Side to Side — Inner Game and Outer Game!

Hey PokeBeach readers! I’d like to promptly set the tone of this article with a simple question: was there ever a time in a Pokemon TCG battle where you felt inferior to your opponent? Likewise, was there ever a moment where you felt that you had the upper hand on your opponent?

I’m sure many players have experienced one, if not both of these scenarios, and their adverse effects on the in-game strategies we attempt to execute. Some of these stories may be off in the past, and this introduction is making you blow the cobwebs off of those distant memories; for some, however, these recollections may have been from as recent as your last tournament. For myself, this story occurred at Madison Regionals. Allow me to set the scene for you: I was playing in the final round of the Regional Championships, and my record was 6-0-2. There was quite a bit at stake besides just winning a game, including a deeper seed within the Top 32, which would in turn reward me with further prizing provided that my second day performance paralleled the first day’s. Upon looking at the pairings, I realize I’m paired up against none other than PokeBeach’s very own Jimmy Pendarvis — a friend of mine in this game, and also a rival. Jimmy and I love to baffle back and forth about who is the better player, and I was 0-1 versus him in tournament games, so I had something to prove here. This match wasn’t going to go as planned however, and it went downhill quite quickly. Readers, if you haven’t guessed it yet, today we’re going to be talking all about “tilt,” otherwise known as gaining advantages via intimidation; defending yourself against tilt will also be our secondary topic.

A Brief Introduction

Allow me to briefly introduce myself! I’m 20 years old, currently residing in Toronto, Ontario. I started playing 13 years ago, dating all the way back to seven-year-old Jay eating his brother Zach’s cherished Suicune card. The following year, I revoked the edible, and began to strive for consistent finishes. In 2010, I was able to win one of every single tournament, including a Battle Road (an olden League Challenge), a City Championship, a State Championship, a Regional Championships, a National Championships, and lastly the World Championships. The following year I made Top 8 at Worlds 2011, and proceeded to go into Masters very cocky — I was in for a rude awakening. I stumbled in 2013, and came just shy of my World Championship invite in 2014 by a few Championship Points; the next year, I came back with a vengeance, earning my Worlds invitation after multiple Top 8’s at large events. In 2016, I was able to strive deep enough to finish within the Top 16 in North America, earning me a stipend to the World Championships in San Francisco (which I also finished Top 16 at). All of these events aided me in sculpting the player I am today, and also contributed to my ability to “tilt” people.

So, I bet you’re absolutely dying to hear about the rest of the match I had with Jimmy, but that will have to wait until later on in the article! Essentially, what you need to know for now is that there is an “inner game” (what happens physically with the cards) and an “outer game” (what happens within players minds). In order to succeed at Pokemon, you must be successful within both, and tilt is just one of the few aspects of the outer game that isn’t openly discussed. Let’s talk about some of the tangibles of both of the following, and see how they contribute to our in-game success!

Inner Game

As I previously mentioned, inner game is referring to the things you do during the match that can affect the outcome both positively and negatively; there are various sets of skills associated within the inner game, and we can lament on this and hone them until we’re Pokemon superstars. Below are examples of skills that most players must be confident in learning in order to perform at an above average level:

• Speed (the speed of play we choose to play at)
• Micro-decisions (small decisions that allow us to gain leverage)
• Probability (calculating odds in-game)
• Creativity (being able to discover unique solutions)
• Strategic Planning (the ability to develop a plan and execute it)

All of these skills are something that we all use on a daily basis within each match, and they all intertwine in order to give us a solid win versus our opponent. Without one or the other, we’d be a weaker player immediately, so it’s absolutely vital that we take advantage of our inner game in order to gain a competitive edge over our opponent.

Strategic Planning

My personal strength would be strategic planning, as I feel that I’m able to develop a game plan, see it through, and then finally execute it against my opponent. This may come off as one of the easier skills in Pokemon, but it’s difficult sometimes to overview your opportunities against certain decks when your window of opportunity is so narrow.

For example, I remember in Oceania, at their Internationals I was playing against [card name=”Decidueye-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”12″ c=”name”][/card]  / [card name=”Vileplume” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”3″ c=”name”][/card] while I was piloting [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”74″ c=”name”][/card]. In the middle of the game, he had multiple Decidueye in play, a [card name=”Lugia-EX” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”68″ c=”name”][/card] in the Active spot, and a Vileplume on the Bench. Although I was extremely overwhelmed with board targets, I know the most vital part of that matchup is to KO the Vileplume in order to repetitively use [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card] for [card name=”Hex Maniac” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”75″ c=”name”][/card]; I kept digging for [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] in my deck, and eventually was able to OHKO the Vileplume with Dark Pulse, all-the-while replacing the Stadium card with one of my own in order to assure a Vileplume would not return the following turn. I could have went for the Decidueye-GX, but realized that in the long run KOing Vileplume was the stronger play. I was surprisingly able to win that game in a very close series, mostly due to the fact that I stuck by my plan since turn one!

