Hi everyone, just looking to get back into the game after about 5 years. I dont really have a budget, but i know there is a possible rotation coming. What would be the best stuff to buy right now? To get competitive again? Should i just get the newest sets? What about tins, starter decks, and combos? Thanks in advanced.
Help The "What Should I Buy?" Thread
- Thread starter Decmaster
- Start date
Hi everyone,
New user and returning player here that's looking for help with a couple of things.
Firstly, I was wondering how I'd be able to get my hands on a couple of Team Magma's Secret Base for use online, so either an online purchase I can make or a real-life one that comes with a code.
Also, I'm a bit confused about the online contents of the Alola Legends Tins. In real life it clearly states you get the Lunala/Sogaleo GX card itself, plus 4 booster packs (correct?), but it also says that you unlock an online deck. But which online deck is it? Using the Lunala Example, is it the deck I've copied and pasted into the spoiler tag below, or the Lunala Theme Deck that's at the top of the Pokemon TCGO shop? I was under the impression that the only decks you could "unlock" online were the theme decks, and the theme deck in question doesn't actually feature Lunala GX? Quite keen to get that card on the online game.
Thanks in advance!
New user and returning player here that's looking for help with a couple of things.
Firstly, I was wondering how I'd be able to get my hands on a couple of Team Magma's Secret Base for use online, so either an online purchase I can make or a real-life one that comes with a code.
Also, I'm a bit confused about the online contents of the Alola Legends Tins. In real life it clearly states you get the Lunala/Sogaleo GX card itself, plus 4 booster packs (correct?), but it also says that you unlock an online deck. But which online deck is it? Using the Lunala Example, is it the deck I've copied and pasted into the spoiler tag below, or the Lunala Theme Deck that's at the top of the Pokemon TCGO shop? I was under the impression that the only decks you could "unlock" online were the theme decks, and the theme deck in question doesn't actually feature Lunala GX? Quite keen to get that card on the online game.
Qty Card Set Coll. #
3 Cosmog SUM 64
3 Cosmoem SUM 65
1 Lunala GX * SUM 17
1 Lunala GX SUM 17
1 Kangaskhan SUM 99
3 Lillipup SUM 103
3 Herdier SUM 104
2 Stoutland SUM 105
2 Alolan Grimer SUM 57
2 Alolan Muk SUM 58
2 Hau SUM 120
2 Psychics Third Eye BKP 108
2 Lass's Special FCO 103
2 Pokemon Fan Club FCO 107
1 Professor Kukui SUM 128
1 Team Skull Grunt SUM 133
2 Exp. Share SUM 118
2 Ultra Ball SUM 135
2 Grea tBall SUM 119
2 Crushing Hammer SUM 115
2 Max Potion BKP 103
1 Switch SUM 132
10 Basic Psychic Energy - -
6 Basic Psychic Energy * - -
2 Double Colorless Energy SUM 136
3 Cosmog SUM 64
3 Cosmoem SUM 65
1 Lunala GX * SUM 17
1 Lunala GX SUM 17
1 Kangaskhan SUM 99
3 Lillipup SUM 103
3 Herdier SUM 104
2 Stoutland SUM 105
2 Alolan Grimer SUM 57
2 Alolan Muk SUM 58
2 Hau SUM 120
2 Psychics Third Eye BKP 108
2 Lass's Special FCO 103
2 Pokemon Fan Club FCO 107
1 Professor Kukui SUM 128
1 Team Skull Grunt SUM 133
2 Exp. Share SUM 118
2 Ultra Ball SUM 135
2 Grea tBall SUM 119
2 Crushing Hammer SUM 115
2 Max Potion BKP 103
1 Switch SUM 132
10 Basic Psychic Energy - -
6 Basic Psychic Energy * - -
2 Double Colorless Energy SUM 136
Thanks in advance!
I want to get back into the game but probably after rotation so my deck won't be useless.
Budget is $300 (If thats not enough for any top teir deck then i'll add more)
Stopped playing before Primal Clash onwards.
