I Spent 10 Hours Playing The Pokemon TCG to Prove IT'S RIDICULOUS

[@Divock]

"Pokemon makes a million dollars so they can probably afford voice acting right" This was the funniest thing in the video and it's not even close

[@spacestrikerarks-ashe2005]

True.. We really need VA in the main games lol.

[@jeremyrennerapp]

that’s not even what he says 😹😹

[@waifucards]

No one needs VA in Pokemon, so weird..

[@GujinGod]

yeah don't need decent graphics, 3d effects, proper sound design, or even a functional product in terms of minimal glitches and proper frame rate. pokemon fans will buy anything.@@waifucards

[@ChargeJN]

⁠@@waifucards*gestures towards Piers and Ryme*

[@Atrus159]

The thing that makes pokemon a lot different than Yugioh is that even though you can do so much crazy shit, it all has to filter through this bottleneck. You can still only attack once per turn, you can still only have one pokemon in the active spot no matter how much other stuff you do behind it, and you almost always have to kill at least two pokemon to win the game, which means even super crazy games still have to last a couple turns. IMO this gives pokemon a really unique feel, where you can draw and play a billion cards in a turn, but what you or your opponent actually *accomplishes* each turn is extremely limited and predictable

[@erenjager4698]

Yes I agree pokemon does have a unique feel in that way where the structure of the game makes it so that no matter how many cards you play you can't just instant kill your opponent and win in 1 blow.

[@randomguyontheinternet5030]

This... Just this. No matter how much crazy ass damage you can rack up for one turn, you're still either killing the pokemon or not, and killing one pokemon can be tough but doesnt end the game. You also need to power up things for attacks, and the more powerful trainers (supporters) are locked behind being once per turn, so you cant pump out 40 supporters that all say draw 3. You cant just set a pokemon down and attack. Rarely ever do they use free attacks unless the attack is locked behind being a Vstar ability (Vulpix Vstar) or some other condition (cramarant's attack being free with 4 in lost zone). Other things that attach energy past the once per turn require somewhat hefty conditions (mirage gate), or come at a cost (gardevoir ex) so that you cant pull out a turn one win against someone's squishy 60 hp comfey or something.

[@SackofDooDoo]

That "Bottleneck" analogue is pure gold - a fantastic way to help others visualize how the "craziness" can only go so far.

[@mrsquiddler]

this is why i stopped playing yugioh

[@bduddy55555]

I see Pokemon as almost more of a puzzle game. Each turn is a puzzle to sequence all your cards to get off the best attack possible, and maybe delay your opponent a bit in the process. And the game as a whole is a puzzle of putting together the proper turns to get to 6 prizes.

[@jammjar8838]

Fun fact, the pokemon card client is hated so much by the community that a third party team have started developing their own client for the competitive scene. (Its called twinleaf)

[@farmerash]

Yeah as someone who played a lot on the old client I agree that the new one is nowhere near as good. Not so much on the visual side, it's just slightly different, but I hate the fact that we traded a very good deck making tool for a barely functional one. And that we traded the PvE side of things that was great for figuring out your deck for pure PvP, and even on that front, we lost the tournaments which were a fun way to obtain new packs if you were good enough (and you didn't even need to make a custom deck, you could go into preconstructed tournaments too).

[@massimilianodelrosso5495]

*Oh, so it's like VGC*

[@BanditTools]

@@farmerashI started playing PTCG a few weeks ago and I think the client and what it currently offers is great! Coming from Hearthstone and YGO, its a breath of fresh air. You get a handful cores for different decks for free. The battle pass gives meta relevant cards and rarity bumps. You can even test decks against the cpu before crafting them. I think some pve content and bug fixes are obviously needed, but I think the overall package is pretty decent.

[@celticspike2522]

I think it's severely lacking but I do give them props for the test deck feature. Every digital tcg needs that feature.

[@goncaloferreira6429]

@@farmerash we lost too much with the transition to live. And dont get me started on not having expanded....

[@TramRide]

The battlepass is part of the tutorial, because it's not possible to spend real money on the game. It's not actually advertising micro transactions at all

[@r.a.fgattaiguy845]

it´s almost like he´s trying hard to reach for something to hate or something

[@Gloom_Shroom_Gaming]

It's very much possible to spend real money on the game, that's why they have QR codes in the physical packs

[@tomsky4751]

⁠@@Gloom_Shroom_Gamingyeah but it’s not an actual micro transaction. You’re buying a physical product that you own already you are spending cash on the TCG products you use irl. It’s just that you can also put it into the game as a nice bonus.

[@acosmicbeing3854]

@@Gloom_Shroom_Gaming That's not the definition of microtransactions.

[@chasewilliams5048]

a kid can 100% spend money on physical packs JUST for the sole purpose of using them online

[@MrGamerofmusic]

From my friends, that play Yugioh. The consensus they had, after playing Pokémon tcg. Was the fact that you can actually play your turn. Without being interrupted, to the point that your opponent gets to play a turns worth of effects on your turn! Granted, you can get shafted during your opponent’s turn. They can pull shenanigans that limit you by your turn. But they seemed to be relieved that they didn’t have to stop and let their opponent chain, negate and destroy everything on their side of the field on their turn!

