How the Pokémon TCG Became More Popular by Becoming Worse “This is the story of how the Pokémon TCG changed from being a game ruled by powerful groups of elite players to what it is today – a far more open and accessible experience. But that process of change has had consequences, not all of which may have been intended: we may have ended up with the game we deserve, but have we really ended up with the game we wanted? I want to start this story by taking you back to my very first World Championships in 2008. I was 12 years old and we made a last-minute decision…
An In-Depth Look at the 2010 DP-UL Format, Part I “First, the Nationals and Worlds format of 2010 was one of the best formats this game has ever seen. There were a wide variety of archetypes and many of the matchups were very close and highly skill based. The format is also one of the least expensive “good” formats to build from and more and more players seem to be getting interested in 2010 particularly. Of course, prices fluctuate and increase the more and more players start buying the cards, but when I was building these decks I didn’t pay over $8 for any single card and a majority of…
The Overt Simplification of the Pokémon TCG “First Things First: The Label A Changing Current Compare and Contrast How Does This Affect the Game? Is There Hope? Conclusion At some point, the packaging for Pokemon TCG products changed to reflect a younger suitable age range for those wanting to play the game. When the game debuted, it was recommended for those 10 years and older. Currently, packaging reflects the “6+” age range. When I think about how the game is now recommended for those as young as six, I think back to the complex interactions many cards in the past had. Could a six year-old play a…
A Longer Look at Primal Clash “Kyrogre-EX, Primal Kyogre-EX Instead of organizing this list by collection number or some other method that makes sense, I’ll order my list by levels of hype surrounding them. So you’ll probably see your EXs first and sleepers toward the end. So in proper order, let’s begin with Kyogre and go from there. The EX and its Primal counterpart are unfortunately a matched set. Giant Whirlpool is a poor attack for its cost. In a format where the splinters of the Blastoise archetype set the standard for Water Pokemon, Black Kyurem-EX PLS and Keldeo-EX are strictly better attackers. Tidal Storm and…
On a Prodigious Return to Magic: The Gathering and What Pokémon Can Learn from the Industry’s Best “Hello SixPrizes! My name is Patrick Casey, and I am a Pokedad on the 6P Forums (@Patrick1865) and a TCG competitor with my son and daughter at events on the Atlantic Coast. As a dad that plays the game, I’ve come to enjoy it far more than I ever thought I would. While I have become accustomed to being the oldest player at just about any Pokemon tournament we attend, I am young enough at heart that I don’t mind losing to — and learning from — the friends of my children! Recently, I have spent some time playing Magic:…
In times past, it worked together with a king of the people to save the Galar region. It absorbs metal that it then uses in battle. (Zamazenta)
On Making the Pokémon TCG More Watchable “There is far too much shuffling in Pokémon, which means that there is a lot of downtime in the average game, which makes it harder to commentate the games, which makes it harder to retain viewership. This is one of the inherent issues with live trading card game streams, but I do think there are ways to alleviate the problem. Namely, I think the game should be designed with fewer cards that require player shuffling. Searching the deck for Pokémon is such a deep part of the game that I don’t think that can necessarily be changed. What I would…
On the Banning of Lysandre’s Trump Card “If it isn’t clear by now, I’m 100% in favor of Lysandre’s Trump Card being banned from sanctioned play. I think that the card causes way too many issues, stunts skill and deck building, and only serves to take away from what I think is a pretty fun format. To best breakdown why this decision was made, let us refer to TPCi’s post on the official Pokémon site, wherein four main reasons are given for the ban, and break them down one by one. Point 1: Eliminates one of your opponent’s victory conditions (running out of cards in your deck)…
On Entitlement and Why Winning Should Never Be Made More Painful Than Losing “In two years I have seen two authors (and undoubtedly missed many pundits on social media) implore the community to refrain from entering the last chance for Championship Points events at US Nationals unless an invite is on their horizon. Having too little CP means you have nothing to play for, and having too many means you are “grinching.” I find this discussion interesting, and I’ve done some contemplating to come up with my own position on the matter. But first, a story. Back in 2007, one of my buddies, who is a better friend than he was a player, faced off in an early-round…
