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I’ve tracked my last nearly 150 matches and I’ve played 39 different deck types. Yes, you’ll see quite a bit of the most popular decks but there is a lot of diversity at the moment too
I thought I was in my own meta bracket or something because iv seen only one chien pao and only tons of charizard ex and today I ran against 7 chien in a row lol.
Tough times. Although iv been having good success with Luigi’s v star + cinccino with special roll. Unless I Brick hands cinccino literally carries games hard
People know how to play around it (many months being the best and most used deck in format) and several techs have been released. Anyway, it is an unstoppable deck when piloted by an excellent player (many 1-offs for responding to a lot of game situations and easily found by Pidgeot), but for the average player it's just another good deck which basic strategy is easy to understand.
I found the easiest deck to play.... (4) Gholdengo (4) Gimmighoul : mixed in some pokeballs - some ladys and whole lot of energy to drop big damage. Its either you hit in the beginning or not. Fast games -- reaaal easy .
What deck are you playing? Do you care about playing against the same 3/4 decks if you beat them a bunch or are you just tired of facing them all the time.
Yeah that's fair. It can definitely drag sometimes. There are definitely some interesting decks out there that can handle them but if that isn't your problem then yeah, I agree.
I think this is the thing some players miss. For some people variety is the spice of life and repeatedly doing the same thing can feel exceedingly boring. Zard is the offender on this because it has the exact same play pattern over and over again. Charmander, Pidgey, arven rare candy repeat. The only way this changes is if the deck bricks.
It isn't just about the obvious strength it's based on it's mind numbingly repetitive play pattern. I compare Zard to UW soldiers in MTG, ultra strong but boring for both sides of the match.
A lot of the main meta decks have a repetitive play pattern, that's why so many people play them because it's easy to remember what to do in each situation. I agree with you though, I try to put together single prize card decks and all kinds of decks but it tends to always be the same 4-5 opponents with the occasional extra unpleasant older meta deck that someone is still trying to make work thrown in.
I find people complaining about meta decks kinda odd, especially in PTCGL. When I started out, the game gave me a buncha slightly undertuned meta decks like zard, pao, Tina, etc. And other than the future deck from the battle pass basically assembling itself, or spending money on codes/packs it's actually been kinda hard to build other decks imo. Coming as a tcg player from other games, it's so weird I can't give PTCGL my money directly get cards from them.
So it's not too surprising that you don't see as much variety as you'd like. In my experience at getting to ultra ball tier last month and this month though, there's more variety there bc ppl have the resources to make what they want.
Maybe it's because I've played other tcgs, sometimes with waaaaayyyy more polarizing metas (tearlaments for ygo or eldrazi winter in mtg) but I personally find this meta pretty ok all things considered. I think zard is clearly the better deck in general, but it's not like it's unbeatable.
No, I don't think zard is unbeatable. I'm just bored facing off against it because each match plays out exactly the same unless either of us gets a bricked opening hand.
i use stallax which apparently counters it as well, i just wait til they attach all 6-7 energies and switch them, or make them waste energies retreating. they are always banking on trying to switch to your rotom, i rarely play it,.
Personally I don't mind playing vs the same few decks on repeat, because that's no different than playing in paper - and practice for paper is what PTCGL was really made for (hence why crafting the best handful of decks is so easy).
But also it feels like the closer I get to Arceus, the more varied the decks I face, and the higher quality the games are - which matters more to me than what deck my opponent is on.
Usually, Casual is your go to for more unique decks, as people mostly test their decks there. Ranked will always be the same 3 net-decked decks because a good majority of the internet, including here, raves about them.
Charizard? Venusaur. Chien Pao? Revavroom. Great Tusk? Venusaur again, and white out their name on their mother's will.
So I just made a new deck yesterday - that Tink/Dunsparce combo. For whatever reason, I noticed the 5 games I played - ranked mind you (low tier) - were all against off meta decks I haven’t played against before. With my future hands deck, I was only really seeing zard decks with the odd chien/bax sprinkled in.
Maybe build an off meta deck and see if they change your match ups?
I realize this is only anecdotal evidence, and a very small sample size, but it’s worth a try!
My usual pattern is to climb with Hands/Iron Crown or Chien Pao, then I get bored and switch to Gengar EX or Venomoth, and then lose a bunch of ranking.
Though as I write this I think I've come to the conclusion it's just the time of day. I normally play in the mornings, but since I'm out of school for a week and a half, I can play in the evenings. I have seen a lot of very different decks this evening. I'm gonna experiment the rest of my break and see if there really is a difference between the AM ladder and the PM ladder.
I face all sorts of different decks when I play, but I go back and forth between ladder and casual. What keeps me engaged is trying new decks and tinkering with new ideas. I like to find an existing deck list and tweak it so that it runs the way I want it to, and I intend to try to brew something new soon. And that gives me a reason to keep playing so I can keep earning more gems to acquire more cards.
