Should Pokemon Catcher be Banned?

Should Pokemon Catcher be Banned?

  • Yes

    Votes: 10 29.4%

  • No

    Votes: 24 70.6%
  • Total voters
    34
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Pokemon Card Lab.. That's where the card concepts stem from.


Pokémon Card Laboratory (PCL)
The Pokémon Card Laboratory (PCL), located in Japan, is the designer of new cards and the ultimate authority on any matter relating to the Pokémon Trading Card Game. It can declare rulings on any in-game circumstance, issue errata, change card text after publishing, and change the basic game rules, although the latter three rarely occur. PCL runs Organized Play in Japan.

That's what Wikipedia says.
 
Ah, I get you. I think the equivalent over here in the States though would be TPCI, not necessarily PCL, since TPCI are the ones that have been errata-ing cards.
 
I have been discussing this with a friend, and the main 'problem' with Catcher is that it makes a couple of in-format cards completely obsolete, especially Reversal.
However, I don't really see how that's a problem. Pokemon TCG has been having this problem for years now. 90% of all rares and 95% of all cards are EXTREMELY INFERIOR to say the least, and nobody ever complained about those. Well, I did, but that's not my point. Nobody wanted to BAN the superior ones because they were 'the metagame' and as long as there's enough variety in that, it's fine.

Only if a card makes a format too ridiculously one-sided, it should be banned. Considering Catcher does the same thing as Luxray GL X, and LuxChomp's weakness is trainer lock, just like Catcher's, I don't see a reason to ban it.
Also, there is no broken donk deck that can be pulled off with Catcher like there is with Sableye. Considering Sableye is not banned either, I don't see why Catcher should be. I think Gust of Wind was one of the best cards in the old days, but not overpowered at all. It's not overpowered now, either.

However, disregarding all that, I'm going to take a guess and say that the Pokemon company is going to errata Catcher to make it the same as Reversal, hence with a coin flip (or some other manner of disadvantage).
 
Well I overheard from J-Wittz that Pokemon Catcher will shake the format to the point where alot of
"Heavy Hitter" decks like Tyranitar, Machamp, Magnezone, Rayquaza/Deoxys LEGEND with Emboar, and BlastiGatr will become obsolete because fast decks like Zekrom, Donphan, Yanmega, etc. will be able to KO whatever Basic they want before they evolve. That's part of the TCG's problem is deck speed as it's leaning towards more of an Aggro approach instead of both Curve and Aggro like in Magic: The Gathering.

To think that one Trainer - Item card can literally make the majority of Stage 2 decks in the current and next format obsolete is just wrong. It's like SP's and Haymaker all over again except this time it isn't just overpowered Basic Pokemon dominating the format it's a combination of Basic and Stage 1 Pokemon doing the job while Stage 2's see less and less competitive play, the Rare Candy errata didn't help matters either despite trying to prevent First Turn Donks. They'll still see play as techs like with Emboar with Inferno Fandango but not as main attackers anymore sadly.

If that isn't any reason to ban Pokemon Catcher I don't know what is, I've been playing Stage 2 decks for a long while and finding out that a Gust of Wind reprint is going to potentially cause me to tear apart my Tyranitar deck isn't cool at all. I've spent so much time tweaking that deck and finding out that my setup is getting disrupted severely that's just insane. Sure there's Gothitelle and Vileplume UD however Vileplume hurts deck consistency when we are entering into a Trainer - Item heavy format after Worlds.

If Pokemon Catcher stays the way it's been printed in Japan in our next English set it has the potential to destroy the format worse than what SableDonk is doing in the current format with the ridiculous donks and such. It's probably silly to compare Pokemon Catcher to SableDonk but they are both REALLY bad for the TCG itself. At least give Catcher an errata to where it's not as cheap. It still amazes me how Gust of Wind never got banned while it was Modified legal considering how it made alot of decks back in the day presumably Blastoise Rain Dance and Haymaker into cheap powerhouses.
 