A Hyperspace Jump Through Weeks 2 and 3 of the Fall Regionals Trilogy “Blind we are, of creation of this clone army we could not see. The past weekend has given us two decks that stand far above the rest. Texas was dominated by our hero, the Jedi Master of this new format, Archie’s Blastoise. Fresh off of its emergence as the World Champion, Blastoise, along with Jedi Padawan Keldeo, was able to take 4 of the Top 8 spots in Texas and even 2 in Arizona. These results appear to show that the Jedi Order is in firm control of the galaxy. However, the Dark Side was strong in Arizona where the…
Kenny Wisdom on the Community and What You Can Do About It “Before we get started, I want to make one thing very clear: I am the author of this article because my position of influence allows me to reach the widest number of people, but ultimately, I could not and would not write this independently. The things I’m about to say, the experiences I’m going to share, and the solutions I’m going to offer have all been shared with me and suggested by women. Listening to affected groups about the things that affect them is a big part of what this article is about, but we’ll get to that later. For…
Most of its body has the same composition as coal. Fittingly, this Pokémon was first discovered in coal mines about 400 years ago. (Rolycoly)
Guardians Rising Preview and Cosmic Dream Team “#1: Tapu Lele-GX If you’ve been living under a rock up to this point and don’t know what this card does, here’s the translation (per Bulbapedia): …Wow. I mean, uh, wow. This card is…actually insane! Its ability is the same as Jirachi-EX’s, which has largely been an Expanded staple since Lysandre was printed! It. Is. Incredible. For starters, the release of this card sends a clear indication that Shaymin’s time with us is finally (and thankfully) coming to an end. Tapu Lele-GX provides a much more stable consistency boost to a deck, without the blistering speed. This means that the…
Three Ideas for Improving League Challenges “As I discussed in my previous article on the subject, I think one of the most frustrating things about League Challenges are that they exist in a space where players are ostensibly not supposed to take them seriously, but due to the fact that they award Championship Points, competitive players are basically required to test for, attend, and attempt to win as many of them as possible. While this may not seem like an inherent problem, I do think that it introduces two very real issues into the community: No one wants to play LCs, but they have to, because…
Fall Regionals Metagame Guide, My Top Two, and Standard Solutions “Here’s a list of every deck you should be prepared to play against at Regionals, in alphabetical order. Some will be more popular than others, of course, so I will put them into a tier list afterwards. Donphan Durant/Ninjask Groudon M Manectric/Regice Metal/M Rayquaza Night March/Archeops Seismitoad/Giratina Speed M Rayquaza Vesipquen/Accelgor Vespiquen/Flareon Yveltal/Archeops Yveltal/Garbodor As you can see, that is quite a hefty list of decks. The format is sure to be wide open, particularly heading into the first weekend of Regionals. I’ll now lay out what I believe to be an accurate tier list for this mess of decks.…
How to Improve Nationals and Worlds “Before I move on to the potential changes, I want to discuss some of the positive improvements TPCi has made recently. All too often, Pokemon players spend time complaining about the changes they perceive to be needed and pay no attention to the changes TPCi does make to benefit the game. Streaming One of the most visible inclusions over the last few years is live streaming. Pokemon has dedicated a lot of money and manpower to start an official stream for US Nationals and Worlds. Streaming got off to a rocky start with the infamous Gamespot stream of Worlds 2012.…
What PTCGO Can Learn from Hearthstone, Blizzard’s Latest Cash Cow “Blizzard Entertainment is probably a company that most of you are either familiar with or have at least heard about. Some of their biggest successes include StarCraft, Warcraft, and World of Warcraft, which are well known in the gaming community. Blizzard excels at two things: making highly addictive strategy games and getting its customers to eagerly open their wallets. Recently Blizzard branched out from its safety net of genres and decided to try its hand at an online card game based off the Warcraft mythology called Hearthstone. The reputation of the company alone made me eager to try the game and…
Sudden climate change wiped out this ancient kind of _______. This Pokémon absorbs others’ life-force through its branches. (Galarian Corsola)
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