Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Where has all the time gone??

jrwaxman

New Member
As we head into Battle Roads this weekend with the addition of MD I feel/hope that the game has widened some and look forward to the battles. One thing still continues to bother me though. Too often the best games (those that actually avoid a Turn Two Donk and each player gets set up) come down to ending because of time. I know this has been an ongoing issue over the years but with the addition and widespread play of cards like Claydol, Gardy, TGW (over and over) and the play of EX cards just about extinct I feel the problem has almost gotten out of hand. To complete a game in 30 minutes a player almost has to take a prize card each turn now.

At a tournament like Nationals with as much riding on the outcome for some I think time of turns will only go longer on average. As much as I like to use a deck like Empoleon to spread damage I am not sure you can afford to go with anything but a speed deck at such an event. We should get an idea starting this weekend how matches will go and I will be interested to see how many games are still seated when time is called and how many people have hands raised for judges and the fear of losing on time engraved on their faces.

Would it make a difference in the weekend of Nationals if rounds were increased to 35 or even 40 minutes? I know the days can go long but I would love to hear from Seattle on the subject. Some have suggested chess clocks and I can't see that ever working. I know adding time will not solve the whole issue but it seems that even a few more minutes would allow most of BEST games to finish as they should.
 
I completely agree. I would also love to play something like Empoleon, but as you said, the issue that has been present for a long time, is that many decks are/have been weakened heavily due to time. Electrode ex was always not 'as good as it should of been' because of time.

(Not in relation to the topic, but I'm still thinking whether to play C. Crystal in it or not.. If I don't,thinking Ampharos tech, and obviously less windstorms)

And yeah, it's (surprisingly) relatively rare to find a game where both players set up.
I think a chess clock wouldn't be a bad idea but it just kinda makes the game seem so much different.

There are of course issues such as 'legal' stalling, and this is emphasized by the fact that it is now widely known that 'the game has no memory'... I'll use celio... look through deck... fail.. use my gardevoir to use your celio look through deck.... fail... ill use night maintenance.... ill use claydol...ok... NOW ill KO for the 1-0 win, its game 2 now.... time.. gg
 
Time is also the main enemy of decks like Wailord. It could've been so much better.

But yeah, every time I have a truly good game, its being cut off by "ITS TIME, THE PLAYERS END THEIR TURN". Gets on my nerves.
 
Sorry, I also forgot to mention, in the situation I stated at the end, most good players will obviously just concede
 
I some times like the time being called. If you cant win on prizes then winning on time is good with me. No my favorit way of winning, but I'll take it.
 
Designing a deck to win on time can be a good strategy in this format. You have to adapt to the given rules.

In big tournaments you come up against players of all skill levels. Some play fast and some play slow. But when you combine slow play with all of the searching and game mechanics that we have now turns just take too long. You hate to rush a new player that is learning the game and calling a judge over just usually adds too much pressure.

As the John Silvestro has always said to me.....Speed Kills. I enjoy playing set up decks with spread and disruption but going into the final tournaments of the year I don't know if I can commit to that type of deck for an event.

Again, would 5-10 minutes more a round be a big problem for events? I would like to hear from some of the PTOs that run local events to hear their take on this since I am only seeing it from the players side. We play top cuts here in Florida now for 90 minutes best of three and that has helped.
 
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