Card Slinger J said:
Well I overheard from J-Wittz that Pokemon Catcher will shake the format to the point where alot of
"Heavy Hitter" decks like Tyranitar, Machamp, Magnezone, Rayquaza/Deoxys LEGEND with Emboar, and BlastiGatr will become obsolete because fast decks like Zekrom, Donphan, Yanmega, etc. will be able to KO whatever Basic they want before they evolve. That's part of the TCG's problem is deck speed as it's leaning towards more of an Aggro approach instead of both Curve and Aggro like in Magic: The Gathering.
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You say all that as you state you're a stage two deck user.. Makes you look bias. You can still get a ttar turn two. And a turn two ttar can do 60 which isn't bad. People won't be playing catcher turn one and possibly turn two. Plus it's a 40% chance they'll start with one if the run four. If you fear catcher that much then make a new deck, or play the game how YOU want to and run ttar and find how to make it work. Back when gust of wind was in the format it was all about wigglytuff (a stage one) omg! Decks worked back then as they will now. So people need to stop complaining. I've adjusted and have made an excellent stage one deck with vileplume in it. It's not slow really at all. So I'm not worried. Maybe it's time to bring back wigglytuff (cinccino) and wreck shop. This game is made to be fun. So make it fun with what they give you.
 
yeah, sawk, cincinno, reshiram, zekrom, and a zoroark tech. Done. Who cares if you end up running 3 to 4 energy types?

the only deck that can donk because of catcher, is a donk deck to begin with. And those have to have godlike opening hands to really get the T-1 donk. And at that point catcher is just icing on the cake. Because if you think about it, if you only have 1 pokemon in play, them having catcher means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. If there is a simple way to null a card, and it's a super simple, very consistent, super risky, way to avoid them from using it.

everything is slowed down. So facing catcher while running t-tar won't do a whole lot to you. It mostly hurts water and electric decks.
 
I really have 2 things to say in regards to Pokemon Catcher.

Card Slinger J said:
If that isn't any reason to ban Pokemon Catcher I don't know what is, I've been playing Stage 2 decks for a long while and finding out that a Gust of Wind reprint is going to potentially cause me to tear apart my Tyranitar deck isn't cool at all. I've spent so much time tweaking that deck and finding out that my setup is getting disrupted severely that's just insane. Sure there's Gothitelle and Vileplume UD however Vileplume hurts deck consistency when we are entering into a Trainer - Item heavy format after Worlds.
Click to expand...

1. In response to Card Slinger J and those who have mutual opinions about Stage 2 decks - this is all part of the game. First, I'd like to say that I've played Gengar since I've started (Cursegar, Gengar C, Vilegar, Lostgar), so I'm a little disappointed that we get potentially shafted with the introduction of this new card. Sure, it goes without saying that Pokemon Catcher will drastically alter the next format and may have these effects that all of us are worrying about but, again, this is part of the game. We are all too comfortable with our current format blessed by Broken Time-Space, the pre-nerfed Rare Candy, quick setups with Uxie or Claydol and speedy decks including SP. I'm personally upset with the new rulings on Rare Candy but these new rulings, turn one trainers, the introduction of Pokemon Catcher and other future "broken" cards are revolutionary to say the least. And people generally don't like revolutions. People don't like change. However, change happens and that is when we need to consider our mindset. In other words, while we were able to play Stage 2 decks comfortably in our current format, this may or may not be the case in the future. Those who are adamant in playing Stage 2 will find some way to work around these new changes and those are the players who will set the path to making Stage 2 decks viable in the next format. Consider it a challenge - people have been able to come up with effective answers to challenges in the past, this is just another hurdle we need to jump over.

2. Let's talk about mindset - right now, we've had the opportunity to utilize benched techs from Claydol to the pixies to Regirock and play low HP basics with no fear because we are confident in our ability to evolve those basics into powerful Stage 1s and 2s. What Pokemon Catcher will do is make us think twice about using benched techs and challenge us to consider whether or not low HP basics are the right way to go. Instead of fighting to ban Catcher, we should be embracing this challenge. This may lead to a format where every deck becomes simpler. Maybe Pokemon Catcher will be so much of a threat that you're no longer able to play the Shaymin/Pachirisu combo without worrying about giving your opponent two free prizes. Maybe your Dodrio UD tech will be your opponent's next victim. Maybe not. When we look at the empirical evidence presented to us from the Gust of Wind era, we shudder at Haymaker yet there were decks that still had competitive potential. Anyone remember the Raindance deck? It utilized Blastoise, a Stage 2. How about Barrier Swap? The point is, no matter how many "broken" cards will be introduced in our format players will still find a way to work around them.


