davechri said:
The single thing that has been missing from this game since we lost Double Gust has been a Trainer than lets the user bring a Pokemon off the opponent's bench.
True, but that's not something I've really missed.
davechri said:
Pokemon Reversal does this with a cost - the coin flip.
I must beg to differ with you here. A coin flip is not a cost. Paying a cost means you give up something to get something else. If you had to discard energy or relinquish the right to play any more Trainers this turn in order to get the Reversal effect, that would be a cost.
A flip is nothing more than a randomization. It just makes it unpredictable and therefore by definition, completely luck-based. IMHO, that's a Bad Thing. Face it, pulling a Pokemon off your opponent's bench while it's still your turn and you can attack it is a very powerful effect. Randomizing that effect significantly increases the luck factor and decreases the skill factor in the game. I can't for the life of me see why anyone would want that.
If we're both playing four Reversals and three of yours work while only one of mine does, you've gotten a significant advantage that you didn't earn thru any kind of skill as a player or deckbuilder. It was just plain dumb luck and that's wrong--especially if we happen to be meeting in the finals of a Gym Challenge with an invite and a trip to Worlds on the line.
Same thing if you're playing Reversal and I'm not. Hit your Reversals and kill my Blaze ex's while they're still Torchics and you're sitting pretty. Miss them and you're cooked. Either way, the coin, not your skill, decides your fate. I seem to be in the minority here, but I just don't want to play under those circumstances.
I wouldn't object to Reversal if it were truly "costed" rather than "randomized". For example, if it were a no-flip Supporter, it would work every time, but the cost would obviously be that you couldn't play any more Supporters that turn.
Your skill as a player would be brought into play then. You would have to decide if paying the cost is worth the benefit in your particular situation at the moment. You would have to look at what you have in play and in your hand. Look at what your opponent has in play. Look at how many cards he has in his hand and estimate the probability that he has what he needs to start hitting hard when it's his turn. Based on your knowledge of your own deck, decide whether or not you think that Forest Guardian, Bill's Maintenance or Oak's Research will get you what you need.
Decide whether or not you can afford to let your opponent's Grimer stay on the bench undamaged for one more turn while you use Elm's Training Method to get the Combusken you need to go with that Firestarter Blaze you're already holding.
Once you've evaluated the game situation, then you have to decide which Supporter helps your immediate situation the most. Make the right decision and you enhance your own chance of winning. Make the wrong one and you put yourself in a bind. Either way, it's your skill, not the coin, deciding your fate. IMHO, that's the way it ought to be.
davechri said:
While not as good as DG, Reversal has decent balance (although I wish there were more of a downside to flipping a tails, something like "discard an energy from one of your Pokemon" or something).
You don't think missing the effect is downside enough?? Wow.
I'd like to see Double Gust back. Using that card requires skill. You have to build your deck and manipulate your own bench so you can pull out who you want and not let your opponent pull up someone with a retreat cost of three and no energy on it--or sucker him into doing just that only to negate his move with a Switch.
Again, this game should be about skill and strategy, not about flipping the most heads or getting a head at a critical time. Reversal as it is now played is a huge step in the wrong direction.