I fully understand where you are coming from. An ex-Magic player myself, I
know the complexities of every twist and turn, instant and enchantment. But
that is from some of the newer releases. Look back in the old, broken days of
Magic... and you might see the image of a small game with cool combos, neat
side-effects, and a no-pressure atmosphere. Now look at the game today...
nothing but bannings and errata at every corner.
    The old adage "The further you look back, the further you look foward," may
just be what will correlate Pokemon and Magic. Thankfully, Gym won't be out for
a LONG time... Rocket is most likely out in March, but no doubt it will be
pushed back. More time for those cool combos. More time for those neat
side-effects. More time for a no-pressure atmosphere. Maybe Pokemon is a kid's
game for a good reason- no big competion.
    Now, I must disagree with you on some points, so I come to your five
reasons for Anti-Rocket/Gym.
 
    1) Not true. Many new deck ideas will surface, especially if/when Gym 3
comes out (as I have heard, there MAY be a Gym 3 with the Elite Four, Ash,
Gary,
and more Pokemon for the original 8). However, Leader-themed deck will most
likely be encouraged.
 
    2) Couldn't agree with you more. With more and more versions of the same
Pokemon (even within the same set: 2 versions of Brock's Onix!) there is bound
to be confusion. I personally may not even buy Gym cards.
 
    3) I don't judge a card by its art. I am not a little kid, but I do like
most of the artwork. It is cool to see how different artists represent their
versions of the same character. One exception is the Fossil Gengar. Agh! It
sucks, and it was even computer-generated! However, little kids will be
confused by all of the new rules. This is happening with even current rules!
(This one kid tried to KONWINGLY smack a DCE and a Psychic down on his Snorlax
during the same turn. He refused to believe even after all of the judges agreed
with me and my interpretation of the rules booklet!)
 
    4) Like I said, this is already happening. That kid in the last paragraph
was at least 13!
 
    5) I doubt that this will happen. Even after Gym 17 (or whatever), Pokemon
will still be less confusing than Magic. Wizards will not go bankrupt any time
soon, because Magic is still running strong, and Hasbro has just acquired
Wizards for itself. And don't forget the Fossil income spurt. With that
monetary support, Wizards is bound to make 5 or so new card games in the next
few years.
 
    Glad to hear an experienced player's opinion without a lot of all-caps or
bad grammar. Good luck in future card games.
        -Chris
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