Welcome to part two of my series about game etiquette. Last week we discussed the “Do Right” portion of this series, in which I gave etiquette tips, and essentially gave advice on how to get people to like you, and appropriate behavior you should display while at an event.
In this portion we’ll be covering things you can do in-game to improve your skills (Kill Everything). I’m sure some of you will be well-aware of these tips and if you are, bravo, this article was aimed at those who aren’t as well-versed as you, and please know that I meant to offend no one’s playing skill with this article. There are certainly better players than me who read and contribute to this site. I just thought I would do what I could.
Never Give Too Much Information
One mistake I’ve seen even the strongest of players make is to give their opponent too much information. A common occurrence goes a little like this:
“I’ll Uxie for 7″
“What? Power Spray”
The problem here is that there’s no reason to tell your opponent how many cards you’re going to draw, without him/her asking. Now, your opponent is completely entitled to know your hand size (we’ll go over this later), but there’s no reason to give them that information before they ask. A simple “Set-Up” is all you need.
One situation I’ve seen this come up in is when you tutor for an Azelf and a Uxie, and you’d like to be able to use the Azelf, but you know your opponent has a Power Spray in hand. If you declare “Set-Up for 1″ your opponent is obviously (or at least, in most situations) going to save his Power Spray for the Time Walk.
There are also other situations in which giving too much information can be a bad thing. Here’s two examples along the same lines:
“Bright Look Regice.”
“Flash Bite Dialga”
The problem here is, again, you don’t need to declare who you’re going to target. It’s plausible that your opponent would let you get off the Flash Bite or the Bright Look if he thought you were going to select a subpar target. Again, after you declare the power and your opponent chooses NOT to spray, you obviously have to reveal the target, but there’s no need to give that information early.
In short: Within the rules, make your opponent work for absolutely everything.
Keep Track of Match Slips
This is a very minor one, but I’ve heard complaints from gamer friends in other communities about this. Luckily I’ve never heard of this situation coming up in a Pokemon tournament, but I’m sure it has or will happen:
When you’re involved in a game, especially an important/high-level one, and particularly one that you’ve won, always make sure the match slip gets back to the judge. Obviously if you’re playing at a Pre-Release with your best friend he’s not going to mess with you, but at a higher level event against someone you don’t know, it’s quite easy for them to circle “PX dropped” and totally wreck your day.
Calling a Judge
Along the same line as the previous topic, knowing when to call a judge is very important. Never let your opponent talk you into not calling a judge. That isn’t to say that you should call a judge when it’s inappropriate, but whenever there is a rules dispute, or you’re unsure of a ruling or how something in the game works, it’s totally within your rights to call a judge.
Luckily I’ve never had too much trouble with this kind of thing, but I’ve seen a number of heated disputes that could’ve been solved faster, simpler, and in a manner easier for everyone if one player had just chosen to raise their hand and call for a judge. I tend to try and default to calling a judge in most situations as I never want to become involved in any sort of heated dispute or argument while at a table, particularly when there is no need to. I also do this so that no one can ever say I pressured them, or cheated them in any way.
There’s also been talk lately in some circles of calling a judge even when you know a ruling, just to waste time. In my mind this is completely unacceptable, never mind the facts that a judge will typically give a time extension for a ruling that eats up a particularly large portion of time, and that the new rules (30+3, which I’ll be writing a short article about sometime in the future) hinder this tactic. Just…don’t do this.
Appeal!
This goes along with my last topic a bit, but every player should know that they have the ability to appeal any ruling to the head judge. Again, you shouldn’t abuse this privilege, but you should always have the confidence, particularly when you’re sure of a ruling, to appeal. That’s what the head judges are for, and that’s what the appeals process is for. I’ve been through a few situations where outcomes of games would’ve been drastically different if only I would’ve thought to appeal.
Pre-game Rights
For whatever reason, quite a few people in the Pokemon community aren’t aware that you’re completely within your rights to shuffle your opponents deck before a game. Most of the time a simple cut will suffice, but if you ever feel that your opponent may have malicious intent, or just that there deck isn’t sufficiently randomized, never hesitate to shuffle it.
Here are the current rules of pre-game shuffling:
- You may cut your opponents deck after he shuffles it. Nothing else can be done.
- You may shuffle your opponents deck. In this case, he gets a final cut. Nothing else can be done.
- You may have a judge shuffle your deck. Nothing else can be done.
