I agree that the cards can be oppressive and they have a tendency to really throw dirt in the wheels of a lot of other strategies in the game, but I am okay with that
For this reason, Pokmon TCG 's metagame usually looks very different from one season to the next
For instance, every time you are attacked by an Arbok, Retreat Lock is applied, keeping you stuck in a loop until it is discarded, does not, or can not attack you.
This included a dubious eBay seller, multiple origin stories, conflicting labels on the box itself, and concerns over Baseball Card Exchange's poor authentication process
And what kinds of small tweaks or adjustments can shift that outcome