Why I'm Quitting the TCG

[Empoleon_master]

Ok, I first wanted to quit the TCG in around October or November of last year due to my parents deciding that all the days I could play pokemon that month and a half were free for me, despite them knowing full well they were NOT. Now it has reached a new low for me, and the TCG, a time which is honestly worse for the metagame than 2-3 Tropical Beach needing to be played for Keldeo Blastoise when it was Standard, Night March, Vespiquen/+Vileplume, Trevenant, and Seismitoad, that's basically the entire format, anyone else notice a sort of trend with those decks, maybe a part about not allowing your opponent to play or something about solitare?


Honestly I don't feel that bad about it, I have next to zero championship points, nats and worlds is soon so I can sell my Shaymin ex at higher prices, and if I do get back into the game Shaymin will be cheaper because of the new LT where they're reprinting Shaymin ex anyway. Plus, in Fates collide, they're HELPING night march by adding the new Mew, and Glaceon EX, who for 1 water and one colorless eliminates Nm's only weakness that's already likely stopped via other decks half way through the tournament.....evolution cards! Plus, for one water and a colorless Glaceon EX does 10 + an additional amount of damage on what ever is on the active (it's basically wobbufett's attack)

Now before I end this let me say a few things you may be wondering about:
1, No, I am not merely butt hurt about night march being over powered, I am upset that their is no counter balance to it that doesn't have the rest of the game decided for it in the first two turns/has hard auto losses against a bunch of other decks, read Trevenant, seismitoad, and Vespiquen. If I was THAT upset that nigh march was strong, I would have quit during Breakthrough, when FFB and Puzzle of Time didn't exist, which severely upset Nm's power balance. And yes, those two cards are fine on their own and in other decks, but here, with NM it is simply too powerful....which I predicted 1 month before BP came out...which no one believed me on....and these were players that earn their invites to worlds every year. <_<

2 Yes I will be on PB still, as forum games are fun, I am just really disappointed in the TCG right now, and this is before auto paralyzing mega Beedrill comes out, who I might add attacks every turn via mega turbo and Puzzle of time.
3 Yes, mods I will still be participating in April's TCG cup, but likely at this point just to document how quickly night march will set up against me, over, and over, and over. While I was still testing this deck I thought I stood a chance against NM, then I played more rounds in VS on PTCGO against more NM, and just got more and more saddened by what the format has become.
4 Yes I will still be attending a prerelease on Saturday due me supporting an up and coming gaming store, and because I can tell you now, the near guaranteed Marrowack prerelease promos which will stop you from having item lock will likely be going for a bunch online and I should be able to get at least 2 this Saturday.
5 Yes my trade thread will still be up as I will likely still be trading for cards should the format ever become worth playing again.....if I ever update my trade thread which I've been uber lazy about....for months.
6 Yes I'll go more in depth as to why NM is pretty much not going to stop any time soon/is nearly impossible to get out of top 16 at tournaments if it's requested in the replies to this below.

 

[Athena]

Moved to TCG News & Discussion as the thread is discussing aspects of the Pokémon TCG.

 

[Otaku]

My response is simple:

Okay.

I only play the PTCGO online because I can do so without investing actual money. I might not even have been doing that except Pokémon has been such a large part of my life I am hesitant to give up on it entirely.

 

[Pikachu6319]

My response is this; you're frusturated with the metagame. I get that, I think a lot of people do. But do you still like Pokémon? Then turn into a collector, which is primarily what I do. Keep that Shaymin EX and put it in binder with your others. Start making a pokemon card dex for example. There are other ways to enjoy Pokémon or any other card game besides playing.

 

[DooPeDee]

Adapt. There are ways to beat every deck. If you consistently run into Trev, play Dark. Lots of NM? Play a deck that trades just as well (and use your supporters effectively--Im talking to the N reprint). Personally, I despise all meta decks. That's why I took my favorite Pokemon, Xerneas, and made a deck around it to compete with ANY deck. Luckily, the Rainbow Force print gave me many options/techs to work with.

 

[orthusaku]

Adapt. There are ways to beat every deck. If you consistently run into Trev, play Dark. Lots of NM? Play a deck that trades just as well (and use your supporters effectively--Im talking to the N reprint). Personally, I despise all meta decks. That's why I took my favorite Pokemon, Xerneas, and made a deck around it to compete with ANY deck. Luckily, the Rainbow Force print gave me many options/techs to work with.

Unfortunately N isn't legal in standard for at least 2 and a half weeks more weeks. Plus if Night march was so easy to counter wouldn't it see less play?

 

[TokenDuelist]

Playing Rogue is a lot harder to do. I completely understand and am in a similar boat. As a professor, I do my best to play and keep other players entertained and have fun. However, the meta game is not great right now either. I dislike this format and have stuck primarily to collecting cards. If I wanna try something new, I'll hope onto PTCGO. I'm more of a video game person. I too dislike what the Pokemon TCG has become in the recent years. As much as I try to play other decks, I still remain using Plasma Eevees constantly. They win me league challenges, they rack up my ladder on TCGO, and they're just overall the only deck I can play that suits my play-style. I've stopped investing heavily in the TCG because of one simple thought: "Why do I buy so many cards and try so many decks, when I know they're not going to work out/be better than my current one?" I love this card game, I love Pokemon - but this game is poorly maintained and filled with terrible decisions. As much as I like my deck - I get incredibly bored.