[@jaeusa160]

Interaction has its ups and downs. Much like Hearthstone, this kind of situation can feel like 2 people playing Solitaire rather than against each other.

[@Terribadguy.]

Yeaa Yugioh is an awful game on almost every front but artwork. Every Yugioh deck is just a different flavor of Teferi control change my mind.

[@Terribadguy.]

@@jaeusa160 There is a limit to the amount of interaction I want in a card game though. Yugioh far exceeds that limit, among countless other issues. I think Magic has the best interaction ratio, though that doesn't mean it's perfect. Stealing the mechanics (instant, sorcery, split second) and renaming them Speed 1,2,3 was cute but it isn't implemented well at all. Bandai is just a goofy company man. It's so unbalanced they need specific ban list for different regions and every new set that comes out a huge number of cards are either banned or limited.

[@Ghorda9]

@@Terribadguy. the removal and counter effects in magic are too cheap and too powerful, playing against blue or black just feels awful

[@strangevol5264]

⁠@@Terribadguy.As a Yugioh player, what you said really doesn’t apply. Bandai aren’t even in charge, it’s Konami. The spell speeds are generally fine, and consistent. As well, the banlists are generally fine, if sometimes disappointing. I’m not sure how much you played it.

[@Dreeeezyy4]

‘As someone who has played Pokemon their entire life,’ >doesn’t know what a Bibarel is 😂

[@matheuscordeiroKH]

if you play the first 3 gens all your life, you won't know what bibarel is, he didnt said he played all generations :p

[@fennecfoxfanatic]

>doesn't know what generation arcanine is from

[@jameshoppe1417]

​@@fennecfoxfanaticI think he was referring to Koraidon but I could be wrong

[@NorbertNahumEvreuklovic]

Lechonk be like: 😶😶😶

[@througtonsheirs_doctorwhol5914]

i have played Pokemon blue sine the year of release got my own cart in january the following year. Loved it, but never played the cards. Owned like 2 of them . But i played The Marvel DC vs system 2004. Now i play MTG since january and Lorcana since march 2024. BUT the energy in pokémon tcg... it is like the quebecois french canadian tcg EMMERLAUS, Emmerlaüs : le duel des mages. The duel of mages. 1990s old school style. My first TCG. I snobbed MTG until 2023... 30 years of passing by a great TCG honestly. I am mythic on arena now after 11 months, of starting a paper collection of MTG 1 month of Arena

[@garethm9523]

I love how Rarran only communicates in hearthstone terms. Hp being hero power and not health pool made me crack up.

[@Ninterd2]

Do you mean hit points? 😅

[@garethm9523]

@@Ninterd2 oh no, caught out by my own commenters hubris 🤣

[@VixYW]

@@Ninterd2 Wasn't it supposed to be health points?

[@TheBloodypimp]

@@VixYW health points but also hit points depending on the game you are referencing. :P

[@Mauvias92]

I had to rewind the video to make sure i heard him right 😂

[@__-be1gk]

"I didn't like Pokemon because there were too many coin flips" - Full Time Hearthstone Streamer

[@A.LeMayo]

kekw

[@ich3730]

Pokemon: Has some dogshit common that prevents attacks with a 50/50, never offended anyone, never saw play. Hearthstone: Has a legendary set-defining card named yogg-saron, decided high-stakes tournament with a literal roll of the dice, thousands of dollars lost because yogg rolled in opponents favor

[@waifucards]

Yeah exactly this

[@jagobot1487]

@@ich3730legit why me and my friends switched over to other TCGs, there was so much rng it just wasn’t fun

[@CallmeDou]

can confirm, me and my friend group all left the game at around demon hunter release, game is too much rng nowadays to feel a competitive sense of success.

[@TheJadeFist]

10:30 You automatically mulligan if you can't play a basic pokemon in your opening hand, since having no pokemon on board means you automatically lose. The mulligan doesn't penalize you though, its just you draw a different starting hand and shuffle. This way you can actually start the game. You can also take advantage of it in deck building, since you mulligan till you have some pokemon in your hand, so you can have a lower ratio of pokemon to trainer cards than you would normally think to draw them as if it were another card game.

[@kylespevak6781]

Lame game when:

[@TheJadeFist]

@@kylespevak6781 Something wrong with a mulligan? I would argue that there should be optional mulligan cause even if you get a single pokemon in your opening hand, you might not be able to do anything with it or have any extra on the bench.

[@kylespevak6781]

@@TheJadeFist When a game has a rule to shuffle your useless hand for a new one, it's bad. Try Yu-Gi-Oh

[@TheJadeFist]

@@kylespevak6781 I think pretty much every card game like these should have a mulligan rule of some kind. It's just never fun for either player if one of them has a brick hand. Runeterra you can pick cards in your hand to send back to your deck and redraw that many cards at the start of the game. I think that's probably the best way about it, so you have a better chance for your deck to do the thing you build it to do, and just to make game play more consistent. You can't say it's unfair either because if both player can do it.

[@kylespevak6781]

@@TheJadeFist Nope. Brick hand = bad deck building.

