What New (or old) Features or Mechanic would you make for the TCG right now?

[HA559]

I think they should just introduce all the other types that are in the game but not in the TCG like ice, poison, flying etc. These should be secondary types symbol and just sit beside the main type symbol. I know some pokemon have their main types as those not in the TCG at the moment, but they will have to stay as a secondary type.

Weakness and resistance should stay the same otherwise it could get complicated. Then have effects of those second types come into play like other types sometimes do. eg, said effect of example attack - If the defending pokemon is ghost type this attack does nothing.

This way the 2nd types come into play but don't have extra burden on the game play other than attack effects and perhaps abilities as well, no extra type energies needed.

Or is this too complicated? Sorry for long post.

 

[Otaku]

Or is this too complicated? Sorry for long post.

I'm tempted to just response "lol" since your post is at most an appropriate length: Twitter this ain't.

I'll address some of your points with my own:

1) Types

Spoiler

At the very least, I think some of the current video game Type pairings that make of the TCG Type ought to be shuffled around. Before the Fairy Type I set up some simple spreadsheets to compare how much deviation occurs from the Type pairings; things like a Pokémon being Weak or Resistant or Neutral to something in the TCG when it should be one of those other categories based on the video games (even after adjusting for video game concepts like Immunity). Maybe the Fairy Type changes it, but it seemed like it is best to have no "three-in-one" Types. As such moving the video game Rock Type to the TCG Metal Type, and the video game Poison Type to the TCG Darkness Type, created a net benefit.

Ultimately I think we'll need them to bite the bullet and either add all of the video game Types eventually or simplify because with as little as is often done with them, we could get by with as few as five types: the classic Greek elements (Air, Earth, Fire, Water) plus "Neutral". Yeah, this might make most cards "Neutral", but the simplification may be worth it. This would be compatible with introducing some video game Types as secondary TCG Types as well. If five seems too low, we could still probably get down to seven Types again without it being too jarring. Expanding is just a matter of tweaking current color shades so that things can stand out better. Simplifying how Energy cards look would help as well; yeah when you have three or four shades/hues of a single color on your Basic Energy cards, it makes it harder to have enough leftover. XD

The other thing is that Dual Type cards need to return, if not the rarely used mechanic then getting back into the habit of Pokémon with two Types having at least one version of themselves for each Type, including unusual Weakness/Resistance pairings from it.

2) Stages

Spoiler

Simplify as there are too many right now. "Restored Pokémon" shouldn't be a Stage; make it an additional mechanic or just a feature that some cards have an additional method of entering play (or both). If BREAK Evolutions remain, they probably ought to be the same as Mega Evolutions. In the same way Primal Groudon-EX and Primal Kyogre-EX are still Mega Evolutions, just make come up with a new name again and toss them onto the Pokémon-EX versions of everything that seem to eventually happen. Especially if this starts showing up more and more in the video games; I'm out of touch but Pokkén uses Mega Evolutions while providing a similar thing for Pokémon without Mega Evolutions.

Pokémon-EX are not a "Stage", at least as I mean the term. They are a good mechanical concept and the problems we have had with them are not unique to them; the game has serious issues with pacing and with role specialization. I want fully Evolved Pokémon to be on par with each other, once you adjust for other things like Prizes awarded for being KOed. We've tried the other approaches such as making Evolutions stronger for taking a bigger investment, Evolution shortcuts, etc. and they just don't create balance, failing to level the playing field by either not being enough or being too much!

Instead slow down the pace so that cards have time to Evolve; this shouldn't be through rules like "No attacking first turn." but by simply designing cards that cannot attack for damage first turn. Also make sure that useful setup attacks don't appear on cards that can function as a deck's "main attacker" or "main Bench support"; it is okay if a fully Evolved Basic has a good opening attack, but make it so that another Basic has to be used if you want a good main attacker. This will greatly reduce the advantage Basic Pokémon have in speed and card count as compared to Evolution lines. Evolving Stage 1 Pokémon probably ought to have an Ability on par with a bonus Supporter, in addition to being a decent backup attacker. HP scores across the board probably need to increase, while damage remains the same or decreases. This is another reason to unify BREAK Evolutions and Mega Evolutions; they add another variable that confuses things. Evolving Pokémon-EX ought not to be that potent, and if they all Mega Evolve, then we don't have to worry about some which stand out versus some that do not.

3) Phase out "Baby" Pokémon ASAP. I don't mean eliminating them entirely as a stopgap measure, but as soon as it works out well enough, just start introducing the "baby" as the standard Basic Pokémon and the former Basic and Stage 1 and a Stage 1 and Stage 2, respectively. So short I don't even need spoilers for this one. XD

4) Weakness/Resistance

Spoiler

It was a mistake to go back to damage doubling Weakness. It is simply too strong unless damage output is so low that it will rarely be better than adding a finite amount is often just as good or better. If we can't drop the mechanic entirely, just go back to a flat +20 in the same way we have a flat -20 for Resistance. If power creep keeps damage output and/or HP scores rising, adjust Weakness/Resistance bonuses accordingly. Avoid the DP- and PL-era variable +/- amounts. If it works out well as a set amount, maybe in the future it can be experimented with, but wait until we get the fundamentals right.

5) Abilities/Poké-Bodies/Poké-Powers/Pokémon Powers Unification

Poké-Bodies + Poké-Powers = Pokémon Powers, while Abilities ≠ Pokémon Powers is how it actually works; I am just suggesting that for Unlimited (and in the hopes of the Legacy Format becoming more than a PTCGO thing), we make Abilities = Pokémon Powers. It isn't a problem that many Pokémon Powers were shut down by Special Conditions why Abilities usually are not. I'm not too worried about this one.

 

[HA559]

I agree with most of the things especially point 1 on types.

2) Stages
I agree with changing the rules for restored pokemon. I actually liked it how it was in DP era, each fossil card having a different 'property'. I think one way to slow down quick attacks and One hit KO, is to have a higher energy cost for attacks on all EX pokemon. So instead of someone doing a OHKO in second turn it atleast becomes minimum 3rd turn OHKO (excluding special energies). That gives more time to build basic to stage 2.

3) Baby pokemon
I think baby pokemon should stay as baby pokemon. It could be a problem for unlimited.

4) Weakness/Resistance
I think weakness should change to
+0 for baby pokemon,
+10 for most basics,
+20 for stage 1,
+30 to +40 for stage 2 and breaks. Stage 2 or breaks with 150HP or more would have +40 weakness.
Some basic pokemon these days have over 100HP and easily over 80HP. These should have a weakness of +20 or +30 depending on their HP, attacks and abilities to balance the card out.
Only EX and Mega pokemon should have x2 weakness. That should make people think twice about using many of them. Either x2 weakness or if they increase attacks cost of all EX in the future like mentioned on point 2)stages then, +40 to +60 depending on HP, attacks and abilities. I think that is a good pay off.

5) Abilities and powers.
Again I think DP era had it right with having two types of powers if you like, Poke-body and Poke-power, you get 2 different things, I don't know why they phased that out in favour of one ability type only again. Though I agree with what you said on this point.