Greetings once again fellow Pojoers!

 

Well, my last article to Pojo, entitled "The 13 Worst Cards in Neo" predictably got quite a reaction, and I have been flooded with numerous.......errr......."colourful" e-mails ever since it was published.

Firstly, I would like to thank all those out there who DO have a sense of humour, who DID appreciate my article, and who DID read the part at the beginning of the article about not taking it too seriously. For all the rest, I received a great amount of e-mails which basically said: "You suck, and so does your article". I did expect many of the e-mails defending Lugia, but I had no idea that I would offend the numerous hardcore Aipom and Neo Electabuzz fans out there. It seems that the little purple monkey has a lot of admirers. And yes, thank you to all those who pointed out that WOTC does not actually make the cards, but just translates them, and those who pointed out my error in Bellossom's attack.

Anyway, amongst all this, I am pleased to see a few responses from people who disagree with me, but possess the intelligence to write me a well thought out, informed argument. At least there is hope.

Now for your benefit, here are a few choice quotes from some of the e-mails, to give you an idea of what I had to endure: (Note that no spelling errors have been corrected)

 

"Your list was one of the most stupid articles I have read in a long time"

Thank you, I do my best. ^_^

"Apeom is a great card - you never deck yourself"

Wow, I'll go put 4 in all my decks =/

"I see a lot of aipoms at my league - I would give it a 5/10"

I want to go and play at this guy's league with my Erika’s Perfume/Gligar deck!

"I have at least 7 first turn victories from Neo Electabuzz"

I am shaking in my proverbial boots =/

"Apiom rocks you idiot"

No comment =/

"I have a deck that could proberly use 10 lugias! I use it at my league"

Ok, I have a deck that could use 10 Clefables - care for a game?

"Aipom's first attack is a stall deck's dream"

True, but how many stall decks did I see doing well at the STS?

"Neo Electrabuzz is almost as good as the base one"

Excuse me while I go and get a drink of water - laughing that hard hurts =/

And this one comes from an article on Pojo, in reply to mine:

"2 colorless for 20 damage is average, but the other move, with a pluspower, KO's Erika's Dratini and Mr Mime"

You Sir, deserve a medal for this quote.  May I suggest reading the Pokemon Powers section of your rulebook =/

 

Well, now that I have been over last week’s article, let’s get onto the topic of discussion for today, which centres around WOTC. I would like to make a few comments regarding their decision about the 15+ section of the STS. Now there is absolutely no way I could ever go to the STS (except for winning the lottery and getting a week off school), but I still feel strongly enough about it to offer my opinion. First of all, not all pokemon players play Magic The Gathering, and I doubt whether this decision will convert players from one game to the other. Most of the pokemon players I know (14+) recognise and respect Magic as a good game, but do not play it, and have no intention of playing it. Let's face it, one TCG seems to suck your wallet dry anyway. This cannot be used as an explanation. Excluding most of the older players, who contribute the majority of money to Pokemon TCG sales, does not seem like a brilliant marketing ploy either. One can only guess at why WOTC have made this decision, as they are yet to offer a serious defence of their actions. I can't see one feasible reason for this decision, and am sure that many feel the same way.

But this is not the only reason I am writing this article. WOTC, having already made one bad decision, have not yet released the rules for the upcoming STS. I hate to imagine. Last year they gave us Prop15/3, but it is easy to see them coming up with something worse to plague us this year. Perhaps they will limit it to only basic energy allowed, or restrict any basic pokemon with more than 50 HP. Who knows? But I am here to offer a solution to the problem, without using US Standard rules, in which we already know all the good decks, and which type of decks would win.

Now, if you are one of those out there who can’t possibly play a game without your Slowking/Sneasel/Wiggly/Trap/Haymaker etc, then I suggest you leave now, because you certainly are not going to enjoy this article. Why not go and make yourself a sandwich, or go for a walk, or whatever narrow-minded people do. I wouldn’t know.