You also should keep in mind that the cards you’re handling aren’t yours, and you should treat them better than you would treat your own. I’ve had to ask a few people to please not “riffle shuffle” my deck, and although I know it’s completely within their rights to shuffle, I feel that defaulting to a riffle shuffle without asking is exceptionally rude.
Use Every Bit of Information You’re Given
All too often I’ve seen players miss crucial plays, or make crucial misplays all because they didn’t ask the right questions. Maybe you wouldn’t have declared that Bright Look if you knew your opponent had only used 1 Power Spray, or maybe you wouldn’t have Judged if you had realized your opponent only had 2 cards in hand. These are all bits of information that you’re allowed to know, and in my opinion should be encouraged to ask.
Along with handsize and contents of discard, the number of cards in your opponent’s deck is also common knowledge. Although that last bit isn’t always that important, both handsize and discard contents, as noted in the previous example, can be absolutely crucial. Never be afraid to ask your opponent how many cards are in their hand, nor request to take a look at their discard pile (as long as it’s done in a timely manner, of course.)
NO TAKESIES BACKSIES
This may brew up a little controversy, but I for one would never allow a player to take something back in a tournament game. Whether it’s something as important as a Set-Up or as (seemingly) menial as an Energy Gain attachment, whenever a card hits the table, it stays there. Likewise, I very rarely if ever request for “take backs”, and neither should you.
That’s not to say that you may, out of the kindness of your heart, allow something to be taken back, but you are under no obligation to, and I generally don’t recommend it. Oh, and when your opponent tells you he’ll let you take something back if you do the same for him? That’s probably untrue. ;)
Once, at a Spring Battle Road this past season, I was playing against 2010 Washington State Champion Andrew Foley (FREE ANDREW) in the top four. I can’t remember the exact situation or what game we were on, but earlier in the game, I had mis-attached an energy (or something, as I said, I can’t remember), and he wouldn’t allow me to take it back.
Later in the game he attacked me with a Dragonite FB and announced “Giant Tail” instead of Mach Blow, and I made him stick to it. He flipped tails and we both had a good laugh about it. That situation proves that there’s nothing wrong with disallowing take backs, and that there should be no bitterness about such things, especially among friends (luh you Andrew).
Know Your List
If I had a nickle for every time I asked a player if they ran X or Y number of Z in their States/Regionals list and they replied “I don’t know.” I’d have…at least a handful of nickels.
Memorizing every card on your list, particularly a list that you plan to take to a tournament that’s semi-important to you, is a trait every player should have. It can get difficult, particularly if you’ve been through testing sessions and are constantly updating lists and playing with different decks, but in the end it’s one of the most important skills you could have. It could mean the difference between wasting a search supporter on a card that’s not there because you only play 1 and oh god it’s on your bench WHAT DO YOU DO.
Check For Prizes
There’s a player in my area who, whenever he searches his deck for the first time in a game, he declares “This search will take longer than any other, because I need to determine prizes.”. This goes along with my last topic, in that knowing your list by heart is really the only way you can determine which cards are prized. I’m guilty of not always doing this, but I always wish that I would’ve.
An important tip to remember: Don’t take a long time. You have the right to search your deck and you should do your best to determine what your prizes are as early as possible, but you DON’T have the right to eat up 10 minutes of the clock just searching your deck. If you’re unable to determine prizes in a timely manner, well then….
Take Notes
Along with the 30+3 time limit rule, one of the most important changes to the floor rules this season was the ability to write down what you find in your prizes with a Time Walk. The rule has been expanded to allow any notes to be taken and shared with no one but a judge. This means your opponent has no right to look at your notes, and you’re within your rights to take any kind of notes you’d like (within reason). I’m sure there are other examples where notes would come in handy (such as during a Looker’s Investigation), but the Azelf example is the most important and most relevant one.
Enjoy the Game
We’ve gone into things like disallowing your opponents to take things back, and not giving your opponent unnecessary information, and while all of that is relevant and true, you should also keep in mind that this game is meant to be fun for all players involved. I’m not saying to disregard any of these rules, but remember that you should grant your opponent the type of game that you’d like to them to give back to you. Even in a competitive environment, spirit of the game should matter.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this series, and the beginning of the weekly Kenny’s Wisdom column. Look forward to my next series of articles covering every card in the Triumphant set, over the next few weeks! As always, tell me how you feel in the comments!
