I'll go ahead and say it: watching a live stream of a Pokemon TCG regionals without Chip Richey casting is a suboptimal experience. Don't ever leave us again for Vegas Chip.
I had to comment on the "More Successful Tournament" Conversation. The Correct answer is Player B was more successful because they finished higher. The issue with Azul's argument is that you have to REMOVE the final round of play from the conversation just to argue that Player A did better, effectively removing Player A's Loss and discounting Player B's WIN. Both players lost in MUST WIN Scenarios, this difference is that Player B lost a round earlier than Player A. If we are judging the Tourney as a WHOLE, you can't remove the final round from the equation just to make A look better after taking a loss and Player B look worse after securing a WIN. Getting into a Win-and -In Scenario in the final round does NOT mean you had better preparation if you don't WIN. Both players failed to progress into top 8 but Player B placed significantly higher, so Player B clearly had a MORE successful Tourney. Rant Over
Azul was definitely wrong in that debate BECAUSE he changed the question. He lost sight of the question and changed it to fit his own iteration of the question.
@@ConnorKrohnicles Yeah. Azul himself said that he only values the wins and he is checked out if he is out of contention. That doesn't mean that others are and that doesn't mean that the rounds are any less important for a good tournament run 😄 Being 21st for example literally means that the 20 ahead of you played a better tournament and the rest played worse. That is how tournament placements work 😆
Azul: “variations don’t matter in the PTCG” Also azul : “you can’t judge a player based on one tournament because of variations. You need to take multiple tournaments into account” Huh
If you really want proof that variance does matter for these major tournaments, Jesse Parker went undefeated at worlds and then went 0-3 drop at this event. He played the same list as JW, who nearly made top 8, and they practiced together - he hit some really rough matchups and couldn’t recover. Just a part of the game sometimes.
I ran his exact list at a challenge and had a game where I opened one squawk and 6 energy, and prized 4 generators, and it was into raging bolt. It was very cool. Shit just happens sometimes.
This is the game though. You are literally at the mercy of your hand draw and what you prize. And after a while it gets pretty stale to know that YOU can’t do anything about it. Kinda terrible game design imo. Like if I was Pokémon I would want everyone to feel they lost on THEIR terms and not because of Lady Luck and some mulligans bs. Like why not roll dice in the car park instead of two day weekend slog fest? It’s the same principle roll the dice and see what you get, very casino gambling mentality right now in the game and people are just happily agreeing “that’s the game though” yeah no **** but maybe after 25 years ITS TIME FOR CHANGE! Remove prizing cards from your deck replace with tokens, allow for players to self mulligan a hand. These are changes that many players want to see improved or implemented in the game. (Based upon some reddit and comment scrolling)
@@NinesTempest all I can say is that times change and TPC is lacking in some updated changes to their game. If we look at competitive sports governing bodies around the globe, there are constant improvements (not always) or changes to the rules or way a game is played. So I wouldn’t feel too wierd about seeing change, more reinforced that the company cares about players expectations and enjoyment of playing their game.
Chip is 100% right about variance. Lugia is a prime example. It’s a clunky deck but the times you set up perfectly, it’s a GOD-Tier deck. Look at worlds. Roaring moon had 4 catchers in deck. I would bet that he flipped a lot of heads that day. Same for Iron Thorns. I’m willing to bet that they flipped a lot of heads. If all those decks flipped 100% tails for the day, with all the skill in world, they’re probably still losing.
You conbine Obstruction Letter with Xerosic. They discard until they have 3 cards remaining. Then you force those valued cards to the bottom of their deck and have them draw 3 new cards.
Variance is definitely an important factor, I played garde at Baltimore. Not the Henry Chao list but a more standard version. Went 0-2 against raging bolt, the dream garde matchup, due to just prizing too many key cards in both matches. And went 3-0 against drago and zard. Sometimes the game just goes in your favor and sometimes it really doesn’t. It happens!