[@sergiodelatorre9127]

Watching rarran play other card games just showed me how easy is to play hearthstone it’s not even close to any other card game

[@pete5516]

Idk I would argue runeterra is as simple if not easier to understand than (modern) hearthstone. Other than that ye

[@Demahiyuri]

@@pete5516 I would say the fact you can interact on your opponents "turn" in Runeterra would make it more complicated than Hearthstone

[@grimdeth2197]

It's the smash bros of card games. (Easy, milk toast)

[@massimilianodelrosso5495]

@@pete5516 Runeterra is easy to learn but *very* hard to master. The spell mana, the myriad of bluffs you can do to make your opponent fell in a trap, how turns function... You're basically playing poker sometimes. Heartstone, on the other hand, is easy, yes, but sometimes tests that delicious skill of calculating probabilities with RNG cards, which i personally love.

[@oflgn6929]

​@@Demahiyuri I second this. Runeterra having a pass priority system makes it way more complicated (and unfortunately slower paced) than hearthstone. Thinking otherwise is just delusional

[@ForTheWinTCG]

It's really cool to see the perspective of a new player getting into the pokemon tcg

[@kakashihatake-pn4jn]

I left yugioh forever and started playing pokemon. I think It’s better! Konami or whatever the responsible site is, ruined yugioh with the link summoning and ridiculous pay to win. Also through out the years we are used to one of the best anime art styles (yugioh 1,2,3) then they brought yuma and the sevens series plus as I said the link summoning. Thanks to all of that I left yugioh

[@bhupendragurram3026]

wait no way i love blastoise too

[@ChaoticMeatballTV]

Glad to see you tried this one after doing Yugioh! While Pokemon TCG Live is so bare-bones and not as functional as Master Duel, MTG Arena, or Hearthstone, it's still playable at the very least and gives a good platform with a generous economy for those who are interested in playing with those cards they keep ripping open. I'd also HIGHLY suggest trying the Pokemon TCG Game Boy Color game they just released on Nintendo Switch Online. It's limited to the first three sets of the game, but has gym progression with 8 badges, an Elite Four and Champion just like the mainline titles, and it's so much fun to play. Plus, the Base-Fossil format is a popular retro format in the PTCG space, and with NSO being online, you can play against other people without needing to use a lackluster third party simulator like TCGOne.

[@Jrpg_guy]

The worst thing is the old simulator was better then the new one xd

[@schmelzwah]

I think a big difference between Yugioh and Pokemon is in consequences. Both of them are going to super combo and then do a big attack. With Yugioh though that one attack can just be the end of the game. While with pokemon you do all those big attacks and big plays to just get 1 maybe 2 prize cards. The games not over your opponent now gets to do all those combo things too. The back and forth is what makes it more fun and interesting than Yugioh while the card draw and tutors and combos are still just as intricate.

[@soyedgar1831]

Yes, in yugi you have many first turn wins in pokemon maybe. One turn full setup

[@mrbrightside4u]

I wish the Digimon card game had good client. Would love to hear Rarran's thoughts on that game, especially the memory system.

[@djt08031996]

There's a Digimon tcg?

[@mrbrightside4u]

@@djt08031996 There's multiple, actually. The current one is insanely cool, one of my favorites. And I'm not even a Digimon fan.

[@_iamelu_]

there was a fanmade one at the beginning of the game's lifespan but bandai shut it down and claimed they were working on their own. 3 years later...

[@AcroxShadow]

​@@djt08031996Yeah. It's really good, actually, and fairly easy to pick up.

[@JosephAGregory]

​​@@_iamelu_ The digimon TCG has been out for a long while now. The rebooted one came out like 2-3 years ago.

[@Evan-mt7bc]

Pokemon TCG is marketed at actual 4 year olds but designed for PHD certified Rocket Engineers.

[@satibel]

pokemon is all about getting one pokemon that can roflstomp their whole team, which is the same way the video game works, so it's fairly consistent.

[@yardship]

Pokémon is about switching 30 times and by turn 45 you’ve chipped away at your checks enough to sweep

[@ayngrand3212]

@@yardship Ever heard of this thing called VGC?

[@mattmanncan]

OU is more fun though

[@alexspeedwagon3701]

@@mattmanncan I love not attacking too!!!!!!!

[@mattmanncan]

@@alexspeedwagon3701 VGC is more toxic for that anyway, between spore, fake out, protect etc....

[@MikeMozzaro]

I'm just so ecstatic that Rarran gave PTCG another chance. When he did it the first time; I felt so bad that he was playing with the old decks and thought that was the experience. Live may not be the best designed client out there, not by a long shot; but the fact that it gives you the proper experience of playing the game to the max is its true strength.

[@TheArcv2]

They definitely fixed the new card acquisition problems from the last client

[@DanielFlores-fo1ee]

I play mtg, ygo, and pkmn. Pkmn tcg is easily the least frustrating of the three. It’s my go to tcg when i get pissed off at ygo and mtg, which is pretty often. Side note, pokemon tcg online was way better than tcg live.

[@thebestlife1341]

No wany he said hero power 🤣🤣1:38

[@enzoforgets9456]

Thank god i wasnt the only one hearing that i thought i was crazy

[@T1redRn]

I’ve been playing the tcg for 6 years and the thing I like about the new client is that for a new player like yourself it gives you actually good decks that you can play semi competitively as opposed to the other client that gave you 1 bad deck and that’s it

[@lordvizer7398]

If he was getting annoyed from that I can't imagine what his reaction be to lost box.

