Want to play TCG again after 14 years - help?

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zblue24

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I drift in and out of the Pokemon video games all the time, ever since Red/Blue. I've never played the TCG since it first came out. I had the first starter deck that came out (had a Machamp in it) and collected the first wave of Fossil and Jungle boosters. That was when I was like 9 or 10.

So I went to McDonalds a few days ago with my infant nephew who got a Happy Meal, and the toy was a Pokemon card! Ok not a very good card, shiny though, and it came with a unenjoyable-looking plastic pokeball disc thing. Instead of letting it get slobbered over and chewed by my nephew I pocketed it and was instantly back into Pokemon again! I've been wanting to get back into the video game again after I stopped playing in February, and think I will when the GEN3 remakes come out. And I also want to dabble in the TCG and see how that goes.

Today I went and bought 2 Flashfire and 3 Furyfist boosters. I barely remember the TCG since 14 years ago is hazy. So I don't have a clue what my new cards do and what the rarity tiers are, etc. I have no idea how to build a deck and what I should go for, but I could find a guide online. I got a few Fighting Pokemon so I was thinking of making a fighting-themed deck. Do people still make type-themed decks nowadays or is that real amateur? As I collect more boosters I will get more cards of my favourite Pokemon, so maybe I could just compose a deck based around my favourites, which won't be very good strategically but I'm just starting out so it doesn't have to be perfect.

  • To build my collection, should I buy a starter or theme deck? Is it better to buy multiple decks?
  • Is it still ok to buy cards from older expansions, like Black/White and Gen 4, or are they going to be outdated soon?
  • I got 2 Caterpies in a single booster and 1 was shiny. Then I got a Butterfree of common rarity (non shiny). How does that work? 0.0

Thanks!
 
1 - Theme decks are a good way to get started, as it gives you a usable deck (the card list is on the back) you can experiment with. Without them you probably won't have enough Basic Energy to power a deck (finding a Basic Energy in a booster pack is actually a rare occurence).

2 - The current Standard Format only allows sets from Black & White - Boundaries Crossed and onwards (including older cards reissued in these sets). This means basically anything you can still pick up a physical copy of at the average general retailer (dedicated TCG/hobby shops may still have older sets).

3 - I believe the distribution in booster packs is something along the lines of at least 1 Rare (star) card and 1 foil (shiny) card per pack. Not all Rare cards are foil (though many are all the same). If you fan the booster pack out you may notice that the foil finish is very slightly noticeable just from the yellow border alone (compared to nonfoil cards). (It's also a good way to locate EX, full-art, Ace Spec, or Team Plasma cards as those cards have non-yellow borders.)

4 - Building a deck around your favorite Pokemon is a totally valid strategy. I picked up the Frost Ray deck mostly because of Jolteon and Noctowl, but they also do play well in the right situations (Jolteon is an EX killer, Noctowl does damage proportional to the # cards in your opponent's hand, both for 2 Energy).

Card types to be aware of:
- Item vs. Stadium vs. Supporter vs. Tool. As stated on the card, you can use as many Items as you wish during your turn but you can only use one Supporter per turn (Supporters are basically more powerful versions of Item cards). Stadiums remain on the table (i.e. in effect) until/unless another card is played to override it. Tools are the "held items" of the TCG, you attach one to a Pokemon and it remains there until further notice, affecting that Pokemon specifically. Oh, and there's a rare type of Item card called Ace Spec -- you can only have up to one of any Ace Spec card in your deck total, but it's otherwise just like any other item or tool.
- Pokemon-EX: These are more-powerful versions of Pokemon cards (typically fully-evolved Pokemon and legendaries) and can enter play immediately without having to spend turns evolving from their Basic form. Pokemon EX are considered different Pokemon from their regular versions (so the 4-card limit is not shared between the EX and regular versions; you can have up to 4 of each). As stated on the card, there's a tradeoff: When an EX is defeated, the victor takes 2 Prize Cards instead of 1. Mega Evolutions are also EX cards (they evolve from the basic EX form).

A good way to dive back in to the TCG is to try the TCGO (pokemon.com/tcgo), a computerized version of the TCG. It starts you off with a selection of basic starter theme decks and you can play against computer opponents as well as other live players. And basically anything you pick up a physical copy of (booster pack, theme deck, etc.) includes a code card you can redeem for its digital counterpart, so if you have trouble finding somebody to play the physical TCG with you can simply play it digitally.
 
