Help Out an Old-Timer

[TheChrisWaits]

I haven't bought any cards or seriously looked at this game since Neo Genesis. When I still played a lot, Haymaker was (arguably) the besk deck. I'm looking at getting back into the game, but I really have no idea where to start. Questions:

1. Is there a semi-popular format where I can still use my old cards?

2. Is there an archetype that functions similarly to old-school Haymaker (a few fast, efficient Basics and a lot of Trainers to find and support them)?

3. If not, is it even worth my time trying to come up with something?

4. Are there Limited formats now? How do they work?

5. Overall, where do you think I should start? What cards are fairly staple, and are there sets that I should definitely get some packs of?

 

[Whicker]

1. No, there is not. Unlimited tournaments are rare nowadays.
2. Few basics are used without support. Rai/Eggs is the closest you are going to get, which uses a lot of fast Stage 1's.
3. Yes, definitely. Pokemon is still a great game and it is worth your time.
4. Yes, and they are very popular. I believe they still work the same as they always have.
5. I think you should start by getting a good trainer base. Delta Species is currently the best set to do this, because it contains the Holon engine. Other than the Holon supporters, there are few staple. As soon as Dragon Frontiers comes out, Copycat and Steven's Advice will once again become staples, so be sure to grab those. Other than that, I cannot give you any direction in what sets to buy.

 

[Arcanine 274]

There's only a few changes from Whicker's list.

1. Not really. Unlimited tournaments are hard to find, usually rare side events at large tournaments if they are ever around.
2. This is where Whicker got it wrong. Lunarock is the deck for you if you want to use that. It's lost some power since last format with the loss of Rocket's Admin and such, but it's still decent.
3. Yes.
4. Yes. Basically they've worked the same as they always have. You get a set limit of the cards you use, and make a usual 40 card deck out of it.
5. Delta Species is really your only "staple" card set. The Holon Trainers are the best for getting set up in most any deck. Unless you use a Call For Family Pokemon. The "Holon Engine" trainers are mainly Holon Transceiver (searches for your Holon Supporters), Holon Mentor (gets your basics), and Holon Scientist/Adventurer (Draw engine). Then there are Holon Farmer (gets discarded cards back to your hand), Holon Lass (gets your energies), and Holon Researcher (mainly used in Delta Decks to get Pokemon/Metal Energies).

Like Whicker said, other than that there aren't really any staples.

Any other questions you might have, feel free to PM me.

Arcanine out.