[@venus7795]

Yup that deck is awful to play against. It is just your opponent going auto pilot by counting cards and having extremely long turns

[@lordvizer7398]

@@venus7795 Couldn't have said it better myself. At least we have that new jiraichi card coming out in the November set that will hopefully take lost box out of the meta for good.

[@grandcetus300]

no skill deck

[@ihaveanamewow1983]

@@grandcetus300it requires a bit of skill depending on what they are playing but it is very very annoying sometimes and just gatekeeps a whole bunch of cards

[@ihaveanamewow1983]

Thank god we have cards like iono for that tho

[@DrewPicklesTheDark]

>Hearthstone player >Doesn't like coin flips I find that amusing. I haven't even seen Pokemon cards since gradeschool, but the power creep looks real. Biggest health pool I remember then was 120, now they are up to 280, quite the jump.

[@CountFab]

What's insane for me is that there are still attacks that can do that amount of damage. I remember playing around 2010, and there were less one turn kills for pokemon, with less chance of locking out the opponent.

[@ta13s93]

310

[@giovannicarrus2608]

@@ta13s93330 or 340 as well

[@benshulz4179]

biggest issue with pokemon tgc is that you need to open lot of decks, so that you get the evolutions and get to play a proper deck that was "fixed" with the ex cards and other nonsense, but it also means power creep is completely out of control

[@maythesciencebewithyou]

The current power level in pokemon has stayed consistent for years. You won't win the meta with your deck from the 90s, but 10 year old cards are still playable.

[@Matti_Mattsen]

Can't wait for you to learn about Gym Leader Challenge. Aka Pokemon Commander. No ex, no v star, just good old single prize pokemon. Its such a fun format

[@Scoitol]

but unfortunately impossible to play without buying cards and finding peoples to play against

[@TheGreenYoutuber]

@@Scoitolit’s not that hard

[@TheGreenYoutuber]

@@Scoitol any game is impossible without buying cards and everyone at local pokemon leagues play GLC

[@Scoitol]

@@TheGreenKZbinr litterally not true, you can play standart without buying cards in ptcgl, and even at local pokemon leagues it'es hard to find, at least for me I tried every league near me and none played glc

[@TheGreenYoutuber]

@@Scoitol you don’t buy cards in ptcgl and every league I go to plays GLC

[@DragoRaRaRa]

The game is super easy to understand and the decks super easy to customize. The thing that bugs me the most about this guy trying new card games is his refusal to check is inventory and try to figure out how to make a better deck. Like literally just switch the charazard cards from the archinine deck with the Ex cards it gave you and add draw cards and your set for a WHILE.

[@michaeld8705]

This video took me back to my middle school days when we all barely knew how to play the game

[@gnomeking1225]

my favorite content you make is when you try out the other cards games and rate keep it up rarran glad youre having fun

[@DragonTypeTrainer]

Pokémon doesn’t need voice acting. That’s like needing an audiobook just to get through a book. You assign characters voices in your head, which is not hard to do.

[@SparkleMan77]

Yugioh/Magic players when they find a tcg that you don't have to spend $1000 to have a chance of winning a game

[@vibinwithchacha3329]

This game is much better than the last because when starting they give you a full list of starting decks that are actually good and viable, even if they could be slightly better with some upgrades.

[@MrLucky5001]

I tried this game(online TCG) after years of not playing it. here's what happened during my 1st online match: my opponent spent 10 minutes decking themselves on their 1st turn. if they weren't so greedy, they could've easily won against my deck. I nope'd so hard outta there. idk how they expect new players to have a remote chance of winning, if that's the kind of decks you can face at the start. maybe I'll try TCG Live again, when I'll have some money to spend.

[@Masochistickoala]

I haven't spent a dime on this game and it took me 2 weeks and im already at master league, you gotta just learn that everything your opponent does in a turn doesn't ultimately matter if you still take your prizes or are koing all their pokemon, a lot of games are decided by really small little things.

[@NLambo88]

If there is 1 thing this client does better than the previous is that it’s a lot more newcomers friendly.

[@dzang6250]

5:53 ah yes the mario kart lick

[@MrGshinobi]

"as someone who's played pokemon their entire life" and then proceeds to not know most of the pokemon shown in the game past gen 1

[@TheJadeFist]

Having recently dabbled, the Electric starting deck is probably the best and easiest to use, it has that Raikou and Pachirisu both deal damage based on the number of benched pokemon, and the deck has trainers card to attach extra energy, so you can start out right away doing big damage on the first turn you can attack and the Zerora is a free retreat pokemon so he can be sacrifice to stall for turns if you have to. You can literally start pumping out 200 damage from the start if you get a good starting hand.

[@jeremyrennerapp]

it’s definitely not the best starting deck

[@justinvarieur4411]

Got me into the game too! Super fun so far at least in lower levels and there’s tons to do. Glad you had fun as well

[@stephensummers1958]

I started playing 4 months ago. BEST thing ever! I play at a league in real life now. It so much fun!!

