Discussion Age brackets...for Masters.

Dennis

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Wanted some input. My daughter , turning 15 in this past May, was bumped up to Masters status from Seniors when the ages changed. Now she is being defeated easier than before. She has only been playing a little over a year, but is becoming frustrated. Our local is all 25 to 50 year olds, and all male.

Not looking for an answer, or parental advice, which I have plenty to give. Why did they lower the age in Masters, and any playing advice for her. She was enjoying the game from a social and collector way, but may leave. I want her to stay involved, even suggested moving to another store to play.

She currently has 5 decks, Drampa/ Garbador, M Gardevoir, Psychic, Grass (Luarantis), and Lapras waterbox.
 

Alphahitman4

Quad Sylveon Master
Member
Id spend more time focusing on getting better technically playing one deck which should help compete more. I assume a lot of stores will have the same demographic. Drampa Garb might be the most competitive out of those. Playing against tougher competition will only make her better at the game which is what the goal should be.. of course -f she goes 0-5 every week for weeks on end I understand how one would be frustrated but hopefully it will just be motivation for her to continue to get better.
 

Otaku

The wise fool?
Member
The Masters Division has always been ages 15 and up; in fact, this age division predates the terminology.

Just like with life in general, people don't really age at the same rates; even before specific medical conditions, physical maturity (including brain development) as well as... ugh, I wish I could use less vague terms, but emotional, mental, and social development are highly variable. A perfectly "normal" adult can still be very immature in how he processes data, reacts to emotions (his own or others), etc. I would like a fourth age bracket myself... but I don't know if the infrastructure/player base can handle it well enough.

Still, as a "young Master", your daughter may have some things working to her advantage. Without trying to exploit anything dubious, just taking advantage of how she should still be more mentally... pliable, able to more rapidly soak of information is a start. She might be able to spare more time than the average adult, or (perhaps surprisingly) more money. I would emphasize how she kind of set herself up for disappointment; she didn't have to "pay her dues" in the same way as other players; instead, her first year of playing occurred when she most likely had the physical/mental advantage over many of her opponents. Now, she's where the 11-year-olds she faced were at. If she sticks with it, it will get better, because she'll keep maturing and learning.

Now, you mention she really enjoys the collector/social angle; why is she not enjoying that now that she's in the Masters Division when - I thought - that only applied to tournaments? It has been a long time since I was able to attend Pokémon League: is it now age segregated like tournaments?

The final point is that she'll need to decide if it is worth seeing this hobby through; for some folks, it really isn't. Part of me wishes I realized how many of the typical facets of TCGs I actually do not like back when I was first starting to play them. Could have saved a lot of time and energy and invested them elsewhere if I had. Not that I don't enjoy the game anymore, but it can get really frustrating when the powers-that-be haven't fixed something that has been an issue for nearly 20 years... or even just 10. XP
 
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