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PokeCube

PokeCuber

5
Posts
11
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  • Seen Oct 16, 2012
I want to share with the community a project a friend and I have been working on over the past year. We came up with a way to create a 'Cube' out of the Pokemon TCG. For those unaware, Cube is a concept that comes from the card game Magic: the Gathering. Cube is a group of cards that are put together for players to draft and play with. This attempts to simulate the process that happens at some pre-releases (opening packs and building decks from those packs), but instead with some of the most powerful cards printed throughout the entire game. Have you ever wanted to play Super Energy Removal to remove Energy from your opponent's Reshiram? Play Professor Oak and then attach Expert Belt to Machamp Prime?

The Cube is made up of 400 different cards from the history of the Pokemon TCG. Only one of each card is included, creating a diverse and fun experience. Some other details about the Cube.

  1. Draft in a face up style
  2. Each Player builds and plays with a 50 card deck (This includes energy)
  3. Basic Energy are provided after the draft to supplement your deck
  4. Each game will be played with 5 prizes (Instead of 4 in regular draft or 6 in constructed)
  5. Each game session between players will be best 2 out of 3 (Allows people to play more games)
  6. Dice will be used in place of Coins. Heads=Evens / Tails=Odds
  7. Pokémon with Names, Dark, Light or other variations would be considered as normal
  8. Certain Pokemon lines are supported. For example, there are 8 Horsea, 6 Sedra, and 4 Kingdra in the Cube. This is to make sure each player has enough chances to draft the Pokemon he/she needs for a deck.
Cube has been a blast to build and play. It has been a great way for me (and others) to keep playing the Pokemon TCG without having to go to events or keep up with the most current decks. The Pokecube list has been pretty refined, but we are welcome to discussion and suggestions for cards to include. More information about the Cube can be found at: pokecube.com/2012/05/02what-exactly-is-a-pokecube-3/
 
donavannj

donavannj

22,952
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"Pokemon with Names, Dark, Light, or other variations would be considered as normal"

What do you mean by this? That you're treating them as just the Pokemon they are without the variation in their name? That's a bit silly, in my opinion, seeing as there are entire groups of trainers and Pokemon that are worthless in a cube if they aren't allowed their special name variation, as some of the best trainers affect only Pokemon with a certain name variation, and some of the best PokePowers/PokeBodies do the same.
 

PokeCuber

5
Posts
11
Years
  • Seen Oct 16, 2012
donavannj said:
"Pokemon with Names, Dark, Light, or other variations would be considered as normal"

What do you mean by this? That you're treating them as just the Pokemon they are without the variation in their name? That's a bit silly, in my opinion, seeing as there are entire groups of trainers and Pokemon that are worthless in a cube if they aren't allowed their special name variation, as some of the best trainers affect only Pokemon with a certain name variation, and some of the best PokePowers/PokeBodies do the same.
Click to expand...

Sorry about it, my statement was a bit vague. The Pokemon currently in the Cube that this effects:
Misty's Horsea
Brock's Vulpix
Dark Gengar
Team Magma's Houndour

All benefits and other effects still matter for these Pokemon, except for evolution restrictions. This is mainly what I meant. Normally, Misty's Horsea can only evolve into a Misty's Seadra or Dark Gengar can only evolve from a Dark Haunter. As far as the Cube is concerned, these Pokemon are treated as 'normal', meaning there is no evolution restriction. For example, Dark Gengar can evolve from any Haunter in the Cube and Misty's Horsea can evolve into any Seadra.
 
Overlord Drakow

Overlord Drakow

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I've played the cube for YGO before and it was pretty awesome. It would be cool to have a cube list for the Pokemon TCG too but I'm not sure how to go about standardizing a list.
 

PokeCuber

5
Posts
11
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  • Seen Oct 16, 2012
Drakow said:
I've played the cube for YGO before and it was pretty awesome. It would be cool to have a cube list for the Pokemon TCG too but I'm not sure how to go about standardizing a list.
Click to expand...


We have a list! We have been working on the Cube for about a year and documented some of the progress at pokecube.com.
 

PokeCuber

5
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11
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  • Seen Oct 16, 2012
Drakow said:
Well if you'd like, feel free to bring the list over and the members here might have suggestions to make.
Click to expand...

Here is the current list:
Spoiler:
 
Last edited:
Overlord Drakow

Overlord Drakow

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You should probably add spoiler tags to your list so it doesn't stretch the page so much. But anyway, I'm curious as to how you've gone about creating this list. Could you explain your approach and give reasons as to why you've chosen to include the Pokemon families you did? Basically what process did you utilize to get the list as it currently stands?
 

PokeCuber

5
Posts
11
Years
  • Seen Oct 16, 2012
Drakow said:
You should probably add spoiler tags to your list so it doesn't stretch the page so much. But anyway, I'm curious as to how you've gone about creating this list. Could you explain your approach and give reasons as to why you've chosen to include the Pokemon families you did? Basically what process did you utilize to get the list as it currently stands?
Click to expand...

One of the biggest influences in the Cube was to have no card appear more than once. For the Pokemon chains this meant they had to have a certain number of printings before they could even be considered. Right now for Stage 2 lines the break down is 8 Basics, 6 Stage 1, and 4 Stage 2. For the Stage 1 lines it is: 6 Basics and 4 Stage 1. We were interested in playing with Infernape, but because there haven't been 8 different Chimchar printed, the line wouldn't fit with the Cube. These numbers were chosen to make sure there was a critical mass of certain Pokemon to make sure players could draft enough to build decks where they hit their evolutions.

After we had these numbers, we started looking for lines that shared a relative power level and would be strong/fun enough to play. We have made changes as we have played and tweaked the Cube to what lines are in based on this criteria. For example, Charizard, Blastoise, and Ledian were all in the Cube at one point, but have been changed out for different lines.

We also decided to include 1 Stage 2 chain and 1 Stage 1 chain to diversify what Pokemon where included in the Cube as well as give players different options when drafting. We then included some Basic Pokemon in each type that don't evolve to help round out decks and also add some diversity. We also included Eevee because it provided a unique option to evolving, provided six different types the line can branch into.

The rest of the spots were filled with powerful Trainers/Supporters/Stadium/Item cards. These cards help the decks flow and work, while also providing some powerful effects. This is also a way to be able to play with some of the most powerful cards from the Pokemon TCG game, putting Super Energy Removal with Reshiram.

We ultimately decided to leave ex/EX Pokemon out of the Cube for power balance reasons. Ex would unbalance many of the lines in the Cube, while further skewing the power level between Basics and Stage 1 and 2. Also, many of the Trainer/Supporter cards don't work or work different with Exs, making some cards worse or situational. Ex and EX are treated as different things in the rules, but function as the same. This means that cards that don't work with ex Pokemon work with EX Pokemon, creating further confusion.The power level of some of the new EX Pokemon is so high that they are better than many Stage 2, which would warp the Cube.
 
Overlord Drakow

Overlord Drakow

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Except for the Dark Type which only has stage one guys, haha. While I do agree that EX cards are pretty OP, just as there are OP trainers in the cube there should be some EX cards as well in my opinion. You can treat EX and ex as the same for the purpose of trainer / supporter cards and such. You don't have to include the best of the best EX cards though but I do think a couple should be thrown in. Stuff like Regigigas, Registeel, Groudon, Raikou Giratina, Shaymin are possible ones to throw into the cube. But otherwise I think you guys have done a real good job in constructing this cube.
 
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