[@Master_Zeromus]

Big thumbs-up for using the Professor Rowan theme in your intro. One of the best Pokémon themes, and very fitting for the scene ~ You still eat glue for a living though

[@leonardobianucci6218]

You are a certify yugioh player for not reading cards. For example. Charizard need 4 energy for attacks. But his ability make that he only need two. And after attacking you discard all tbr energirs it has equiped. Sooo puting 3 of in t is just loosing one energy withoht reason

[@Grant849]

Him getting raticated was funny AF lol

[@recusantvessel]

Been playing since the Black and White days Definitely recommend it to anyone who likes solitaire! Not joking

[@Monkchelle_Kongbama]

sable donk

[@ValunarTonix]

They already played it but imo the ultimate solitaire game is modern Yu-Gi-Oh if you have zero hand traps

[@defectivesickle5643]

@@ValunarTonix Idt even that. In Yugioh you still have to do stuff on the opponents turn

[@itsfort2098]

Nah, you gotta go back to early days before Neo (gen 2) came out. That was true Solitaire gaming.

[@massimilianodelrosso5495]

@@defectivesickle5643 ... look?

[@humourlessjester3584]

In the nitpick about type match ups, I found this out while irl deck building but you have to be on the look out for cards that require colorless energy for their moves. It allows your deck to be more diverse in its typing and avoids the problem of being hard countered by a type advantage.

[@mac_sour]

i've only played TCG pocket, do those colorless pokemon actually do something? i find that a lot of colorless energy pokemon in pocket are really basic single colorless energy that do 40 damage stage 1, or they do 3/4 colorless for like 60 or 70 damage. keeping in mind we're only a single set into the game's lifespan rn, i get the card options are limited, but does the actual TCG have this problem? or are the colorless typed pokemon actually good?

[@humourlessjester3584]

@mac_sour Colorless type is really good at this point in the game since two or three sets ago during the Stellar Crown expansion when they received a few synergistic cards. But even before then Colorless always had a place in the game as a versatility option. Take in Pocket for example, you can put Meowth or Farfetchd or Kangeskan in any deck because of how you don't need a specific energy for it. They will have weaker or more difficult to set up moves to offset this advantage but they're still a very flexible type.

[@KraylebStudios]

This is inspiring me to continue designing my card game

[@lakersdakid8711]

woah, that sounds cool

[@KraylebStudios]

@@lakersdakid8711 it is, but I've made it way overcomplicated with evolutions and consuming energy cards XD

[@pwnagecakes8934]

Bruh I just started to watch this, and this was fire. I dont even play this game. You just are a fun content creator and fire edits.. positive outlook, love it man.

[@Gapb_TheRealOneTho]

9:30 That's literally every mobile game ever. They give you enough gems for one pack and you think "nice I can save up for the 10pack discount" and then they force you to buy a single one.

[@jameshoppe1417]

If one actually plays ranked and uses the battle pass in Live it's very easy to craft what you need

[@HunterX57]

The coin flipping in this game is unreasonable….. Meanwhile in Hearthstone: “Replace your entire deck with …..”

[@soulmask2781]

Hearthstone really went full random. It wasnt that bad at first

[@Gloom_Shroom_Gaming]

Yogg-Saron, Hope's End:

[@massimilianodelrosso5495]

Hard to say, since as now it has some problems in common with Yu-Gi-Oh, like the extreme velocity of games, which sometimes are reduced to whoever sets up the board in the first turn or two, while being more balanced (but here too, some cards are too good and too splashable). Maybe when Battle VIP Pass will be out it'll have a shot, with slower and less explosive games, but we'll also have to see how the removal of Path to the Peak will change the meta. Rn, bricking against someone with a good hand can really bring you down in a couple of turns at best, some games are basically decided turn 1, especially against super fast decks like Miraidon or Mew VMax. But the card game perse surely is a good one, it has personality (i mean, it's Pokémon, on that side is the only game that can defeat even MTG), really low costs (the world champion deck can be made with something like 65$), and it's fun and deep enough to play. As for now, i'd say that with a good app on PC and smartphone could surely fit into the top 3, but we need TPC to do something they clearly don't, *care for their video games.*

[@paul13731]

Isn't the fact that the game has a huge market for collectors? Might be the only card game where it seems like there are just as many if not more people buying cards simply for the sake of having them, not actually playing the game. Not sure how many players there are compared to collectors since i only recently got into this tcg, but could this fact hold back the actual game?

[@massimilianodelrosso5495]

@@paul13731 i don't know, since the game is actually really cheap if you play on low rarity (compared to Yu-Gi-Oh and *especially* Magic), while collectors usually go for the highest ones. That said, having so much collectors and yet being so low on players pretty much shows how iconic the franchise is, how beautiful some cards are (especially fullarts ofc), and how bad TPC is at advertising it lmao

[@michaelh.1484]

@@paul13731 A lot of people love buying the boosters and cracking packs. It comes down to which comes first? Game or collectible? Pokemon kind of sadly ends up in that category of collectible first game second. As opposed to the other 2, Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh. There are people who play Pokemon for sure. Local game stores near me have events where people come to play Pokemon. But it's no where near as big as say Friday Night Magic or Saturday Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments. Half of the issue boils down to that one quote from the movie Field of Dreams in regards to the Pokemon TCG. "If you build it, they will come."

