My Concern with the Direction of the Game thus far...

[Ghost Bear]

catcher is something on my bad list.....for a trainer it's terribly good. when I first started a year ago I ran unlimited decks until I got enough cards to make a decent formatted deck. I always had 4 gust of wind (catcher) in my deck because I immediately knew it was good. I would win half the time because of that, even though the rest of my deck sucked...just from bringing up the right pokemon and using a little strategy on top of that.

so catcher within a top tier deck will just be ridiculous. yeah, you could run 4 switches, but then they will run 4 junk arm, so you have to do that too, and get catcher in your deck to get them back and they'd do switch to counter that.....after having those 12 cards in your deck, it would be like we're forced to build a 48-card deck. decks are tight enough as it is, so that would just be claustrophobic.

I like the idea of making catcher a supporter, because it would still see play for sure, but not as much, because then it would be balanced. I also like riskbreaker's idea earlier on in this thread about making it have the "luxury ball rule." although, I think I'm leaning towards the supporter idea.

 

[win]

For me, a lot of the magic has left the game. Maybe it's because I've changed as a person since I played last, but now Rare Candy got nerfed, Warp Point is gone and bench sitters are more or less safe. It seems like basically every good deck just aims to get attackers out faster then spam them until they win. When I last played there was Dusknoir and Warp Point and I never knew if my opponent might drop a basic, Rare Candy it and just completely change the direction of the game. Now, games seem more predictable and less exciting...

 

[Card Slinger J]

Rare Candy will still see play especially in DonChamp, it's just that it isn't the powerhouse staple it used to be. I even still see it being played in Emboar (Ability) variants as well so it's not much of a lost cause.

To me it seems the game is shifting more towards Aggro than Curve/Control. It's not necessarily a bad thing but it does help make games end faster before having called time on I suppose.

 

[DNA]

how can u nerf a pokemon catcher?

You errata it.

the most pokemon catcher will do is get you 1 or 2 cheap prizes

You reminded me of Luxchomp, the point of which was to take cheap prizes.

 

[Zhaituki]

pokemon catcher wont be that big of a deal.
everyone is starting to run switch in their decks.
the most pokemon catcher will do is get you 1 or 2 cheap prizes
you cant always rely on catcher alone.

Say that after you lose your energy loader in deck or some other that helps your main attacker alot. I myself play TyphloRam and i won't be liking that i lose typhlosions.

 

[Gengar_is_Pwnage]

C'mon guys, anyone knows that we are in a Base Set Era. Sit down, deal, and just leave it be. Catcher = Gust of Wind. All of the Base Set players (including myself), had to deal with it back then. Surely you can deal with it too.

You're just not used to it is all. The format was with out it for several years. Which is why you all think its such a big deal, when really it isn't. We also get the flippy Energy Removal back. So like ogeray said, its not a huge deal and you can't rely on it.