Returning Player: What Staples Do I Need?

The Light Music Club

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I'm thinking about waiting until rotation to get back into this game, but I was wondering what staples would be good for me to buy that will without a doubt be in next rotation. I have the following in my list:

  • Professor Sycamore
  • N
  • Lysandre
  • Ultra Ball
  • VS Seeker
  • Switch
If you guys could give me quantities and other cards I need (sans Shaymin) that would be great!

Edit: I noticed a few of these are rotating out. Are other cards like Shauna going to be viable again?
 
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None of those are expected to rotate. VS Seeker was reprinted in Roaring Skies and Lysandre was in Ancient Origins. Everything else has also been reprinted, so old copies would be ok as long as one version is in a Standard-legal set.

Those look like a good start. You probably only need 1-2 each of Lysandre and Switch, but the rest are easily worth investing in four copies.
 
None of those are expected to rotate. VS Seeker was reprinted in Roaring Skies and Lysandre was in Ancient Origins. Everything else has also been reprinted, so old copies would be ok as long as one version is in a Standard-legal set.

Those look like a good start. You probably only need 1-2 each of Lysandre and Switch, but the rest are easily worth investing in four copies.


Awesome! I have plenty of switch from my old cards, I ordered 2 Lysandre, 3 N, 4 Ultra Ball, 4 Sycamore, and 2 Vs Seeker (I pulled one the other day).

Now I should probably look into what type of deck I want to make hahaha.
 
I have plenty of switch from my old cards, I ordered 2 Lysandre, 3 N, 4 Ultra Ball, 4 Sycamore, and 2 Vs Seeker (I pulled one the other day).

Bold text added for emphasis: I just wanted to make sure you realized that VS Seeker is a pretty important card. I could be wrong, but I believe most competitive builds run a full play set, so you ought to try for one more. If you find any at a good price, Shaymin-EX (ROS) is the one current expensive staple. There are very few decks that run without it, and the only one I remember being competitive is the one based on Greninja BREAK. Again, I may be unaware of recent changes as I tend to learn from the results of the latest events, not playtesting before hand. ^^'

It is possible Shaymin-EX could rotate out, but it released in XY: Roaring Skies so it would require a higher-than-normal (but not unprecedented) six sets rotate out all at once. I think some of the cards already listed (like VS Seeker) are only "rotation resistant" because of reprints in XY: Roaring Skies. Yet another thing I cannot guarantee, but Japan has seen some additional reprints lately, making me think Shaymin-EX isn't going anywhere.

Some "loose" staples to consider are Acro Bike, Battle Compressor and Trainers' Mail. Unfortunately I cannot assure you that these will not rotate. Acro Bike is from XY: Primal Clash which would make for five set cut; not the most often seen but well within reason. Battle Compressor is in XY: Phantom Forces so most expect it will be cut, however I believe it was reprinted in Japan so we might be due a reprint here. Trainers' Mail should be safe as it was reprinted in XY: Ancient Origins, which is only four sets ago (and one of those is Generations which is a sort of "bonus" set to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Pokémon).
 
Totally agree on vs seeker. Prof. Letter, Birch, Muscle Band, and Puzzle of Time are others that I really use almost universally ... But I'm sure many people will disagree about Puzzle. But how else can you pull item cards back?
 
Totally agree on vs seeker. Prof. Letter, Birch, Muscle Band, and Puzzle of Time are others that I really use almost universally ... But I'm sure many people will disagree about Puzzle. But how else can you pull item cards back?

In most decks, you simply don't and adjust your play style accordingly. A few have other tricks.
 
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