Help Returning after a loooong break

[Otaku]

Another think you may want to note is that booster packs cost twice as much as they did 18 years ago. Still fun to open, but they can get pricey. :/

I didn't think they did around here, but I haven't bought them in years so someone want to verify that?

When the game first came out, and ignoring places that raised prices, I thought the MSRP for a booster pack was $3.29 USD; it contained 11 cards, only one of which was a Rare (or better). I thought the current MSRP was something like $3.99 USD? I don't remember the exact card distribution for current packs, but there are 10 cards (11 counting the PTCGO code card), with at least one Rare (or better) card per pack plus a Reverse Holo that can be any rarity below Pokémon-GX, right?

I sometimes stumbled upon legit Pokémon TCG packs for $1.99 USD back in the day, but it was quite, quite rare. All this is before factoring in inflation, as well.

 

[Arc88]

Thanks for all the pointers, is oranguru going to add much value when I have cynthia, hau (until I can get N), kukui (again until I get my deck sorted) and other draw cards. I've played with it several times now and dont struggle for draw typically. Once Garchomp and Lucario are on the field it is even easier. I've just ordered 4 red cards too as my budd who i'm practising with likes to use Meowstic and it eats me once set up. Is red card going to add value overall?

THanks again

 

[Otaku]

...until I can get N...

That reminds me; has anyone told you about the "Battle Arena Decks" series of pre-constructed decks? Never had a chance to snag one myself(I shifted from the physical TCG to the PTCGO a few years ago), but they are meant for players who need to obtain older cards, or rather, Expanded Format cards. If you're totally new and cannot find (or afford) the "better" ones, even the worst of them should help a newbie out.

So, what do you get from these? Well, the name is plural for a reason; you're always buying a two-pack of pre-constructed decks:

• Xerneas vs Yveltal
• Mewtwo vs Darkrai
• Rayquaza vs Keldeo
• Black Kyurem vs White Kyurem

I'm not listing content, but names: if you want to get technical, I'd list "Battle Arena Decks: Xerneas vs Yveltal", "Battle Arena Decks: Mewtwo vs Darkrai", etc. The reason I stress this is not just so you can locate them more easily, but because out of the Pokémon listed, only Xerneas and Yveltal match the names given; the other three are actually Pokémon-EX! Of these eight focal Pokémon, only White Kyurem-EX never proved useful for competitive play; the other seven have at least been great cards at one time. Black Kyurem-EX is probably obsolete and Rayquaza-EX might be as well, but the others are at least "decent", if not still good in the right deck.

The thing is, we don't really care about these too much. I mean, if you do not own a copy of "Mewtwo-EX" with X-Ball or Darkrai-EX with Dark Cloak and you plan on playing in Expanded, you'd want them. You are about Standard, so why would you want these? Cards like N, Professor Sycamore, and Ultra Ball are contained in these decks. They also can just be fun because the decks in each 2-pack should be balanced against each other, and seem to be a step between "Theme Deck" and "low level real deck". Which may not sound impressive, but allows you to treat them as something of a "board game" to use with folks that just want to dabble in the Pokémon TCG. Put it all together, and they should be a solid investment for anyone who lacks a sizable collection. I believe they come with PTCGO codes, which unlocks exactly what you get in physical cards as virtual cards.

Check out places like bulbapedia for the exact deck contents.

 

[Arc88]

Thanks, I'll have a look now.

 

[Ecko9i6]

That reminds me; has anyone told you about the "Battle Arena Decks" series of pre-constructed decks? Never had a chance to snag one myself(I shifted from the physical TCG to the PTCGO a few years ago), but they are meant for players who need to obtain older cards, or rather, Expanded Format cards. If you're totally new and cannot find (or afford) the "better" ones, even the worst of them should help a newbie out.