Ok, now let me introduce my idea for the rules for the upcoming STS, and perhaps also rules for YOUR next game of Pokemon:

NO RARES

Wait a minute! Hold up! Put down the gun! Hold those knives! Let me explain myself before you kill me! No rares is not only my personal favourite set of rules, but also one that can be applied to a big tournament situation like the STS.  Whenever a new set of cards in released, I not only build or change my normal decks, but I also look at new No Rares strategies and improvements I can make.  For every normal deck I have built, there is at least one No Rares deck.  And it is all good.  In fact, as you are about to see, in my opinion, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages of this format. In no particular order here is:

 

The Good Stuff (Advantages)

 

No More BBBP’s

(Big Basic Broken Pokemon). Ok, by banning all rares, we get rid of the commonly used Haymaker style pokemon. Buzz, TR Zap, MP Mewtwo (No Rares excludes Promos as well), Chan, Scyther, Ditto and Chansey are all gone, leaving the door open for more evolution decks, without the risk of being crushed by big, fast Haymaker pokemon. Sounds appealing, doesn’t it?

 

No Slowking

Enough said, ok?

 

No More Hand Manipulation

Ok, so we get rid of Trap, RSA (YAY), and Lass. With hand manipulation gone (Ok, so IOR remains, but by itself it has very little power), and Haymaker pokemon gone, it encourages longer games, because you are less likely to have no chance due to a first turn RSA, second turn Wiggly. The speed has been reduced, and both players end up with a chance. More games will be won by a player drawing all their prizes, rather than taking out their opponent’s only remaining pokemon.

 

Levels the Playing Field

What I mean by this, is that no longer the richest people will have the best decks. In US Standard, unless you have a lot of rares, you won’t get anywhere. With No Rares, someone who owns 10 of every card in existence has very little advantage over someone who has bought a theme deck and 3 boosters. And if you do need certain cards, it is a lot easier to trade an Arcanine off someone than a TR Zap. Basically, No Rares gives people with less cards the same deckbuilding power as those with a lot, which evens up the playing field.

 

Increase Skill, Decrease Luck

This may be one point where some of you disagree with me, but too bad. Luck is decreased, because no longer does so much rely on the starting coin flip. Also, good players will still be able to create decks that don’t rely on luck, despite some of the "powerful" cards being banned. And of course, skill is also increased. Don’t look at me like that! You do know what skill is, don’t you? Skill was something that existed prior to the release of the TR Expansion, remember? Unfortunately, it seemed to get lost somewhere shortly after that. Perhaps a Slowking sat on it =/ I am not saying that US Standard involves no skill, because of course it does, but in No Rares the skill level has undoubtedly increased. Anyway, no longer will players be able to rely on Computer Searching for every card they need, or Itemfinding that last Gust of Wind. With No Rares, you need to look more at the balance of your deck, and how many of each card to put in, because you can’t just get everything you want in the game by Searching for it, and Oaking yourself silly. This brings me to my next point:

 

Card Drawing Remains

Just because you can’t Computer Search everything you need, doesn’t mean you can’t have card drawing. We have gotten rid of Computer Search, Item Finder, and Erika. However, card drawing remains for those who want it, with Professor Elm, Oak, Bill, and even Blaine’s Quizzes might finally see some action. This means that the game is not slowed a great deal, but you can’t rely on being able to Search your deck for whichever card you need if you don’t get it in your hand. Instead, use some skill to add in a few cards that can help you. Perhaps Koga’s Pidgey would finally be taken out of a few folders, or even Dark Dragonair.

 

Overpowered Cards are Removed

This refers to Slowking, Wigglytuff, Clefable (My personal favourite), Dark Vileplume, and many trainers. Scoop Up, for one, is gone, so you can’t just bring that pokemon back to your hand when it is gusted out. Switch might become a replacement for this card. Super Energy Removal is gone, adding another boost to evolution decks, while still allowing its younger counterpart, Energy Removal to cause some damage. A lot of the commonly used trainers would not be there, so players would either have to find replacements or change their strategy. Also in this category come some annoying gyms, such as Chaos Gym, Ecogym, No Removal Gym, and The Rocket’s Training Gym. In a No Rares situation, you would see a lot of Sprout Temple, and many of the "City" gyms that very rarely see play in a US Standard environment. The less powerful cards get a chance, when the broken ones are taken away.