It is terrible for the game that "gentlemen's" agreements are now optimal under the new structure. First, board state agreements will very often result in disagreements, conflict, or coercion. It's very toxic and uncomfortable for people who don't like conflict. Second, it's an unwritten norm that newer or more casual players won't understand completely--how is a casual player supposed to advocate for board state in game 3 against an aggressive, sweaty grinder who goes to 12 majors a year? Coercion will become a problem his year. Third, many players are not "gentleman"--they are offering agreements that they will never uphold if it doesn't favor them in the end. Stories of people backing out of gentlemen's agreements are going to skyrocket this season at this rate.
I RT the video you did to create awareness so people can be more vigilant when playing against Eder, not because I expect Pokemon to do anything about it. If you had to play against him as often as I do and the stress that brings knowing he's such a cheater, you wouldn't find it funny Azul. Pretty disappointing to hear you say that and to be so meh about the cheating.
30:30 this is why we needed more rounds not less, to actually have a more solid answer of who did better. 6 rounds day 2 wasn't enough, idk how 4 rounds is somehow enough
It’s sooo far to find out how to sign up for stuff at Baltimore I would have never know what was going on if it wasn’t for y’all saying in the pod last week to follow the gen whoever organizer. So appreciate y’all
I would be shocked if the other 3 NA locations were not Orlando, San Antonio, and Portland. Those are the other 3 "leaked" locations from earlier in the year and the dates matchup, San Antonio in January, Orlando in April, and Portland in May
The question of most successful tournament gives an interesting argument towards the fighting game system of double/triple elimination. Everyone who is still in the tournament, has a shot at winning the whole thing. But the con is forcing people out of the tournament and I imagine logistics of timing rounds could get weird
In Europe there is 2022 tournament and Fanfinity ( they used to be called tournament center ) People tend to prefer TC/Fanity, and likely will continue to be the case this year
Baltimore was my second regional, with last year's Sacramento being my first, and this tournament felt like a letdown. The tournament organizers invested in less, with no lanyard and a badge that wore out much faster than last year. The diversity of the side events was terrible compared with my experience with Sacramento. It felt like a lazy, last-minute listing of events.
Oh, and the chairs were not big boy-friendly when asking someone to get hurt during the middle of the game. If you go to the area next year, do it at the DC Convention Center. It is beautiful and the heart of the city, not far from DC-related stuff for those who need a break from Pokemon
ive been to a bunch now and GG 100 percent did a super subpar job. feels like they got paid by TPC and then proceeded to cheap out on staff and side events were an atrocity. hopefully they improve throughout the year otherwise it should be their last year running these things
i agree with azul, someone in contention of a top cut has a better tournament run, I went 5 0 0 then ended on 5 4 0, yet my friend thinks he did better when they went 1 3 0 to 5 3 1, so no chance of a day 2
Can I get someone’s take on this? I’m a senior, and I had trouble hearing the announcements for time in round. I talked to some other players and they also said they struggled with that. Don’t care about the details but me being unaware of this led to me getting a tie in a match I definitely should have won. After that match, I talked to a head judge in my section, and they offered to have the judges go around and announce when time is called. Next round goes to time, and again I don’t hear the announcement. No judge ever came up to me to let me know time was called, and I found out through my opponent two turns into time. I again after that round asked that judge if they could find a way to make it clearer when time is called, and she then threatened me with a warning for not paying attention to the announcements? I think? Is that a reasonable punishment, and did other people have similar issues?
i didnt have issues but i definitely heard similar stories from other masters. sound system was pretty poor on the whole and some judges in our area took to calling/starting time themselves when they heard it. this is to say... its absolutely not a reasonable punishment lmao. like if the sound system was fine, sure, but it really wasnt (and i work with a dogshit sound system on the regular)
Mann. I did bad at the tournament and ppl was crying trying to make agreements. Like idc about your day two. You lost game two you didn’t scoop now you wanna gentleman’s know your turbo deck set up quicker than mine to get the win. No I’m not doing that. Looks like we both don’t make day two than. Homie was ready start crying. I think ties should not be a thing
One very easy way to avoid ties and let the gameplay decide would be adding 6-8 minutes of gameplay per round by letting people look at their prize cards! 🙈
A TIE in any streamed competitive game is generally anti climactic. Game could be amazing but if it ends 1-1 trust me no one enjoys it as a spectator sport. We want results not gentleman agreements and off screen shenanigans
Player A and B are 10-2 going into round 13. Player A loses against their opponent and ends 10-3. Player B IDs and ends 10-2-1. The bubble was 33 but player B never went for the win to get into cut like player A did. Who should be rewarded more for their tournament?
