Me and my friends were somewhat bored and decided to of course have a battle with our decks. To make it interesting we made it a double battle. On the first couple of goes, it was just horrible. playing by the standard rule where "player A" on team one goes first then "player B" on team two goes second with "player C" of team one goes next ending with "player D" of team two. At first that looked simple and easy to play with. The problem is that both members on one team can gang up on a single person and sweep them without letting up making it a little unfair and less fun, especially with all the new Decks that punish in a 2-3 turn set up. So to fix this little issue I found in a TCG double battle, here is my personal Omniscient Double Battle (ODB) rule.
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What the ODB does is make a double battle even more of a team effort limiting the turns for each team. instead of going "A-B-C-D" it will go A/C - B/D where members of team one(A,C) and team two(B,D) decide who makes the move for their side. This makes game play a little interesting and truly works the nerves to survive a fight where everything is up to your partner.
Everyone still draws their seven cards at the start and the bench total (5) stays the same. Prizes are placed at 3 per person and the game doesn't end until of course all prize cards have been taken on one team or by other means. When player A collects all his/her prized cards, they have to keep playing until their partner has collected all of their own prize cards as well. If you run out of Pokemon or deck-out, you can no longer battle and your partner must fight by themselves turning it from A/C-B/D to A-B/D. Members of a team are allowed to converse and look at each others hands. Both players are to draw a card at the start of the teams turn. Also, everyone has their own separate discard pile and Lost zone.
Now for a few card rulings
Stadiums:
A stadium affects all players but of course can only be used by one person on the team and cannot be used for ones partner, only yourself. as shown below, Burned Tower says "Once during each players turn... Puts it into his/her hand", meaning player A and only player A can use its effect while cards like Ruins of Alph effects everyone because it doesn't say "Once during each players turn" in the text.
Trainers/item/Supporter:
These cards can be shared amongst team mates, but only when it's your turn and when it's your own card. You can not use a card from your partners hand what so ever. To clarify, lets say you have a potion and your partners Pokemon is hurt. You may use that said potion on your team mates Pokemon but when it's your partners turn, they cannot use that potion in your hand. Same goes for supporters; You can use a "PONT" to refresh your partners hand. Also, Pokemon tools can be only used on your Pokemon.
Trainer/item/supporter cards meant to obstruct the other team may only be used on one person. This means if you play Team Rockets trickery, or something like Crushing hammer, only one person on the opposing team can be targeted by the cards effect. Why is this? Because of the text on some cards, they say "opponent" meaning one person. Some cards on the other hand like Judge and "N" says "Each Player" meaning it affects everyone regardless. (this includes your partner)
Ability's/Poke-powers/body:
For Ability's, there is no change to this. An Ability is that of an equivalent to a stadium and same goes for Poke-body's. Poke-power's and Ability's can be shared between team members but only the person using it gets the effects. If player C has a Flip-tini on the field, player A can use its ability to flip again.
Status conditions:
Poison, burn, and sleep still take effect between turns. so instead of having to take 10 damage from poison between each persons turn going A-B-C-D making a total of 50, you only take the regular 10 just like in the video game by going A/C-B/D. Like I said before about trainers, Player A can use a switch on Player C's poisoned Pokemon. For Paralysis and confusion, they keep their effect but paralyzed Pokemon will heal the next turn if the partners Pokemon attacked in its place. Confusion still carries on until the active retreats or switches.
Attacks:
Attacks that spread damage can only hit one persons' bench. having an attack that could wipe out both players in an few turns would not be enjoyable and would make cards such a kyurem too powerful for this game-play.
An attack that discards from an opponent's hand or deck only affects one person, meaning if Durant uses the attack Devour, it only effects one deck.
Because this is a double battle, you are allowed to attack your teammate. If you knock out your teammates Pokemon it counts as a prize for the other team.
Attacks that cause recoil to the bench only affects the attackers' bench because again it says "your Pokemon" in the text of the attack.
Player A can only attack with player A's Pokemon
Energy:
energy (basic and special) follow the same rules that you may only attach one per turn, but most importantly, you may not use your energy on your partners Pokemon.
KO's/Prizes:
Like I said earlier, each person gets their own set of three prize cards totaling six on both teams. The person who performs the knockout for their teams turn collects their own prized cards. When one person has collected all their three prizes, they can now help collect their partners set of three by KO-ing more Pokemon. Another important thing; Cards that are affected by the Prize zone are based on a group total. This means playing twins require that your team as a whole has to have more prizes left (losing). So if team two has one less prize than team one, team one can use twins. If a Pokemon is KO'ed by a status condition or recoil damage, It doesn't matter which person on the opposing team takes the prize card.
