Catcher Nerf and Other Rule Changes Taking Place On November 8th, 2013!

http://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-news/tcg_errata_1013-2013-10-01/

So basically, Catcher was nerfed, you cannot use Juniper and Sycamore in the same deck, the winner of the coin flip now gets to choose whether to go first or second, and now the player who goes first cannot attack on their first turn.

Thoughts?

I kind of like that catcher has been super nerfed. The only decks that will probably consistently use it now is sableye decks. The only problem is that now bench warmers will be a problem and with that said problem, garbodor will be the most popular answer. That means garbodor will be the most annoying thing to deal with ever. Any tool on garbodor will do now with catcher being less used. Escape ropes might be a possibility, but its not that great.

Overall i guess it will allow for more decks to be competitive in the meta. But at the same time it will make some decks more op. Like blastoise will be more scary, and with keldeo and scoop up cyclone. It could be even more dangerous than before.

Something did need to be done about Catcher, though I do have mixed feelings about it. Though it's essentially a reprint of the Base Set card Gust of Wind, that existed in a format where there were no EX's and attacks did considerably less damage on average. Due to Catcher, the metagame shifted to focus more on speed than anything else, and left decks with low HP basics (i.e. Garchomp/Alteria) vulnerable. I'm hoping the shift to X and Y will see more diversified strategies and decks.

Jumiper and Sycamore makes sense if they have the same effect (granted, Juniper will likely get rotated out in replace of Sycamore midway through the X and Y block). It's bascally just Oak who's been around since Base Set.

As for the new first turn rules, I'm also neutral. I can guess this is to balance out the advantages with going first, and prevent one turn wins without the other player having a chance to set up.

With the nerf, Catcher is now to Pokemon Reversal what it used to be to Gust of Wind. I like this change as it makes evolution decks considerably more viable. Garbodor can easily be hit with Tool Scrapper.

The new first turn rules actually remind me very much of Magic's first turn rules. I kinda like that the game went in that direction. Adds some strategy as players figure out how to play it properly.

As much as I love my catchers, I do think they're a bit overpowered. In the long run, the coin flip would be a good thing.

As for the first turn attacks, I'm sorta so-so about that one. Instead of coin flip winners going first, they're just gonna want to go second anyway. I dunno, I just don't think that it's all that great of an idea.

I will more than gladly dump Juni off to the side for Sycamore. I mean really. Look at that face. He's adorable.

Moosen said:

As much as I love my catchers, I do think they're a bit overpowered. In the long run, the coin flip would be a good thing.

As for the first turn attacks, I'm sorta so-so about that one. Instead of coin flip winners going first, they're just gonna want to go second anyway. I dunno, I just don't think that it's all that great of an idea.

I will more than gladly dump Juni off to the side for Sycamore. I mean really. Look at that face. He's adorable.

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He's a cool looking character for a Pokemon character, but I've got to say that I'll miss the ice-cream dollop hair Juniper has in most official artwork of her once her cards are rotated out.