My first post and experiences in PvP

[HarbingerK2]

Hello everyone, I grew up on Pokemon and always loved the card game. I never had the opportunity to play in tournaments or anything like that so when I found out there was an online TCG I got pretty hyped. So I am going to share my experiences so far in PvP and maybe a few criticisms along the way.

I have had a lot of fun matches, typically those matches are against those who build their decks from a talented and challenging approach. I have had matches that went from me being behind by 5 cards to winning the game and likewise, all because of well thought out decks. I originally started only playing theme decks, which was pretty frustrating because everyone uses the new decks and it gets pretty boring when you get matched against the same cards you have. So I tried my hand at making my own deck, and I can say thing is for sure, there are some very good players out there who put a lot of effort into their decks and the creative strategies that come with them.

Unfortunately, more often than not, I am matched against the player who has decided to do nothing but build their decks around GX cards, which I personally feel takes away from the actual fun of the game and does not require much talent or creative thought, but most certainly they did spend a lot of money or farmed their way to the top. I have gone up against one deck that was nothing but GX cards that a player could swap out their cards at any time, and constantly eliminate energy cards from the game altogether while making my cards unable to do any damage. Somehow I won that game, even though the player started waiting as long as possible to make their move in hopes I would quit (completely ridiculous) but my cards won out in the end.

My most recent game was up against nothing but a bunch of Shuckles(GX) and Stakkatakas?(GX) and cards that eliminated energy cards and cards in my hand. I lost that game, I appreciate the strategies many come up with to show their skill but I have to be honest, having nothing but GX cards in your deck does not come off as a skilled player to me, especially the way TCG was played when I was younger, it really does take the sport out of it. Sure, I could spend my own money, I could go out and buy packs and redeem them and get GX cards and play nothing but a GX deck, but I would not feel like I put any effort into my deck, just a bunch of overpowered cards that I know most players won't be able to counter.

Aside from that, I am enjoying my experience, although I am a bit bitter that the game has come down to whoever can buy/farm the GX cards the most, it still can be a very challenging and strategic game given the proper players.

I am happy to be a newbie in this community, and to see the game is still so popular.

Hope to battle you all soon.

[Sakura150612]

*sigh*

 

It's this discussion again... Look, I'll cut you some slack since you're still pretty new to this and I can see why you would think this way. But once you learn how to properly deckbuild and start understanding the ins and outs of the game, you'll realize that just stacking GXs on GXs and more GXs is a terrible strategy anyways. Yes, some decks will rely heavily on a GX main attacker, but they still need a good amount of non-GX Pokemon to hold their deck together. Then, you have to consider that there's plenty of zero EX/GX decks that would make any of these "GX spammers" cry. 200+ HP Pokemon? Pfff, I have a Basic non-GX Pokemon that can do 200+ damage with a single energy. Thank you so much for spamming GXs, now I take 2 prizes at a time while're you're stuck taking 1. I could keep going but you get the idea.

 

The topic of "skill" and "creativity" has been discussed to death already, and we always end up concluding the same thing: Using certain decks doesn't mean that its user lacks creativity, and correctly piloting a deck and adapting to all the different situations and matchups does take skill. This isn't a game where you can throw a bunch of OP cards together and then autopilot to victory; you have to actually think through what you're doing if you intend on wining.

 

Obviously, if I'm using a well constructed deck with a solid strategy and a solid draw engine that makes it consistent it doesn't take much skill to swat down people running decks with 6 Basic Pokemon and 25 energies. But if you're faced against another deck that's also well constructed, even if you have all the GXs in the world it still takes skill to outwit your opponent and anticipate their plays while advancing your own game. [For the purposes of this discussion I'm leaving aside matchups where you are hard countered since those naturally happen and have nothing to do with the number of GXs you use].

 

The subject of control/stall based decks has also being discussed to death, and the general consensus is that, yes, they can be annoying and frustrating to play against, but they're perfectly legit. Using GXs doesn't make you "unskilled", and using Pokemon GX that can stall and hard doesn't either. If Shuckle-GX's ability existed in a non-GX Pokemon then people would still use them. In fact, if Shuckle-GX were not a GX but a regular Pokemon, it would be even stronger. Getting to 3 attached energies while having to survive a non-stop onslaught of Hammers, Plumerias, TF Grunts, etc, only to claim a single prize when you finally do manage to KO the Shuckle, would quite frankly feel terrible. If you KO Shuckle-GX at least you get 2 prizes for your troubles. 

 

Now, I will mention one thing that you threw into that mix that is different:

The player started waiting as long as possible to make their move in hopes I would quit.

Now this, this is unsportsmanlike. We used to refer to this as "rage stalling". It doesn't seem to be that prevalent anymore, but some people just can't gracefully accept defeat and try to do this to force your hand. You can report these people, although how effective the report is, I don't know. At the very least, doing this is frowned upon by the community and I'm sorry to hear you had to deal with one of these salty rats.

 

Anyways, I hope you understand what I'm trying to tell you about Pokemon GX. You won't be able to see it for yourself just yet, but once you get a better grasp on the game you'll come back to this thread, read it, and laugh. Then you'll go into the VS Ladder with some ridiculously strong non-GX deck and farm GXs left and right xd Just take my word for it. 

Edited December 14, 2018 by Sakura150612

[Pokegen85]

I agree with you Sakura150612. GX Pokemon are but just another element of this complex game, and there are non-GX Pokemon decks that can tear them apart. Granbull with Shrine of Punishment comes to my mind first and foremost for some reason... I've seen newer players have some success using Ability stall decks (that feature Alolan Ninetales or Hoopa to some degree). Lost March in Standard and Night March in Expanded are also very powerful against GX's. And don't get me started on Greninja BREAK in expanded... that one about near gave me a heart attack every time I bumped into it.

[BenXBlack93]

Your post started out good but then it escalated rather quickly to be honest.

[grommpy]

I'm also a new player here, enjoying the PvP Theme deck battles a lot. It's a diverse meta, and while at first I thought Mach Strike was OP, I quickly found out it can be beaten regularly by several of the newer theme decks (Leaf Charge, Twilight Rogue, etc.). Buying and playing those decks made me understand their weaknesses and a better player overall.

 

I play every day because of the daily quest, I'm trying to level up each colour/type?, which is troublesome for Metal and Fairy Pokemon. Especially since there is still no Sun & Moon Fairy Theme deck, which seems a bit odd to me. I had to buy "Enchanted Echo" from the XY series :-( [since I don't like losing cards to rotation, but at least Sylveon is good for auto-evolve from Evee and KO challenges]. I hope a Fairy deck will appear in Sun & Moon at some point.

 

I currently have 4+6 theme decks with tokens to buy 6 more. I'm saving up my event tokens to gather more experience for theme deck tournaments to get unlocked packs. With enough unlocked packs I might dive into constructed, and same as dealing with Mach Strike above, deal with the GX EX pokemons that are just fact of life there. They're probably not that bad, just need to trade for them, and you get 2 prizes when you knock 1 out.

 

ps.: I just found out how to change my avatar via pokemon.com (not the forum settings) and editing this post !

Edited December 14, 2018 by grommpy