Last night, I played against a Reshiphlosion, two different Gothitelle variants, Ross’ deck, two Zekrom/Tornadus, and the Megazone mirror. Plenty of great games, a few blowouts, and I got donked once. All of the builds were really solid and tuned, and I even recognized the names of a few players that I played, too.
I didn’t pick up a single deck, and I didn’t type a single keystroke in order to do it. All I needed was my mouse, and I was able to test a sea of great decks over the course of the night.
The Pokémon Trading Card Game Online program is legit. This is just the beginning.
For those of you who have been either living under a rock or just ignoring the program because it doesn’t seem like it’s worth the trouble, the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online (I’m just going to call it PTCGO for now) just went from closed to open beta now, leaving it open for anybody to join and try.
There was a card wipe from the original beta moving into the open version of everyone’s card collections, and for the past few weeks people have been scrambling to get new decks ready to compete.
This program is huge, has a lot of functionality, and can be a little daunting for the new player. It’s my goal to help those of you interested in this awesome program get your desired decks together ASAP and ready for tournament play.
Normally, I wouldn’t consider such an article as Underground Material (I have an episode centered around the topic of PTCGO this week), but in my time with the program I’ve found that there is a definite science to getting your deck as cheaply and quickly as possible.
First thing’s first though! If you aren’t even interested in the program, then this article is a not the best use of your paid subscription. Let me do my best to explain to you why this program is worth your additional investment into the game.
PTCGO: Why should I play it?
1. It’s the official program. This is kind of a dumb argument, but being official just means that the program will have the most support, the biggest team modifying it, and it’ll ultimately run the best. Yes, there are still kinks to iron out and the program is still in beta, but for the most part the program itself runs extremely smoothly.
You don’t have to fiddle through connection problems, you play against a HUGE pool of random players, and you don’t have to type a single keystroke to attack. Mouse clicks are all you need!
2. It’s the best-looking program. Goes without saying. You’ve got official artwork on every card, holographic effects (if you really want them), and a very well-designed and aesthetically pleasing background to boot. It’s a very exciting and immersive experience that can’t be matched.
3. You can get paired up with great players. As someone who has recently clawed his way into a group of “top” players that I can test with online, I know how frustrating and difficult it is to finally get a strong enough testing group going. And even then, when you have strong players to test against, you have to worry about having both of you online at the same time.
With PTCGO, you can log into ranked games and get paired with someone at around your level (MOST of the time once you’ve won enough games). For example: I played a game against Michael Pramawat (TheTopCut member, 2nd at Worlds 2010). Pramawat is a great player that I am not in the same testing circle as.
The official program opens your circle to a full spectrum of players, and as the program itself moves forward toward open release, it will be filled with the best of the best. Testing is important, but testing with the highest quality opponents is even more important.
4. There is rumored support for prizes. We haven’t gotten anything official yet, but I’ve heard from many a person that there are plans for tournaments, prizes, and POSSIBLY invites based on the online program. I know this sounds absurd now, but I believe it.
The program is going to be HUGE, and I am SURE that Pokémon is planning some kind of support in return for heavy users. The sky is the limit, really. While I wouldn’t expect much, there should be some kind of prizes on the line in the future, and that alone is pretty exciting.
5. You’re going to be a part of one of the biggest things to ever happen in this game.
This is more of a sentimental point than an actual physical reason to invest in the product, but I think it is one of the most important. Pokémon, for the longest time, has not been fully invested in catering to the competitive player.
The interest is there, but Pokémon has always been targeting its card marketing toward the light user. Its sales in actual hobby shops are extremely low compared to other games, but its sales in the big retail stores are the highest most of the time. 95+% of users who buy Pokémon cards are not interested in the actual game itself at all.
