38 results for: timeless
A Guide to Putting Yourself in the Best Position to Succeed in the Pokémon TCG “This is simple, folks. Okay, but actually: I do want to highlight my League Cup this weekend as an illustrative example. Gardevoir did very well at the last Cup in Michigan, sweeping something like half of Top 8, so I expected people to counter it. It did not help my situation that Michigan, and especially this venue, has always been somewhat inclined toward Metagross—plus, I’d just written about Metagross, too. So, when I saw a sea of Metagross, Silvally, and other Metal-stuff comprising about half of the field in Round 1, I probably shouldn’t have been surprised. Nevertheless, I went 4-2…
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An Op-Ed on the Experiences of a Judge in the Pokémon TCG Circuit “Earlier in the week, Doug Morisoli made a post in Heyfonte about a ruling that happened due to a sleeve issue. This issue caused the delay of the top eight being posted for about fifteen minutes. In the post, he raised a point that stuck with me for the next day or so. “I know it is fashionable and sometimes deserved to criticize and bash judge staff. But sometimes you don’t get to see the “behind the scenes” activity where the judges go to great lengths to advocate for the player’s point of view and consider all perspectives.” Thinking about…
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A Poképarent’s Guide to Getting Started in Competitive Pokémon + 2× NAIC Top 8 Juniors Report “Because I am a dad of Pokemon people, people ask me how to get their kids into competitive Pokemon all the time. I have seen lots of opinions on this, mine is “win or go home.” And here is what I mean: Winning is a three step process in Pokemon. Equipment. Have the right cards. Pokemon prints lots of bad cards and a few good cards. If you don’t have the good cards, you simply lose. Jason Klaszynski, playing a theme deck, loses basically every game he plays against someone with a top tier deck. If you don’t have the…
The Spreadsheet Explained, Nationals Prep Walkthrough, and Future Format Musings “For the last few years, myself, Alex Hill, and the rest of our group have generally tried to arrive at Nationals well ahead of time in the interest of logging as much relevant testing as possible. This year in particular I’ve not played nearly as many games with as many decks as I would typically like, so I’m hoping the extra time will prove beneficial. Last year, Wednesday saw us mess around with Wailord-EX (before discarding it from consideration), M Manectric-EX/Primal Groudon-EX, and other crazy ideas. Our eventual play, M Rayquaza-EX/Bronzong PHF, was on the table, but was set aside…
An Inside Report on Cheating in the Pokémon TCG “So what is cheating exactly, and why do people do it? Cheating is to “act dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage, especially in a game …” —Oxford Dictionary Let’s be clear. Cheating is an ACT. You have to have dishonest intentions in order to cheat. You cannot cheat accidentally. If you drop a second Supporter without realizing that you already played Steven’s Advice this turn, you’ve done nothing wrong. We call this a gameplay error; AKA an accident. Errors like these are what the lenient rules documents aim to protect. Let’s switch that now. If you drop a second…
It can radiate chilliness from the bottoms of its feet. It’ll spend the whole day tap-dancing on a frozen floor. (Galarian Mr. Mime)
The Six-Step Process for Choosing a Deck and Three Logical Plays for Worlds “Step 1: Make a list of all potentially viable decks. The logical first step in choosing a deck is listing out all of the potentially viable decks in the format. This starts the wheels turning in my head. At this point, I’m already putting together a short list of the decks that I could see myself playing. It also gives you a really useful list for thinking about your matchups later in the process. Step 2: Gather intelligence. Next is when I think about the important decks in the metagame. The big question is, “What are the threats?” Usually, I…
A Study in Gimmickry in the Pokémon TCG “For starters, I think it important to define what a gimmick deck is and what it is not. Interestingly enough, the definition for “gimmick” embodies the idea sufficiently: Gimmick: a method or trick that is used to get people’s attention or to sell something.