I know all of this may look overwhelming but its easier than it looks and can make for crazy fun
Just remember these key things.
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What the ODB does is make a double battle even more of a team effort limiting the turns for each team. instead of going "A-B-C-D" it will go A/C - B/D where members of team one(A,C) and team two(B,D) decide who makes the move for their side. This makes game play a little interesting and truly works the nerves to survive a fight where everything is up to your partner.
Everyone still draws their seven cards at the start and the bench total (5) stays the same. Prizes are placed at 3 per person and the game doesn't end until of course all prize cards have been taken on one team or by other means. When player A collects all his/her prized cards, they have to keep playing until their partner has collected all of their own prize cards as well. If you run out of Pokemon or deck-out, you can no longer battle and your partner must fight by themselves turning it from A/C-B/D to A-B/D. Members of a team are allowed to converse and look at each others hands. Both players are to draw a card at the start of the teams turn. Also, everyone has their own separate discard pile and Lost zone.
Now for a few card rulings
Stadiums:
A stadium affects all players but of course can only be used by one person on the team and cannot be used for ones partner, only yourself. as shown below, Burned Tower says "Once during each players turn... Puts it into his/her hand", meaning player A and only player A can use its effect while cards like Ruins of Alph effects everyone because it doesn't say "Once during each players turn" in the text.
Trainers/item/Supporter:
These cards can be shared amongst team mates, but only when it's your turn and when it's your own card. You can not use a card from your partners hand what so ever. To clarify, lets say you have a potion and your partners Pokemon is hurt. You may use that said potion on your team mates Pokemon but when it's your partners turn, they cannot use that potion in your hand. Same goes for supporters; You can use a "PONT" to refresh your partners hand. Also, Pokemon tools can be only used on your Pokemon.
Trainer/item/supporter cards meant to obstruct the other team may only be used on one person. This means if you play Team Rockets trickery, or something like Crushing hammer, only one person on the opposing team can be targeted by the cards effect. Why is this? Because of the text on some cards, they say "opponent" meaning one person. Some cards on the other hand like Judge and "N" says "Each Player" meaning it affects everyone regardless. (this includes your partner)
Ability's/Poke-powers/body:
For Ability's, there is no change to this. An Ability is that of an equivalent to a stadium and same goes for Poke-body's. Poke-power's and Ability's can be shared between team members but only the person using it gets the effects. If player C has a Flip-tini on the field, player A can use its ability to flip again.
Status conditions:
Poison, burn, and sleep still take effect between turns. so instead of having to take 10 damage from poison between each persons turn going A-B-C-D making a total of 50, you only take the regular 10 just like in the video game by going A/C-B/D. Like I said before about trainers, Player A can use a switch on Player C's poisoned Pokemon. For Paralysis and confusion, they keep their effect but paralyzed Pokemon will heal the next turn if the partners Pokemon attacked in its place. Confusion still carries on until the active retreats or switches.
Attacks:
Attacks that spread damage can only hit one persons' bench. having an attack that could wipe out both players in an few turns would not be enjoyable and would make cards such a kyurem too powerful for this game-play.
An attack that discards from an opponent's hand or deck only affects one person, meaning if Durant uses the attack Devour, it only effects one deck.
Because this is a double battle, you are allowed to attack your teammate. If you knock out your teammates Pokemon it counts as a prize for the other team.
Attacks that cause recoil to the bench only affects the attackers' bench because again it says "your Pokemon" in the text of the attack.
Player A can only attack with player A's Pokemon
Energy:
energy (basic and special) follow the same rules that you may only attach one per turn, but most importantly, you may not use your energy on your partners Pokemon.
KO's/Prizes:
Like I said earlier, each person gets their own set of three prize cards totaling six on both teams. The person who performs the knockout for their teams turn collects their own prized cards. When one person has collected all their three prizes, they can now help collect their partners set of three by KO-ing more Pokemon. Another important thing; Cards that are affected by the Prize zone are based on a group total. This means playing twins require that your team as a whole has to have more prizes left (losing). So if team two has one less prize than team one, team one can use twins. If a Pokemon is KO'ed by a status condition or recoil damage, It doesn't matter which person on the opposing team takes the prize card.
I know all of this may look overwhelming but its easier than it looks and can make for crazy fun
Just remember these key things.Each player = everyone
opponent = one person
your Pokemon = only you
trainers/supporters can be used on partner
Attacks can only hit one person and their bench only
opponent = one person
your Pokemon = only you
trainers/supporters can be used on partner
Attacks can only hit one person and their bench only