Micro-Decisions

Just as strategic planning seems the easiest, without a doubt I feel like micro-decisions are the hardest to master. An example of a fantastic player who prides on this would be Aaron Tarbell, somebody who attributes most of their success towards knowing how to play their cards right. Micro-decisions are very minuscule decisions that stack up towards the end of the day, and by the last few turns of the game make up the bulk of your decisions. To give you a better idea of what micro-decisions are, have you ever played a [card name=”Colress” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”118″ c=”name”][/card] for 16 cards and had an insanely massive hand?

As top tier players, you and I both know it’s important to plan our hand out in a way where we maximize it’s potential. You might have a hand with a [card name=”Max Elixir” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”102″ c=”name”][/card], and a [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card] — which one do you play first? The answer to this truly depends on what your goal is that turn; are you trying to get an extra Energy into play? Or are you dead drawing, and desperately need a draw card off of the Trainers’ Mail? If you need the extra Energy card, the correct micro-decision is to play the Trainers’ Mail first in order to potentially remove a Trainer card from your deck, and boost your probability of finding the Energy with Max Elixir. Likewise, if you needed a draw-card off of the Trainers’ Mail, you’d want to play the Max Elixir first in order to remove an Energy card from the deck, and boost your probability of finding a Supporter card off of the Trainers’ Mail. Simple, right? It’s small decisions like this that influence whether or not we can stay in contention for a victory sometimes.

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Creativity

[cardimg name=”Klinklang” set=”Black and White” no=”76″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Creativity is something that I thoroughly enjoy as a player, and associate a trait like this mostly with players like Jason Klaczynski. Jason is a player who has earned his stripes throughout the year, and understands what it takes to win a game of Pokemon. When I say creativity, I’m referring to stemming off of a typical win, and veering off to find a new strategy in order to win. For example, I remember Jason was in the finals of the World Championships against the famous Simon Narode piloting Plasma, and Jason had absolutely no business winning that match! The series was 1-1 for each player, and it was down to the last few Prize cards for each player. Who would emerge victorious? Well, to be honest, things were looking extremely grim for our now three-time World Champion. He had fallen behind due to Simon’s sheer speed, and had only drawn two Prize cards the whole game, but he knew his only out — he had to play a [card name=”Pokémon Catcher” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”126″ c=”name”][/card], and then find a [card name=”Hypnotoxic Laser” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”123″ c=”name”][/card] in the same turn in order to use [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card]’s Night Spear for a four-Prize KO. Luckily, he was able to find it, and in turn won his third World Championships. This is an excellent example of creativity in today’s game, and shows how with a little bit of genius, any game is winnable!

Probability

Lastly, we have one more inner game skill to talk about, probability. Probability is something that surrounds us in each game, and although some players blindly go into a match without calculating even the most basic maths, they still hit the card they need time and time again. So how do we get good at probability? Endless amounts of practicing, estimating, and assumption. I’m no Christopher Schemanske when it comes to mathematics, but I know my way around a calculator. The most important thing when it comes to probability is that you must have a basic understanding of math, and you have to be able to think of “rough” numbers on the fly when inputting specific cards into set equations. A very popular scenario is playing a [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”][/card] at the end of the game to find a [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card] — what are your odds of drawing an “out” to Lysandre? Let’s take a peek, shall we? Let’s say your deck has 10 cards in it, to make it a nice, even number. The following 10 cards are in your deck:

• [card name=”Vikavolt” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”52″ c=”name”][/card]
• [card name=”Lightning Energy” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”109″ c=”name”][/card]
• [card name=”Pikachu-EX” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY84″ c=”name”][/card]
• [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”110″ c=”name”][/card]
• [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card]
• [card name=”Water Energy” set=”EX Ruby and Sapphire” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card]
• [card name=”Wally” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”94″ c=”name”][/card]
• [card name=”Professor Sycamore” set=”BREAKpoint” no=”107″ c=”name”][/card]
• [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”78″ c=”name”][/card]
• [card name=”Crushing Hammer” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”92″ c=”name”][/card]

Within these 10 cards, two cards will give you an immediate win against your opponent: Lysandre, and VS Seeker (assuming Lysandre is in your discard to retrieve back with VS Seeker). The Trainer’ Mail will also give you a chance to draw either of those two outs, so we have three cards in a deck of ten that are “win-conditions”. That translates to a 30% chance, or 3/10, if we were to draw a single card in a ten card deck. If we play a Shaymin-EX, and draw three cards with its Set Up ability, we will roughly have a 33% chance of drawing that card (the stats on this are a tad off, but now you have a rough idea of what I mean). Now, the tricky part is figuring this out within seconds before time gets called, and that factors into a skill we know as speed!