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Thanks! :)

  • If I get BW cards from Boundaries Crossed onwards, how long before they become obsolete do you reckon? How often is the game revised like that?
  • About before, I was wondering why Caterpie gets holo status over Butterfree, which is the final evo and is more powerful.
  • Should I get the Pangoro theme deck if I want to focus on a Fighting type deck?
  • My favourite Pokemon include Dodrio, Simisear and Zebstrika. So would I create a Fire/Electric type deck with these 3 Pokemon being the main force?
 
1. The BW cards won`t become expired for about 2 or 3 years. Or probally until, The Pokemon Company releases a new game mechanic to the card game. The last game mechanic they added was Mega Evolution, and probably around November/ December, they`ll likely release Primal Reversion. These new game mechanics still allow you play cards from the Neo Genesis era. In fact, you can still play some of the original cards, however it`s highly recommended if you are updated with the new cards; The original Caterpie vs. the BW Caterpie, BW is going to win, hands down.
2. The Butterfree card can`t be holo status just because you evolved it from a holo Caterpie. The holo Butterfree card itself has to be a holo status if you want a holo Butterfree.
3. I recommend choosing the Pangoro deck, which is Darkness/ Fightning, because Fighting`s weakness is Psychic. Darkness helps Fightning by defending it from Psychic types. Darkness` weakness is Fighting, but you already have Fighting types to help you defend Darkness.
4. Yes, Dodrio is a Colorless type, and all theme decks have Colorless types, so yeah, the main Pokemon seem appropriate.
 
zblue24 said:
My favourite Pokemon include Dodrio, Simisear and Zebstrika. So would I create a Fire/Electric type deck with these 3 Pokemon being the main force?
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Sure you can. Oh, look for the XY Dodrio especially; its Rage attack deals 20 damage + whatever damage Dodrio itself has taken; if you combine this with a Giant Cape (+20HP) and Aspertia Gym (+20HP to Colorless Pokemon) then a Dodrio on its last 10 HP can deal over 100 damage for just one Energy. And since Dodrio is a bird Pokemon it is resistant to Fighting-type cards (instead of vulnerable, as most Colorless cards are). Just keep it away from Electrics....
 
Training Centre might be worth it too--most people seem to use basic Pokemon so if you're planning to evolve yourself, +30 HP is great.
 
Thanks for the suggestions :)

Ok, I'll try and rephrase that shiny question again.
So I got a common Caterpie, and a shiny one (ultra rare I guess as the whole card is holo).
Then there's Butterfree from the same expansion. Butterfree is a Stage 2 evo with some good moves. But it only comes in common.
Since Butterfree, like Beedrill or Vivillon (got both in some boosters today), is clearly much better than a Caterpie, why does Caterpie get all the shiny love? Is this common in the Pokemon TCG?

I bought the Pangoro theme deck today as well as a couple of XY boosters. I've been playing the deck online in the Trainer Challenge and its going well. I wanted to try it against other people online, but whenever I get connected to a match and toss the coin it says they are inactive and have timed out, so I get victory. This has happened 6 times, all with different players. My internet connection is good. Not sure why this is happening.
 
zblue24 said:
Thanks for the suggestions :)

Ok, I'll try and rephrase that shiny question again.
So I got a common Caterpie, and a shiny one (ultra rare I guess as the whole card is holo).
Then there's Butterfree from the same expansion. Butterfree is a Stage 2 evo with some good moves. But it only comes in common.
Since Butterfree, like Beedrill or Vivillon (got both in some boosters today), is clearly much better than a Caterpie, why does Caterpie get all the shiny love? Is this common in the Pokemon TCG?

I bought the Pangoro theme deck today as well as a couple of XY boosters. I've been playing the deck online in the Trainer Challenge and its going well. I wanted to try it against other people online, but whenever I get connected to a match and toss the coin it says they are inactive and have timed out, so I get victory. This has happened 6 times, all with different players. My internet connection is good. Not sure why this is happening.
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One card in every pack is shiny. Its rarity doesn't matter, as long as its shiny on the text and not the image. Only a few cards in each expansion are shinh on the image, and those are usually a lot rarer. I hope this helps to clarify.
 
zblue24 said:
(ultra rare I guess as the whole card is holo).
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Actually that sounds like a standard foil card; the Pokemon art is not shiny but the rest of the card is (and it's not just flat sheen anymore but with the Pokemon's type icon as a tiled background pattern). Real holo cards have a holographic background behind the Pokemon art but the rest of the card typically isn't (exception for 'reverse holographic' such as with secret rares, Ace Spec and full-art cards which are typically shiny/holo all around).

