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Hello
trainers,
This next
set of
articles
I'll write
about
leading to
Regionals
are probably
more
difficult
for the
general
public to
understand.
I'm very
delighted to
hear many,
many success
stories at
their State
Championships
from some of
arguably the
best players
in the
game. (I'm
not worthy,
haha - I
believe I'm
just an
apprentice.)
Triumph in
anything
happens one
thing at at
time. The
correct
decision you
make on
playing
Steven's
Advice
instead of
Rocket's
Admin, or
vice versa,
or holding
on to your
Battle
Frontier
until your
opponent
plays Holon
Ruins with
their
Metanite
deck, is the
foundation
upon which
your Pokemon
TCG success
stands.
Many people
think
otherwise.
They have
trouble
seeing that
laying down
an extra,
unnecessary Basic
against a
deck such as
Medicham ex/Espeon
ex is a
recipe for
disaster.
To them, I
would
present the
following
brief inner
dialogue:
What a
terrible
play I just
made.
I swear
I'll never
do that
again.
(I did it at
Worlds '04,
oh well)
I really
misplayed
that whole
game.
Next
game I've
got to play
right.
(Instead of
going 2-2 at
Worlds 04, I
went 1-3,
and went
from having
a slim
chance to
having no
chance.)
God, I went
2-4-1 at
Worlds '04.
(Yep, that
was me.)
Next year
I'm bound to
run good.
I took
many tough
losses
before I
finally won
a Gym
Challenge to
qualify for
Worlds '05.
It keeps
going on and
on, but my
advice: Play
right now.
Never
underestimate
or overesti mate
your
opponent and
his/her
deck. I
blew one of
my CC's this
year,
because I
underestimate
his Ariados
UF/Houndoom
UF deck.
Don't do
it. I'm not
just talking
about making
sure you use
all your
trainers,
Poke-Powers,
and stuff
like that.
I'm talking
about
looking at
the present
state of the
game, and
honestly
figure out
if there is
a way your
opponent can
beat you.
(Vice versa,
if you're
losing, look
for
possibilities
to win, look
for a
mistake or a
bad play by
your
opponent -
don't give
up!) Do
this every
turn, every
game, and
you're much
less likely
to have
regrets
afterwards.
Live at the
present,
play at the
present.
Don't think
like: I am
facing a
Ninjask DX/Donphan
deck - I am
sure I can
beat that.
Yeah, you
should feel
good about
facing such
a deck with
a powerhouse
deck such as
Nidoqueen.
Nevertheless,
think about
how your
Nidoqueen
can falter.
Not too hard
- it's a
card game
after all.
Thus, they
just need to
go first,
get 2nd turn
Ninjask DX,
Swords
Dance, and
then 3rd
turn Pokemon
Reversal
your
Nidoqueen/Nidorina
(with
Strength
Charm), and
you'll be in
a difficult
situation.
Granted, I'm
not saying
you would
play such a
deck, but
when you
start
lamenting
how can you
lose to such
a deck and
other ???
decks, be
wary.
I can't give
you fast and
hard rules
on how to
make
difficult,
yet superior
decisions
within the
game. There
are too many
factors to
consider.
However, I
break it
down into
some main
factors:
- Number of
prizes both
you and your
opponent
have
remaining:
quite
obvious
- "Board" in
general: since
Pokemon TCG
turn format
is player by
player (that
is player
A's turn 1
and then
player B's
turn 1), and
you can't
really do
stuff to
"disrupt"
your
opponent's
Pokemon
board
position
during their
turn.
Thus, you
can look at
the board
and could
evaluate the
possibilities
easier than
a lot of
other card
games. For
instance, in
Magic TCG,
people can "Counterspell"
your
game-winning
card. It's
definitely
more
predictable
in Pokemon
TCG - it's a
bit more
like chess.
- Opponent's
hand size:
in any
premier
events, get
used to this
question:
"How many
cards do you
have in your
hand?"
Usually,
you'll play
most Pokemon
you can
play, while
holding on
to some
Trainers and
extra
Pokemon you
don't need
at the
moment.
Trainers are
harder to
figure out.
Some decks
need their
stadium
cards put
into play as
soon as
possible
(Battle
Frontier),
while Desert
Ruins can be
played a bit
later, since
you can save
it to
"counter"
Battle
Frontier, or
wait until
there are
actually big
ex-Pokemon
in play from
your
opponent's
side.
I give one
good
example. I
played at a
Delta
Species
prerelease.
We're both
in the
latter
stages of
the game.
He got out
his
Salamence
delta on 3
energies.
Well, he
obviously
have Metal
Energies.
In fact, he
would have
at least 1
in his
hand. He
has 2 prizes
remaining,
while I
still have
3. My
pokemon
doesn't do
nearly
enough
damage.
I have a Golbat
out, but the
other guys
are not
powerful
attackers at
all. I
don't know
how many
Metal
Energies he
got out of
his 6
booster
packs, but I
can count on
Holon
Research
Tower as
well, for
all intents
and
purposes.
If he has
Holon
Research
Tower, I got
exactly 2
turns. If
he doesn't I
may get as
many as 4-5
turns. One
thing I'm
sure - I
want him to
KO something
other than
my Golbat
first, and
make him
either
one-hit KO
one of my
other wimpy
50 HP guys
(using up
that Metal
energy), or
give me time
to topdeck
Crobat delta
(only card
to have
any
chance to
win). I did
that, and I
got like 4
turns. (1
turn Fire
Dance = 30
damage to
one Basic, 2
turn Fire
Dance KO on
another
Basic,
Golbat
one-hit KO
with the
Metal Energy
in his hand,
I believe)
I really
didn't have
much of a
chance at
all.
However,
instead of
feeling how
much pain
and trouble
I'm in, I
tried to
find a way
to win. As
some people
told me, I
can only put
myself in
the position
to win - I
am not going
to win every
game I play
- not even
close.
The best
play for a
given
situation
is:
it depends.
Yep, that's
not the
answer you
guys been
reading this
article want
to hear, but
it's
brutally
honest.
All right,
I've got to
go. Happy
playtesting.
As usual,
and even
more so for
this set of
articles,
any feedback
or comments
are strongly
appreciated.
Send them at
wilhung53@aim.com.
Cheers,
William Hung
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