Slow Players

[sicachii]

Slow players are the bane of my existence. I like playing against other people, but when every single turn they make takes forever, I just want to go back to playing against bots. Perhaps it's just another strategy to bore an opponent into conceding, but hopefully it's just ignorance instead of malice. 

 

So here are a few tips to speed up your turns!

1. Plan your turn ahead of time. Figure out which pokemon you want to attack with, which energy you want to put on each pokemon, and what trainer cards you want to play. Obviously a special draw or an unseen move by your opponent can throw a wrench into your plan, but 95% of the time, you'll have no reason to deviate.

2. Know what cards you're searching for. Many pokemon abilities and trainer cards allow you to search your deck or discard piles or interact with them in some way. Come up with 1 or 2 cards you know you want from your deck, so when you can search your deck, you can usually find one of them even if all of your copies of one are in your prize cards.

3. Know how to play your deck. This is more apt in theme decks, as if you build your own decks, you should already know how they play. If you just bought a theme deck, or are not sure how a build deck might play, go against bots for a couple rounds to get it figured out.

 

Remember, taking your turn in a timely manner is part of being a polite opponent. 

[RobRatt]

Another Tip:  It works a little different when playing the physical game (real-world), but in PTCGO there's a definite advantage to knowing your own deck really well (inside and out).  If you practice your own moves faster, the less serious players will concede (more often) because they can't keep up.  Combine a winning or lucky start with lightning fast play, and they'll say, "Aargh.  I give up."

[Sniperi96]

Have you ever tried playing mindgames in this game? Trying to guess what opponent will hold in their hand, what they are probably going to play, what they would need to play to achieve thing x, how many cards to do that, what are probabilities for that and how can I play around that?  Has drawn card ever changed your perception of situation? Has drawing card with cynthia  changed this perception? Have you ever made list in your mind of cards which can achieve certain outcome just to realize certain combination Cynthia brought opens new path or that you drew none of them and need to think of what's lesser evil of combinations you have in your hand? Have you ever watched proplayer doing move that seems absurd at the hand but later turns out to be necessary for winning the game?

In theme deck tournaments, sure, you can play charizard deck, bring out farfetch'd at turn 1, rush to nidoqueen, temposwing with charizard and so on every single game, and most likely, you are doing optimal moves most of the time without too many changes in which way you played cards. Try to do same with any meta deck and you are doomed to fail.

[AutumnAlchemist]

Well yes, but actually no.

Yes you shouldn't purposefully take large amounts of time to annoy your opponent, however, you should always take time to consider things.  Yes it is a good idea to plan ahead during your opponent's turn, but then again your opponent can screw with your plans or a lucky draw can change them immensely.  (Don't forget that the cards you are looking for may be prized up.)

Don't be like me and rush your turn.  I've lost multiple games just because I wanted to be quick, but I could've just taken 5 seconds to use a specific card combo or ability.

Essentially: don't be rude, instead, be a cool dude.

[Sakura150612]

19 hours ago, sicachii said:

Remember, taking your turn in a timely manner is part of being a polite opponent. 

Well, not really. Wasting time on purpose to troll is one thing, but taking your time with each move is fair game. You can't always auto-pilot through your turn, specially not against a tough oponent. Consider too that the way you play your deck will vary depending on the matchup, and even within the same matchup you have to play differently to adapt to different playstyles. 

 

People can take their time on each move and it's perfectly fine.

[Felidae_]

Interestingly there seems to be a certain wave in the time players take for their turns.

 

At the bottom of the ranks you have players who take rather long, sometimes even for the simplest of turns. This can be due to inexperience, physical disability, or simply because they are occupied with other things and only focus a small percentage of their attention to the game.

Then you get to your mid tier level, where players know how to pilot their deck and have a general understanding of the meta game. Those players tend to rush the ladder as fast as possible, with an emphasis on speed, rather than on win percentage. The father up the ranks you go you'll once again return to long, drawn out games. There you'll find players who try to play perfect and thus think carefully about every move.

 

Personally I think that playing fast is a valid strategy, especially since there is no major benefit of keeping a high win percentage (even the win streak bonus can be negated if you take thrice as long to finish) and players who deliberately stall should be driven through town by an angry mob (even though it can be a bit tricky to determine if someone is actually stalling, or simply struggling with some problems outside of his control).

That being said, in the end you never know what's going on at the other end and while it can be tedious to wait for your opponent, sometimes there is nothing you can do, so sit back, relax and enjoy yourself.

[ShouldntSeeThis]

I don't run across many matchups where my opponent's (lack of) playing speed is bothersome.

 

What does irk me to no end are the players who waste time.  I mean the ones who have a sure win in hand, yet spend 2-3 minutes playing Trainer cards, swapping energies, etc.  If you have the game locked up, just attack and end the match.

[SKBellmore]

12 minutes ago, ShouldntSeeThis said:

I don't run across many matchups where my opponent's (lack of) playing speed is bothersome.