So, what do you get from these? Well, the name is plural for a reason; you're always buying a two-pack of pre-constructed decks:

• Xerneas vs Yveltal
• Mewtwo vs Darkrai
• Rayquaza vs Keldeo
• Black Kyurem vs White Kyurem

I'm not listing content, but names: if you want to get technical, I'd list "Battle Arena Decks: Xerneas vs Yveltal", "Battle Arena Decks: Mewtwo vs Darkrai", etc. The reason I stress this is not just so you can locate them more easily, but because out of the Pokémon listed, only Xerneas and Yveltal match the names given; the other three are actually Pokémon-EX! Of these eight focal Pokémon, only White Kyurem-EX never proved useful for competitive play; the other seven have at least been great cards at one time. Black Kyurem-EX is probably obsolete and Rayquaza-EX might be as well, but the others are at least "decent", if not still good in the right deck.

The thing is, we don't really care about these too much. I mean, if you do not own a copy of "Mewtwo-EX" with X-Ball or Darkrai-EX with Dark Cloak and you plan on playing in Expanded, you'd want them. You are about Standard, so why would you want these? Cards like N, Professor Sycamore, and Ultra Ball are contained in these decks. They also can just be fun because the decks in each 2-pack should be balanced against each other, and seem to be a step between "Theme Deck" and "low level real deck". Which may not sound impressive, but allows you to treat them as something of a "board game" to use with folks that just want to dabble in the Pokémon TCG. Put it all together, and they should be a solid investment for anyone who lacks a sizable collection. I believe they come with PTCGO codes, which unlocks exactly what you get in physical cards as virtual cards.

Check out places like bulbapedia for the exact deck contents.

Although I understand your point about cards like N and Sycamore being a part of the Battle Arena decks, I would highly advise AGAINST purchasing these. Like you mentioned, there are Pokemon EX cards that come with them, but none of them ever really proved useful in competitive play and they still don't to this day. Since @Arc88 is just starting to get into Standard, a lot of the cards contained in these battle arena decks wouldn't even be playable. Purchasing the battle arena decks for the sake of getting cards like Professor Sycamore, N and Ultra ball is not cost efficient either. You can get a playset of N, Sycamore and Ultra ball for $12 while the Battle Arena decks are at least $18.

I believe the fun aspect does play a bit of a role here, but it will give players a false sense of the game in it's current state. I think purchasing 2 of the Mach Strike decks was the best option here since he now has a playset of Cynthia and he can play a standard deck that will work for an entry level player without requiring Lele right off the bat. Of course Lele will be required eventually if they decide to go the competitive route, but it should hold its own against other new players.

 

[Arc88]

Thanks for all your help. I've been playing my bastardised mach strike with a few trainers added (switch, timer ball, energy lotto to name a few) to good effect. Is tapu lele critical? If so what would I drop out of;

2 solrock
2 yungoos
2 yungoos stage 1 (name escapes me)
4 gible
4 gabite
4 garchomp
2 riolu
2 lucario

Thanks in advance

 

[Arc88]

I tend to use the solrock and yungoos early game to shield while I set up.

 

[Dusk Form Lycanroc]

2 yungoos stage 1 (name escapes me)

Gumshoos

 

[Ecko9i6]

Thanks for all your help. I've been playing my bastardised mach strike with a few trainers added (switch, timer ball, energy lotto to name a few) to good effect. Is tapu lele critical? If so what would I drop out of;

2 solrock
2 yungoos
2 yungoos stage 1 (name escapes me)
4 gible
4 gabite
4 garchomp
2 riolu
2 lucario

Thanks in advance

Solrock, Yungoos and Gumshoos should be removed eventually as they are not good cards. If this is all you have at the moment, then it's completely understandable. Eventually, your pokemon lineup will look something like this:

* 4 Gible
* 3 Gabite
* 4 Garchomp
* 2 Riolu
* 2 Lucario
* Tapu Lele gx (Count varies depending on how many you can get)

Timer ball is okay for now as well, but ultimately you should just use Ultra ball to get Garchomp into your hand and then rare candy to evolve. This is why playing Skyla in this deck will help you a bit. You can use ultra ball to get Garchomp and then Skyla to get Rare Candy. You also want to use at least 1 Pal Pad so that you can recycle your cynthia to get the extra damage from Garchomp.