[@Arcavi0us]

@@paul13731 collectors make up a larger percentage of the PTCG scene than actual competitive players

[@mopsik56]

High velosity of games is not a problem but just a specific thing about the game. Some players like fast, combo oriented games like Yugioh, others slow, more control oriented games like Magic, HS. If you don't like high speed of games, then this game is just not for you, that doesn't mean it's a problem for everyone playing it.

[@AnEnemySpy456]

Of the three big card games, I definitely rank them as Magic first, Pokemon second, and Yugioh as a number yet undiscovered by science. Pokemon is a game that's actually simple enough for kids to play but isn't boring for adults. My major problem with it is there's all these ultra-powerful basic Pokemon that are already better than the ones you need to evolve to. What is the point in building my Charmander into a Charizard when my opponent can just slam down an even more powerful Charizard on turn one and do 300 damage?

[@massimilianodelrosso5495]

Evolve decks are problematic by default. When you could evolve mons you just placed they were too op, with the turn limitation they're too slow... At least, a lot of evolved non-special-ruled Pokémon has a lot of great abilities which can't be shut down atm, like Baxcalibur. They're slow, but also harder to interact with, when for Ex, V, and Radiants you can slam a Path to the Peak and block their strongest assets the majority of times. To see evolve decks thrive again (given that Gardevoir *is* one of the strongest) the game needs to slow down a little imho, and with cards like VIP Pass (which benefits *immensely* basic mons) it'll be hard. Luckily, it'll be removed pretty soon, since the rotation should happen in 6-7 months. Also, f*ck Yu-Gi-Oh, lmao

[@cryogenical_]

They solved a lot of problems with evolutions when they moved away from the XY idea of EXs all being basics, but you're right that it's silly that there's basic cards that are just flat out better than stage 2 EXs. Still, because the game leans towards being deterministic at the higher end of deckbuilding it doesn't end up being a major issue imo.

[@mingus2439]

@@massimilianodelrosso5495 bro calling path to the peak interaction is crazy

[@massimilianodelrosso5495]

@@mingus2439 of course it's made for preventing interactions (duh, is a floodgate...) but considering how many ways you have to shut it down (other Stadiums, PidgeotEX, Worker, Lost Vacuum, and so on) even on cards that doesn't even serve to that specific purpose (and the ones made for it like Pumpkaboo), it's a balanced one to keep the meta healthier by slowing down games. If you want solitaire and *bad* floodgates, go playing Yu-gi-oh, i'm sure you'll love to see Vanity's Emptiness or Imperial Order.

[@davidiswhat]

Rip, this online TCG used to have actual TRADING between players in the past.

[@cryogenical_]

I mean, it was pretty terrible. You'd have offers up of 4 of your vs seeker for a completely useless skarmory EX. It was clearly used by kids or people intending to scam kids.

[@Damini368]

@@cryogenical_So assign points to each rarity and points for how frequently a given card is used, and forbid trades asking for cards worth more or less points. Force people to make trade offers of roughly equal value

[@davidiswhat]

@@cryogenical_ On the flip side, you can make a tier 1-2 deck out of $20 of codes if you knew how to trade. You could then get tradable packs and build a collection where you aren't even bothered by rotation since you can trade your standard cards beforehand. I'll take the cons that came with the trading system.

[@Damini368]

Alternatively have a singles shop, assign point values to each rarity, and let the players trade in cards for points, and points for cards. If everyone does trades through the server then nobody can cheat each other.

[@firasatha2916]

thank god they get rid of trading. i tried it back to do training to prep for some regional and bought 100 pack for to create arceus goodra (back on lor set). but i need to invest so many hour into teading just to make sure i can get the deck with the amount of code that i have. now i can put that 100 packs and get any meta deck instantly

[@warnado5007]

the game is so much more beginner friendly. Back when I started playing in black and whites time you couldnt even play standard unless you invest around 40$ to buy packs so you could trade for essential cards and create a deck that can actually win. Unlike other card games this game offers you much more skill expression and deck control. It is far from balanced though.

[@s4ad0wpi]

You should try Shadowverse! (It plays VERY Similarly to Hearthstone, apart from individual mechanics)

[@GrimslyRyuzaki]

weeb game

[@s4ad0wpi]

@@GrimslyRyuzaki Yes... your point?

[@grit1]

@@GrimslyRyuzaki Magic is a westaboo game, so what?

[@4GRJ]

​@@GrimslyRyuzakiyou're not going to believe this... Pokemon also falls under that category

[@GrimslyRyuzaki]

@@4GRJ pokemon isn't anime girls, sorry bud. Cope

[@razorsharpplays2619]

I play a modified version of the Origins Dialga deck and it is actually fun af. If you play it right, it can beat almost all the decks (can't beat the Roaring Moon or Charizard decks consistently) and you can really cook with it at times, even if it seems like you are going to lose.

[@jacobgonzales2780]

Ronald Reagan finally learned how to read more than one sentence of card text -applause-

[@dr.mewnetwork6031]

2:29 Pokemon Game NPC: You can use as many items as want! Rarran: (Has Flashbacks to the first yugioh video!) OMG?!

[@theratmaid]

Is pokemon the best tcg? Maybe, but it is definitely the best product. Cards are cheap, constant reprints, and full tournament viable decks for retail sale at 25$. You cannot compare the price of entry of pokemon compared to other tcgs.

