

Now, with that out of my system, why didnt you go play at least one BR to see how well/poorly you would do? You not only get to see the actual consequences of playing PLUS support your local PTO who is busting their rumps promoting the game, providing Y O U with the chance to play and WIN a trip to Worlds. Notice, you have to "win" an invite, not have one given to you! Then, you knock the PTOs that run these events and the judges they employ??? Guess what....if you are too good and precious to play in said BRs, why dont you JUDGE them instead??? Another way to GIVE back to the GAME some. Is that beneath you????

Keith

PS I do agree that BRs probably need a smaller K value and I'm confident PUI/OP will look into and/or fix this issue.
 
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Lawman said:
Every "leet" player that missed a Worlds invite in the past screamed for ranking/points invites bc they "deserved" the trip. Now, you get that and you gripe some more bc others are passing you by while you sit at home, "protecting" your precious points. I hope your points earn you a stuffed animal to cry on while you sit in front of your computer, with the web cam on, whining to your "*******" buddies! Players PLAY, whiners call "sour grapes"!

Now, with that out of my system, why didnt you go play at least one BR to see how well/poorly you would do? You not only get to see the actual consequences of playing PLUS support your local PTO who is busting their rumps promoting the game, providing Y O U with the chance to play and WIN a trip to Worlds. Notice, you have to "win" an invite, not have one given to you! Then, you knock the PTOs that run these events and the judges they employ??? Guess what....if you are too good and precious to play in said BRs, why dont you JUDGE them instead??? Another way to GIVE back to the GAME some. Is that beneath you????
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*applauds lawman*

WORD.

couldn't have said it better myself... :thumb: (though i'm sure the reaction you get will be nothing like what it would be should *i* have posted this...)

'mom
 
Nahhh. Give yourself a lil credit, 'Mom. The opposition has no power over you as long as you discard ":nonono:" and "=/"!

=P
 
I'll have to side with Chuck on this one. I'd be in favor of having big Stadium Challenge-like tournaments in mid-June, with the same (or slightly higher) K value and prizes as regionals. There would be 4 of them, all on the same day so people couldn't go to multiples of them, held in places around the country that are centralized to the region and with high local player bases. A few big tournaments is also more cost-effective (to any PUI reps/PTOs reading this) than hundreds of small tournaments.

This also eliminates the factor of someone going to 5 easy tournaments, where the person with more money (or free time) comes out on top. Assuming that there's 8 rounds of swiss + a top 16 cut, the same amount of points are to be won (or lost) in one tournament as 2 or 3 BRs. And there would be no disputing the winner of such a large tournament.

As someone who's been on both a high (+108 in 2 BR) and low (-65 in 2 other BR) swing at BRs, I've came to the conclusion that the bigger the event, the better.
 
I can't see the point in your comment. In Mexico, as Ives correctly said, we play against practically every other good players in every tournament. You know how much effort you need to win a state or CC? I will answer, in the first State Championship that we had in Mexico, there were Pablo Meza, Roberto Sora, Miguel Angel Lopez and many others. I was 5-1 in that tournament and I couldn't even made it to the top 8. So just imagine the level of the competition. About Miguel Angel and Roberto, they had to win the BR not with people who "don't know to read". If we don't have english as our first language, it doesn't give you a point in your argument. The mayority can understand pretty well the text and gameplay of the cards. And they also didn't played in distant and forgotten places. Don't you think that if they ranked so good was because they played with equally good ranked players? And the particular case of Roberto, he actually ranked first of the world in the past. So really... just to end this, I think that everyone got what he/she deservers, don't you think so?
 
ARMondak said:
I'll have to side with Chuck on this one. I'd be in favor of having big Stadium Challenge-like tournaments in mid-June, with the same (or slightly higher) K value and prizes as regionals. There would be 4 of them, all on the same day so people couldn't go to multiples of them, held in places around the country that are centralized to the region and with high local player bases. A few big tournaments is also more cost-effective (to any PUI reps/PTOs reading this) than hundreds of small tournaments.
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Oh, don't think there wouldn't be opposition to this as well. For example, consider the "Whicker Factor" when deciding where the event should be with regards to "high local player bases." That alone is enough to make even the most seasoned T.O.s want to retch.

S.
 
I think the problem with BRs isn't the k-value but the timing of them. If we had them after states and before regs, I would think most rankings would be about the same as they were after regs (assuming everyone went the same).
 
For those simply saying winners play, you should have the confidence to win etc., you gotta understand how much the odds are against you to stay at a high rating. You can be the best player, you can have a great win percentage, but the higher you get, the higher a win % you gotta play at. In a game that is still part luck, it becomes very hard to reach the needed win % to keep going up, even if you were the best player in the world.
 