 

[Otaku]

@Ecko9i6

I'm not actually sure you understood what I was saying. The big reason is

Like you mentioned, there are Pokemon EX cards that come with them, but none of them ever really proved useful in competitive play and they still don't to this day.

1) That is not what I said, and is nearly the opposite.
2) It displays a lack of familiarity with recent history of the Pokémon TCG.

Here is what I said specifically about this matter:

Of these eight focal Pokémon, only White Kyurem-EX never proved useful for competitive play; the other seven have at least been great cards at one time. Black Kyurem-EX is probably obsolete and Rayquaza-EX might be as well, but the others are at least "decent", if not still good in the right deck.

Only the White Kyurem-EX in question failed to ever prove competitive. The other seven focal Pokémon all have played major roles in the competitive Pokémon TCG scene, with all of them except Black Kyurem-EX and White Kyurem-EX having appeared in at least one of the commemorative World Championship Decks that get released based on decks that made at least the Top 4 from one of the three age brackets. Of course, at present, none of these are as good as they once were, but it hasn't been that long since some of them were competitive. Darkrai-EX, Keldeo-EX, Mewtwo-EX, Xerneas, and Yveltal will most likely prove competitive again sometime in the Expanded Format, though the exact odds for each varies.

Which is not reason enough to buy any of these decks. As worried as I am by your claims, you do have a point, Ecko9i6. I missed that @Arc88 was in an "either/or" position and that purchasing one of these would shoot his budget. I wanted to make sure if he did not already have the various, worthwhile staples found in these decks, that he considered purchasing them before he acquired them elsewhere.

@Arc88 I also want to make it clear that I do not encourage people to take up the Pokémon TCG for the Standard Format alone. I know some people are satisfied with just that, but I've encountered too many folks that said it was okay but once "their" deck went extinct due to rotation, they changed their tune. Standard plus Expanded is the minimum Pokémon TCG experience to me (unless you're a collector only). I actually recommend enjoying all the options you can with the Pokémon TCG. Other than the Unlimited Format; that one requires a lot of work to enjoy.

 

[Arc88]

Once I'm on my feet I fully intend to have a few decks of pokemon current and not-so current. I'm also a long time poke geek and want to catch em all (pun intended) so I will look at the battle boxes and I'm also looking at the gx boxes too.

Right now this thread is just a sponge for opinions/facts and any information that will help me settle back in. I may not use it all but I'm grateful to all who have contributed. The mach strike deck saved me from Lycanroc and raichu so it was definitely worth it.

Thanks guys and please keep throwing stuff on here

 

[Ecko9i6]

@Ecko9i6

I'm not actually sure you understood what I was saying. The big reason is



1) That is not what I said, and is nearly the opposite.
2) It displays a lack of familiarity with recent history of the Pokémon TCG.

Here is what I said specifically about this matter:



Only the White Kyurem-EX in question failed to ever prove competitive. The other seven focal Pokémon all have played major roles in the competitive Pokémon TCG scene, with all of them except Black Kyurem-EX and White Kyurem-EX having appeared in at least one of the commemorative World Championship Decks that get released based on decks that made at least the Top 4 from one of the three age brackets. Of course, at present, none of these are as good as they once were, but it hasn't been that long since some of them were competitive. Darkrai-EX, Keldeo-EX, Mewtwo-EX, Xerneas, and Yveltal will most likely prove competitive again sometime in the Expanded Format, though the exact odds for each varies.

Which is not reason enough to buy any of these decks. As worried as I am by your claims, you do have a point, Ecko9i6. I missed that @Arc88 was in an "either/or" position and that purchasing one of these would shoot his budget. I wanted to make sure if he did not already have the various, worthwhile staples found in these decks, that he considered purchasing them before he acquired them elsewhere.