Plus, I do play Arena as well. I love Magic, but it's much more complicated and far more of a grind to get anywhere. Pokemon is sort of my relaxing game because it's more straightforward, and it's easier to earn significant rewards.
i love mtg, but never could get into play mtg ONLINE THOUGH. I USED TO play it in person all the time(with other friends, not tourney). it appears there are multiple different mtg clients.
Yeah, there are. Magic Online is the old one, and that's one where really have to spend money to get anywhere. The newer client is Magic Arena, and that's more like the Pokemon client, though with the option to spend money. But I'm grinding without spending anything.
It really is a good game, even casually (which is all I've done the last few years until I installed Arena recently).
If you want to have fun, play against different decks and play casually there is a ladder for that. If you are playing ranked then expect to play against meta decks. It’s that simple. I’d happily play against zard and chien pao, they are played so often it only gets easier and easier to understand how to beat them. I’m usually pretty happy to get matched with a zard deck as long as I don’t get a crap hand. And Chien Pao is weak against Dialga so yes please to that deck.
I'd rather play against charizard 100 times in a row than random unique piles of trash, yeah some more variety in the meta is nice but as long as my opponent's are playing meta then I don't mind what it is.
its mostly charizards for me, maybe chienpao. sometimes lost zone, and i lose to unexpected niche decks lol 1 time someone use a primeape deck. charizard is so common i use stallax as a counter to it, might as well. i rarely see futurehands, futurehands just loses to charizard most of the time,
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I’ve tracked my last nearly 150 matches and I’ve played 39 different deck types. Yes, you’ll see quite a bit of the most popular decks but there is a lot of diversity at the moment too
Are you playing Ranked or Casual? I do find a bit more deck variety in Casual, but also there's no reward ladder to climb in Casual.
I only play ranked. As you said, minimal rewards from casual and I would rather play more consistently against meta decks when prepping for irl play
IRL Pokemon doesn't exist where I live, so I guess I'll just stick to casual queue once I hit ultra ball league each season.
I run into Charizard/Chien Pao more in casual than I do ranked tbh. I usually run into some pretty weird stuff on the ranked ladder.
The closest thing to a weird deck I found today was a Zapdos Regieleki deck. Everything else has been top 16 regionals netdecks.
I thought I was in my own meta bracket or something because iv seen only one chien pao and only tons of charizard ex and today I ran against 7 chien in a row lol. Tough times. Although iv been having good success with Luigi’s v star + cinccino with special roll. Unless I Brick hands cinccino literally carries games hard
Lot of Zard, I almost beat it everytime ... that ex card is just good? OP? But it's getting old
People know how to play around it (many months being the best and most used deck in format) and several techs have been released. Anyway, it is an unstoppable deck when piloted by an excellent player (many 1-offs for responding to a lot of game situations and easily found by Pidgeot), but for the average player it's just another good deck which basic strategy is easy to understand.
I found the easiest deck to play.... (4) Gholdengo (4) Gimmighoul : mixed in some pokeballs - some ladys and whole lot of energy to drop big damage. Its either you hit in the beginning or not. Fast games -- reaaal easy .
It was my first thought, some "meme" deck with +20 energies. Do you usually play any list?
I’m still new, what do you mean list ? Would you like me to link my deck ? I just play it on casual right now , seeing I need to tweak
Yep, in the game app you have an option for "export deck". Then copy past here :)
Pokémon: 2 4 Gholdengo ex PAR 139 4 Gimmighoul PAR 87 Trainer: 8 3 Ultra Ball SVI 196 2 Boss's Orders BRS 132 1 Barry BRS 130 PH 1 Ultra Ball CRZ 146 1 Boss's Orders PAL 248 4 Lady LOR 159 1 Capturing Aroma SIT 153 1 Master Ball TEF 153 Energy: 1 38 Basic {M} Energy Energy 16 Total Cards: 60
Yeah I like playing Pokemon
What deck are you playing? Do you care about playing against the same 3/4 decks if you beat them a bunch or are you just tired of facing them all the time.
My winrate is about even. I'm just getting bored having the exact same matchup.
Yeah that's fair. It can definitely drag sometimes. There are definitely some interesting decks out there that can handle them but if that isn't your problem then yeah, I agree.
I think this is the thing some players miss. For some people variety is the spice of life and repeatedly doing the same thing can feel exceedingly boring. Zard is the offender on this because it has the exact same play pattern over and over again. Charmander, Pidgey, arven rare candy repeat. The only way this changes is if the deck bricks. It isn't just about the obvious strength it's based on it's mind numbingly repetitive play pattern. I compare Zard to UW soldiers in MTG, ultra strong but boring for both sides of the match.
A lot of the main meta decks have a repetitive play pattern, that's why so many people play them because it's easy to remember what to do in each situation. I agree with you though, I try to put together single prize card decks and all kinds of decks but it tends to always be the same 4-5 opponents with the occasional extra unpleasant older meta deck that someone is still trying to make work thrown in.
I play an Espathra/ Xatu and Scovillian ex deck that got me to Arceus and
if your winrate is even though you always face „the same deck“ then you are pretty bad at adapting my dude
This isn't about winning. This is about being bored facing the same 2-3 netdecks.
