Pokemon TCG Pocket's Coin Flip Problem Can't Be Easily Fixed

By 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Eric Switzer

Published Nov 21, 2024

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When I saw 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Pokemon TCG Pocket for the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:first time this summer I immediately had two thoughts. One:𝄹 this is going to be a massive hit, and two: people are going to hate the battle system. It didn’t take long after the launch of the closed beta for people to realize how easy it is to exploit its flaws to make completely broken🍰 decks, and it wasn’t long after that the loud complaining started.

The Pokemon TCG Pocket card Dragonite by Gemi.

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Despite calls for emergency balance adjustments, the game launched worldwide without any changes. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:I expected this. Pocket is a game aꦚbout ripping packs and collecting cards, and the battles feel like they exist out of obligation. If you want a fair and balanced (as balanced as a TCG can be anyway) digital Pokemon game, Pokemon TCG Live is the game for you. Pocket’s battle system is fundamentally flawed, and I’m not sure how much changing the specifics will help fix that.

The Coin Flip Problem

A screenshot of two phones playing Pokemon pocket.

The main complaint surrounding Pocket’s battle system is that it’s incredibly unfair to go first. The player who goes first can’t attach energy to their Pokemon and cannot attack. This means that the second player gets to attack first, and they get to start attaching energy to their Pokemon sooner, allowiಞng them to reach full power before their opponent. The only advantage of going first is that you have the opportunity to evolve your Pokemon sooner, but considering the game’s most powerful ‘mons are all Basic ex Pokemon, that isn’t much of an advantage right now.

Every card game deals with the coin flip problem to some extent, and they all have different ways of trying to balance the advantage the active player (typically the one who goes first) has. The Pokemon TCG has gone through several changes over the years, but currently the first player has two r♉estrictions: they cannot play a Supporter card, and they cannot attack. In Pocket there is no restriction on playing a Supporter card, but instead, the first player cannot attach energy. In the regular TCG you always want to go first, in Pocket, you always want to go second.

Many have sugg☂ested changes to help alleviate the coin flip advantage. The argument I see most commonly is that the first player should still be allowed to attach energy, but they shouldn’t be allowed to attack. Others think Pocket should match the normal TCG’s rules and prevent the first player from using Supporter cards. Unfortunately, the reality is that any change you can make would swing the advantage to one player or the other.

Solving The Problem Isn’t That Simple

Four cards in succession; full art promo Pikachu, full art Misty, full art Dragonite, and crown rare Charizard ex in Pokemon TCG Pocket.

The problems with Pocket’s battle system overlap one another and compound the issue. It’s not just that the first player can’t attack, it’s also that you al✅ways start the game with a basic Pokemon in your hand. It’s also that decks only have 20 cards, so you can narrow the basic Pokemon you use down to just one or two. It’s also that basic ex Pokemon are wildly more powerful than even three-stage evolution Pokemon. It’s also that you can attach energy every turn without needing to draw an energy card from your deck.

These factors work together to create an environment w♏here there is very little variance, which is a strange thing for a trading card game. Because you can build a deck that operates consistently, players are always going to be able to build a deck to best take advantage of whatever position is already more advantageous, whether that’s going first or going second.

Someone Will Always Have An Advantage

Charizard ex and Centiskorch from Pokemon TCG Pocket.

If you let the player going first attach energy to their Pokemon but not 𒁏attack, it means they’ll be able to ramp up to thei🍒r maximum power before the opponent and unleash their Zapdos ex or Mewtwo ex’s one-shot move. Now the first player has the advantage that the second player used to have. Nothing has been fixed, you’ve just changed which player has the advantage.

There’s no limitation you could put on the player who can ༺attach energy first that would solve the problem. Prevent them fro𓂃m attacking first, prevent them from playing Supporter cards, give the opponent an extra card - none of it matters when one attack can take out any Pokemon, and you can all but guarantee you’ll have the Pokemon you want in the active spot at the start of every game.

Fixing this problem would take dismantling the entire battle system, and I don’t think that’s going to happen. New cards with different stats and more complex abilities will diversify Pocket’s meta and bring more variety to the decks that can be played, but the coin-flip advantage will never go away. It’s part of ever𝕴y card game, but because of the way Pocket’s battles work, it's a significantly worse problem, and that probably isn’t going to change.