I was just discussing this thread with my baby Omar and i wanted to post how BRs affected my ranking and playing.

Battle Roads in small countries (like mine or even european countries), had been really good for those who played until the end. As distances are short, you can "control" your opponents by playing in the same BR they do and try to take some points off them.

I agree that the ones who didnt play battle roads have NO right of complaint. I would congratulate john rather than bash him for beating 50 "noobs" as you say. If the players John went up against were so terrible, then why dont you beat them? I would like to see you winning like 30 games in a row :/ its still a CARD GAME. Luck is always present. Those who took the risk and played all the year long had their shot and take it.

Battle Roads for me were a blessing. Apart from winning my trip i played more pokemon games than ever before in a year. As we arent a big pokemon comunity we used to have less than 10 tournaments a year in the whole country. Now, thanks to battle roads, it changed. This year, without travelling too much, i managed to play 10 premiere tournaments (CCs, States, Nationals and BRs) and i am very pleased with battle roads, since they gave our players the opportunity to play more and as a consequence, to play better.

Battle Roads should still be held. The more people play, the more they progress in the game.

just my opinion

Agustín
 
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It has already been said by POP that Battle Roads K value would be lowered next tournament year and they realized that the points were too much too late to change it. If someone is really going to go on about how it needs to change then research about if anything has been said about it. I have posted before about it being said.

I think I have a great group of players here in North Texas area. It is a tough enviroment to play in if I am asked. I traveled to Houston and Oklahoma (and Kansas States) to play and can say I have much more difficulty doing well here than when I travel. That is not to say I think it is easier elsewhere because I don't know. I do think that it is easier to look and think that. I personally disagree with any comment about Battle Roads are wrong except for maybe if the tournaments are after Nationals. This was wonderful time and I had some much fun having all the new players that showed up to each Battle Roads that I assisted. This is for all age groups. The pressure of points is for some of the players and not all.

I don't have any respect for anyone who sits on points and tries to say who is good and who is not. Johnny was one that I thought was terrific this year for the way he participated. He was willing to sit and help players and give advice before the tournament or after he played someone to assist them to be better. This was at the Battle Roads as well. That to me is a top player of the game. I might have to agree someone is one of the best players if I see them play but that does not mean I think of them as a top player. I play Fantasy Football and make my teams only have players that I believe do the right things on and off the field. I have won 1st doing that as well. I don't get the best players and drop players during the season if I find out that they don't stand up to what I consider is a good person. Same thing applies here with people sitting on their points. In my opinion, someone who sits on their points can't be thinking they are a top player if they are afraid of competition. I had my nephew sit out one Battle Roads but that was the enviroment and the tournament. He played and he had some losses. I also don't let him drop out when he is having a bad day. I don't think of a player being a top player doing that either. I understand losing points can be bad and is the only thing I dislike about this system but my opinion is it is either put up or shut up.
 
BigChuck01 said:
Aight guys, I come bearing super sour grapes over battle roads. I've been watching the ratings for the last couple weeks, and what I'm seeing is making me sick. Before battle roads, eveyone who did well at REAL tournaments like States and Regionals held the top spots, which makes sense. These are the people winning the HARD tournaments, so they deserve to be up there. Now that battle roads have come along though, everyone and their mother has a rating of 1900+. The top 20 is now filled with people who are undeserving of it (I don't care if this comes off as arrogant or offensive, it's the dead truth). Let's start off with #1, Johhny Kettler. Now I love John, and hes an amazing player, but I think it's safe to say without being a jerk that John is not THE best player in North America. Johnny had a decent states/regionals run, which put him at a decent rating, which is fine. After battle roads, however, Johhny gets to jump up 200 points from going 50-0 at 10 battle roads against a bunch of mediocre SEMI-literate texas players. Is this fair? Seems like it right? I mean, EVERYONE can just play all those battle roads, right? Wrong (to an extent).

Lets first take a look at what you REALLY have to do to make a battle road "worth it". First, you have to know your rating, and the ballpark rating of the people you're playing against. Next, you have to know the general amount of skill the people you'll be playing against will have. NEXT, you have to know the metagame. Finally, you have to guess at what you think your record will be at the end of the tournament.