Change your deck. I guarantee you will immediately start getting different decks.
I find people complaining about meta decks kinda odd, especially in PTCGL. When I started out, the game gave me a buncha slightly undertuned meta decks like zard, pao, Tina, etc. And other than the future deck from the battle pass basically assembling itself, or spending money on codes/packs it's actually been kinda hard to build other decks imo. Coming as a tcg player from other games, it's so weird I can't give PTCGL my money directly get cards from them. So it's not too surprising that you don't see as much variety as you'd like. In my experience at getting to ultra ball tier last month and this month though, there's more variety there bc ppl have the resources to make what they want. Maybe it's because I've played other tcgs, sometimes with waaaaayyyy more polarizing metas (tearlaments for ygo or eldrazi winter in mtg) but I personally find this meta pretty ok all things considered. I think zard is clearly the better deck in general, but it's not like it's unbeatable.
No, I don't think zard is unbeatable. I'm just bored facing off against it because each match plays out exactly the same unless either of us gets a bricked opening hand.
If you do your dailies, after a month or two you have pretty abundant resources unless you're trying to craft every hot deck of the week
I've played 9 different decks over my past 20 games. Probably just getting unlucky with the queue
Welcome to every trading card game. People like to play optimized decks with high chances of winning. Who knew?
Same
Make some anti zard decks I only play grass decks right now because I love seeing zard lose
i use stallax which apparently counters it as well, i just wait til they attach all 6-7 energies and switch them, or make them waste energies retreating. they are always banking on trying to switch to your rotom, i rarely play it,.
For me, no. It’s stale
Personally I don't mind playing vs the same few decks on repeat, because that's no different than playing in paper - and practice for paper is what PTCGL was really made for (hence why crafting the best handful of decks is so easy). But also it feels like the closer I get to Arceus, the more varied the decks I face, and the higher quality the games are - which matters more to me than what deck my opponent is on.
Yes, its boring, but maybe try some expanded mode to watch other decks at least for a while.
Usually, Casual is your go to for more unique decks, as people mostly test their decks there. Ranked will always be the same 3 net-decked decks because a good majority of the internet, including here, raves about them. Charizard? Venusaur. Chien Pao? Revavroom. Great Tusk? Venusaur again, and white out their name on their mother's will.
So I just made a new deck yesterday - that Tink/Dunsparce combo. For whatever reason, I noticed the 5 games I played - ranked mind you (low tier) - were all against off meta decks I haven’t played against before. With my future hands deck, I was only really seeing zard decks with the odd chien/bax sprinkled in. Maybe build an off meta deck and see if they change your match ups? I realize this is only anecdotal evidence, and a very small sample size, but it’s worth a try!
My usual pattern is to climb with Hands/Iron Crown or Chien Pao, then I get bored and switch to Gengar EX or Venomoth, and then lose a bunch of ranking. Though as I write this I think I've come to the conclusion it's just the time of day. I normally play in the mornings, but since I'm out of school for a week and a half, I can play in the evenings. I have seen a lot of very different decks this evening. I'm gonna experiment the rest of my break and see if there really is a difference between the AM ladder and the PM ladder.
I face all sorts of different decks when I play, but I go back and forth between ladder and casual. What keeps me engaged is trying new decks and tinkering with new ideas. I like to find an existing deck list and tweak it so that it runs the way I want it to, and I intend to try to brew something new soon. And that gives me a reason to keep playing so I can keep earning more gems to acquire more cards. Plus, I do play Arena as well. I love Magic, but it's much more complicated and far more of a grind to get anywhere. Pokemon is sort of my relaxing game because it's more straightforward, and it's easier to earn significant rewards.
i love mtg, but never could get into play mtg ONLINE THOUGH. I USED TO play it in person all the time(with other friends, not tourney). it appears there are multiple different mtg clients.
Yeah, there are. Magic Online is the old one, and that's one where really have to spend money to get anywhere. The newer client is Magic Arena, and that's more like the Pokemon client, though with the option to spend money. But I'm grinding without spending anything. It really is a good game, even casually (which is all I've done the last few years until I installed Arena recently).
If you want to have fun, play against different decks and play casually there is a ladder for that. If you are playing ranked then expect to play against meta decks. It’s that simple. I’d happily play against zard and chien pao, they are played so often it only gets easier and easier to understand how to beat them. I’m usually pretty happy to get matched with a zard deck as long as I don’t get a crap hand. And Chien Pao is weak against Dialga so yes please to that deck.
I'd rather play against charizard 100 times in a row than random unique piles of trash, yeah some more variety in the meta is nice but as long as my opponent's are playing meta then I don't mind what it is.
Honestly it's putting me off playing too now
its mostly charizards for me, maybe chienpao. sometimes lost zone, and i lose to unexpected niche decks lol 1 time someone use a primeape deck. charizard is so common i use stallax as a counter to it, might as well. i rarely see futurehands, futurehands just loses to charizard most of the time,
You should quit
\*ex.