P!P/Rules Are prize cards a good mechanic for a TCG?

Otaku

The wise fool?
Member
So for this mechanic to work, you would have a 60 card main deck and say... a 12 card sideboard or "PC Box"? Pick 6 cards from your PC Box, shuffle them and then place them face down as your prizes. Honestly sounds like a really fun side event. And if you use the rule where you gain a prize for being KO'd, have an errata for cards that count your prizes.

Oh, and ban greedy dice.

EDIT: Actually if drawing a prize for being knocked out is followed, Teammates would also likely be banned, at least from the PC Box.

I am apparently having a very "thick" day, so please forgive me if your post wasn't in response to mine. >.>

Earlier I expressed that an actual Side Board/Deck is no good for Pokémon, at least barring a radical overhaul in card design and card pool because too many cards can be effective counters disproportionate to their cost. By revising the rules so that a player could select his or her six Prize cards from his or her deck, as opposed to just placing them blindly from the top of the deck after drawing an opening hand and resolving mulligans, one's Prize Cards could function as a Side Board. As @Chancewoot pointed out, players have the option of running up to six TecH cards and selecting them as Prize cards. I am not advocating a larger deck size or further alterations to the rules; just if you've been hankering for a Side Board, build your deck as small as you can (you were going to do that anyway XD) and put your TecH, your spare copies of certain cards, and/or cards for an alternate strategy all in your Prizes. Such things are basically what one includes in a Side Board/Deck anyway, right? Really asking; I fear I am missing something.

If I'm not missing anything, then we just keep deck size at 60 cards. After all if it was just about having more room, we could increase deck size regardless of having a Side Board/Deck. I'm not going to worry about blending it with any of the other suggestions, at least not yet. :)
 

crystal_pidgeot

Bird Trainer *Vaporeon on PokeGym*
Member
I am apparently having a very "thick" day, so please forgive me if your post wasn't in response to mine. >.>

Earlier I expressed that an actual Side Board/Deck is no good for Pokémon, at least barring a radical overhaul in card design and card pool because too many cards can be effective counters disproportionate to their cost. By revising the rules so that a player could select his or her six Prize cards from his or her deck, as opposed to just placing them blindly from the top of the deck after drawing an opening hand and resolving mulligans, one's Prize Cards could function as a Side Board. As @Chancewoot pointed out, players have the option of running up to six TecH cards and selecting them as Prize cards. I am not advocating a larger deck size or further alterations to the rules; just if you've been hankering for a Side Board, build your deck as small as you can (you were going to do that anyway XD) and put your TecH, your spare copies of certain cards, and/or cards for an alternate strategy all in your Prizes. Such things are basically what one includes in a Side Board/Deck anyway, right? Really asking; I fear I am missing something.

If I'm not missing anything, then we just keep deck size at 60 cards. After all if it was just about having more room, we could increase deck size regardless of having a Side Board/Deck. I'm not going to worry about blending it with any of the other suggestions, at least not yet. :)

That too is something I think would need to change as well. Card design would need to have a lot of attention to them. They would also need to ban a few cards to prevent them from being broken and while I dont like placing superficial rules on a side deck, I would say something like no more than two of a card can be in the side deck, just to prevent hard techs for some matchup, though I'm not a fan of such a ruling.

I would say that any deck that is outright countered by a side deck is a deck of poor design and shouldn't exist to begin with though I do realize that isn't a fair statement to make. We have had decks like quad Suicune, Night March, Energy Disruption/Control - just things that shouldn't exist under normal circumstances. A side deck weeds out unintentional card interaction as well as give life to cards like Ninetales, which is a side deck card by design. Somethings would need to be changed, like Weakness. Weakness should go back to a +30 damage system over x2 damage just some a bad matchup through typing isn't an auto-loss and can't be abused through side decking.
 