At the end of the day, your decisions are your decisions. Taking a break is the most necessary thing to do in circumstances like this. It isn't the first time the game has made people feel like this in the past few years either. If you take a look back at Next Destinies you can tell Mewtwo EX was a HORRIBLE mistake. Mewtwo EX made people quit, either permanently - or just for a bit.

 

[Otaku]

Adapt. There are ways to beat every deck. If you consistently run into Trev, play Dark. Lots of NM? Play a deck that trades just as well (and use your supporters effectively--Im talking to the N reprint). Personally, I despise all meta decks. That's why I took my favorite Pokemon, Xerneas, and made a deck around it to compete with ANY deck. Luckily, the Rainbow Force print gave me many options/techs to work with.

Why?

Why adapt?

He isn't enjoying the game, and there is no guarantee he will be able to overcome what is bothering him. I've heard players give that advice countless times over the years and while sometimes it is true, usually it isn't. That person just enjoys more of what the game currently is than the person quitting the game. Plus even if one can adapt... is it worth the effort? I'm not saying everything needs to be super easy but if the effort a person puts into the Pokémon TCG can do more elsewhere, that's a good reason to go elsewhere.

 

[TokenDuelist]

Why?

Why adapt?

He isn't enjoying the game, and there is no guarantee he will be able to overcome what is bothering him. I've heard players give that advice countless times over the years and while sometimes it is true, usually it isn't. That person just enjoys more of what the game currently is than the person quitting the game. Plus even if one can adapt... is it worth the effort? I'm not saying everything needs to be super easy but if the effort a person puts into the Pokémon TCG can do more elsewhere, that's a good reason to go elsewhere.

It's extremely hard to adapt to the TCG right now too.

You can't adapt to a game that already sees people trying to adapt to the game, then responds by stacking the odds against them. They're too in favor of the problematic cards, and do their best to keep it that way.

You can't adapt to the Pokemon TCG, they literally will not let you. That's what the biggest problem is. It's designed against the people who want variety. We say "Hey we don't want anymore of this" and all they hear is "What? You want more?"

 

[danio13]

Ok, I first wanted to quit the TCG in around October or November of last year due to my parents deciding that all the days I could play pokemon that month and a half were free for me, despite them knowing full well they were NOT. Now it has reached a new low for me, and the TCG, a time which is honestly worse for the metagame than 2-3 Tropical Beach needing to be played for Keldeo Blastoise when it was Standard, Night March, Vespiquen/+Vileplume, Trevenant, and Seismitoad, that's basically the entire format, anyone else notice a sort of trend with those decks, maybe a part about not allowing your opponent to play or something about solitare?

This is exactly why I quite the Pokemon TCG 3 years ago. At least with Yugioh, I can plan ahead with meta decks and they don't lock you out from playing

 

[Empoleon_master]

It's extremely hard to adapt to the TCG right now too.

You can't adapt to a game that already sees people trying to adapt to the game, then responds by stacking the odds against them. They're too in favor of the problematic cards, and do their best to keep it that way.

You can't adapt to the Pokemon TCG, they literally will not let you. That's what the biggest problem is. It's designed against the people who want variety. We say "Hey we don't want anymore of this" and all they hear is "What? You want more?"

This is exactly why I drew this yesterday.

 

[Otaku]

You can't adapt to the Pokemon TCG, they literally will not let you.

The-powers-that-be have a nasty habit of intentionally releasing potent cards and then counters for them. Some thing that makes for a balanced format, but mostly it makes for frustration.

"Oh, looks like I'll have to build a deck around Abilities to stand a chance. Guess I'll have to pony up the money or trades to get those cards." I can't remember if Garbodor (DRX) took off right away, but if it didn't then this still held true until it. Prior to Seismitoad-EX, I finally accepted the designers wanted us using decks with heavy amounts of draw, search, and tactical Items... but instead we get Seismitoad-EX on top of the Item lock already present. Run too many Items, and it punishes you badly... but if you don't run heavy on Items, pretty much everything else punishes you for it. @_@

 

[TokenDuelist]

I like how during the start of the EX Era TPCi put out a call looking for designers to help them balance the game.

Look how well they're doing now eh?

 

[Empoleon_master]

The-powers-that-be have a nasty habit of intentionally releasing potent cards and then counters for them. Some thing that makes for a balanced format, but mostly it makes for frustration.

"Oh, looks like I'll have to build a deck around Abilities to stand a chance. Guess I'll have to pony up the money or trades to get those cards." I can't remember if Garbodor (DRX) took off right away, but if it didn't then this still held true until it. Prior to Seismitoad-EX, I finally accepted the designers wanted us using decks with heavy amounts of draw, search, and tactical Items... but instead we get Seismitoad-EX on top of the Item lock already present. Run too many Items, and it punishes you badly... but if you don't run heavy on Items, pretty much everything else punishes you for it. @_@

Ok, since they've printed/reprinted cards that can counter night march, and/or vespiquen, such as these.

