Ideal Rules for Pokemon Game Drafts

[Urnighter]

Hello!

Recetly my friends and I have been doing drafts of pokemon games. We get together over a weekend and speedrun a pokemon game in one sitting, going for the shortest time possible. The drafting of the pokemon teams takes place the day before hand over skype.

Our rules for the past 3 runs (D/P, HG/SS, Emerald)

-The lowest in game clock time is the winner

-You may only use one of each pokemon drafted

-Undrafted pokemon may only be part of in game trades

-Cover legendaries are banned

-Draft is in a snake format, starters are free

-You must finish with at least 4 pokemon within 10 levels of the highest (5 Pokemon total)

-You may only catch one pokemon above level 30

I'm making this thread to ask for critique on these rules by members of this forum who have been participated in drafts before.

And that is because, especially after our most recent run of HG/SS, these rules are flawed. Creating competative rules for pokemon games that were by no means intended to be raced is hard. I've actually read every draft thread on this section in search of ways to improve them, but from what I can tell they all have trouble deciding on rules and a win condition.

The first problem is the number of pokemon that should be drafted. Given we play in one sitting, keeping the game as speedy as possible is important. But we also need to require variety in pokemon in order to maximize the signifigance and enjoyment of the drafting itself. Five pokemon makes strategy in the draft important in getting a wide variety of types. We also do not allow for use of undrafted pokemon as HM slaves making the drafting of flying and water types essential. However, there just isn't enough exp in the game to go around for all 5. It did not take long to realize we had to limit the number of pokemon that could be caught on victory road, as most people know the most efficient way to play like that would be to use 2 pokemon in game and catch 3 more very late. Even with allowing one to be caught above level 30 though, it still just takes too long. Our runs usually take 11-13 hours depending on the game, and that is a long time to be playing one game!

The second problem is in stat boosting attacks and items. As we've seen so far, the most efficient way to play by our ruels is to allow your starter and first draft pick to carry you after being powered up by X attacks and calm minds or swords dances while shuffling the EXP share through your back line. That being said, the EXP share also serves as a valueable way to train underleveld pokemon caught mid game so it can't just be banned. The issue is that the majority of the time, while finishing with 5 pokemon, only 2 really put in any work later in the game. take for instance my run of pokemon emerald. Starting Mudkip and catching ralts early, Mudkip stomped the opening 4 gyms. But by the time that was over, my ralts which had been sharing exp came out. It single handedly sweeped the entirety of the 6th, 8th, and most members of the elite 4 with calm mind. Altaria was there too though! It was drafted for more type coverage and fly utility in the second round. But at the end of the day all it really did was sit on the EXP share while gardevoir cleaned up. It wasn't that altaria was useless, but why switch to it when I have gardevoir who can set up and sweep every in game team?

The goal is to make a ruleset that allows for usefulness of multiple pokemon in game while still taking a relatively short amount of time. Not only am I looking for critiques for this ruleset, but also hoping to create a basis for rules of all future runs. Thanks for your time, I'd love to hear your suggestions and thoughts!

[Baldrick]

Make the wincon the average level of your champion team (discounting those >10 levels under your highest level) That should require you to use a full team while keeping the game fast-paced.

Edited July 8, 2014 by Baldrick

[Urnighter]

Make the wincon the average level of your champion team (discounting those >10 levels under your highest level) That should require you to use a full team while keeping the game fast-paced.

Sadly I don't think that really adresses the issue of stomping with 2 pokemon. I'm still merely going to stick the exp share on pokemon that fall off once one becomes a monster. Not to mention that we already require a team of 5 within 10 levels. Wouldn't that also just promote grinding?

Unless you mean the wincon is the lowest average level of your final team. Still, would the most efficient way still not be to finish the game with 2 level 50s and 2 level 40s?

[Ema Skye]

One strategy for drafting that I did in one of my Pokemon drafts was draftable starters. It works best with a group that is a multiple of three, and people can share starters if the group is four or more. The first round is spent drafting the starters so that, theoretically, the people with the worst starter (ex in RSE: Treecko) get the best of the supporters (RSE example: Ralts, Abra, Taillow).

In terms of win conditions, the big problem is stopping Solos. Lowest average level is definitely a start. I would also say that it should also include a level range for the Pokemon to be at the end point (as in, the lowest and highest levelled Pokemon in your party cannot be more than X levels apart or you will take a penalty).

[Urnighter]

One strategy for drafting that I did in one of my Pokemon drafts was draftable starters. It works best with a group that is a multiple of three, and people can share starters if the group is four or more. The first round is spent drafting the starters so that, theoretically, the people with the worst starter (ex in RSE: Treecko) get the best of the supporters (RSE example: Ralts, Abra, Taillow).

In terms of win conditions, the big problem is stopping Solos. Lowest average level is definitely a start. I would also say that it should also include a level range for the Pokemon to be at the end point (as in, the lowest and highest levelled Pokemon in your party cannot be more than X levels apart or you will take a penalty).

The starter draft is cool, I might put that in.

We already have a rule that says the final team must all be within 10 levels of each other.

I don't really understand lowest average level though. Wouldn't that make the game go really long? We would simply have 6 pokemon all caught early and grind them. It would take grinding to get a 6 pokemon team to level 40, and there is no con to spending tons of time trying to catch a pokemon with an ideal nature or searching every area for every item.

[Baldrick]

You could either impose a hard time limit (if you have more than X hours of play or aren't finished by the end of the weekend, you can't win) or make the wincon something like Average Level + Hours on the clock. (adjust the weighting to your preference).

[Urnighter]

You could either impose a hard time limit (if you have more than X hours of play or aren't finished by the end of the weekend, you can't win) or make the wincon something like Average Level + Hours on the clock. (adjust the weighting to your preference).

Ok, now that's an idea. If we were to impose say a 13 hour cap on the game while also taking lowest average level it would ensure the game be brief while also theoretically discouraging carries. Problems however include that people might be easily discouraged if it does not look like they will make the time limit. I feel like it also might be less exciting, the race aspect and intensity adds a lot of enjoyment to the playthrough.

I also had another idea I wanted thoughts on. What if we ended the game after the 8th gym? This would not only make the game play faster, but also discourage carries. The 1 pokemon stomps are really causing the problem in the elite four where being able to sweep multiple teams is almost required. But if we called after the 8th gym, not only would late game legendaries be nerfed, but so would pokemon that excel at carrying your other pokemon who fell off.