@Arc88 I also want to make it clear that I do not encourage people to take up the Pokémon TCG for the Standard Format alone. I know some people are satisfied with just that, but I've encountered too many folks that said it was okay but once "their" deck went extinct due to rotation, they changed their tune. Standard plus Expanded is the minimum Pokémon TCG experience to me (unless you're a collector only). I actually recommend enjoying all the options you can with the Pokémon TCG. Other than the Unlimited Format; that one requires a lot of work to enjoy.

You are absolutely right, I misread the first point in which I commented on. It also seems as though I may have slightly upset you which was not my intent either. Upon looking at my previous post, I can see how I could have come off as very forceful about my opinion. My apologies.

My main point for not recommending battle arena decks to @Arc88 for some staples is due to the fact that it is not cost efficient. Even if he had nothing at all, purchasing cards such as Professor Sycamore, N, Ultra Ball, Rare Candy etc would be cheaper as singles opposed to buying the entire battle arena deck. Plus, the battle arena decks will also come with a ton of cards that are not used in any decks in both Standard or Expanded decks.

If you're totally new and cannot find (or afford) the "better" ones, even the worst of them should help a newbie out.

Your point above in which you mention (or afford) is the biggest reason I disagreed. If money is an issue, buying the singles would be cheaper than purchasing the battle arena deck, right?

I also want to make it clear that I do not encourage people to take up the Pokémon TCG for the Standard Format alone

I know you aren't saying that OP play both Standard and Expanded now, but I will say that there is nothing wrong with picking up the game with the intent on only playing the Standard Format. This is of course up to the individual so I won't say anything else other than that. I would recommend focusing on one format at a time since getting into expanded can be quite difficult. This is due to the fact that there are so many different decks that you can play. It will take you some time to figure out what you might run into when you play other players in expanded.

 

[Otaku]

You are absolutely right, I misread the first point in which I commented on. It also seems as though I may have slightly upset you which was not my intent either. Upon looking at my previous post, I can see how I could have come off as very forceful about my opinion. My apologies.

Oh, I was very upset... then I realized I shouldn't be upset, and calmed down. XP Apology accepted, and my own for being thin-skinned. If I sound like I'm still being snippy, I'm not. I'm just trying to answer this really quickly before taking care of some other stuff. >.>

Your point above in which you mention (or afford) is the biggest reason I disagreed. If money is an issue, buying the singles would be cheaper than purchasing the battle arena deck, right?

Though all the Battle Arena Decks were released with the same MSRP (at least, I thought it was the same), none of them are "current" product. Supply is down and demand is either up or down less, which means the price is up. So, if all were still at their MSRP then Mewtwo vs Darkrai is the best... except I see it being offered for like $50-$200 USD. I think that the last one is an outlier, but a quick search still turned up used copies going for nearly $50 USD, and new going for closer to $100. It is not worth that much to a new player! Now, if you find one collecting dust in some shop somewhere, for more like $20-30 USD, I think it is worth it. Not only for the cards it contains but for the other use mentioned in my earlier post.

On the other hand, you can find the original Xerneas Vs Yveltal and the next-most-recent Keldeo vs Rayquaza decks for around $20 USD. That might be the low end for them, but if they aren't priced at more than their MSRP, they might be worth it to someone who doesn't already have a lot of those cards and can enjoy their functionality as Battle Arena Decks. Also, the PTCGO; as that is the main way I play now and know you can get at least some trade value for the redemption codes even if a person won't use the codes his or herself, I factor that value in as well. However, I wasn't very clear about all of that (I think I left the last bit out entirely), and for that, I must apologize.

 

[Digital Dragon]

Once I'm on my feet I fully intend to have a few decks of pokemon current and not-so current. I'm also a long time poke geek and want to catch em all (pun intended) so I will look at the battle boxes and I'm also looking at the gx boxes too.