1 a : a mechanical device for secretly and dishonestly controlling gambling apparatus
1 b : an ingenious or novel mechanical device : gadget
2 a : an important feature that is not immediately apparent : catch
2 b : an ingenious and usually new scheme or angle
2 c : a…
A Piece on the Spectrum on Teching “Teching Fundamentals The Beartic Dilemma Hard and Soft Teching Teching in Today’s Metagame Conclusion In its history, players of the Pokemon TCG have utilized techs successfully, to the point that one’s claim to fame can often come in the form of one or two cards being added to an otherwise standard deck list. Teching is very much a useful skill to have in this game, and within the past couple of years it’s only seemed to grow in importance. Teching also carries with it vagueness. Does a card have to be a Pokemon in order for it to be a…
A Look at the Evolution of Communication in Pokémon TCG “Pojo was the original hub for the competitive community, and it shows. An interviewer asked a 14-year-old Colin Moll what he had for lunch, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Pojo is a true artifact of its time, emoticons, unedited interviews, text speak and all. To be honest, I don’t know what was appealing about the website in the early 2000s, but I have a feeling it was because content elsewhere wasn’t any better. Articles about Pokemon TCG were undoubtedly hard to come by. It wasn’t until the player base expanded that experienced players had any incentive to write quality…
Applied Mathematics and Economics to Pokémon “Game Theory Example 1: In-Game Analysis Example 2: Metagame Analysis Making Top Cut Conclusion Game theory, also known as interactive decision theory, allows us to look at the possible outcomes of a situation and pick the most optimal line of play. This is one of the more advanced ways to look at in-game decisions, as well as deck choices. There is quite a lot of simplification that has to be done in order to make the underlying concepts comprehensible, so let’s assume that the probabilities that play into the outcomes have been approximated and generalized for a range of different variables. One…
It has special pads on the backs of its feet, and one on its nose. Once it’s raring to fight, these pads radiate tremendous heat. (Scorbunny)
On Being a Positive Contributor to the Pokémon Community “In my mind, the reason that you want to be a good ambassador for the game is a simple one — you love playing Pokemon, you want to see Pokemon succeed so that you can continue to play Pokemon, and Pokemon is more likely to succeed if its community is a caring, welcoming, passionate one. It’s easy to disregard the feelings or opinions of others, and it’s certainly easy to go about living your life in such a way that you offer no compromises. However, taking a look at the paragraph above, it should be easy to understand why being…
The Dunning-Kruger Effect in the Pokémon TCG “So you play Pokemon. Since you also have an internet connection, it’s more than likely you’re aware of the infamous Virbank City, origin of all that is toxic. After reading what must be a lifetime quota of profoundly ignorant Facebook comments, I decided to examine what it is about public expression that makes people so noxious online. Some background: Virbank City is a nearly five thousand-member Facebook group, originally known as HeyFonte. Eventually, as the group got bigger, Jason Klaczynski decided that the group needed some moderation. Since the name no longer fit the mission statement of the group (free…
Tips to Prevent Cheating in the Pokémon TCG “Cheating happens. We’ve all seen it, and it has been a regular topic at the forefront of Twitter and Facebook, especially with the rise of streaming over the past few seasons. Players are now regularly being scrutinized on camera, and even if they’re not playing a feature match, the rise of social media has certainly given way for more discussion and openness about the topic. With that being said, I would like to make it clear that I don’t think a lot of people cheat. I would argue that maybe 2 or 3% of players enter a Pokémon tournament with…
Hypergeometric Distribution and the Pokémon TCG “Let’s look at a common Virizion/Genesect build with 4 Virizion-EX, 4 Genesect-EX, 1 Jirachi-EX, and 4 Ultra Ball. When using this deck, starting the game with a Virizion-EX is important. There are lots of ways to get there: Draw a Virizion-EX in your first 7 cards and use that as your starting Pokemon. Draw a Virizion-EX on your first turn and have a plan to switch it into the Active position. Draw an Ultra Ball and have a plan to switch it into the Active position. Part of the fun of Pokemon is that it is a complex game. In the…
In-Game Skill, Part 2: Thinking Strategically “”Playstyle is a Myth” Developing a Game Plan Technical Play Scenarios Strategic Play Scenarios Help Wanted! Conclusion One of the first things we as players need to change is our comprehension of what playstyle is as compared to strategy. For a long time, I was confused about playstyle. It kind of made sense when I saw other players win a game with an offbeat approach. One could point at a scenario like that and state that playstyle had a hand in the victory. Still, when I tried to identify my own playstyle, I kept coming up with a category of…
Once a year, on a specific date and at a specific time, they gather out of nowhere and form up in a circle. (Stonjourner)
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