Fandom 50 (3/50): Pokemon TCGP
Apr. 22nd, 2025 08:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yelpI have been playing way too much Pokemon TCG Pocket. I mostly used to play it for the simple pleasure of card collecting. They do a great job with the animations, as a Pack Opening Simulator. There's a lot of illusion of choice, like when you go to open a pack, there's a circle of them for you to choose from - you can spin them around and find the that's flipped backwards (clearly special!), or you can rotate them around yourself and do your own rituals of superstition. The animations and sounds are all very tactile and satisfying, like the foil crisply tearing, and the shuffle of your new cards slotting themselves away. They have nice-looking rare versions of cards, like gold ones, and full art cards with immersive animations. And their latest series of booster packs introduced shiny cards, which are very pretty and fun to collect too!
But then came the new PVP ranked mode.
Sigh, it's brutal. There are four ranks each of Beginner, Pokeball, Greatball, and Ultraball, before you finally hit Masterball rank. Starting at Ultraball, you get 10 points per win and lose 7 points per loss, and it's 740 points of that to slog through Utraball 1-4. I currently have about a 58.8% win rate, which I think is probably about typical at this rank - and that only because I gave in and am using the meta Giratina/Darkrai deck. At that rate, it should take me a cool 247 battles to get through the Ultraball ranks alone!!
I don't know why I'm even trying to get Masterball, but now I'm only 19 points away and it would be a shame to give up now. My stats say I've won 204 and lost 141, which means I've played almost 350 of these matches so far... Way too much!
In my defense, it's been a month of this, and the matches are only a couple minutes each - really easy to get a couple games in standing in line, sitting in the waiting room, winding down for bed, etc. (It's actually a really good activity for falling asleep to, imo. Something about the long animations, the steady pace of things, really soothing somehow.) Even so, that's probably about 30 minutes of this damn game a day... ridiculous!
It was smart of them to create such a pared-down, bite-sized format. The decks only have 20 cards and you only need to knock out 2-3 pokemon to win a match. There are only a few meta strategies, and by this point in the ranks, I think everyone knows all the top decks in and out. At the end of each match, you get into this state of: "Okay, I win next turn unless the opponent has [insert exact card that enables the kill, e.g. Red, Cyrus, Dawn] in their hand - aaand, there it is, okay I'm dead." And when it's you playing the card they're hoping not to see, they'll instantly concede as soon as it comes out, because they've already calculated that was the win condition. (I spend a lot of time checking how many cards are left undrawn in my deck and theirs, calculating the probability that I draw this or that card!)
That being said, one thing I've noticed is that the challenge level of opponents seems to vary somewhat by time of day. I swear the best time to play is right when I get off work, when Japan is coming online. No idea why that would be the case, but I feel they are more willing to play off-meta decks and... honestly... that helps me...
Surprisingly in this simplified format, and for the most meta deck everyone hates, I really actually enjoy playing Giratina/Darkrai. Giratina can put energy on itself, but that ends the turn, so you don't get to attack. Meanwhile, Darkrai does damage when you put energy on it, so if you have them both out, you can charge them both up at the same time and do a little damage while you're at it. Because they're both so bulky and take a lot of energy, you do spend several turns just building and not attacking - but once you're done, you have two high-powered nukes which is often enough to win the game.
The meta is to only bring dark energy for Darkrai and no psychic energy for Giratina, so its turn-ending ability is the only way it can charge. In the worst cases when you don't draw Darkrai, you're literally just powering up Giratina and ending the turn 3x in a row. Really feels like a sleeping dragon building up for a huge attack when it wakes. (Unless it gets killed first, lol.)
Because there are only 4 pokemon in this deck (two copies of each), you can pack a lot of good firepower in Trainer cards, and there's a lot of strategy in what to play when. Giratina energy is costly but sometimes it's worth it to pull one off with Dawn for a surprise early Darkrai attack. When playing against mirror decks, it actually matters a lot what you put out first, and which side attacks first. It's often better to not attack even when you have the energy, and position yourself to finish off the pokemon that attacks you. Reminds me somehow of setting out bait to trade pieces in chess. Giratina does more damage than Darkrai - which really matters, since it's right near the breakpoint of most of the highest HP pokemon in the game, especially with an assist from putting energy on Darkrai. But Giratina damages itself when attacking, which can be risky, so I prefer to keep it in the backlines for the finishing blow. Anyway I ship them.
But then came the new PVP ranked mode.
Sigh, it's brutal. There are four ranks each of Beginner, Pokeball, Greatball, and Ultraball, before you finally hit Masterball rank. Starting at Ultraball, you get 10 points per win and lose 7 points per loss, and it's 740 points of that to slog through Utraball 1-4. I currently have about a 58.8% win rate, which I think is probably about typical at this rank - and that only because I gave in and am using the meta Giratina/Darkrai deck. At that rate, it should take me a cool 247 battles to get through the Ultraball ranks alone!!
