>>24974024No no, you're misunderstanding.
The lack of formats does play into it, but the real issue is that Pokemon's bad cards are just bad.
I mean, compare that Gorebyss to this Glaceon from an OLDER set. Does the same amount of damage for half the energies and even has a second attack on top of that, not to mention to versatility it gets from evolving from Eevee. And this is just a good example; there are dozens of other Standard water Pokemon that have a two-energy, 30 damage paralyze attack on top of a second more, or more HP, or no retreat cost, or maybe they're NFE. There's NO REASON to ever, ever run that Gorebyss because it doesn't fill any niche will simultaneously being numerically and mechanically inferior to both older and newer cards.
And the thing is, all these Pokemon that directly compare to Gorebyss are SHIT. Have you ever even seen a Cloyster deck? Or Marshtomp, Kingler, or Clawitzer deck? I don't even need to specify the set because Pokemon's card design is so unanimously garbage that you can count the playable cards on one hand.
And that's the difference between Pokemon and other card games. In MtG, a shit card or mechanic can still be PLAYED. It won't be amazing and it won't be winning Worlds or whatever, but if you're at locals and you whip out some gimmick, you can still compete and have fun. Meanwhile, Pokemon's hierarchy completely invalidates these poorly-designed options. If you bring Gorebyss to locals, you will lose EVERY round PERIOD.
