Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

What's the best way to shuffle?

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At the beginning of a tournament game, I pile-shuffle using six piles of 10. Mid-game, I use the "bridge" shuffle.
 
Take a look at each card you want in your opening hand then put them to the side ... oh wait that's stacking the deck. What I meant to say was cut the deck in half and bridge shuffle a good 3-6 times. Always make sure the bottom of the deck is put on the top so that the bottom is always changing and not simply staying the same.
 
i choose to do a 4pile for a moderate shuffle then a 7 pile then pile 7 to pile 1, 6 to 2 ,5 to 3 and 4 on top of that i choose 7 because it messes with the even # of the deck. its the first # that doesnt go into 60 a perfect amount of times. but to finish off i do a couple simple bottom into the top of the deck shuffle for good measure.
 
I don't know what the most productive way of shuffling is, but I do know what the most cheating way of shuffling is. I mention this for one reason. When I used to play on a regular basis (I honestly haven't even been to a league for years), even in tournament I would see players whose idea of shuffling was to take approx 1/3 to 1/2 of their deck from the bottom and put it on top of the other portion, and to do this about 5-6 times, saying that was shuffling. That's just cutting the deck repeatedly. I honestly don't know if players were doing it to try to cheat, or if they really believed that was shuffling, but it was rather annoying.
 
Playtest your hand 10 times and see what kind of cards you end up getting. As far as shuffling goes, you might wanna split the piles up into 6 groups and put each card down one at a time until you run out. Then mix each piles into 2 which makes 3 piles, and then mix all 3 piles into one pile. Or you could just use the card shuffler, though it doesnt real well with thr protectors
 
Shuffling is an art! I did some research on shuffling and found some interesting things. If you deal your deck in to piles, it really helps to change your starting pile each round. I initially deal out 6 cards to start each pile. In round 2, I start with pile 2, then round 3 starts with pile 3, etc. I've read from statisticians that this is a really good way to randomize a deck and much better than just dealing 6 piles in order every time. If you corner to corner shuffle, you need AT LEAST 5 shuffles to come close to random order. The general rule is 7 corner to corner shuffles to get a good randomization. One thing that really interested me was that really good bridge players know how they shuffle and can predict, somehow, what cards are where. If they are given fully randomized decks, their play is not as good!!! I've often wondered if the same thing happens in Pokemon, where the good players have figured out a way of shuffling that results in good starts more often than not? I once played against a player that spread their energies out throughout the deck before shuffling, and it really got me going on figuring out the best ways to shuffle and things to watch out for.
 
How about the Truffle Shuffle?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5whaRkuipU

Anyhow, I use the bridge shuffle. It really annoys my opponents when they offer their deck to me to cut and I bridge shuffle it. They are worried that I will bend the cards. But I am good enough at it that they won't bend. I have to start at the corners, though, instead of the edges so that I don't run the risk of breaking a sleeve.
 
Well you better don't use 6-pile shuffle when playing the Dutch Nationals.
Somebody got a warning for it from what I heard.
 
Don't make excuses on the shuffle.
A shuffle is a shuffle. Randomizing your cards is what shuffling does, regardless of how you shuffle.
If you're getting bad starts, revise your deck.
 
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