Speed

[cardimg name=”M Rayquaza-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”105″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

As an inner game skill, speed represents our ability to control our pace of play to either avoid a tie, or crucially manipulate the tempo of the game in order to edge the game to time. This is a very legal “grey area” in terms of Pokemon, so be careful not to abuse it. In the rulebook, you’re allotted 15 seconds of play per decision made, however this can not be consistent and a “brisk pace of play is enforced by judges’ opinions”. You’ll understand the pace of play the more you practice this skill, however it is important to know when to force a tie, or when to play quicker. My best advice is to play slightly slower when you are either going to lose the game in the foreseeable future, or if the matchup is terrible. I would advise you to play quicker when it is a good matchup for you, or if you realize your opponent is playing slow against you. I could write a whole article on this skill, but this’ll give you a brief rundown of how to properly hone this advanced tactic.

“But Jay, I thought you were going to tell us a story about how your match went with Jimmy. How does inner game pertain to anything we were just talking about?”

Well, PokeBeach reader, it does and it doesn’t. Most people wouldn’t normally draw the link between inner game what happened in my match, but the important takeaway from the above 2,000 words is that when you combine all of these skills into one, you become one absolutely terrifying player! To make matters worse, when you have a rivalry with somebody, or even just play against an intimidating opponent, your inner game must remain stable in order to heighten your chances of winning. But against the top tier players, your inner game can sometimes fall apart from what it normally is because you get performance anxiety — something that we can’t foresee, but we can control. Needless to say, when your body enters a state of panic, we must remain focused on the goal; as silly as it is to say, in Pokemon, our goal is winning, and we must do everything in order to prepare for adverse circumstances. Our outer game skill-set will aid us in these dire scenarios!

Outer Game

The outer game is the pinnacle of my message with this article — if there’s a single thing you take away from this writing piece today, it’s this: never, ever, under any circumstance, underestimate your inability to play a card! You might have the entire game in the pocket of your hand, but if you don’t have the mental stamina to piece together your strategy, it doesn’t matter how great your micro-decisions are. It won’t matter how fast you played to get to that point, or how creative your win-condition was. In the end, it matters who circled the “WIN” bubble on the match slip, and who gets to go into the next bout of top cut. Having a mental state where you’re able to play comfortably in is essential to winning any match, regardless of the matchup; sneakily gaining a mental edge over the opponent is something that we can leverage ourselves with. Let’s take a peek at some of the skills we’ll be examining today in relation to the outer game:

• Deck building
• Public Relations
• Aura
• Style
• Speed

These are the sets of skills that will give you the edge against your opponent. This edge is unbelievably important — here’s some food for thought. Imagine if every single player in the world played the exact same, made identical decisions, had precisely the same deck lists, and statistically knew the best plays. Who would emerge victorious? It would always be the player who got luckier, and who won the coin flip more consistently. Outer game gives us the opportunity to explore options that are vague to our opponents — they never see it coming. Our projections of ourselves as players have a major role, along with our online personalities. As players, we don’t have many resources past physical cards, so it’s vital that we use every tool at our disposal.

Deck Building

Deck building is a very controversial skill that most players attribute to quite a hefty amount of success. I firmly stand by deck building being undervalued, because most players overlook it as being the reason for somebody’s victory.

An example of a fantastic deck builder would be somebody like Ross Cawthon, who piloted the very rogue The Truth deck at the 2011 World Championships. Unlike most players in the game, Ross took the time to piece together an invincible deck that would take the whole tournament by storm, only to be stopped by David Cohen’s MagneBoar in the finals. This genius deck gave Ross the edge that day — not only did he manage to intimidate his opponents inside the game, but he also managed to shake up the frenzy outside of the game. Many people were extremely worried to play against him, and were overshadowed by Ross’s ability to “tilt” them in their matches — yes, finally, we can discuss tilt more in depth! The reason why these players were tilted?

The tilt in these players is crafted by their inability to be comfortable. In other words, they become very anxious and their thought process gets cloudy in situations that they are not used to or didn’t plan for.

