One Hit KO

Hey all you members of Omar-Nation.  This is Pikkdogs here. I will speak to you soon about the release of the new triumphant set, but today I will talk about age divisions in Pokemon.                                                                          

Speaking of Triumphant, this weekend is the start of pre-release tournaments.  So if you can, head out to your local tournament this weekend and get involved in the tournament.  This set should be pretty impactful, even with the recent news that Lost World will not be in the set.

We all know that Pokemon is a game that is popular with younger people.  I admit that I too played the game when I was young.  But, the fact is that Juniors and Masters are different.  We run different decks and play different styles.

We also know that because of this fact TPCI has made three age divisions: Junior, Senior, and Master.  With younger people laying in the junior category, the tweens playing in seniors, and high school age and older in the master category.   These divisions were a great idea, it keeps people of similar skill levels together.  There are a couple great senior players that can play with any master, but for the most part the age divisions are great.

What isn’t so great is when people are forced to play outside of their divisions.  These matchups are embarrassing, unfair, and pointless.  These matchups usually happen when one age group doesn’t have enough players for their own tournament.  When this happens age divisions mix and people are forced to play outside of their age division.

This article will try to argue that Play Pokemon should outlaw playing outside of your age division at all tournaments that effect your rating.  This  article will be written in the perspective of a masters player.

First, playing outside of your age division is pointless.  It does not effect your rating, so why are we playing this matchup?  It would be better to play a player in your own division who has a lesser record, then to play a game that has no effect on your rating.  It would even be better to take a bye, and get a win then to play a no-win game.

Why is this type of game a no-win game?  This is because, if a masters player defeats a junior it is doing something that he/she is supposed to do, and if the masters player loses it is a complete embarrassment.  I admit that sometimes a junior player can beat a master’s player.  But, for the most part a Master will always beat a Junior, they usually have better decks and more advanced skills.  It isn’t fair for the junior who has to play out of his league, and its not fair for the masters player who will face infinite embarassment if he/she does lose.

Another reason is that playing down in your division seems to take the player off of his/her game.  Every game that I play with a junior or a senior seems to feel like a practice game.  Personally, playing down makes me feel like I’m doing my opponent a favor and take me out of the game.  At a Pokemon tournament, a player needs to concentrate and keep momentum going, playing a younger person can throw someone off of his/her game and ruin his/her tournament.

So I propose, that except in cases where both the junior and senior divisions don’t have enough players, that combining divisions should be abolished.  If the senior division only has 4 players, let them play 2 or 3 games and call it a day. This would be a smart business decision for TPCI, because it might encourage those seniors to bring their friends to the next tournament, so more people will join the game.  Also, adding byes will be preferable to pairing people outside of their own age division.

So what do you guys think?  Am I crazy?  Well of course I am, but is my opinion of this topic crazy?  Do you guys feel the same, or do you like playing younger people.

Until next week this is Pikkdogs signing off saying, So long and thanks for all the fish.

Category: Pokemon Education, Uncategorized | Tags: Pokemon age divisions, Pokemon tournament