 

What does irk me to no end are the players who waste time.  I mean the ones who have a sure win in hand, yet spend 2-3 minutes playing Trainer cards, swapping energies, etc.  If you have the game locked up, just attack and end the match.

Omg yes I hate when PikaRom can knock me out with Full Blitz but they play a million Electropowers (this happens to me a lot.)

[kodking]

i think it cause they want to ensure the win, they want to more damage then they need to so they can win with no casualties like damage resistance

[Otakutron]

On 5/15/2019 at 8:22 PM, kodking said:

i think it cause they want to ensure the win, they want to more damage then they need to so they can win with no casualties like damage resistance

 

We're not talking those times.  We're talking about the times when someone clearly can attack for the win, and but where even having done the math wrong, forgetting they've secured the win, etc. do not explain their actions.  Situations where even "I'm still learning the deck, and I went on autopilot" doesn't make sense, because if they were not winning this turn, doing it all would have been wasteful to the point of jeopardizing their win!

 

I don't think the term is used anymore, but in the earlier days of the Pokémon TCG we called it "Showboating".  As this was prior to the PTCGO, all you had to do was ask your opponent if they would mind if you did some showboating, and if they were okay with it, then you could go to town, doing as much as you could before declaring the attack that was obviously (again, let me stress obviously) going to win you the game.  In real life, and when there is plenty of time and your opponent enjoys your deck's strategy, it can be welcome... but it comes across as slightly rude in an online game.

Edited May 23, 2019 by Otakutron
Minor typo

[kodking]

yeah i get your point, they need to have a thing where you can type something to them, as far as i know this is not a thing

[Sakura150612]

34 minutes ago, kodking said:

yeah i get your point, they need to have a thing where you can type something to them, as far as i know this is not a thing

The chat was removed from the game a few years ago. You can look up the "please don't can the chat" thread if you're interested in knowing how that came to be, but the long story short is that it isn't comming back.

 

 

[kodking]

****, i would love to say things like good card or good match. just the small things

 

[kodking]

could ya leave the link to the forum, also i did not swear it just blocked the word for some reason

 

[Sakura150612]

https://forums.pokemontcg.com/topic/46559-please-dont-can-the-chat/

[ShouldntSeeThis]

On 5/20/2019 at 7:27 PM, kodking said:

i would love to say things like good card or good match. just the small things

 

One of the canned chat selections ("Well Played!") pretty much serves this need.

[kodking]

yeah i guess

[DawsonJr88]

Hello,

 

There are definitely a number of reasons someone may be taking a little longer during their turn. They may be newer, distracted, or it could be a medical issue, to name a few things. Yes, it can be a tad bothersome, but remember: patience is a virtue. It could be you taking the extra time some day! Most importantly, it's a game that's meant to be enjoyed; take a break if you feel it necessary, and hop back in later on.

 

Sincerely,

 

DawsonJr

[Yelf59]

I think I'm a slow player. 

I'm a new player and I have to read every card in order to understand what's going on. 

Sorry

[DonZaloog95]

2 hours ago, Yelf59 said:

I think I'm a slow player. 

I'm a new player and I have to read every card in order to understand what's going on. 

Sorry

Don't be 

While the OP mentions bots as way to learn your deck, I think just as important is to know how usual decks played by real human opponents play out. Bots really rarely force you to pick lesser evil out of options and many times I have personally learned cool ways to use cards just because I have been forced to come up with solution. Just as many times I have been forced to check how opponent did something that on paper didn't seem possible to me. 

In trading card games you can read the cards and their effects just many times untill you can remember their effects in sleep, but the real magic in learning happens when you see cards in action creating chain of events that lead to incredible outcomes. While it may feel frustrating for person that wants to play games quickly with minimal delays, I think the only way to do the plays quickly and optimally at the same time is to play against human opponents over and over again untill one can recognize patterns(think professional chess players) and be ready to come up with solutions.

 

However, even then the raw amount of rng is often forcing us to rethink the patterns and especially being out of good options(for instance horrible starting hand) often leads us to either forfeit or come up with whole new solutions, with that tiny bit of hope. I highly recommend watching ptcgo/ptcg videos of high ranked tournament players and take a look on how they balance between options, especially in those situations that look really grim for them.

 

Finally, I think just as it may be important to respect other player and their time by not loafing around, it is just as important to respect other player by giving them the time they need, and which the timers allow. Also as games are ultimately interactional situations, I think good comparison here would be giving presentation, speech or just having conversation with another person. You prepare for the situation just as much as you want, but rarely does it match as situation of what you have imagined it to be like. That is because you are constantly adapting information and trying to work with it just as best as you can. You might forget something, you may get questions, you may ultimately be forced to improvize. While the more you are in these situations, and the more you learn in acting in them, the little bit of unpredictability is always in there. But while we may expect a lot of things from the speaker, just as important it is to us as hearers to respect of what they have to say and give them time for it.