In Ross’ opponent’s case, since they were unable to properly practice the matchup, they automatically become confused as to what his deck does, what their matchup is against it, and are forced to immediately develop a strategy on the fly. This can cause an opponent to immediately misplay, or convey a strategy that isn’t efficient enough to carry out a victory. Likewise, Ross also gained an immediate advantage by being able to practice and prepare for every applicable matchup at the tournament. He even gains extra brownie points for splashing in a copy of [card name=”Tropical Beach” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW28″ c=”name”][/card], the brand new Promo that was released at that time! His deck building skills alone were enough to coast him through that entire tournament, as demonstrated by his very specific counter-techs, such as [card name=”Suicune and Entei LEGEND” set=”Unleashed” no=”95″ c=”name”][/card], or his 1-1 line of [card name=”Blissey” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver” no=”106″ c=”name”][/card].

A modern day example of this would be how several players adapted to beat [card name=”Vespiquen” set=”Ancient Origins” no=”10″ c=”name”][/card] with their decks, and in-turn decided to play copies of [card name=”Karen” set=”XY Black Star Promos” no=”XY177″ c=”name”][/card] and [card name=”Oricorio” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”56″ c=”name”][/card] going into the event. This frightened many players, and tilted players going into specific matchups. The tilt factor became even more relevant when it was unknown to the Vespiquen players whether or not their opponent was playing a counter.

Public Relations

[cardimg name=”Gumshoos-GX” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”145″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

Your reputation in the game can heavily affect your perception in the community, and when it comes to tilt any sort of publicity is relevant. There are god-tier players, such as Michael Pramawat, who are immediately feared the moment you are paired against them! Likewise, there are negative sources of publicity that also affect how you are perceived, and can also provide your opponent with episodes of tilt throughout the game.

For example, some players have been plagued with a reputation for cheating — whether confirmed or unconfirmed, this gives them an advantage and disadvantage in game that is worth mentioning. For the player playing against them, it’s terrifying playing against somebody thinking they may potentially bend the rules in an attempt to pull one out from under you. You gain this state of tilt because you feel uncomfortable at the thought of somebody gaining an advantage versus you. It’s important to keep calm in this scenario, and just pay extra attention to hand movements as well as board states — the last thing you need is a sad story due to somebody cheating you out of a win. For the person on the other side of the table, they probably feel a state of tilt in every game they play as well, because whether the cheating rumour against them is confirmed or not, they have to play in constant surveillance. That’s quite the amount of pressure to be put on somebody! Especially if they are simply framed for something they didn’t actually do. All sorts of publicity evidently cause upsets and nervousness in the community, and this is just an extreme example of one that could potentially occur.

Aura

Aura refers to the vibe that you give off before, during, or after the game. By being able to give off a positive aura, you give your opponent a more relaxed state throughout the entirety of the game. However, by giving off a competitive aura, you spark a more competitive nature going into the game, and show your opponent how you aren’t messing around. Personally, this is one I need to work on — I typically give off a very relaxing vibe, when I should be more competitive towards my opponent. Regardless, it’s evident who in this game are driven towards victory more so than others, however it is possible to have a positive nature and equally intimidate. The bottom line for this skill specifically is that you have to realize you are what you give off to other people — if you want to be regarded as friendly, you can put off that personality to the public. It’s imperative that you separate your in-game persona with your out-of-game persona. Most people tend to mix up the two, when they’re truly two different people, however sportsmanship is closely linked to this so you must be careful. If you decide to ruleshark somebody, it will most likely put them on tilt the rest of the game due to having to be alert, but on the contrary, I actually like to pretend I’m playing “relaxed” in order to draw that from my opponent. I feel that when I portray a more casual game, my opponent is more likely to misplay by underestimating my ability to beat them. No matter what the aura is at your table, remember to always be alert! I’ll give you a story.

At Nationals 2014, I was playing against none other than everybody’s favourite Pokedad, Robert Davies. Rob and I have been friends since forever ago, but when we play he always portrays a silly parent who is unsure if they’re making the right plays, and when you least expect it he will pull off unbelievable plays. I underestimated Rob to the point where I was so confident in the game, that I began to make misplays tripping over myself. Rob realized all of the confidence was going to my head, and capitalized on this by making a late game comeback after I took a very early lead. I came to the conclusion that Rob has one of the strongest auras in the game I’ve played against, and that I aspire to be more like him. Still a gentleman, but a madman when it comes to mental games!

