Are Prize Cards A Problem?

[LightJolteon]

I couldn't find a thread about this, so I'll just post;

So I was thinking about the mechanics of the TCG and I feel there are issues with the Prize Card mechanic. Am I the only one bothered by it. It seems unfair that sometimes decks will lose simply because key cards have been prized in the beginning. Could there be an alternative that doesn't harm a deck's consistency, like "prize counters"?
Also, I've heard in the past that a better idea would be for the player who gets their Pokemon knocked out to take a prize card (more like a condolence card in this instance), instead of it being the other way around, to allow for a better chance of a comeback.

What are your guys' thoughts on this?

 

[Stratelier]

Unfortunately, given that Prize Cards are set aside from your deck, there really is no way to guarantee that you won't have That One Match where That One Card your deck revolves around is buried under one of them. At the least, this is why we have cards like Town Map and moves that let you check your prize cards.

Considering Prize Cards are used to keep score of who is ahead/behind in the match, if we want to preserve that role we'd need SOMETHING to keep track of this with -- like how Magic The Gathering often uses dice to keep track of each player's Life. For example, perhaps it could be that instead of six prizes, you place a die (starting at 6) and any time you'd take a Prize card, you instead draw a card from your deck (while decrementing the die by one). Though this -may- cause an occasional issue if Palkia/Dialga Legend comes into play and uses Time Control (add 2 prize cards to your opponent).

 

[PaulTheProtist]

Eh, I don't mind 'em. They make you pick cards strategically, instead of having 50 kinds of Pokémon in a deck. A sudden removal of them would render certain cards useless.

 

[LightJolteon]

Hmm, well that's true I do think it forces players to consider upping their consistency. But I still think it would be better if the player who gets a Pokemon knocked out takes a prize card instead of the opponent. Kind of like a way to help even things.

 

[TeaWest]

Concerning prize cards, I always personally found it annoying how you can play EXs when your opponent has one prize left. I don't know how to fix it, but it just seems unfair to make a player take down another two prize card Pokemon when only one is needed to win the game. EXs are two prize cards because they're more powerfull, after all.