[@adellongino9413]

Digimon is also pretty cheap

[@kencyrus4398]

10:45 Rarran experiencing PTSD from Yu-Gi-Oh

[@ireland5040]

2:50 is something every pokemon fan has been saying for the last 15 years lol

[@JushakF]

I remember testing the Pokemon online TCG client way back. What blew me away was just how GENEROUS the monetization is compared to vast majority of PC TCG/CCGs... Think the only one better I've found was in Legends of Runeterra or whatever the League of Legends one was. It still blows my mind that you get codes for hte online Pokemon TCG with each booster pack you buy, but the same isn't true with MTG Arena for example. Still, the best fun I've had with Pokemon TCG still remains playing the Gameboy Pokemon TCG game where you play with the original 4 sets. From utterly busted Rain Dance Blastoise deck to my personal favorite harebrained deck of mine, Slowpoke / Alakazam deck designed to deck the opponent buy endlessly recycling trainers to remove any and all energy they ever play during the game. Essentially it had stupid amounts of card draw, every energy removal card in the game and a card that reshuffles my discard pile into my deck so I can't deck myself, abusing Slowpoke's ability to recycle trainers and Alakazam's ability to move damage around to not die. It was utterly stupid, but fun.

[@JealotGaming]

Rainman when a card game isn't literally reskinned hearthstone be like:

[@griffoncs6431]

The coin flipping is unreasonable. But when you ignore 400 damage three times in a row... It's amazing. 🤣

[@biohazzardchair]

Just started watching your content from the yugioh video. You’re really selling the simplicity of hearthstone.

[@Jack82745]

14:25 thank you for actually looking at the decks and learning the charizard deck it was killing me watching you use that mid arcanine deck

[@korutodark7855]

Yeah it feels similar to yugioh itself cause you may play all of your cards in a turn except on a little restrictions. You can also overkill your opponent. And make shortcuts on evolving your pokemon. (special summoning in yugioh.) But pokemon is a bit slow unlike yugioh today. Those "EX" cards makes it fast a bit. And restrictions on this game makes sense. If you are wondering, pokemon don't have "extra deck" thing but they have also summoning methods like in yugioh.(evolve, mega,terra,gigantamax,etc.)

[@Xidar]

Dude I love your videos, been watching you for quite some time now (definetly one of my fav content creators for Hearthstone) ! I believe I played most card games. Played Hearthstone for years, recently I got kinda sick of it (still playing twist since I find it interesting having a change in the meta every 30 days). When I started playing Runeterra you were uploading content with @Snnuy, so I went and followed him, started watching his videos and it helped me a lot in terms of knowing what decks to craft. Now that I kinda abandoned both games (still open Hearthstone every other day to complete DQs and WQs) and started playing Pokémon TCGL again I see your PTCGL videos on my feed! It's like you always upload content that is useful to me no matter the game I'm playing 😂 Keep it up Rarran, as I said in the beginning, I love your videos. Even when the meta (in HS) is boring and stagnant, you still manage to create some quality content! Cheers from Brazil, mate! PS: Unfortunately Pokémon TCGL has some issues when comparing to HS and LoR. Besides what you said about the game having no log of what happened, there's no API in this game, which make 3rd party apps, such as Decktracker, impossible. Not to mention the bugs that seems to not be on the devs priority list. Anyway, I hope you had fun playing it!

[@Spectre2893]

The vast majority of top decks don't use coin flips, and when they do it's nothing too annoying or game-altering (Lugia Vstar with Capturing Aroma, and Mew Vamx with Cram-o-Matic)

[@garethm9523]

Waiting for Rarran to change the games name to PokéMinions

[@terryshort1359]

Just wanna say, I was the "Eggcellent match" gal that you conceded on. Yes, it'sa me, Iteration13. I about pissed myself when I saw I was in your video. I just found your channel today! Literally have seen two of your videos and I end up being in one. WEIRD. Anyway, you'll be hearing from my lawyers, who will collect my royalties. JK, just stoked to see myself in a vid, even if it's just my PTCG avatar lol. Seriously was having a bad day, but now I can flex my incredible internet fame (another joke), really brightened my day (genuine).

[@Booksforthewin]

I can’t wait to watch and then it’s just one game against Lost Box for 10 hours.

[@richardsmith9615]

That Raticate deck was cool af! I remember seeing the card and thought it had potential, but only packed 1 copy, so went with some of the other cards from GO instead.

[@marictehon]

man i wish this game was single player, like that old game boy game

[@wombleking]

"The best part about Item Cards is you can use as many Items on your turn as you wish. Oh God, it's Yu-Gi-Oh"

[@Okeana_Aster]

Play the TCG games on the GBC too, that would be nice.

[@admiralcasperr]

- plays hearthstone - complains about excessive randomness in other games - what.jpg

[@Mio_Takahashi_]

“The fact that you can negate all my damage with a coin flip is bad game design. But I’m sure the best decks don’t use that.” Vietnam flashbacks to when balloon pikachu won tournaments because it had a 50% chance to take no damage for the next turn every time you attacked

[@bubbythebrow153]

Got about 20 battles in on there some kids are ridiculous with their decks I feel like there should be some type of skill based matching system cause man some kids have their decks built so good it’s impossible

[@gur262]

I prefer the old pokemon TCG. If it was an option online. Back when i actually played physical cards as a kid, i liked Pokemon for being chill compared to Yu-Gi-Oh. Losing 2-3 prices in one go with the monstrous ex, gx etc pokemon ain't chill

[@illdoittomorrow2368]

"This could use some voice acting. I think pokemon makes enough money." We've tried to tell them for years.