Then there's Butterfree from the same expansion. Butterfree is a Stage 2 evo with some good moves. But it only comes in common.
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The Flashfire set Caterpie line has the ability to evolve on its first turn, so if you can get all three in your hand you can go straight to Butterfree before your opponent can even react to it.

Vivillon said:
One card in every pack is shiny. Its rarity doesn't matter, as long as its shiny on the text and not the image.
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Phrased another way, you're more likely to get foil Commons than foil Rares simply because there are more Commons out there to begin with.
 
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Ah ok, I get it now.

Well its been a week and I'm really into the game. I've made my own deck strategy that wins 4/5 times on ranked online TCG and now all I have to do is find some people who play and test it out for real. I have enough cards to make 3-4 more basic decks (yep I've been spending). But I still need a few bits and pieces if I want to complete them.

Some questions:

*Strong Energy (a special energy for Fighting Pokemon that gives 20 more damage): is there a maximum for this allowable in a deck? I assume you can only have 4 per deck, so...
*Double Colorless Energy: I know the limit for this in a deck is 4. Does this stack with Strong Energy above, or are they each allowed to have 4 of each?
*Ace Spec Cards: these are all from BW expansions. Is it worth buying them or would it be better to wait till they come out in XY sets?
 
To answer your questions, there are two kinds of Energy cards: Basic Energy, of which you can have as many as you like in your deck, and Special Energy, of which you're allowed up to four of each in your deck. Strong Energy and Double Colorless Energy fall into the latter category. And for emphasis, yes, you can have four of each.

As for ACE SPECs, they aren't likely to be printed in the XY sets, but I'd say it's worth getting a few of them for right now, as they are very powerful cards that can be welcome additions to your deck (they're so powerful, you can only have one of any ACE SPEC in a deck). The one I'd look into first is Computer Search.
 
SharKing said:
To answer your questions, there are two kinds of Energy cards: Basic Energy, of which you can have as many as you like in your deck, and Special Energy, of which you're allowed up to four of each in your deck. Strong Energy and Double Colorless Energy fall into the latter category. And for emphasis, yes, you can have four of each.

As for ACE SPECs, they aren't likely to be printed in the XY sets, but I'd say it's worth getting a few of them for right now, as they are very powerful cards that can be welcome additions to your deck (they're so powerful, you can only have one of any ACE SPEC in a deck). The one I'd look into first is Computer Search.
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Okay great. I bought a couple of ACE SPECs off eBay.
Now my last question is to do with that Strong Energy card. Say if I attach more than 1 of these to my Pokemon, does the effect stack or does it remain at only +20 attack? At the moment I'm assuming it stacks since it doesn't say otherwise on the card. But that seems unlikely, since you could get +80 attack which is more than what tool cards allow for.
 
Beleive it or not, it actually does stack. You don't typically want to stack all your Strong Energy on one Pokémon (if it gets KO'd, you have no Strong Energy left for that game), but putting two on for an extra 40 damage is certainly ridiculous on its own. XD
 
SharKing said:
Beleive it or not, it actually does stack. You don't typically want to stack all your Strong Energy on one Pokémon (if it gets KO'd, you have no Strong Energy left for that game), but putting two on for an extra 40 damage is certainly ridiculous on its own. XD
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Plus it's a bulls-eye for Sylveon's Curly Ribbon (or anything else that lets you transfer opponent's Energy around) because switching it to a non-Fighting type forces it to be discarded.
 
That is a concern, yes, but such effects aren't very common.
 
SharKing said:
That is a concern, yes, but such effects aren't very common.
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Yeah, attacks that allow you to discard their Energy are much more common. Curly Ribbon does have its uses, though, since you can't just counter it with Energy Retrieval (you need Energy Switch or similar).
 
I am in a similar situation. I played/collected through the Gym Heroes expansion and didn't open a pack of cards until about a month ago. One resource that has helped me with newer cards and rules is the Compendium. It provides rulings on specific attacks and mechanics that may seem a bit unclear. Best of luck to you!
 
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