Problem2

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Crystal Pidgeot basically carries my sentiments about having a side deck in Pokémon. I am of the belief that a side board is a very good thing in a tcg in that it smooths out rps style match ups and weeds out the worst offenders from vaiability. The Pokémon meta would be entirely different with a side board, but I do not think top players would settle for using decks with abusable weaknesses. Decks that are flexible would rise to the top and I suspect that there will be many intricate interactions that are not often seen in PTCG. Meta calls would be seen in techs and sideboards rather than "I'm playing this fire deck because metal is the meta right now."

I am apparently having a very "thick" day, so please forgive me if your post wasn't in response to mine. >.>

Earlier I expressed that an actual Side Board/Deck is no good for Pokémon, at least barring a radical overhaul in card design and card pool because too many cards can be effective counters disproportionate to their cost. By revising the rules so that a player could select his or her six Prize cards from his or her deck, as opposed to just placing them blindly from the top of the deck after drawing an opening hand and resolving mulligans, one's Prize Cards could function as a Side Board. As @Chancewoot pointed out, players have the option of running up to six TecH cards and selecting them as Prize cards. I am not advocating a larger deck size or further alterations to the rules; just if you've been hankering for a Side Board, build your deck as small as you can (you were going to do that anyway XD) and put your TecH, your spare copies of certain cards, and/or cards for an alternate strategy all in your Prizes. Such things are basically what one includes in a Side Board/Deck anyway, right? Really asking; I fear I am missing something.

If I'm not missing anything, then we just keep deck size at 60 cards. After all if it was just about having more room, we could increase deck size regardless of having a Side Board/Deck. I'm not going to worry about blending it with any of the other suggestions, at least not yet. :)
Sorry, I thought the discussion went in the direction of using a sideboard for prizes. Perhaps I juped to that conclusion from reading the word "tech" more than once. Either way, the idea of being able to choose what will be your 6 prizes would be very interesting in itself. What would players even want as prizes? What card do you not like having access to now but want access to later? These choices indeed fix the problems the current system provides, but the other consequences (though hardly bad for the game!) are hard to predict.
 

Otaku

The wise fool?
Member
Sorry, I thought the discussion went in the direction of using a sideboard for prizes. Perhaps I juped to that conclusion from reading the word "tech" more than once. Either way, the idea of being able to choose what will be your 6 prizes would be very interesting in itself. What would players even want as prizes? What card do you not like having access to now but want access to later? These choices indeed fix the problems the current system provides, but the other consequences (though hardly bad for the game!) are hard to predict.

I just got a bit confused as you went to advance the point by completely separating out one's Prizes into a full on Side Board. I was getting there, but hadn't made the leap yet. Think I prefer it still being one 60 card deck and having Prizes be selected from the full 60 card deck (and the order known to that player, possibly Prizes just being face up). Of course "think" is the operative word because I'm still just brainstorming and haven't tested this at all. Plus I had one of those "making a fool of yourself" experiences elsewhere so I was concerned I would assume too much.

Also needed a nap, which I think everything I just said demonstrates. >.>
 
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Phototoxin

I herd u leik mudkipz?
Member
I think so as it means that you need to be able to adapt, and unlike magic can't just search out the one solution to the problem.
 

Tiny_gyarados

Aspiring Trainer
Member
So basically you want to turn pokemon into another attaboy sort? Then what would be the point. And who would go to tournaments? They go away with prize cards and just give everyone trophies. Thatd be next. Just submit a form to pokemon you play the tcg and you instantly get a prize. Its been a part of the game for 20 years and why change it now? Its a part of the competetive play that is just how the game is to be played. If you had access to all yoir cards from the get go, then why use a card like n or why not have the only pokemon in the tcg mew2 and mega mew2 and take out all the energies and only have everything dce based because its hard to get energies, or you cant draw into cards you need. Its just a part of the game. Just sounds like a millenial whining because the prizes made it difficult for you to win... it wouldnt be the same or as fun. The card game should be a surprise, you shouldnt really know what youre drawing into. Its called strategy, and it builds problem solving. These are skills being taught in a game and if there wasnt a part where its "competetive" then why have the tcg
 
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