I don't know why I'm even trying to get Masterball, but now I'm only 19 points away and it would be a shame to give up now. My stats say I've won 204 and lost 141, which means I've played almost 350 of these matches so far... Way too much!
In my defense, it's been a month of this, and the matches are only a couple minutes each - really easy to get a couple games in standing in line, sitting in the waiting room, winding down for bed, etc. (It's actually a really good activity for falling asleep to, imo. Something about the long animations, the steady pace of things, really soothing somehow.) Even so, that's probably about 30 minutes of this damn game a day... ridiculous!
It was smart of them to create such a pared-down, bite-sized format. The decks only have 20 cards and you only need to knock out 2-3 pokemon to win a match. There are only a few meta strategies, and by this point in the ranks, I think everyone knows all the top decks in and out. At the end of each match, you get into this state of: "Okay, I win next turn unless the opponent has [insert exact card that enables the kill, e.g. Red, Cyrus, Dawn] in their hand - aaand, there it is, okay I'm dead." And when it's you playing the card they're hoping not to see, they'll instantly concede as soon as it comes out, because they've already calculated that was the win condition. (I spend a lot of time checking how many cards are left undrawn in my deck and theirs, calculating the probability that I draw this or that card!)
That being said, one thing I've noticed is that the challenge level of opponents seems to vary somewhat by time of day. I swear the best time to play is right when I get off work, when Japan is coming online. No idea why that would be the case, but I feel they are more willing to play off-meta decks and... honestly... that helps me...
Surprisingly in this simplified format, and for the most meta deck everyone hates, I really actually enjoy playing Giratina/Darkrai. Giratina can put energy on itself, but that ends the turn, so you don't get to attack. Meanwhile, Darkrai does damage when you put energy on it, so if you have them both out, you can charge them both up at the same time and do a little damage while you're at it. Because they're both so bulky and take a lot of energy, you do spend several turns just building and not attacking - but once you're done, you have two high-powered nukes which is often enough to win the game.
The meta is to only bring dark energy for Darkrai and no psychic energy for Giratina, so its turn-ending ability is the only way it can charge. In the worst cases when you don't draw Darkrai, you're literally just powering up Giratina and ending the turn 3x in a row. Really feels like a sleeping dragon building up for a huge attack when it wakes. (Unless it gets killed first, lol.)
Because there are only 4 pokemon in this deck (two copies of each), you can pack a lot of good firepower in Trainer cards, and there's a lot of strategy in what to play when. Giratina energy is costly but sometimes it's worth it to pull one off with Dawn for a surprise early Darkrai attack. When playing against mirror decks, it actually matters a lot what you put out first, and which side attacks first. It's often better to not attack even when you have the energy, and position yourself to finish off the pokemon that attacks you. Reminds me somehow of setting out bait to trade pieces in chess. Giratina does more damage than Darkrai - which really matters, since it's right near the breakpoint of most of the highest HP pokemon in the game, especially with an assist from putting energy on Darkrai. But Giratina damages itself when attacking, which can be risky, so I prefer to keep it in the backlines for the finishing blow. Anyway I ship them.
no subject
Date: 2025-04-23 05:07 am (UTC)Interesting to read about your experience with the game! I'm pretty sure one of my RL friends plays this and I'll have to ask about it
I laughed at your schedule gaming. Good luck with advancing!
Even so, that's probably about 30 minutes of this damn game a day... ridiculous!
Omg what a mood, that's how the mobile games get you!
no subject
Date: 2025-04-23 05:22 am (UTC)realizethink I'm so one-note! :P Hope your RL friend hasn't fallen in this PVP trap haha.TY! If all goes well, I only need 2 more wins! (Famous last words.)
Yeah!! Why is everything so addictive these days? Mobile game psychology has come too far. They understand our nature so deeply and use it to reel in microtransactions.
no subject
Date: 2025-04-23 06:51 am (UTC)Also, I don't think you're one-note, I just think that's the easiest note! ;p and also pokemon battle unexpected mercy feels like a novel take on the trope!
You're so close!! Good luck with the battles!
no subject
Date: 2025-04-24 02:41 am (UTC)I made it!! During Japan morning time, heh.
no subject
Date: 2025-04-24 03:26 am (UTC)Omg, congrats!!!
no subject
Date: 2025-04-24 04:08 am (UTC)TY! :D
no subject
Date: 2025-04-24 02:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-04-24 04:13 am (UTC)As far as I can tell, the other meta decks now are: Meowscarada (sometimes with Beedrill ex or Magneton), Gyarados (with Manaphy and Misty), and Lucario (non-ex, with Cranidos and Sudowoodo). But a lot of it I think is to counter to counter Darkrai/Giratina, so idk if they are that amazing in a vacuum!
Hope you're enjoying the game too! :D
no subject
Date: 2025-04-25 02:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-04-26 06:53 pm (UTC)Same, there are a lot of cards that I don't have! That Lucario deck feels strong to me, it gave me a lot of trouble playing against it! I also usually see a Marshadow in there too :)