Right now this thread is just a sponge for opinions/facts and any information that will help me settle back in. I may not use it all but I'm grateful to all who have contributed. The mach strike deck saved me from Lycanroc and raichu so it was definitely worth it.

Thanks guys and please keep throwing stuff on here

I would advise against buying GX boxes. They’re a pretty bad value and the single promos tend to be cheap. Your best bet is to just buy single cards. Keep moving your Garchomp deck more towards the suggestions given if you can.

 

[Ecko9i6]

Oh, I was very upset... then I realized I shouldn't be upset, and calmed down. XP Apology accepted, and my own for being thin-skinned. If I sound like I'm still being snippy, I'm not. I'm just trying to answer this really quickly before taking care of some other stuff. >.>

xD I'm glad we're able to move past this then since I never intend to come on here to make anyone upset! I know how you feel though, sometimes its easy to get a bit carried away with our opinions I'll definitely make sure that I read over what I'm posting to make sure I don't upset anyone.

Yeah, the prices for the Battle Arena Decks is nuts! The most affordable ones do seem to be the Xerneas Vs Yveltal and Keldeo vs Rayquaza decks. I believe I looked at the Keldeo vs Rayquaza deck and it does come with a full playset of sycamores between the two decks, but I think it only had 2 N's (I could be wrong). It also came with a playset of Ultra balls and some Vs seekers and Lysandre, but I still think the price came out cheaper if you bought the singles.

they might be worth it to someone who doesn't already have a lot of those cards and can enjoy their functionality as Battle Arena Decks.

I believe this is where you made me realize that I'm missing a pretty big point. The battle arena decks serve as a tool to practice with another person with pre-constructed decks. If someone was to purchase this to practice, they would not only get useful cards but also a useful tool to learn how to play the game. I just think back to when I first started and I purchased the XY trainer kit with Pikachu Libre. It was fun to be able to play with someone and learn the game, but the cards weren't very useful once I started moving forward to play with others. Perhaps using the XY trainer kit as an example isn't fair since you technically split 1 deck into 2, but I would have liked someone to tell me that most of the cards were going to be obsolete to me once I really got into the game.

Also, the PTCGO

I wonder if maybe we should have just recommended the PTCGO from the get go as a entry way into the game. Buying physical cards is cool and all, but you can always obtain code cards for fairly cheap. This allows you to build decks and test them online before you start investing in physical cards. I can see the appeal of playing online only as well, but I'm the kind of person that likes to compete with someone face to face I feel like it makes the battles much more intense and you can make tons of friends along the way!

 

[Arc88]

Hi guys I just wanted to clarify a point. Is weighing packs a thing? I'm looking to buy boosters but I'm cautious if sellers are rigging the market. It's a question not an accusation as I am genuinely new to this and just want the DL before I go buy a few. Thanks

 

[Ecko9i6]

Hi guys I just wanted to clarify a point. Is weighing packs a thing? I'm looking to buy boosters but I'm cautious if sellers are rigging the market. It's a question not an accusation as I am genuinely new to this and just want the DL before I go buy a few. Thanks

Boosters from Sun and Moon onward contain a white or green code card inside that balance the weight of the packs. This makes it so that a pack can be heavier, but it doesn't necessarily have a Ultra Rare card in it. This will make any type of weighing very inaccurate because the weight doesn't only depend on the cards inside, it also depends on the type of code card you get.

 

[Digital Dragon]

The different code cards started in Breakpoint, they make it harder to weigh but not impossible. People that know what they’re doing can still weed out Ultra rares. To be the safest, go with blisters or boxes, but keep in mind that buying sealed products are very much not cost effective.

 

[Arc88]

I know it isn't cost effective but I got 5 for £12 off 314 games and it seemed a good price (plus who doesn't like the surprise factor once in a while).