Player B. They performed better and ended higher in the tournament. Sure, they didn’t gun for winning it all, but they secured a high placement and didn’t risk it all either. Player A took a risk, and lost. We don’t need to reward players just for risking, especially if they don’t even win.
Reward for doing better is doing better … you dont need to pick going first, azul just trying to control any randomness that is built into the game and has always been there
What a bad take. Higher seed getting to pick first/second is great. Also, imagine controlling for randomness when we are trying to determine who the best player is.
If it's best of 1, i think coin flip is the way to go. However, for best of 3, the higher seed should pick. In nfl, for example, a coin toss is fair. However, in a series like mlb or nba, the higher seed should have the advantage, in the playoffs.
@@gildronbloodtide2553 a tournament is not about finding the best player, its about finding the best playing player at that specific tournament with many types of variables one of which the coin flip is part of the game itself. (who has the better record in sports doesn’t get to control the flip) you have an L take sir.
Yes but in the current format of pokemon your deck has to be able to play both first and second. If your deck cannot play one way or the other than it won’t show up in asymmetric cut because you haven’t put the time Into preparing to play. Top cut should 100% have an advantage because of the preparation they did put in
Man yall complain about the structure and it is t even that bad. It’s the same structure yugioh uses. Helps eliminate 🤡 from forcing ties to help pad their chances to get into top. It’s simply more skill based now.
I'll go ahead and say it: watching a live stream of a Pokemon TCG regionals without Chip Richey casting is a suboptimal experience. Don't ever leave us again for Vegas Chip.
What happens at the Vegas cube stays at the Vegas cube
Chip we need you
Bou is horrible so Chip would be ideal
He was there just wearing a black wig while casting
I had to comment on the "More Successful Tournament" Conversation. The Correct answer is Player B was more successful because they finished higher. The issue with Azul's argument is that you have to REMOVE the final round of play from the conversation just to argue that Player A did better, effectively removing Player A's Loss and discounting Player B's WIN. Both players lost in MUST WIN Scenarios, this difference is that Player B lost a round earlier than Player A. If we are judging the Tourney as a WHOLE, you can't remove the final round from the equation just to make A look better after taking a loss and Player B look worse after securing a WIN. Getting into a Win-and -In Scenario in the final round does NOT mean you had better preparation if you don't WIN. Both players failed to progress into top 8 but Player B placed significantly higher, so Player B clearly had a MORE successful Tourney.
Rant Over
Thank you! Was about to comment the same thing but now i don't have to :D
Azul is just so intellectually inconsistent and he doesn't even realize it
Azul was definitely wrong in that debate BECAUSE he changed the question. He lost sight of the question and changed it to fit his own iteration of the question.
@@ConnorKrohnicles Yeah. Azul himself said that he only values the wins and he is checked out if he is out of contention. That doesn't mean that others are and that doesn't mean that the rounds are any less important for a good tournament run 😄 Being 21st for example literally means that the 20 ahead of you played a better tournament and the rest played worse. That is how tournament placements work 😆
I can't believe Chip exposed Azul as the secret Sith Lord who manipulates the meta from the shadows.
Azul: “variations don’t matter in the PTCG”
Also azul : “you can’t judge a player based on one tournament because of variations. You need to take multiple tournaments into account”
Huh
All for the sake of winning arguments 😂
If you really want proof that variance does matter for these major tournaments, Jesse Parker went undefeated at worlds and then went 0-3 drop at this event. He played the same list as JW, who nearly made top 8, and they practiced together - he hit some really rough matchups and couldn’t recover. Just a part of the game sometimes.
Agreed! If variance doesn’t matter than Jesse Parker should’ve started 3-0.
I ran his exact list at a challenge and had a game where I opened one squawk and 6 energy, and prized 4 generators, and it was into raging bolt. It was very cool. Shit just happens sometimes.