Style

[cardimg name=”Zorua” set=”BREAKthrough” no=”90″ align=”right” c=”none”][/cardimg]

You’ll come to realize there are all sorts of different players in the game who have different “styles” of play — one example of this type of player is Phinnegan Lynch! Phinn plays slightly different than most, and almost creates an aesthetic that is intimidating to most people. The way he articulates his cards portrays a stunning amount of confidence in his play, so much so that most opponents are actually stunned to a higher degree. Similar to how you see people’s fashion on the streets, players try to carry a similar composure in how they play. For example, I tend to shuffle very quickly in order to show my opponent that I have spent countless hours shuffling flawlessly. Adversely, if you stumble while shuffling, it will counter all the work you’ve done so far to spook your opponent, so keep handling with pride! Focus on how sly you look, and your opponent will tend to gaze at your style as if it is better than their own. This is when you will gain a tilt on your opponent — when they realize that you’ve put more time into this game than they ever could dream of.

A high-profile of an intimidating style of play would be everybody on the eastern side of the globe — most Japanese players are viewed as highly intimidating, and not just because of the language barrier. The way they hold their cards, coupled by their “Asian” shuffling patterns (a consistent, speed, overhand cut) manages to tilt opponents into a down-spiraling nightmare! As a player, focus more on their plays, and if you manage to notice a misplay, calmly analyze it and realize that not all players are perfect, and that everybody makes misplays! After all, we’re all just human, and every human has an element of error. No matter how “perfect” somebody’s style makes them seem, they most definitely are not, and you have a chance of winning a game of Pokemon at any given point.

Speed

Yes, speed is both an inner and outer game skill to master. To add the final notch to your belt, speed can really put the rustle in your opponent’s heartstrings! Players throughout the years have become ridiculously speedy, including the likes of the legendary Henry Prior among veteran players such as Daniel Altavilla. Most people when playing against them are put on tilt because of how fast they’re playing — not only is it overwhelming to watch somebody play as fast as Usain Bolt can run, but it also symbolizes that they’ve had immense practice with their deck. Opponents playing fast also means that you must have immense focus to follow along with what they’re doing. As Lightning McQueen would say, KA-CHOW!

The best way we can avidly monitor our opponent is to rise to their speed — attempt to practice shuffling in real life, because it will allow you more time to make in game decisions. Eventually, by riddling through trial and error plays, you will be able to find out what works the best, and think about it less. Essentially, you can condition your body into an auto-pilot type process where you’ll eventually become a Poke-zombie! This way, next time your opponent is rifling through their deck at quick paces, you’ll be able to parallel their speed. Remember, when they play too fast and accidentally make a misplay, there’s no take-backs!

Conclusion

In the end, Jimmy ended up beating me to a pulp. I essentially allowed for my mind to run wild, and I lost the game due to being unable to keep my composure. Jimmy capitalized on this by playing swiftly, and not overextending to gain an advantageous board state. I ended up playing an [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Sun and Moon” no=”135″ c=”name”][/card] on one turn to grab a [card name=”Garbodor” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”51″ c=”name”][/card] instead of a much needed [card name=”Tapu Lele-GX” set=”Guardians Rising” no=”60″ c=”name”][/card], which much to my dismay costed me a loss immediately. Jimmy was a great sport about it, but he is an example of a player who has a great outer game; throughout my many years of playing the game, his skills were some of the strongest. To combat this tilt, I need to remember that top tier players can make mistakes too — in Jimmy’s case, even though he was a rival player who was also in the Top 16, it didn’t mean I couldn’t beat him. Until next time, Jimmy!

Overall, there is an endless amount of inner and outer skills that we could’ve talked about, but these are the main ones that I wanted to cover. Some are more important than others, as you’ll find out, and some will complement your strengths to a higher degree than other players. It’s highly dependent on how you use these skills, and who knows — you may even discover something new that I haven’t even talked about! I do it all the time; for example, I was chatting with my friend Rahul Reddy, and he told me this fascinating thing he does with his [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Primal Clash” no=”122″ c=”name”][/card]. Instead of waiting to look and evaluate his options, he’ll make a split second decision when picking his cards in order to make sure his opponent has no read on his cards. Similarly, Ryan Sabelhaus will also do the same thing with his [card name=”N” set=”Fates Collide” no=”105″ c=”name”][/card]s. Once his opponent plays N, Ryan will keep his cards face down on the table until it is his turn in order to not give anything away to his opponents. Sometimes, you can do a little more with the cards you are dealt than you think! Pokemon isn’t ever a guaranteed win, but when you combine all of these small advantages together, we can make it pretty close! Thanks for reading my article today; if you have any questions, message me on Facebook or hit me up in the comments. Have an amazing day folks, and don’t forget: get lucky and run hot!

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