Budget is $300 (If thats not enough for any top teir deck then i'll add more)
Stopped playing before Primal Clash onwards.
if anyone is in orange county and is looking for cheap pokemon product, i have a place, and get this, its a discount store. they are well stocked and dont even charge tax. "big" boxes (like mega and the 3 gx boxes) go for 20, elite trainer boxes are 28, booster boxes are a little off the steep end at 90, tins and ex boxes are 16, and singles are average price. please do keep in mind that this isnt a card store, but a discount store. here is the location:
9900 Katella Ave, Anaheim, CA 92804
9900 Katella Ave, Anaheim, CA 92804
Hello everyone,
I want to get a few Sun/Moon (or Guardians Rising) cards, especially GX, because I have only one (Sylveon). What should I buy? Would it be wise to buy singles or should I buy booster boxes? I actually like to open packs but if I pay money for a collection and pull only normal cards...
I want to get a few Sun/Moon (or Guardians Rising) cards, especially GX, because I have only one (Sylveon). What should I buy? Would it be wise to buy singles or should I buy booster boxes? I actually like to open packs but if I pay money for a collection and pull only normal cards...
tcgplayer.com
That site is basically a marketplace for all card sellers and they price competitively.
Singles will be the more cost effective route. You get what you want without the fluff. Opening packs is fun but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're flush with cash. I usually buy a few packs once a month and maybe a box or two once or twice per year, max. I like to play competitively so I don't have the time or the money to fiddle around with gambling on acquiring specific cards I need to build decks.
Hellos everyone!
Burning question... Pun-ish me if you will!
I APLOLOGIZE FOR NOTHIIIIIIING!
What are y'alls' thoughts on pre-ordering singles? I know prices are inflated based upon anticipation for specific cards (i.e. Gardevior GX, Golisopod GX, Guzma, etc) but we widely know that these cards will be good in one form or another which means the price will likely go up as time goes on.
Do you all like the idea of pre-ordering and paying the premium or waiting a few weeks for the price to "stabilize" (which may or may not be a gamble)?
Burning question... Pun-ish me if you will!
I APLOLOGIZE FOR NOTHIIIIIIING!What are y'alls' thoughts on pre-ordering singles? I know prices are inflated based upon anticipation for specific cards (i.e. Gardevior GX, Golisopod GX, Guzma, etc) but we widely know that these cards will be good in one form or another which means the price will likely go up as time goes on.
Do you all like the idea of pre-ordering and paying the premium or waiting a few weeks for the price to "stabilize" (which may or may not be a gamble)?
Good morning/evening everybody.
Price Range: N/A
What you are thinking of buying: Booster packs or Single GX cards.
So basically theres this shop that has Guardians rising for sale for 1 euros. Its a pretty well known shop and it wouldn't sell fakes due to it having a really good name. Was thinking of going in to buy around 15 to see if i could get anything (really want tapu lele). But I also thought about it I could just buy the it on cardmarket and just throw in another 15 to actually get the card guaranteed. But idk I feel like its a really good deal for the packs, what do you guys think?
Price Range: N/A
What you are thinking of buying: Booster packs or Single GX cards.
So basically theres this shop that has Guardians rising for sale for 1 euros. Its a pretty well known shop and it wouldn't sell fakes due to it having a really good name. Was thinking of going in to buy around 15 to see if i could get anything (really want tapu lele). But I also thought about it I could just buy the it on cardmarket and just throw in another 15 to actually get the card guaranteed. But idk I feel like its a really good deal for the packs, what do you guys think?
Excuse me, but where do you get a booster for one euro? (I am from Europe)
They were on sale in tesco
Tapu Leles will be your main expense, $40 a pop just like good ol' Shaymin. Get 2-3 of them, there's no deck I've seen that uses four. That's $80-120, but everything else is cheap, a lot of the old staple cards like Sycamore, N, Ultra balls, ect remain, most of the new staples other than Lele are dirt cheap, choice bands, rescue stretchers and field blowers are like $0.50 each. If you have Greninja/Volcanion those decks are still top/high tier. Most of the GX cards range from $1-8 each with the best GXes in show right now, Metagross Espeon, Drampa, Ninetales, ect all sitting at about $4-5. Garbodors are down to under $1, not counting the Leles you can build Garb/Drampa for a couple of bucks if you have old staples laying around.
Welcome back! Well sorry for my late responce but the rotation is clear and will be happening at BREAKthrough. As a result I would first buy the most typical "engine" consisting out of Supporters, Items and a pair of Stadium. Currently I would get the newer sets but for reprints that doesnt really matter. To my knowledge Pokemon still has cool Tins for promo's if you want to get that promo and the bigger starter packages are actually quite good and cool.