This is the game though. You are literally at the mercy of your hand draw and what you prize. And after a while it gets pretty stale to know that YOU can’t do anything about it. Kinda terrible game design imo. Like if I was Pokémon I would want everyone to feel they lost on THEIR terms and not because of Lady Luck and some mulligans bs. Like why not roll dice in the car park instead of two day weekend slog fest? It’s the same principle roll the dice and see what you get, very casino gambling mentality right now in the game and people are just happily agreeing “that’s the game though” yeah no **** but maybe after 25 years ITS TIME FOR CHANGE!
Remove prizing cards from your deck replace with tokens, allow for players to self mulligan a hand. These are changes that many players want to see improved or implemented in the game. (Based upon some reddit and comment scrolling)
@@Knsy I agree fully that changes like this would be great, but it would be weird to see TPC making a game... different? improved? iterated?
@@NinesTempest all I can say is that times change and TPC is lacking in some updated changes to their game. If we look at competitive sports governing bodies around the globe, there are constant improvements (not always) or changes to the rules or way a game is played. So I wouldn’t feel too wierd about seeing change, more reinforced that the company cares about players expectations and enjoyment of playing their game.
Chip is 100% right about variance. Lugia is a prime example. It’s a clunky deck but the times you set up perfectly, it’s a GOD-Tier deck. Look at worlds. Roaring moon had 4 catchers in deck. I would bet that he flipped a lot of heads that day. Same for Iron Thorns. I’m willing to bet that they flipped a lot of heads. If all those decks flipped 100% tails for the day, with all the skill in world, they’re probably still losing.
You conbine Obstruction Letter with Xerosic.
They discard until they have 3 cards remaining. Then you force those valued cards to the bottom of their deck and have them draw 3 new cards.
Variance is definitely an important factor, I played garde at Baltimore. Not the Henry Chao list but a more standard version. Went 0-2 against raging bolt, the dream garde matchup, due to just prizing too many key cards in both matches. And went 3-0 against drago and zard. Sometimes the game just goes in your favor and sometimes it really doesn’t. It happens!
Azul said let me change the question so I can win the argument
Mamba mentality 😭
Mamba mentality 😭
It is terrible for the game that "gentlemen's" agreements are now optimal under the new structure. First, board state agreements will very often result in disagreements, conflict, or coercion. It's very toxic and uncomfortable for people who don't like conflict. Second, it's an unwritten norm that newer or more casual players won't understand completely--how is a casual player supposed to advocate for board state in game 3 against an aggressive, sweaty grinder who goes to 12 majors a year? Coercion will become a problem his year. Third, many players are not "gentleman"--they are offering agreements that they will never uphold if it doesn't favor them in the end. Stories of people backing out of gentlemen's agreements are going to skyrocket this season at this rate.
Can we please add time stamps to the episodes?
No need just watch it all :)
Be the change you want to see, make your comment the timestamps
@@calebnelson4932 naw, the folks who make the video can do it
Need them 100%. I skip all over the episode and will just dislike the video if they don’t have them
Fr!!! Sometimes i just wave see the talking points cause there’s so much time in the video 🫠
I know this is a random thought but I think wolf glicke would be dope as a guest on this and to see if he can get a guess that flavor text right lmao
Azul changes the question to try to be right, and is still wrong lmao
This makes 4 episodes now where I've been yelling at my phone of the correct answer as soon as the flavor text is read. Lol. 😂🤣
I RT the video you did to create awareness so people can be more vigilant when playing against Eder, not because I expect Pokemon to do anything about it. If you had to play against him as often as I do and the stress that brings knowing he's such a cheater, you wouldn't find it funny Azul. Pretty disappointing to hear you say that and to be so meh about the cheating.
How come nothing has been done in regards to banning or giving Eder punishment for his constant cheating?
30:30 this is why we needed more rounds not less, to actually have a more solid answer of who did better. 6 rounds day 2 wasn't enough, idk how 4 rounds is somehow enough
That whole success segment… “I have a concept of a top 8”
"I have the best Top Cuts, Nobody makes more top cuts than me. Everyone always tells me 'wow Kurt, you make the best top cuts' and i say thank you"
"They are eating the meowths and growlithes"
AHAHAHA THIS THREAD
It’s sooo far to find out how to sign up for stuff at Baltimore I would have never know what was going on if it wasn’t for y’all saying in the pod last week to follow the gen whoever organizer. So appreciate y’all
This podcast keeps me alive, keep up the great work ❤
Get a life skudd.
