The Merc here replying to Darknz's opinions and views on banning. Let's
start off by saying I am a Magic player. What importance does it have in
this discussion? Everything. In Magic, cards get banned all the time
because they are too powerful. Pokemon should be no different.
I know that banning makes people discouraged (Magic players know first hand.
We call it Dark Ritual being banned in Extended. Why, Wizards?
WHY!!!!!?????). But that never stops Magic players, and it shouldn't stop
Pokemon players. See, banning makes other deck archtypes available.
It weakens dominate decks and helps new deck make way. Let's take an
example:
In Magic, Rebel decks were dominate in Masque Block. Pro Tour New York had
about 75% of the decks being Rebel. The only deck that could beat it
easily was Rising Waters. Wizards then bans Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
because it was the most powerful Rebel in the deck. If you play Magic and
are a scrub, you would think "why? It's only a 1/3. It can't
hurt too much." It's ability to look through the deck for any Rebel
was broken. And it's ability to bring back dead Rebels was also broken.
Add a 3 toughness rating, and it's so hard to kill conventionally. When
Wizards banned Lin Sivvi, did people stop playing Magic? No. It
turned out that people found a way around that. Were the new strageties
better than the Sivvi? No.
Now, take a look at Pokemon. Haymaker and Wiggly decks are dominate.
Raindance is somewhere in the average department. How do you stop the
dominance? Ban cards. It isn't the favorite way, but it is only
fair. When a card is made, it is playtested and, if it seems okay, they
let it out. When many people start using the card in the most dominate of
ways, then the banning begins. Pokemon is no longer fun if the only
dominate deck is Haymaker. There is a lack of variety. Variety makes
a game last longer. Like Magic. You weaken one deck to make other
decks stand a chance. It also makes for more thinking.
Now lets look at my favorite example of a many time banned and restricted card,
Magic's favorite broken card, Tolarian Academy. It's only a mana source.
Look again. For every artifact I have in play, the Academy makes more mana.
And since most good artifacts make mana, it adds up to an unbelieveable
abundance of mana. Mana is Magic's version of Energy, but it is temporary
and you have to tap the source of it's mana once a turn. What happened to
the Academy? People generate about 50 to 100 mana, roughly. Then
they play Stroke of Genius on the opponent. The Stroke says pay one blue
mana, two colorless mana, and X mana, which is any amount you want that you
have, and it makes target player draw X cards, where X is how much mana you
spent on it. Now, I pay the one blue, the two colorless, and for X,
I have 70. I make my opponent draw 70 cards. They can't, so I win by
turn 2. They banned the Academy in most formats and restricted it in Type
1, where almost every card !
can be played.
Now, let's go back to Pokemon. This guy says, and I quote: "Banning
cards is NOT the solution. I repeat, NOT the solution. Players just need to
become smarter, and figure out a way to beat the decks that are constantly
winning." Yes, people can find a way to beat it, but is there a
current way to do it? This ain't Magic, so it is harder to do this.
Banning is necessary to weaken decks, as I have said before. You can't
rely on a one or two card stragety to combat the broken cards because not every
deck can run that stragety.
Lets face it. People are tired of Haymaker and Wiggly decks. People
were tired of the unbeatable Trix deck, so they banned Dark Ritual (Curse you,
Wizards! Ban Donate instead!). Okay, so bannings aren't popular, but
it keeps the game fresh and new.
I like sarcastic remarks, so let's quote this guy again: "Cards that
are created, are created to be played with, not banned. First you ban one good
card that is helping people to win games, and then another card starts winning
games. And so, why not ban that one too. After a few years MAGIKARPS are
becoming the best card because the only cards left are energy and karps! And
then what! Energy decks. Puhhhlease. Whats the fun in that! Nothing!
Absolutely nothing. Zip. Zero. Zilch."
Well, let me explain something. That "other card" is not
considered too powerful until it dominates the field. And they don't ban
one card after the other. Wizards goes through this process where they
evaluate a card and ban it. The banning period only happens in the
beginning of a month.
In Magic, there are many archtype decks, not just two. Pokemon better do
the same or it will grow boring. I mean, multiple versions of Haymaker
does not count as many archtypes.
Those are my views on banning. No one likes it, but it is for the better.
And if you quit playing a card game because your favorite card got banned, I
feel sorry for you. You should play smarter.
Mercury Crusader (A.K.A. The self proclaimed "Greatest Water Pokemon
Trainer" and Team Rocket supporter)
themerc@angelfire.com
"Styling and profiling only the way a Horseman could..."
Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com