I thought through all of the steps above, and decided there was no WAY it would be profitable for me to play any battle roads. I calculated that I could literally only take 1 loss a tournament, else I would lose a significant amount of points. When playing in the midwest, youd be LUCKY to sneak away from a tournament with 1 loss. I can name 20 midwest players off the top of my HEAD that are EXPECTED to make the cut at Nats. So yea, knowing that I could only take 1 loss against the toughest metagame in the world, I (correctly) opted out of battle roads.

Now we have players like Kettler, Ross, Miguel Angel Lopez Bernal, and Roberto sora who actually SKYROCKTED into top 8 from battle roads. Whys this? Is it because Miguel Angel Lopez Bernal and Roberto sora are actually TWO OF THE TOP 8 PLAYERS IN NORTH AMERICA? No, they're not (sorry guys, but its true!). They are all actually high ranked because they find the smallest cupcake competition tourneys in the WORLD, and procede to x-0 against a bunch of players who probably, no, DEFINATELY don't even know how to read. The players at the super small shops in super small cities are SO bad, that it's impossible to lose to them, luck or no luck.
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You are so funny :lol: ... i agree with pablo and Ecruteak , miguel A and Roberto Sora are two of the top players in north america NOW... miguel had been in two WC , and roberto could not go to worlds before because he did not have a visa....im very sure they can read as well as all the pokemon players in MEXICO ... by the way i can read too...i had a masters degree , and i can speak and read in 3 lenguajes... but im not a better player for that... you should think a little more what you say... who are u to tell them they are not good players? who are u to tell anyone that? ... beeing a good player is not a reason to minimize the achivements of others player...snip!!!!! can u read that ??? :thumb:

Edited No i can't and if i cannot read it, it cannot stay.
 
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Robbgobb said:
It has already been said by POP that Battle Roads K value would be lowered next tournament year and they realized that the points were too much too late to change it. If someone is really going to go on about how it needs to change then research about if anything has been said about it. I have posted before about it being said.
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Your Source Is??? :confused:
Drew
 
Van78 said:
You are so funny :lol: ... i agree with pablo and Ecruteak , miguel A and Roberto Sora are two of the top players in north america NOW... miguel had been in two WC , and roberto could not go to worlds before because he did not have a visa....im very sure they can read as well as all the pokemon players in MEXICO ... by the way i can read too...i had a masters degree , and i can speak and read in 3 lenguajes... but im not a better player for that... you should think a little more what you say... who are u to tell them they are not good players? who are u to tell anyone that? ... beeing a good player is not a reason to minimize the achivements of others player...snip!!!!! can u read that ??? :thumb:
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Wow:lol:Do you really think people sometimes think before they speak or is it their fustration that playing it safe bit them in the butt.
 
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Spotter said:
Oh, don't think there wouldn't be opposition to this as well. For example, consider the "Whicker Factor" when deciding where the event should be with regards to "high local player bases." That alone is enough to make even the most seasoned T.O.s want to retch.

S.
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I'm sure people would be willing to travel for an event during the summer for points/prizes/to get a gauge on the metagame for Nats. If I had to pick 4 spots to hold the events, they'd be Las Vegas (halfway between large player bases in WA and Cali), Houston, Chicago/Cleveland, and Baltimore/NYC. Pretty much everywhere in the country is within reasonable distance of at least one of those places. If needed, they could increase the # to 6 and hold one in the Southeast and another in like St Louis.
 
Robbgobb said:
I play Fantasy Football and make my teams only have players that I believe do the right things on and off the field. I have won 1st doing that as well. I don't get the best players and drop players during the season if I find out that they don't stand up to what I consider is a good person.
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Thats completely false guy. You pick on talent not who is good and who is bad. Even your favorite team of a sport can have cheap hitters that everyone hates but everyone loves to have on the same team as them. Not to mention the NFL is getting alot more strict on crime and penalties of the sport. Thats like in the superbowl last year with tank johnson. The guy isn't a ro-model in any shape or form but what he could put on the field was amazing.

The way pop scheduled rating invites probably was for someone to say should I sit on my points and have a less risky option. Not playing in a 32k event with a high rating is playing it smart. Im 13th in NA MA as of right now. I attended a BR when I was 8th in NA going 4-0 and one match didnt count because of the low attendance so the person I faced was in the SR division. In top 4 I lost. I actually only made 2 pts going 4-1 the whole day. Now I can guarentee at least 30+ people in the Top 50 of each division sat out of BR. Making lots of BR low attendance and flunkies everywhere. Just for fear of losing rating. I mean your 2000+ rating in the US. At nationals you go 6-3 your still in good shape to be 1980+ rating and win a invite with rating. I doubt anyone will sit out at nationals because of that reason. But sitten out of BR is smart if you have a high rating.
 
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