It’s so sad that Azul can’t speak Spanish when he has the most Latin name ever 😢😅
He's Blue.
@@nmr7203😂😂😂
He is Blue Buen Juego
I mean he eats half of his words in english
LMAOOO@@mauricioxaviermercado6932
You guys neeeeeeed timestamps that would be amazing
Why didn’t y’all go over the predictions from the last regional?
I would be shocked if the other 3 NA locations were not Orlando, San Antonio, and Portland. Those are the other 3 "leaked" locations from earlier in the year and the dates matchup, San Antonio in January, Orlando in April, and Portland in May
Those chairs were so bad lol.
If anyone from OCE doesnt know already, we do have a 3rd regional confirmed either in Melbourne or Sydney and after Brisbane (ESL confirmed it)
The question of most successful tournament gives an interesting argument towards the fighting game system of double/triple elimination. Everyone who is still in the tournament, has a shot at winning the whole thing. But the con is forcing people out of the tournament and I imagine logistics of timing rounds could get weird
Being epic splash cube for the people waiting!
You guys should totally ask Evan Campbell to come on the show as a rising star
How can the record for players get broken when they limit how many registrations are available for each tourny?
In Europe there is 2022 tournament and Fanfinity ( they used to be called tournament center )
People tend to prefer TC/Fanity, and likely will continue to be the case this year
38:20 kind of like Jesse Parker playing Lugia and hitting iron Thorns round 1 which happened. Though idk what he hit the next 2
It’s funny Azul went from going to every tourney to no tourneys in like 3 weeks
LMAO at calling out all the lugia players
Azul needs to go to LAIC and skip NAIC because he's only halfway through in conquering all four corners of the world 🌎
OCIC ✔️
NAIC ✔️
LAIC🔆
EUIC⌛️
Just do prizing in the same structure that is used for golf. Fair and simple
Bought my flights to Monterrey for regional!
Baltimore was my second regional, with last year's Sacramento being my first, and this tournament felt like a letdown. The tournament organizers invested in less, with no lanyard and a badge that wore out much faster than last year. The diversity of the side events was terrible compared with my experience with Sacramento. It felt like a lazy, last-minute listing of events.
Oh, and the chairs were not big boy-friendly when asking someone to get hurt during the middle of the game. If you go to the area next year, do it at the DC Convention Center. It is beautiful and the heart of the city, not far from DC-related stuff for those who need a break from Pokemon
ive been to a bunch now and GG 100 percent did a super subpar job. feels like they got paid by TPC and then proceeded to cheap out on staff and side events were an atrocity. hopefully they improve throughout the year otherwise it should be their last year running these things
IC’s have always been the only ones giving lanyards. Mat and card are always the only thing you can guarantee at a regional
@@mr.fluffypantz4150 Overload gave lanyards (albeit they weren't personalized)
i agree with azul, someone in contention of a top cut has a better tournament run, I went 5 0 0 then ended on 5 4 0, yet my friend thinks he did better when they went 1 3 0 to 5 3 1, so no chance of a day 2
You're right I had the best tournament run maybe ever
Just wanna point out that Salvatore doesn't work on dusclops 👍
Azul was particularly based this episode.
At this point Big Pikachu should just hire Jake Gearhart.
Don Pikachu* 😂😂
Can Chip post Cube format content?
What language cards do they use in Mexico?Can you play with english cards
+2 points on flavour text to go to 89 now
I’ve been saying that for $ on prizes!!!
Azul hinting to Chip that he wants to be a caster…
I’m very much ok with not casting majors - Azul
No regional in Texas??