 

The Focus of the Game Changes

Ok, well in my opinion, there are two main strategies in the game of Pokemon. You can win by trying to destroy your opponent (attack cards), or by helping yourself (defence cards). To explain this, let me use the example of Magic The Gathering. In MTG, the colour of Black aims to destroy the opponent’s creatures, hand and lands, while in contrast, White aims to heal the player, and boost their own creatures. In Pokemon, attack cards are cards such as SER, Trap, RSA, Chaos Gym, Slowking, Gust of Wind etc. These are the cards you usually see played at the moment. In contrast to that, the cards that help the player are those like Gold Berry, Potion, Defender, No Removal Gym, Good Manners etc. At the moment, the attack cards seem to rule, the aim being to give your opponent no chance, then finish them off with your own pokemon. In a No Rares situation, less of this would be used, and instead players would focus more on building up their own pokemon and playing defence cards, rather than attack cards. This also promotes longer games.

 

More Possible Strategies

Obviously, with the removal of many of the broken cards, there are far more viable strategies. Knowing that your opponent does not have many of the attack cards described above, you will be able to play more different strategies, without constantly worrying about what might happen if your opponent brings out a Slowking. With the removal of Haymaker pokemon, there are a lot more evolution decks that become possible, and most of the pokemon types get a fair deal, unlike in US Standard where certain types see a lot of play (ie: electric) and other types are basically never used (ie: water). The pool of cards that would be used would become wider, and there would be a lot more variation in decks, because no one strategy would be overpowered.

 

More Enjoyable

Well, having played in several online No Rares tournaments, I can say that I see a lot more variation, the games are longer, and generally people enjoy it more. I know that I sure do. It is great to be able to play without overpowered cards for once.

 

Well, I think that pretty much sums up my argument. Perhaps some of those points are a little weak, but I believe that No Rares will do all of the above for the game. By removing many of the broken cards, you add new aspects to the game, and it becomes more enjoyable for everyone. But of course, there are downsides to this format.....

 

The Bad Stuff (Disadvantages)

 

No More Eeeeeeeking

Yes, unfortunately, all the baby pokemon are rares. If No Rares was to be the format, this popular addition to the game would be left out, and the only eeeeeeeking would be from some little girls in the under 10 section. Cleffa has added a wonderful new dimension to the game, along with the other baby pokes, and it would be sad to see them ignored in the first big tournament they could be used in. Magby and Pichu would probably not be very useful in No Rares anyway, because Slowking and Dark Plume are gone, but Elekid and Cleffa would be sorely missed.

 

Loss of Good but not Broken Rares

Master Ball and Resistance Lowering Gym are a couple that I can think of. They are good cards, but unfortunately would have to be dumped along with the many other rares. Obviously you can’t just ban the cards you don’t want (no two WOTC employees could agree), so these good rares which don’t see much play normally, again would be looked over.

 

Well, those are the only real disadvantages I can think of. Below is a summary of how the removal of rares would affect all the types, and I was unsure whether this would be a disadvantage or an advantage. In US Standard, some types are used more than others, and in a No Rares situation it would be the same, only with different types.

 

How No Rares Affects Each Type

Let’s take a look at how banning the rares would affect each type:

Colourless: Loses Chansey and Ditto, but remains powerful with Tauros, Brock’s Lickitung, Erika’s Dratini, Erika’s Jigglypuff, and MILTANK!!!!! Yeah! Go Miltank, Go Miltank!!! (Miltank is my favourite pokemon, who has sadly been ignored in US Standard. No Rares gives Miltank a chance to do its little thing). You gotta love it ^_^

Fire: Well, fire may have been ignored quite a lot in US Standard, but in No Rares it becomes THE TYPE. We have Arcanine, Fossil Magmar, Neo Magmar and Blaine’s Magmar, who are all great cards, which get a huge boost from the loss of Blastoise and Super Energy Removal. Blaine is also an uncommon, giving fire the chance to rule.