[@thefallenmyst]

Honestly, coming from a Magic the Gathering background, I love that Pokemon just lets you do all the things. Magic makes you fight for every little advantage, while Pokemon lets you say, here's my best, can you beat it? Both are fun and rewarding in different ways. Also, I build decks that avoid coin flips. I don't like them either.

[@Otterpawp]

I love Rarran. But the bit about not liking the coin flips but playing thousands of hours of HS got me fucked up.

[@ivana.3162]

Coin flips are exactly made for that. Make you rage quit. Adds dynamic to the game. There are multiple strategies that speaks to different people which makes it so that more people plays the game. Also reading cards actually helps, to some deck building and finding combos are actually half of the fun.

[@NoahWillCrow]

vid starts with "as someone who has played Pokemon their entire life" and at 3:50 we learn he has never evolved bidoof

[@Anexi]

Ok ok ik this isnt popular at all but i need to see vandgaurd being played.

[@Dyleniz]

God what happened to CFV havent played it but I loved the anime (misaki deck stacking was amazing) before the g units and rank 4s

[@beamslashc677]

mom I am on the tv in the chat (I never got my question answered) 22:14

[@finalomega8894]

What’s ridiculous about this Pokémon game is that different people think they can use the same deck over and over and beat me. A bunch of Growlithe and Arcanine, and Charizard… But they can’t beat the cornerstone stance from the Ogerpon🎉.

[@soyedgar1831]

Ogerpon is a troll deck

[@blackmagick77]

Just get the tournament decks. They're not legal to play at an actual tournament but it's like 20$ for a deck that topped a tournament recently. It's a lot of fun with friends

[@chanonsornnin950]

Everyone from tcg community holding up a sign: you can only enjoy card games if you read. Tcg boomer: Rarran would be very disappointed if he could read.

[@Lord_Malkior]

Rarran, I just wanna say as usually silent follower here on KZbin: You're a fantastic man and both immensely entertaining and charismatic. I'm very happy to see your video updates pop up on my phone. Cheers man!

[@level_994]

> Complains about coin flip > Hearthstone player since beginning Like the amount of rng on poke tcg right now is kinda limited

[@unowno123]

3:10 he's got a mean grindset, He got them 12 wins in heroic brawl

[@TheJadeFist]

12:10 aw man you should have tutored the Bidoof to hopefly get to next turn Bibarel, you needed card draw so badly, and the Bidoof prevents damage your bench

[@TheNewblade1]

Ran doesnt know code card addiction. I easily scanned 600 cards in my first week of playing. I scouted ebay auctions more than i actually played Pokemon.

[@EonEsper-Kriz]

Fire Decks usually don't have much trouble fighting against it's weakness because the Pokemon Company has an ever boner for Charizard and Fire Types when it comes to the TCG... but you'll find all the other types have a lot more trouble. It's sickening.

[@Vearru]

As someone who recently had my first experience playing the Pokémon tcg on the switch’s virtual console for the game boy with the old Pokémon tcg game seeing the difference here is insane. I honestly think I would prefer the original Pokémon tcg, with professor oak and item finder all the shenanigans that can be pulled with that.

[@roberthorn9915]

I will say the top tire decks in Pokemon tend to not use Pokemon that have coin flip abilities because of how easy it is to get around them with cards like bosses orders, ryme, custom cather ect witch lets you switch your opponents active pokemon with one from thier bench

[@gmjjjones]

Friend, this very premise proves *you* are ridiculous. I am now subscribed 😂

[@jrsmith1013]

These are great videos! Id recomend legends of runeterra next. The difficulty curve on it is the best I've seen in a card game

[@ajkcool]

Apparently he did and chat was so obnoxious he's never gonna play it again

[@celticspike2522]

Yeah runeterra is fantastic. Don't know it's not more popular

[@santipenalver3136]

Yeah, the thing about runaterra is why would I play that over MTG

[@dellstudio10]

Been playing and collecting in all aspects of Pokémon since it came to the states way back in the late 90’s and have never got bored with it. Always have the new sets pre ordered the moment they are available. Just a fun franchise all around.

[@chemomancer]

Slight correction on a detail of the video - there *is* a battle log in that client... however... you can only access it after a match is already over. So if you look away, you don't know what happened... yes. But if you want to know that badly you can check after the match is over. Not great, not terrible.

[@23.shkola.63-t7i]

Wdym there is a log that you can read mid game, both on desktop client and mobile app, I guess they did add much later

[@GameNinjas]

26:25 the fact he missing key cards for this water deck is crazy 🤣

[@kprojectskurt]

Wait, Pokemon TCG Live can be played on pc now?

[@palcate8971]

yes

[@zeleros4027]

After seeing more and more online card games, it makes me appreciate how "slow" the hearthstone client is. Effects happen slow enough so that I can actually understand what in the world is even happening. I also never thought I'd appreciate the side bar with past plays more.