Might as well address all the changes, even those we've long since known were coming:
- Expanded is a problem: Yeah, nothing was said about it but a lot of these things are issues because of Expanded and poor planning for it. Maybe it needs to rotate, or maybe they need to plan ahead better because of issues that are their own doing.
- No T1 Supporter is a bad idea. Instead of issuing an errata for the Supporters that are too good T1, they're taking away an important first-turn play. Like how, instead of balancing out attacks, the rules of Evolution, etc. we lost T1 attacks and it still didn't balance going first versus going second.
- Offense tends to be stronger than defense; combine that with general power creep and restoring Resistance to -30 damage makes sense. Leaving Weakness at x2 does not. This is the TCG; multipliers tend to be too strong. Just change Weakness to a flat +20; a free "Muscle Band" is plenty good!
- The game either has too few Types or too many Types, depending on the exact goal. Good game play through preserving video game relationships means no more than two video game Types per TCG Type (preferably striving for 1:1). Good TCG-based gameplay means fewer Types. Both make me think more Types needed rearranging.
- No real complaints with the errata. If we nitpick, I wonder if certain cards are going to be worth playing, or I could ask why a lot of those cards didn't read "...up to..." since the beginning.
- For the love of common sense, just issue errata for Professor Juniper and Professor Sycamore, so they're also named Professor's Research!
- I don't care for the new name for the"between phase" but I don't have anything better for it (including "between phase" XP). I'll get used to it.
- Adding a new standardized term is good. Heal/Recover, though, almost feel reversed. Probably because they each make sense in the same context. I'll get used to it.
- "Once during your turn" probably also ought to have been removed, for similar reasons. If it makes more sense to just say "All Abilities work like this unless stated otherwise..." yeah, do that.
Still, it is a good thing.
- Maybe good? I think I'll have to wait and see how this plays out.
1. Expanded is quite good but due to the massive amount of playable card and multitude of ever increasing combinations, meta problems can arise with newer cards working with older cards in ways that weren't anticipated, requiring a card be banned or errataed. But to Pokemon's credit, expanded works and only has a minimal ban list. If you want to see what hell on earth looks like, look at Yugioh, which is entirely expanded and has a massive ban list as well as a limited list.
2. I personally think further nerfing for T1 start is a good thing, but we have yet to see it in a competitive meta just yet, so can't say much about it's effects just yet.
3. Agreed. At the moment entire decks can be locked out of the meta simply because they're weak against another deck, not because that deck plays better. If weaknesses went back to DP era weaknesses like +10 for evolving basics, +20 for first evolutions and non-evolving Pokemon, +30 for second evolutions and x2 for EX,GX and V Pokemon, I think that would be best.
4. I think the types in the TCG are fine as it is. Not particularly sure why they dropped Fairy type, maybe to reduce the number of cards printed, I don't know, but the TCG definitely can't copy the videogame types, even if there was only singular types, since rock and grass types have 5 weaknesses, and some might have up to 7, if there were dual types. I can easily imagine how much card space would be used just for the weakness area.
6. Agreed. The fact that you can only play 4 of one or the other and not a combination of them is strange but since you should easily be able to get 4 of each in each set they appear in, it shouldn't affect too many people. Do feel bad for the people who want 4 full arts but can't use full art Juniper and full art Sycamore in the same deck lol.
7. I think the new phase name might be used on cards down the line for effects but otherwise, not sure why it needed a name change either.
9. The "once during your turn" sticking in the card text is a good thing because even if abilities were once a turn unless stated otherwise, those 4 words minimise confusion, especially for younger and/or newer players.