Grass: Hurting heavily from the loss of scyther, grass still gets some good stuff left. Dark Muk and Exeggutor being prime examples, with perhaps Erika’s Weepinbell also to offer something different. Grass still provides a solid option in this format, although it may suffer because fire has become a lot more powerful.

Electric: Ouch. If ever a type was picked up, dropped, and left to die somewhere on a deserted street, this is it. Electric dies in No Rares almost as badly as water did when TR Zap was released. Electabuzz and TR Zap are lost (but weren’t you getting a bit sick of them anyway?), along with Ampharos and Dark Raichu. So we are left with Dark Electrode, an assortment of Pikachus, Dark Jolteon and *cringe* Neo Electabuzz (perhaps there is a use for it after all =/). However, none of these look particularly inspiring, especially with the boost that fighting gets.

Fighting: Well, this type looks to have gained as much as electric lost. Although Hitmonchan is gone, it was already outdated by Gligar really. We are left with Gligar, Brock’s Sandslash, Machop and Machoke, and perhaps even Primeape in there somewhere. There has never been a better time to be a fighting pokemon.

Psychic: Ouch again. Psychic loses MP Mewtwo, its biggest asset, along with Alakazam and Mr Mime. What we are left with looks reasonably good, although significantly weakened. We have Kadabra, Sabrina’s Kadabra, and perhaps even *cringe* Jynx to replace Mewtwo. But colourless also got a decent boost, so days look numbered for our psychic friends.

Water: Well, the type that was termed clinically dead the day TR Zap was released, has made a bit of a comeback. With electric pokemon on the ropes, water becomes strong with Dewgong, Misty’s Poliwhirl, Quagsire and Golduck/Dark Golduck. Water also, offers an advantage over fire, which becomes powerful in a No Rares format.

Energy: No real losses here, except that Darkness and Metal energy are gone, but so are all the pokemon they are usually played on. Recycle Energy leaves along with Rainbow Energy, leaving a pleasant mix of basic, DCL, and FH and Potion Energy to take over. It looks good.

 

So there you have it. As you can see, the advantage far outweigh the disadvantaged according to my point of view, and this would be an interesting and new format for the upcoming STS competition. And lets be honest - wouldn’t we all like to see at least 6 completely different decks make the top 8, instead of 5 Slowking, and 3 Wiggly/Hays? That is, wouldn’t we all like to see some different decks in the FIFTEEN+ section =/

So there you have it, my little opinion on a huge subject. Not that this would ever happen, but wouldn’t it be cool if it did? Don’t stare at me so blankly =/  Of course, WOTC would earn an outcry like the one I am gonna receive if they actually did this, but I would love to see something like this happen.  Of course, because No Rares promotes longer games, I think the time limit for rounds etc would have to be changed.  But things like that are minor details that could be worked out at the time. Anyway, I am sure that all you critics out there would love to point out some more disadvantages of No Rares play, and probably shoot down half of my points in flames. But just remember, I only accept constructive criticism, and anything insulting or entirely in caps will get deleted unread. If you can’t respect my opinion, why should I give a damn about yours? And remember, anything I receive that is lame and/or incredibly stupid risks being quoted in future articles. For compliments, thoughts, constructive criticisms and cash donations, you can e-mail me at drg@xtra.co.nz

Also, I am running out of ideas for articles (don’t look so happy =/ ), so if there is something you people out there want me to offer my misguided opinion on, you can e-mail me ideas for upcoming articles. But until then, that is all I have to say for now, so see all you readers next time!

Cheers

 

DRG3

 

Here is a new feature to my articles which you will see in all articles from me from now on. I also have an idea to include an award for the lamest e-mail I receive each week, which I got from reading one of Spike’a articles. I now introduce.....

Pointless Quote of the Week (PQOTW) - "Nine out of ten doctors agree that one out of ten doctors disagrees with the other nine"