Can I get someone’s take on this? I’m a senior, and I had trouble hearing the announcements for time in round. I talked to some other players and they also said they struggled with that. Don’t care about the details but me being unaware of this led to me getting a tie in a match I definitely should have won. After that match, I talked to a head judge in my section, and they offered to have the judges go around and announce when time is called. Next round goes to time, and again I don’t hear the announcement. No judge ever came up to me to let me know time was called, and I found out through my opponent two turns into time. I again after that round asked that judge if they could find a way to make it clearer when time is called, and she then threatened me with a warning for not paying attention to the announcements? I think? Is that a reasonable punishment, and did other people have similar issues?
wear a digital watch and start the timer when the round starts. This should be standard for all players.
i didnt have issues but i definitely heard similar stories from other masters. sound system was pretty poor on the whole and some judges in our area took to calling/starting time themselves when they heard it.
this is to say... its absolutely not a reasonable punishment lmao. like if the sound system was fine, sure, but it really wasnt (and i work with a dogshit sound system on the regular)
Trying to measure preparation?? Lol 😆 Azul takes the L on that take
Mann. I did bad at the tournament and ppl was crying trying to make agreements. Like idc about your day two. You lost game two you didn’t scoop now you wanna gentleman’s know your turbo deck set up quicker than mine to get the win. No I’m not doing that. Looks like we both don’t make day two than. Homie was ready start crying. I think ties should not be a thing
people love to do that, or gentlemen's board state and then proceed to ignore said board state when its in your favor lol.
The performance of a player was kinda of a bad take from azul. Agreed with chip on that one
Why not just have Azul do casting lol if he not going to play
Mohn-teh-rrrrrrrr-ay = Monterrey
I used to live there so I get it 🙂↕️
One very easy way to avoid ties and let the gameplay decide would be adding 6-8 minutes of gameplay per round by letting people look at their prize cards! 🙈
A TIE in any streamed competitive game is generally anti climactic. Game could be amazing but if it ends 1-1 trust me no one enjoys it as a spectator sport. We want results not gentleman agreements and off screen shenanigans
it took for ever to get in and there was couchy stains all over the chairs . and it was mad bread to buy items
You don’t have to buy anything
you are completely right. that’s why i didn’t
The moment chip gave that first lifeline I KNEW the card. GLC knowledge helps so much
if you are thinking about a latam regional I’d suggest Monterrey. plenty things to see, nice weather (that particular month), and great food.
Player A and B are 10-2 going into round 13. Player A loses against their opponent and ends 10-3. Player B IDs and ends 10-2-1. The bubble was 33 but player B never went for the win to get into cut like player A did. Who should be rewarded more for their tournament?
Player B. They performed better and ended higher in the tournament. Sure, they didn’t gun for winning it all, but they secured a high placement and didn’t risk it all either. Player A took a risk, and lost. We don’t need to reward players just for risking, especially if they don’t even win.
No you cannot play the same people I’m pretty sure
Reward for doing better is doing better … you dont need to pick going first, azul just trying to control any randomness that is built into the game and has always been there
What a bad take. Higher seed getting to pick first/second is great. Also, imagine controlling for randomness when we are trying to determine who the best player is.
@@gildronbloodtide2553 randomness is a part of the game! Might as well perfectly stack the deck at that point. Go play call of duty
If it's best of 1, i think coin flip is the way to go. However, for best of 3, the higher seed should pick.
In nfl, for example, a coin toss is fair. However, in a series like mlb or nba, the higher seed should have the advantage, in the playoffs.
@@gildronbloodtide2553 a tournament is not about finding the best player, its about finding the best playing player at that specific tournament with many types of variables one of which the coin flip is part of the game itself. (who has the better record in sports doesn’t get to control the flip) you have an L take sir.
Yes but in the current format of pokemon your deck has to be able to play both first and second. If your deck cannot play one way or the other than it won’t show up in asymmetric cut because you haven’t put the time Into preparing to play. Top cut should 100% have an advantage because of the preparation they did put in
Bradner is a known cheater & slow player. There’s too much hard evidence out there & several occasions. He could never be considered a top player
True - Azul
Timestamps or im disliking the video
Man yall complain about the structure and it is t even that bad. It’s the same structure yugioh uses. Helps eliminate 🤡 from forcing ties to help pad their chances to get into top. It’s simply more skill based now.
Maybe if you say ON AVERAGE louder you’ll make your argument stronger 🫢