Returning to the Game - Looking for Deck and Competitive Advice

[Hughes]

So I'm new to the game, well new in the sense that i haven't played in 13 years. My son has been collecting the cards for awhile now but i finally viewed him old enough to teach how to play and he's been picking it up rather quickly. With that said were hoping to attend upcoming City Championships in our area and i was hoping to ask a few questions.

What would people consider the "staple" trainer cards?

And what decks are considered top tier in standard currently?The only event articles that I can currently find that mention what decks were played are several months old.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[bbninjas]

Welcome back to the game! I trust that you and your son have been enjoying the game at present time.

There are two parts to defining staples, in my opinion. Firstly there are your draw. In standard, this is typically 4 Professor Sycamore, 2 Shauna, 4 VS Seeker, 1 to 2 Shaymin-EX and 3-4 Ultra Ball. There is also cards that many decks utilise well as support, including a copy of Lysandre and Hex Maniac, and on the most part, 3 to 4 copies of Muscle Band. You can obtain many of these staples through the Mewtwo vs Darkrai and Xerneas vs Yveltal Battle Arena Decks. Of all staples, Shaymin-EX may not be affordable, and instead some people substitute these with Octillery BREAKthrough, Unown + Revive or a few extra draw supporters, however your deck will be slower and perhaps less consistent.

You can finding some top decks and their respective deck skeletons in the Metagame Deck Discussion. You can see decks relevant to Standard marked under a yellow prefix labeled "Standard - Tier X".

 

[dkatz2003]

I just checked tcg player and the price dropped a little

 

[bbninjas]

I imagine it's still quite expensive, so really it's your choice whether you'll want to buy them or not.

 

[My Little Keldeo]

With a new set just becoming legal for sanctioned play this week, Standard is actually uncharted l water even for those of us who have been playing competitively for quite some time. There are a few decks that were known to be good because they are essentially converted from the Expanded format, which would be the following:

M-Manectric-EX / Regiice AOS, and perhaps other Manectric varients
Seismtiad-EX/ Giratina-EX
Vileplume AOS
Vespiqueeen AOS variants, with and without Raichu XY
Dark variants (Yveltal-EX / Zoroark BKT / other attackers)
Bronzong variants
Fighting (Lucario-EX/ Hawlucha FFI) / Crobat

The thing is with the format being so young there is a lot of opportunity for rogue decks to creep up, and especially the first week of City Championships, you can expect to see some unconventional plays while the metagame is being established. Depending on your and your son's willingness to practice, some of these decks take more skill to play effectively, while others have more straightforward strategy. You can easily master any deck with enough practive, but learning the ins and outs of some decks and how to manage resources doesn't happen after just a few games. Of the decks I mentioned, M-Manectric-EX and Fighting / Bats are more forgiving to mistakes, while Vespiqueen and other Double Colorless Energy dependent decks require more practice and resource management to master. I'm not sure what your budget is, but some of these cards can get expensive. As bbninjas said, Shaymin-EX is particualrly pricey, and several staples can be found in the Mewtwo vs Darkrai Battle Arena decks, so that's a good place to start. I'm probably leaving a few important things out, but here's a list of staple cards you should be looking for and their approximate values (remember, some of these are in those Battle Arena decks). This is on a per-deck basis, so if you want to run multiple decks (and I assume you want a deck for and a deck for your son) you will need to get at least two sets of what I'm listing.

Shaymin-EX (2-4 copies, depending on deck, $30+ each)
Professor Sycamore (4 copies, $1.50-$2 each)
Lysandre (2 copies, $1-$2 each)
VS Seeker (4 copies, $4-$5 each)
Judge (2-3 copies, $1 each)
Ultra Ball (4 copies, $2 each)
Muscle Band (2-3 copies, $3-$4 each)
Battle Compressor (2-4 copies, depending on deck, not needed in every deck, $3-$4 each)
Trainer's Mail (4 copies, not needed in every deck, $1.50 each)
Ace Trainer (1 Copy, $1 each)
AZ (1-2 copies, 4 for Vileplume, $2 each)
Xerosic (1-2 copies, $1.50 each)
Brigette (1 copy, $1 each)
Double Colorless Energy (4 copies, only used in certain decks, $2 each)
Hex Maniac (1-2 copies, $1 each)
Super Scoop Up (4 copies, only used in certain decks, $1 each)

Each deck also requires specific Trainer cards for support that might be unique to that deck. If you look around online you can find basic lists for the decks I mentioned above.

 

[Toro Rosso]

I would also add to My Little Keldeo's post in having Professor Birch's Observations (2-3 copies), Teammates (1-2 copies), Pokemon Fan Club (2-3 copies)/Bridgette (2-3 copies), Giovanni's scheme (2-3 copies), Level Ball (4 copies) and as well as Switch (4 copies).

The reason why I've added these cards is because of below:

Professor Birch's Observations - draw support. ATM, your draw support is quite limited to either small sizes (Shauna, Tierno, Judge) or require discarding your hand (Sycamore). Having another option is quite helpful to have.

Teammates - search. Teammates comes into effect when your Pokemon gets KO'ed. In this game, you do have to expect Pokemon to be KO'ed so having this card to search out any two cards is great for that last minute comeback.

Pokemon Fan Club and Bridgette is interchangeable here depending on your deck but it isn't a bad idea to have staples of. Both allow you grab Pokemon straight from the Deck. Fan Club allows you two basic Pokemon into the hand whilst Bridgette allows 1 EX or 3 basic onto the bench. Depending on the deck, you'll want Fan Club if you want to be conservative or Bridgette if your deck is to be aggressive from the get-go.

Giovanni's scheme - either extra damage or draw support. Having either option is a good way to make certain a Pokemon is KO'ed or a way out if you need draw support. Sure, it's only up to 5 cards but I've managed to get 5 cards once when I played my entire hand away with this being the last card. Never underestimate the addition 20 damage. For many attacks, that could be the number needed to KO a Pokemon to win the game.

Level Ball - search. For any deck that relies on fragile Pokemon, this is needed to get them out ASAP.

Switch - switch Pokemon. Switch is always a staple in the TCG and when played right, it can change the flow of the game towards your favour. Having 4 is a good way to start with.