Really though I think the first step into getting competitive again is anaylyse all the cards available in standard. I like to use https://pkmncards.com/sets/ for that a lot. Don't forget to check on the promos aswell
. Feel free to PM for an engine list, its easy to make out though if you check some of the Competitive decklists, the good engines in Pokemon are very often the same across several decks. The only real exception from BUS is Kiawe.Preorder to your liking! I think BUS is a fantastic set but will not contain the same hot-seller like Guardians Rising, simple reason being that it doesn't contain a Tapu Lele GX-like Pokemon. I believe that Gardevoir GX is going to recieve only more better cards so getting it now is probably a wise idea. The Super Rare version also seems to be legit very difficult to find. If you can get good prices on that, go for it. Guzma is not too expensive now, again another staple for a year to come and thus a playset is a wise investment. If you do run Volcanion EX Kiawe is a staple.Hellos everyone!
Burning question... Pun-ish me if you will!
What are y'alls' thoughts on pre-ordering singles? I know prices are inflated based upon anticipation for specific cards (i.e. Gardevior GX, Golisopod GX, Guzma, etc) but we widely know that these cards will be good in one form or another which means the price will likely go up as time goes on.
Do you all like the idea of pre-ordering and paying the premium or waiting a few weeks for the price to "stabilize" (which may or may not be a gamble)?
For the most part I let the BUS cards stabilize, there are some very cool Super Rares in the set but also way too high for me in cost to actually get. I love my holo cards but I dont love paying half a booster box for them
If I had to hand you the best cards from the BUS set I'd say Alolan Ninetales (regular) is the best regular Pokemon, Gardevoir GX is the best GX, Guzma is the best Supporter, Choice Band (Secret Rare) the best Item, so all in all I dont think the prices will be too obscene for this set. Cheap variants of those are still must gets offcourse.Cheers,
Depends which deck. Expect to pay $80 for a pair of Lele, $5 per non-Lele GX card you want to play, $0.25 or so for every bulk common/uncommon card, $0.10-$0.50 per trainer, $0.50-$1.00 per bulk rare.
I used to tell people $250 was the budget that built anything from scratch but only two decks pushed that number that high, Megagarde and Rayquaza. I'd expect Garde to be pretty pricey for awhile but all other GXes seem a bit cheaper than most EX cards were at their prime. I'd say the new 'you can do anything' budget is probably like $150 while most decks will run $120 or less.
Yeah $100-250 is regular Id say, with going more expensive including those newer Secret Rare cards. As someone who has recently stepped into Pokemon again I paid roughly 100 euro for the Volcanion EX deck I have now, I spend more on some random Machamp stuff but that's more because of collection reasons. This included some additional foil stuff but nothing too mad. Typically the players who like those full art cards will pay $250+ but usually that grows depending on how much one likes the deck
Offcourse if you spend on booster boxes more you get to trade more aswell, I personally dont have too much time or interest in trading however so in some cases I just pay a little more for what some might have in their binder for 'cheaper'.
Offcourse if you spend on booster boxes more you get to trade more aswell, I personally dont have too much time or interest in trading however so in some cases I just pay a little more for what some might have in their binder for 'cheaper'.
It all depends on how much money you are willing to spend and what your goal is either as a collector, a competitive player or somewhere in between. Personally as a collector, if I had a bunch of money I would have preordered all the Rainbow Charizards I could have. Preordering singles like Charizard is usually a good idea for a collector because Charizards are almost always increasing in value. Just look at XY Flashfire prices for Charizards. While Charizard is overhyped and inflated in price accordingly, I do not see the hype around him ceasing. Additionally, there will be less Rainbow Charizards as more packs get opened making him an even harder card to get. For cards such as these that are sure to skyrocket in value in the coming years, pre-ordering is worth it.Hellos everyone!
Burning question... Pun-ish me if you will!
What are y'alls' thoughts on pre-ordering singles? I know prices are inflated based upon anticipation for specific cards (i.e. Gardevior GX, Golisopod GX, Guzma, etc) but we widely know that these cards will be good in one form or another which means the price will likely go up as time goes on.
Do you all like the idea of pre-ordering and paying the premium or waiting a few weeks for the price to "stabilize" (which may or may not be a gamble)?
Buy booster boxes. You will get a bunch of useful cards if you play competitively and about 4-5 GX cards a box.