Alright, if you would all listen, please. I know this isn't exactly a tip or
strategy, but it is something that needs to be done.
Lately, a great deal of us players have been bashing Wizards of the Coast for
not doing anything about the condition of the Pokémon card game. Well, in a
simple terms, they do nothing about it because they --ARE NOT ABLE-- to do
anything about it.
Listed here is a letter I mailed to WotC resently--and, as many other people,
I asked why they did not ban, restrict, or errata cards.
To whom it may concern,
Since it's American release, I have been a loyal fan, player,
and
collector of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Although, the game has begun to
get rather dull. The reason for this, is because there are a few decks that
utilize nearly the exact same cards--one which are considered
"broken", or
too good.
These decks include: Haymakers, TuffStuff, and RainDance.
"Haymaker" type
decks utilize strong, Basic Pokémon with low energy costs to dish out damage
very quickly, usually containing a combination of Base Set Hitmonchan, Base
Set Electabuzz, and Jungle Set Scyther, along with many disruption trainers
like Super Energy Removal, Gust of Wind, and Rocket's Sneak Attack.
"TuffStuff" decks revolve around getting a Jungle Set Wigglytuff on
the
second turn in play, with five high HP basic Pokémon--usually Fossil Set
Magmar, Electabuzz, Hitmonchan, Scyther, and Fossil Set Ditto. "RainDance"
revolves around using cards like Computer Search and Pokémon Breeder to get
Base Set Blastoise on the second turn of play, and use its awesome Pokémon
Power--namely, Rain Dance--to send Water Energy down to Pokémon like Fossil
Set Lapras and Fossil Set Articuno.
At any given DCI sactioned tournament, I can solidly say that
one of
these types of decks will have been played by the victor. But, the problem
is, that these types of decks make little room for other, more original decks
to be able to win at tournament scenes. What I'm asking, is why has Wizards
of the Coast allowed this to happen to the game? With Magic: The Gathering,
when certain cards became too powerful for their own good, WotC banned,
restricted, or preformed an errata on the card.
Why will WotC not do the same with Pokémon? Cards such as
the non-holo
Team Rocket Set Dark Vileplume, which has an incorrect Weakness, and the Team
Rocket Set Grimer, which has a "Poison Gas" attack that induces Sleep
instead
of Poison (As it was originally supposed to) are a few examples of cards that
should be errata'd. The excuse cannot possibly be that "the young children
that play the game would not understand the concept of errata." I know of
several five-though-nine year olds that actually complain because of the
misprints that will not be repaired.
The Pokémon Trading Card Game is slowly dieing in America,
because cards
such as Computer Search, Item Finder, Wigglytuff, Professor Oak, and other
cards that appear in almost every deck are being over used. In Japan,
Computer Search, Item Finder, and Super Energy Removal have been banned,
because, just like in America, they were the cause of "killer decks"
that
everyone started playing.
What is the point of printing cards of all 151 current Pokémon
if the
game environment doesn't leave room for more than fifteen or so of them to be
played? It's a shame, because many good cards--ones such as Eevee and all of
its Evolutions--are not able to be played, because they are too slow to stand
on their own, when people have a Wigglytuff that can deal 60 points of damage
per turn in play on the second turn of play.
So, myself, along with several other players of the Pokémon
Trading Card
Game, urge Wizards of the Coast to start doing card bannings, restrictions,
and erratas, just as you did with Magic. Otherwise, Pokémon is going to
slowly die away, and that's something neither the players nor the company
want to happen.
Sincerely,
~Adam Martin
Yes, it was a fairly long letter, and I very much thank the person who took
the time to read and respond to it. Although the responce was no where near
as long, with the great deal of mail they have to make responces to, I cannot
really blame them. Here is the return letter I got a few days later:
Adam,
Thanks for writing. We are, of course, very aware of the stagnation of
the Pokemon game in the competitive environment. Unfortunately since we
do not own Pokemon we do not have the rights to ban, restrict, errata,
etc. the cards. Pokemon was created to be a socially competitive game not
a competitive one. We are talking with the owners of the Pokemon license
to see what can be done (if anything) but they do NOT want the above
mentioned solutions done. We are currently testing several possible
constructed tournament environments (limiting trainers, etc) as possible
limited solutions.
******************************************************************
Michael
Wizards of the Coast - Game Support
Website: http://www.wizards.com
Game Support E-Mail: custserv@wizards.com
Game Support Phone: 1-800-324-6496
Monday through Friday, 9 AM - 7 PM PST
Corporate Phone: (425) 226-6500
Online Store Phone: 1-800-250-7589
Online Store Email: ordersup@wizards.com
Please quote this e-mail in any reply.
******************************************************************
So, as you can see, it is not that WotC doesn't care about the game--it's
that it would be illegal for them to change it. They are trying to make it
possible for them to preform bannings, restrictions, and errata's, but unless
they are given legal permission, it will not happen.
So, I ask you all to stop bashing WotC. Bash whoever is not permitting them
to take care of the game that they produce. If they could, Wizards would make
the game a lot more fun and interesting, but they can't. Thanks, for all of
those that took the time to read this.