To Webmasters and Readers: Hello, my name is Tyais. I run
my own respective Pokemon TCG Website as you might know, and I do visit
your sites to see how other sites are doing in the way of fan material.
Upon my visits, I have noticed that many of your viewers have been talking
about the controversial Prop15 and Prop2T. Independent of my own site, I
am writing an article to educate some of the less informed viewers, and I
would greatly appreciate it if this could be shared as front page material
so that some of the un-truths about Prop15 and Prop2T can be done away
with. Thank you.
Proposition 2T
I would like to get Proposition 2T out of the way
first. Prop2T (which would state you could only play two trainers per
turn) will NOT and I do repeat will NOT be used in any official tournament
or tournament format. This has been confirmed by Wizards of the Coast
employees and there is NO chance of Wizards using the Proposition 2T
anywhere in the near future.
Proposition 15
Proposition 15 (Prop15) has been causing quite a bit of
stir among all the fans lately. Maybe you specifically are for it, or
maybe your against. But I believe that a large part of the population have
NO clue what it really is.
What is Prop15? Prop15 is a suggestion which would limit the amount of trainers you
can play in a deck to only 15 Trainer cards.
What is the point of having Prop15?
For those who haven't realized, the Pokemon environment is a VERY
unbalanced environment. At the West Coast STS, the Top 8 of both the 11-14
and 15+ category were ALL Haymaker or Wiggly. In the 10 and under, all but
one deck (Rain Dance) was a Haymaker. That means something is up. When all
but one of the decks in the West Coast Nationals are one of two types of
decks, it is not a balanced environment. (Note: Balanced usually refers to
the power of a deck or decks. When there are only two decks used in an
environment, then it is unbalanced. Now, say we had six, maybe seven
different decks in the environment, then the environment might be
balanced.)
Alright... so everything is Wiggly or Haymaker? How
will Prop15 change that?
The Wiggly and Haymaker decks share one thing in common. Tons of Trainer
cards. The average Haymaker deck plays 30+ Trainers while the average
Wiggly plays 26+ Trainers. The reason these decks can do this, is because
they need very few Pokemon and very few Energy to be played correctly. So,
they can fit room into play all sorts of Trainers. This way, Wiggly and
Haymaker can have enough room so they can search their deck easily
(Professor Oak, Bill, Computer Search), disrupt their opponent (Gust of
Wind, Energy Removal, Rocket's Sneak Attack) and still help themselves
(Scoop Up, Plus Power). Using Prop15 would limit their amounts of Trainers
so they can't do all of that in one deck.
OK, but why can't other decks do the same thing?
Decks that use evolution cards have problems because of two main things.
One, they do not have the necessary space to do everything a Haymaker or
Wiggly can do. Nor the speed. Since Haymaker and Wiggly work so fast, the
opponent using evolutions can't get his deck going properly to work right.
Second, Evolution decks need higher energy. That is a good thing since
their attacks are usually more powerful. However, with Wiggly and Haymaker
moving so fast, evolution decks don't have the time to build up.
(Especially since it takes only two turns to power a Wiggly which can do
60 damage!)
I'm still not sure why this helps Evolution decks...
don't they need Trainers too? While evolution decks need Trainers as well, they only have space to
fit in about 20. So the 5 Trainers that an evolution deck, would be a fair
amount for the Haymaker and Wiggly's to lose. With all decks running just
a notch slower (by slower I mean not being able to go through half of your
deck on turn one) they are equaled out.
I don't believe you! Wiggly and Haymaker will just be
more powerful!
I really can't make you think the way I do, however, I can tell you from
personal experience, that both decks are curbed in power greatly and that
if a tournament holds one like this, then you will see a lot of different
decks as well as be able to use a lot of different decks. Wiggly and Hay
will still be good decks, just not as dominating as they are now.
Prop15 is a bad idea and it won't work!
You can choose to think that, but I have personally play tested it. I ask
you to do the same.
Thank you for reading this through. I hope it has helped
enlighten you about the Prop15 controversy.
If you have any other questions regarding Prop15, feel
free to send them to me at Pokegym@Tyais.com.
-Tyais
Webmaster of The PokeGym
Webmaster of the Upcoming Pojo's Gundam Web
Writer for Pojo's Unofficial Pokemon Magazine and Pojo's World