Pokemon TCG
Strategy Articles
Playing Styles - Ace28
02.18.05
Briefing:
Im writing this sitting in math class at 9:56 am.
Everyone else is taking a test..but not me! >:D I was
sick the last couple of days with the flu... Anyway, I
should probably introduce myself. My name is Aaron
Shear. I am sixteen etc. etc. blah. Some of you may
already know me. ^_^ It is necessary that I give a brief
account before going about my article...so here it goes?
;x... During the past two days I began to get bored as I
was sitting at home trying not to die of boredom (Yes,
“Not trying to die of being bored by boredom”). I was
sick and everyone was in school. Being the resourceful
guy I am, I decided to go to my room. I started to
ascend up the stairs and after a few minor skirmishes
(tripping over cat) I made it to my humble abode. I
started going through my desk of mystery, something
caught my eye!... (Im in English class now, its 11:10
am... I couldn’t write in History since we were doing
group work, but, now everyone is taking a test again
so...;x) Ok back onto the topic...What caught my eye was
my DCI Card. Many of you may remember that DCI was the
rating system used by WotC (Wizards of the Coast) back
when they owned Pokemon. So, this card I saw sort of
lapsed me into a series of flashbacks and all the good
times I had came back vividly to me. After my two year
break I have decided to return to the world of Pokemon
permanently. It is hard to believe I have left something
that I enjoyed so much for this long...With that aside,
I will move onto the main topic of this article. ;P (Im
home now :X)
Intro:
Pokemon, just like any successful game has players. And
these players bring many influences to the game. One
characteristic that influences the game is style.
Knowing the style of a player, while not necessary, is a
very good advantage to have. The style of the player can
usually predict how he/she will play the game in terms
of creating setups and reacting to situations set in
front of them. Comparing what I am saying to another
game may help me get across the point I am trying to
explain to you. Poker is a perfect example. Pro poker
players spend much of their time and energy on trying to
win. This is quite understandable as if you had a job
like this you would want to win as much as possible. One
key thing they study is their opponents weaknesses,
strong points, and mind set. They try to exploit the
weaknesses, keep away from the strong points, and
analyze the mind set in order to have a better
understanding of them. They do this by using a series of
techniques meant to throw their foes off their focus.
(Talking, wearing glasses, etcetcetcetcetcetc.)
Mid:
Pokemon is different from Poker in many ways also. One of
them being the amount of prizes and cash you can receive by
playing it ><...;x but the main difference I plan on
discussing is the fact that not everyone uses the same cards
from the same deck. This is where everything becomes much
more complicated in understanding. It is much more harder to
interpret someone if you do not have good knowledge of the
game. You gain knowledge from experience and obtain
experience through time of practice.
Once you become a decent player you will have a good
understanding of why they might be playing the deck they
are. For example, say you are in a City Championships game
and your game begins. You are running...lets say, Dark Ttar
and you do not know what your opponent is running. The game
begins and he goes first. He has a Elekid active and a
Voltorb on bench. You have a Larvitar benched and a
Dunsparce active. Lets also say you have a good knowledge
and understanding of the game and are ninety nine percent
sure he is running zapdos. This would conclude that he is
going to have an offensive style early game which
means you might find you have the best chances of winning if
you decide to remain defensive until you get your big
hitters out. If you survive early game with little or no
losses vs a deck that is supposed to do its most damage
early game then you should be in pretty good shape. If the
player who is playing Zapdos/Trode neglects damaging his
opponent significantly early then he’s in pretty bad shape.
The chances of winning and losing differ as the players
skill differs.
If you gave a person who has a little knowledge of the game
the deck that won at worlds and put them against the winner
of worlds who is using a theme deck the outcome is
irrelevant. The better player regardless of the deck (saying
the decks are playable) will win due to them simply
outplaying their opponent and making the better decisions.
The styles change during early game, to mid game, to late
game, depending on the purpose of the deck. Now, take that
same person who won worlds and put him against a pretty
decent player. Give the theme deck back to the winner of
worlds and the deck that won worlds to the pretty decent
player. Chances are that the pretty decent player will win
due to having better cards combined with a good
understanding of the game etc. The chances of you winning
against a good deck decrease as their skill level gets
better. To put into simpler terms, “You will not win vs a
very good player who is using a deck they constructed
purposefully for tournament play if you are not playing
seriously.” The only possible ways you can win is by somehow
being such an unbeatable legend and if it comes to that and
you are that person...teach me your ways ;x
Closing:
It is very important that you try as hard as possible to not
misread your opponent. This would cause devastation since
you will be preparing so carefully for something that
doesn’t happen. The best thing to do in this situation is
cut your losses and lose as least of the advantage as
possible. I wrote this article to maybe give another point
of view on characteristics of the game and to learn more
about it myself. I plan on writing many more articles and I
also plan on playing a lot more so I can gain knowledge and
everything else I said before (scroll up ;x). I would like
to thank you for reading and ask that if you see me on mIRC
to message me to talk about strats and play me etcetc. I
plan on attending the Ohio City Championships in Athens and
in order to have a chance I will need to practice and learn
as much possible in this short period of time. (Thing is
like in beginning of March and I just returned to playing
yesterday :\)
Have a great day! :D ;s :P =) :\ :/ ^_^V
~Ace28
*Feedback is wanted and encouraged plzplzplzplz :D
PwN@adelphia.net
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