Ranked Event Feedback and Misty
I'm a long-time TCG enthusiast, a fan of the Pokemon TCG since the earliest sets, and have been playing TCG Pocket since just after Mythic Island released.
While I can appreciate the idea behind the introduction of Ranked Matches, I do not think the implications of the incentives it creates have been fully considered, especially with cards like Misty.
Misty creates situations where the player can lose the match before getting to take a turn. The fact that the card does nothing 50% of the time (and therefore presents an opportunity cost) does not make up for the fact that the other player just lost their match, lost progress, and possibly even went down a rank through no real fault of their own. I do not think I can adequately express how much I hate this - The Allied Master Computer would tell me to dial it back a bit. It's easy enough to shrug off in Random matches, but spirit-breaking during the Consecutive Win events, and down-right untenable in a format where loses result in loss of progress and potentially reduced rewards.
Team Rocket Grunt, if it was intended as counterplay, is not an adequate response. Having a chance to potentially undo a lucky Misty throwing three energies on the opponent's Gyarados EX doesn't erase the 140 damage it just dished out three turns ahead of the curve, especially if it was enough to prematurely end the game.
There's also the inherent problem of EX cards being high-power, rare, and unrestricted, creating a situation where Premium players have far greater statistical odds of having access to multiple copies of extremely high-power, high-rarity cards.
This is fine when the game format is low-stakes - it can feel like the other person is slapping you in the face with their wallet, but that comes with the territory in a free-to-play game.
By adding a Ranked mode, players with access to a greater quantity of the rare high-power cards have a palpable advantage over the players who can't afford the premium subscription, which feels like it is at odds with the spirit of a 'Ranked' format.
I would strongly encourage reworking how Misty works, so that at the very least she can't end a match before the other player can do anything. Restricting the number of EX cards a deck is allowed to run (if only for Ranked play) also seems highly advisable.
Comments
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1 unique EX card per deck (duplicates allowed) would be a significant improvement.
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I play Pokémon pocket and I play in Ranked matches and I use water deck. Why I always always get tails coins?!?! Every time I use Misty cards two times and never get heads!!! Why?! I feeling it not fair!!! Every time I challenge other players and they get most heads than I do!! Why!!!?? This is cheating!!! I hate this game!!
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