For those who aren't familiar with the term "Scooping" is the act of conceding a match to one's opponent. The term is also used for coneding one game in a best-of-three match because the conceding player can't possibly win, so they move to the next game in the interest of time. The second one is arguably much less of an issue, so i'm not here to talk about that.
There is no rule against voluntarily conceding to an opponent, so long as the conceding player was not bribed and both players agree (Offering compensation for a concession is against the Spirit of the Game and is grounds for disqualification). However, I feel as though this has gotten out of hand on the competitivbe scene, especially around the time of Nationals when players are trying to pinch every last Championship Point they can get. I'm definitely not the first to first to bring this up, nor will I be the last (Am I allowed to post links to artcles on other sites? Jay Hornung of http://google.com/ wrpte an article on this matter a few weeks ago), but I am curious of everyone else's opinions on the matter.
The two most common scooping scenarios go like this, but there's certainly plenty of others.
Scenario 1: Josh and Harry are playing each other in a tournament. Josh has bee playing the game for several years, travels to major tournaments on a regular basis, and has received Worlds invites in past years. Harry has only been playing for a short while, and mostly plays locally, but is nonethe;ess familiar with the metagame and has a playable deck. Josh says to Harry, "Hey man, I'm so close to getting an invite and I really need these CP. Could you scoop to me?" For the purpose of this story, we'll just say that Josh asked politely, and Harry, knowing he has no chance of getting into Worlds and wanting to be a nice guy, agrees to scoop.
Scenario 2: Josh's father also plays Pokemon. He may or may not be a Professor. Josh and his father go to a tournament and end up being paired against each other. Josh's father, like Harry from the scenario above is not nearly as competitive as his son, and also wants to see Josh get into Worlds because he is "proud" of him. Josh's father scoops to his son. (Note that Josh didn't necessarily ask for this. He didn't even bring his father to the tournament for the sole purpose of having him scoop should they be paired. Josh's father just wanted to see his son make top cut, and Josh wasn't going to argue with it.)
As of September 1st, Play! Pokemon revised their rules to prevent players from asking their opponent for a concession. While it dues provide a solution to one half of the problem on paper, newer players can still feel very intimidated against someone with a lot of victories under his or her belt, who may also have friends around to add to the pressure. This isn't a knock against competitive players by any means, and as a competitive player myself, I have to say most of us are cool, friendly, and fun-loving people. I just feel that sometimes we, as a lot and even among ourselves can get "elitist" notions and feel more deserving of a win, especially against a greenhorn player.
The other problem is the "parent" scenario. I don't think there is a solution to this. Plenty of parents like to see their kids win, be it Pokemon, softball, whatever, and I don't blame them. I also think parents should be more than welcome in the Masters bracket; many of them are quite competitive- so long as their kid isn't using all the good cards and they're stuck with what couldn't fit in the binder. One of the most epic final rounds I had the pleasure of watching was a match for first and second between two Pokedads at a League Challenge. Still, i feel like I got jipped when the person at the table next to me essentially gets a bye because he was paired against a parent.
That said, I think players should have the right to scoop. Even in a single game match, I'd rather spend the rest of the time relaxing, perhaps go to snack bar or the pizzaria next door or whatever before the next round starts than play out the rest of the game where I haven't taken a single prize and exhausted most of my resources. I'd just rather it be on my own accord than being pressured into it. Your thoughts?
There is no rule against voluntarily conceding to an opponent, so long as the conceding player was not bribed and both players agree (Offering compensation for a concession is against the Spirit of the Game and is grounds for disqualification). However, I feel as though this has gotten out of hand on the competitivbe scene, especially around the time of Nationals when players are trying to pinch every last Championship Point they can get. I'm definitely not the first to first to bring this up, nor will I be the last (Am I allowed to post links to artcles on other sites? Jay Hornung of http://google.com/ wrpte an article on this matter a few weeks ago), but I am curious of everyone else's opinions on the matter.
The two most common scooping scenarios go like this, but there's certainly plenty of others.
Scenario 1: Josh and Harry are playing each other in a tournament. Josh has bee playing the game for several years, travels to major tournaments on a regular basis, and has received Worlds invites in past years. Harry has only been playing for a short while, and mostly plays locally, but is nonethe;ess familiar with the metagame and has a playable deck. Josh says to Harry, "Hey man, I'm so close to getting an invite and I really need these CP. Could you scoop to me?" For the purpose of this story, we'll just say that Josh asked politely, and Harry, knowing he has no chance of getting into Worlds and wanting to be a nice guy, agrees to scoop.
Scenario 2: Josh's father also plays Pokemon. He may or may not be a Professor. Josh and his father go to a tournament and end up being paired against each other. Josh's father, like Harry from the scenario above is not nearly as competitive as his son, and also wants to see Josh get into Worlds because he is "proud" of him. Josh's father scoops to his son. (Note that Josh didn't necessarily ask for this. He didn't even bring his father to the tournament for the sole purpose of having him scoop should they be paired. Josh's father just wanted to see his son make top cut, and Josh wasn't going to argue with it.)
As of September 1st, Play! Pokemon revised their rules to prevent players from asking their opponent for a concession. While it dues provide a solution to one half of the problem on paper, newer players can still feel very intimidated against someone with a lot of victories under his or her belt, who may also have friends around to add to the pressure. This isn't a knock against competitive players by any means, and as a competitive player myself, I have to say most of us are cool, friendly, and fun-loving people. I just feel that sometimes we, as a lot and even among ourselves can get "elitist" notions and feel more deserving of a win, especially against a greenhorn player.
The other problem is the "parent" scenario. I don't think there is a solution to this. Plenty of parents like to see their kids win, be it Pokemon, softball, whatever, and I don't blame them. I also think parents should be more than welcome in the Masters bracket; many of them are quite competitive- so long as their kid isn't using all the good cards and they're stuck with what couldn't fit in the binder. One of the most epic final rounds I had the pleasure of watching was a match for first and second between two Pokedads at a League Challenge. Still, i feel like I got jipped when the person at the table next to me essentially gets a bye because he was paired against a parent.
That said, I think players should have the right to scoop. Even in a single game match, I'd rather spend the rest of the time relaxing, perhaps go to snack bar or the pizzaria next door or whatever before the next round starts than play out the rest of the game where I haven't taken a single prize and exhausted most of my resources. I'd just rather it be on my own accord than being pressured into it. Your thoughts?