If there's anything you should take away from this, it's this:
Be creative. Step outside the comfort zone that is our current format.
 
[/thread]

I applaud you for your tremendous insight. Yeah, we don't like change, but we'll live. We'll just play with Catcher in mind and keep on moving.
I'd say more, but I don't have anything else to add that's already been said.
 
it pretty much is /thread.. But I will add one more thing, this is not so much "revolutionary" but a reset. Nerfe'd rare candy = pokemon breeder, communicaton = pokemon trader, DCE is back, X2 weakness, catcher = GoW, switch instead of warp point, juniper = oak, pokedex = pokedex :p, we also gained a better potion, better revive, and better energy retrieval. They even reprinted bill. Made it suck as a supporter, but bill is back.

meganium = base venusaur, gatr prime = base blastoise, cinccinno = jungle wigglytuff, zoroark = clefable, sawk = base hitmonchan, dodrio = jungle dodrio.. We need a wall like jungle mime. Only with more HP and free retreat :p

SP was cheap. Always has been, always will be. It's why we never got the VS cards.
 
carlitosbob said:
it pretty much is /thread.. But I will add one more thing, this is not so much "revolutionary" but a reset. Nerfe'd rare candy = pokemon breeder, communicaton = pokemon trader, DCE is back, X2 weakness, catcher = GoW, switch instead of warp point, juniper = oak, pokedex = pokedex :p, we also gained a better potion, better revive, and better energy retrieval. They even reprinted bill. Made it suck as a supporter, but bill is back.

meganium = base venusaur, gatr prime = base blastoise, cinccinno = jungle wigglytuff, zoroark = clefable, sawk = base hitmonchan, dodrio = jungle dodrio.. We need a wall like jungle mime. Only with more HP and free retreat :p

SP was cheap. Always has been, always will be. It's why we never got the VS cards.
Click to expand...
the.. Uh.. Cofagus guy has a flip ability similar to mr. Mime so we're set
 
He meant the Mr. Mime from Jungle, not Supreme Victors. It negates any damage more than 30 done to it. Cofagrigus just has constant Focus Band - it isn't quite the same thing.

Oh, yeah, and Carlitos, you forgot to list that Reuniclus = Alakazam.
 
I think catcher mid- to late-game is more annoying than anything. by then you'll have all your stuff set up. just like seeker is more annoying than anything to have to pick your stuff up then put them back down.

I don't think catcher should be banned, but I think it should be a supporter like someone else suggested. IMO it's as powerful as seeker, and seeker is banned. I don't see why there would be a trainer released to automatically allow you which pokemon to make the defending, in the same rotation as a trainer that you have to flip to be able to do that.

even as a supporter, it'll still find it's way into a lot of decks. especially with dual ball and poke comm out there. you could choose to collector or dual ball/comm with catcher (as your support for turn)
 
crush hammer = energy removal 2 < energy removal < super energy removal. It's the only card to receive a direct counter. Cuz original energy removal and super energy removal were amazing. Forced you to run more energy, or at least energy retrieval. Since energy removal 2 came out later, I purposefully left it out. But the alakazam thing, my bad, I did forget reniculus.
 
Yeah how did Seeker get banned? It's a very good card but not near the level of Pokemon Catcher. If that was the case people would of been complaining about Seeker as much as Pokemon Catcher. I think HGSS-On is going to hurt Seeker quite a bit aside from it's usage in Zekrom and Reshiram that's really about it.

The only reasons why it's great now in MD-On is because of Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit from Legends Awakened and SableDonk. It used to be pretty good with LostGar only to find out that it was all hype and nothing else. Sure it's okay with Spiritomb TR for Spooky Whirlpool but it's very gimmicky at best.
 
Reshiram also does have some shades of Charizard base. Being able to deal a truckload of damage in exchange of discard.

Catcher is a card that shouldn't have the same print as its first gen predecessor but it's there so we have to adjust.
 
The only downside to Pokemon Catcher is that you need to have incredibly greater recovery late-game. I don't think that its going to be that big of a deal early game, because most decks don't have the potential to do a whole lot of damage early game (given Kingdra, Donphan, and possibly a luck-sack ReshiBoar). But once your main attacker dies and you don't have another ready to go, your effectivly screwed over. Catcher is just going to pick off your main attacker like there's no tomarrow.
 
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