Edited June 9, 2019 by DonZaloog95

[Mohx21]

On 5/14/2019 at 6:28 PM, RobRatt said:

Another Tip:  It works a little different when playing the physical game (real-world), but in PTCGO there's a definite advantage to knowing your own deck really well (inside and out).  If you practice your own moves faster, the less serious players will concede (more often) because they can't keep up.  Combine a winning or lucky start with lightning fast play, and they'll say, "Aargh.  I give up."

This is true so far before update I had a 20 win streak due to people giving up against my deck I find if there not doing any damage there just throw g draws and everything away Mr mime gx is good for this due to his remove damage gx move and his null 20 40 60 attack so forth in combination with hit same as opponents hand if they got 8 cards in hand u hit for 80 while stacking on other pokemon in hand

[AlexGoneCrazy]

On 5/15/2019 at 6:22 PM, kodking said:

i think it cause they want to ensure the win, they want to more damage then they need to so they can win with no casualties like damage resistance

 

Really? Versus something like a magikarp or a squirtle? I've come across that when I only had my pidgey on the bench which is weak against lightning as is. The guy used two electropower, then a draw four card a nest ball or equivalent then an N for good measure I guess? then he used a switch and brought out his other pokemon then played a tapu koko and took all the energy from all his other pokemon then FINALLY killed me. I'm pretty sure some people do it just to troll and not "to ensure a win"

[SandaledOtter]

11 hours ago, AlexGoneCrazy said:

 

Really? Versus something like a magikarp or a squirtle? I've come across that when I only had my pidgey on the bench which is weak against lightning as is. The guy used two electropower, then a draw four card a nest ball or equivalent then an N for good measure I guess? then he used a switch and brought out his other pokemon then played a tapu koko and took all the energy from all his other pokemon then FINALLY killed me. I'm pretty sure some people do it just to troll and not "to ensure a win"

 

Suppositions:

• He was working on a Lightning Damage challenge.
• He was looking for a way to knock it out using what he had, not noticing the weakness, which is a very small symbol while on the playfield, especially if not on a large screen.
• Nest Ball won't work for Tapu Koko GX's ability.
• He didn't have TK-GX until he used N, so was looking for other ways to maximize damage.
• He may not have realized he was taking the final prize card, being focused on other things in the game.

I don't know the reason for a switch just before a Tapu Koko, but then I don't know what the specific Pokemon were, and there are things that could force that step.

 

Hrm, if he only needed to KO Pidgey, then he only had 1 prize card, and N wouldn't have gotten him a switch AND a Tapu Koko....

Edited June 12, 2019 by SandaledOtter

[AlexGoneCrazy]

7 hours ago, SandaledOtter said:

 

Suppositions:

• He was working on a Lightning Damage challenge.
• He was looking for a way to knock it out using what he had, not noticing the weakness, which is a very small symbol while on the playfield, especially if not on a large screen.
• Nest Ball won't work for Tapu Koko GX's ability.
• He didn't have TK-GX until he used ***** was looking for other ways to maximize damage.
• He may not have realized he was taking the final prize card, being focused on other things in the game.

I don't know the reason for a switch just before a Tapu Koko, but then I don't know what the specific Pokemon were, and there are things that could force that step.

 

Hrm, if he only needed to KO Pidgey, then he only had 1 prize card, and N wouldn't have gotten him a switch AND a Tapu Koko....

 

Okay fine let me start from the beginning

He started with 2 PikaRom and a jolteon ex

_my first hand was an alolan vulpix, pidgeoto cynthia energy etc. i used vulpix to get pidgey and alolan ninetails and i put them down my following turn. afterwards he red card me and i lost my pidgeoto and only got a healing biscuit and 3 energy which one was a double. he team skull grunt two of my basic energy from my hand but left my double. when i used my double he enhanced ******** it away.

I was safe for a time seeing as he couldnt hit me but he kept knocking off my energy so I was only able to hit him 5 times which is more than enough, but there was a water stadium that healed him aside from his last chance potion and his pokemon center ladies that he used twice.  he had a mostly full bench at this point leaving one space open for his koko and a lot of energy on all his pokemon thanks to PikaRom's attack. He killed my alolan ninetails with an ampharos ex since his attack ignores effects.

 

when i said pidgey was on my bench i meant as my active not my bench, and yes i left out a lot like the above, but i was in a rush to get back into my match.

 

also the damage challenge probably makes sense too but i still think people like to troll because he kept spamming smiley faces throughout the match like he knew he already won even before ampharos ex was put on the ********* didnt annoy me at that time because i honestly thought he was going to concede since he only had ex's/gx's in play so i just used hearts to respond.

 

tl:dr

He only killed one pokemon before his super long turn for one pidgey which is why the N was able to get what he needed.

 

 

EDIT: why are normal words censored?! like "my" when its in the paragraph after "ex" is used. or hammer with an "ed" at the end? or even bench with the word "it" afterwards?

 

 

 

Edited June 12, 2019 by AlexGoneCrazy

[SandaledOtter]

Hmm... procreative slang, defecative (not a real word?) similarity, and... I don't know, I'd need to think on it more.

Edited June 12, 2019 by SandaledOtter