Help playtesting methods

GoldenYungoos

A shiny Yungoos appeared!
Member
Hi everyone, I have a regional tournament coming up and I'm excited, but worried. I basically have no way to playtest. almost everyone at my league is a non-competeitive player and my one friend who is only plays expanded. I need help finding some playtesting methods NOTE: I cant use TCGO
 

TheKangaskhanKid

Runs Alolan Ninetales
Advanced Member
Member
When I have no one to playtest with, I set my playmat up on my table/floor/surface horizontaly, and just shuffle one deck, then the second, cut both, and place the too decks vertically in the middle on 2 different sides.

Then left is heads, right is tails.

Play as normal, but just be 2 people.

It kind of helps, but It sucks to know your opponents hand, because its the complete opposite of what normally goes on in a game hand wise.
 

Articuno_Aria

Articuno is UNO for a reason
Member
When I have no one to playtest with, I set my playmat up on my table/floor/surface horizontaly, and just shuffle one deck, then the second, cut both, and place the too decks vertically in the middle on 2 different sides.

Then left is heads, right is tails.

Play as normal, but just be 2 people.

It kind of helps, but It sucks to know your opponents hand, because its the complete opposite of what normally goes on in a game hand wise.


That's what I was doing over the weekend after I made changes to my Raichu deck. I played it against my Golisopod deck
 

Volkner123

Better Pokemon trainer than Ash will ever be
Member
Well maybe you could use remake a deck on Pokemon TCG online and then battle people there.
 

gumball51321

*thumbs up*
Member
As important as it is to be able to face opponents and figure out what microdecisions to make in a game, testing for consistency alone can be the biggest thing you do. When I playtest by myself, I kind of just pretend to play against a certain deck, where my plays are made by my "opponent" drawing optimally, and playing sub-optimally. Yes, that may not sound like the best idea, but it's an amazing way to test consistency in the form of endurance, ie, the length of the game you can play and get everything you need without dead-drawing often. If you feel really finicky, and want to go the extra mile, make a mark for each game you play, and make another mark in a different section every time you get a dead hand. If your hand continues to be dead, Don't mark it again until it's refreshed, or you "lose" the game. Just remember to keep things realistic, since it's easy to just say "Well, I mean, I can survive 1 more turn with this Pokemon that's had 3 Energy in the active spot for 4 turns".
 

zaratath

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I would agree with Gumball on this. I myself don't have access to ptcgo or a testing group so an extensive amount of my testing comes from drawing my opening hand and seeing how the deck runs. As long as you know enough about the meta and know how other decks play you should be able to know how to play against certain decks.

Hope this helps!
 

Otaku

The wise fool?
Member
Hi everyone, I have a regional tournament coming up and I'm excited, but worried. I basically have no way to playtest. almost everyone at my league is a non-competeitive player and my one friend who is only plays expanded. I need help finding some playtesting methods NOTE: I cant use TCGO
can someone help

Stop panicking.

That's the first bit of advice you need since you bumped your own thread after it had been posted for just 15 minutes. ;) Think I'm just being condescending? I'm speaking from experience: either the number one or number two reason I never made it far in competitive play was that I would panic and do stupid things! XP

  1. Remain calm: Panicking will just lead to mistakes.
  2. Plan ahead: I don't just mean what you're going to play.
    • Plan your schedule: You need to make sure you're eating and sleeping well, plus that you aren't behind in any responsibilities you may have, as remembering them during a tournament is distracting. Some of the stupid reasons for losses I've either experienced, seen, or nearly seen are things like people oversleeping, or having to use the can at the exact wrong moment. >_<
    • Prepare your resources: Tying into above, make sure you've got food and drink available - whatever is the best for you to have at an event. For some folks, water and chewing gum (or hard candies), for others, the hunger would leave them so distracted they need to bring a full meal. Some folks can safely buy stuff at or near the event, but some venues aren't conveniently located for such things. Spare sleeves and even a double of your deck are handy. If not every card, any card that you expect would be hard to replace at an event. Besides the occasional thief, it is embarrassingly easy to forget one's deck, bag, etc. somewhere. Sleeves and cards can be damaged during a game; you have to shuffle a lot in Pokémon, and it just takes a card sliding sideways to get badly bent. >_O
    • Practice going through your turns: As important as it is to develop advanced strategies, make sure that your fundamental skills are all second nature by now. Clearly announce what you're doing, preferably with a visible gesture accompanying it. Make sure you're used to carefully drawing the right amount of cards, shuffling, etc. in a brisk manner. Forgetting Prizes is a very bad thing for a tournament. So is forgetting about an Energy attachment, a Supporter usage, calling out an attack... all the simple things players take for granted. You should have your list memorized, or at least close to it, and be good at scanning your deck on your first search, so you can work out what is Prized. You don't have to have both down perfectly, but you really need to know what key cards are missing at a glance, at least.
    • Practice against yourself: Build another deck (or decks) to test against. They should be as competitive of decks as you can manage but also that you either know or need to learn.
      • If you do have people you can test against, you should still practice with multiple decks, especially the ones that give your main deck a problem. Knowing them is half the battle.
      • When practicing against yourself, start out by ignoring what you know from it being you versus you. You'll know both hands, both decks, etc. but act like you don't, because normally neither you nor your opponent has that information.
      • It is okay to "rewind" the game, to practice "What if?" outcomes. Meaning, if you use Card X and then lose, but you are able to put everything back to where it was before you played Card X, do so and see what happens when you play Card Y, Card Z, etc.
      • Once you've got the deck your taking known pretty well, challenge yourself by allowing the deck you're testing against to "cheat". While playing as your "opponent", go ahead and act upon the knowledge of what is in your "real" hand, deck, etc. Instead of your draw for the turn, while acting as your own opponent, replace it with a search for the turn. If this leads to you quickly losing and learning nothing, stop. If, however, you have a good feel for your deck by now, this should provide new learning opportunities.
Whew, I think that is all I've got, at least for now. XP
 

jix99

Imagine if Pichu was in splatoon :D
Member
Why does your friend only play expanded? Does your friend not like standard or not have the cards because here is what I would do. First find the deck you wan't to test against and build them with proxy's and then you can give him the proxy deck and just test that way but if your friend doesn't like standard than anything I would have said has already been said by everyone else.
 

Tom Jerman

make tangrowth gx now
Advanced Member
Member
I have the same problems. my deck is weak to fighting and my friend plays buzzwole and I have a friend that I gave a deck (he has not given it back for a year:mad:) and he'll just say "dude... stop"
 

GoldenYungoos

A shiny Yungoos appeared!
Member
I have the same problems. my deck is weak to fighting and my friend plays buzzwole and I have a friend that I gave a deck (he has not given it back for a year:mad:) and he'll just say "dude... stop"
just play a game with him and say: and I'll have my deck back (easy solution)
 

Tom Jerman

make tangrowth gx now
Advanced Member
Member
No he doesnt like pokemon the second i started playing and i spent my whole league day making him a starter deck and he left and said “ya i guess that was okay...”
 
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