Spoiler: card images

And in order of top to bottom, here's how both item lock and NM counter these like they don't exist, because should they actually be VALID counters, they would not have certain things in them.
Jirachi NM, Fates collide Mew, previously, lysandreing it away, then bringing it up again somehow, or *some method I forget as I prefer to block out my night march battles* to otherwise remove it from the field, then ko everything else you remotely like on your field. Vespiquen/item lock, 1 item lock so you'll never get it out, or IF you do, they find a way to make it die somehow, which I know for a fact that they can easily do, again, my brain has blocked out some memories of those decks as I don't really like to cry at night, thinking about what the format has become.

Barbaracle (good, glob, WHAT were they thinking when they decided on how to spell that name?) NM, they play down dimension valley, and unless you are playing Dvalley, just to counter NM 1 you're wasting too much space for just NM, 2 you may be PLAYING NM, or, they could play a simple hex maniac and your opponent has effectively removed it from play that turn, because after they ko your active, they will then lysandre this up and stop your "counter". Vespiquen/itemlock, forest of giant plants is mandatory in this deck, 2 they have what? item lock so your chances of getting this out have just gone down to nearly nothing, also lysandre exists.

Aerodactyl NM, "that's a nice basic you've got there, it would be a shame if you...didn't get it out consistently every turn to keep pace with me. muwahahahahahahahahaha" Vespiquen/item lock "awww, look, something that stands a chance against it, it's a shame that the only way you could get it out while I exist is something convoluted, like Archie's omastar, or say..an item you'll only be able to play if you go t1, lolololololoolololol"

And that is why fates collide does NOTHING to hurt any of these decks, only help them with freaking Mew.

 

[Purrloin]

I'm with @TokenDuelist: The metagame is annoying as heck right now, I agree whole-heartedly. But instead of quitting outright and selling all your cards, I suggest just taking a break for a while.

Back when everybody and their moms were running Mewtwo-EX, I stepped back for nearly a year and didn't compete at all (but still collected) because I hated being punished for using Pokemon with high energy cost -- as if that wasn't already difficult to do. When I finally came back, the game felt "new" to me again because there was three sets that I hadn't really looked at competitively. Mewtwo was still splashing everywhere like a kiddy pool, but I had a bit more patience because my mind had rebooted and I was able to see the fun side of the game again.

And who knows, when the Sun & Moon sets start up (probably next Feb.), maybe we'll see some much-needed changes.

 

[Empoleon_master]

I'm with @TokenDuelist: The metagame is annoying as heck right now, I agree whole-heartedly. But instead of quitting outright and selling all your cards, I suggest just taking a break for a while.

Back when everybody and their moms were running Mewtwo-EX, I stepped back for nearly a year and didn't compete at all (but still collected) because I hated being punished for using Pokemon with high energy cost -- as if that wasn't already difficult to do. When I finally came back, the game felt "new" to me again because there was three sets that I hadn't really looked at competitively. Mewtwo was still splashing everywhere like a kiddy pool, but I had a bit more patience because my mind had rebooted and I was able to see the fun side of the game again.

And who knows, when the Sun & Moon sets start up (probably next Feb.), maybe we'll see some much-needed changes.

I think the worst thing about that format was that mewtwo ex was mandatory, there weren't really decks, so much as "use powerful expensive exs...+ like 2-3 other pokemon for support then win", metwos cost a solid $40+ and darkrai ex cost about the same as well.

Edit: The cards they gave to "counter" (lol counter) night march/item lock in Fates Collide was like throwing sand at a wall, then giving the wall metal spikes that are tipped with poison made from the tears of formats past, and puppies.

 

[Empoleon_master]

In responce to nm and item lock being the only prominent decks, I have now created the only thing physically more cancerous than both of those combined, reminicent of the 2013 worlds format.....near auto paralyse + item lock. This is now in the form of dewgong + trick coin and vileplume, but it lacks the weakness of accelgoth...the opponent's active pokemon being kod.....by adding a bat line to it so that before I ko the active they get kod by golbat/crobat, thus forcing them to bring up a new pokemon and starting the lock ALL OVER AGAIN, muwahahahahahahaha!

 

[The-Kaiser]

Things like this are why I collect though lately im not buying as much as I used to. Im not putting $ down on a ETB till they print Dragon as a Base Energy or add promos.

 

[Empoleon_master]

Things like this are why I collect though lately im not buying as much as I used to. Im not putting $ down on a ETB till they print Dragon as a Base Energy or add promos.

First of all dragon will never be a basic energy, they use other energy types for attacks, nothing else, secondly the generations etb wil have a new shaymin promo.

 

[fleshrum]

Adapt. There are ways to beat every deck. If you consistently run into Trev, play Dark. Lots of NM? Play a deck that trades just as well (and use your supporters effectively--Im talking to the N reprint). Personally, I despise all meta decks. That's why I took my favorite Pokemon, Xerneas, and made a deck around it to compete with ANY deck. Luckily, the Rainbow Force print gave me many options/techs to work with.

this guy knows what's up.