Getting into the card game

As I seem to be making my way through much of the major sections of this place, my next stop was the card game. I used to have the big box set that first came out. (As in, this one (inserting link because the actual picture keeps dominating my text and breaking it up https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51PHBTX31FL._SY450_.jpg)) It's been forever since I played it. So, from what I'm gathering now, that's called a Trainer Kit. So is it ever worth it to have more than one of these? It doesn't seem like it because this seems geared towards a first timer (with instructions and all that) so it's kind of like once you have it, you don't get another one. It also seems to split the deck (30 cards for each player instead of 60 from what I think is what you're supposed to do) but that kind of leaves me curious as to why that is? Is it to make the game go faster/not to overwhelm a new player(s)?

So with that trainer kit stuff out of the way, I basically grasp the concept of a theme deck, a little. It has what works for a new card set, like a matching coin and playmat, etc and 60 cards. So where do all these tin things and boxes with cards come in? (Examples:
1- https://www.amazon.com/Pok%C3%A9mon-TCG-Triple-Power-Gyarados/dp/B01AAUSGMI/ref=pd_sim_21_8?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01AAUSGMI&pd_rd_r=V50HWRDZBQXED9Q9RNQY&pd_rd_w=Ir8eK&pd_rd_wg=k1PCI&psc=1&refRID=V50HWRDZBQXED9Q9RNQY Tin
2- https://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-TCG-...rd_wg=OZviz&psc=1&refRID=BTF7K70268RB40CATN2H Box)
Are these just glorified booster packs/a bunch of booster packs for certain theme/theme decks? Do you build decks around those or add to them?
And speaking of theme decks, do they always have certain cards (as in, you could buy 80 theme decks of the same theme, and they always contain the same exact cards) or are they random like booster packs?

More questions (I always ask a ton of these on this site it seems, I probably annoy someone out there I'm sure). I don't want to play competitively at all, just with one other person, could we technically mix and match theme cards from several different things and play that way or would it turn into a cluster of confusion going that route? If we wanted to play/get a certain theme, would we always have to buy two theme decks to do that? Are booster packs just that, to boost a theme deck or to add different cards to a theme you like?

I read some topics around here, and some stickies, and it cleared up playing the actual game a lot and some of the basics of what to get but I'm still a little confused (see above wall of texts). Sorry if this has been asked a billion times (and explained just as much) before but I wasn't able to concretely answer some of these basic questions (which I'm sure some people are thinking dude seriously why did you ask X?)

Thanks for the help! It's much appreciated and definitely needed!

Twisting River said:

As I seem to be making my way through much of the major sections of this place, my next stop was the card game. I used to have the big box set that first came out. (As in, this one (inserting link because the actual picture keeps dominating my text and breaking it up https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51PHBTX31FL._SY450_.jpg)) It's been forever since I played it. So, from what I'm gathering now, that's called a Trainer Kit. So is it ever worth it to have more than one of these? It doesn't seem like it because this seems geared towards a first timer (with instructions and all that) so it's kind of like once you have it, you don't get another one. It also seems to split the deck (30 cards for each player instead of 60 from what I think is what you're supposed to do) but that kind of leaves me curious as to why that is? Is it to make the game go faster/not to overwhelm a new player(s)?

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Yeah, things have changed a lot since the Base Set days. The trainer kits are ok, but are really more for very early beginners. If you already understand the core game then they're worth skipping.

So with that trainer kit stuff out of the way, I basically grasp the concept of a theme deck, a little. It has what works for a new card set, like a matching coin and playmat, etc and 60 cards. So where do all these tin things and boxes with cards come in?

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The tins usually contain 4 (I think?) Boosters from varying sets and a promo. They're ok, but I don't really buy them as all my local stores charge less for 4 boosters on their own. Although it's a good way to get decent promo reprints like Zygarde EX and Hoopa EX that are both very competitive.

All these just glorified booster packs/a bunch of booster packs for certain theme/theme decks? Do you build decks around those or add to them?

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The boosters just have randomised cards from a set. A good thing to do is google set lists, have a look through to see what cards are in that set and focus on that set. Pull rates aren't too shocking in Pokemon (Ancient Origins and Fates Collide in my experience are both great sets for decent, consistent pulls)

And speaking of theme decks, do they always have certain cards (as in, you could buy 80 theme decks of the same theme, and they always contain the same exact cards) or are they random like booster packs?

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They're always the same 60 cards. Like, the Greninja BREAKPoint them deck (WaveSlasher I think) is always the same as all other WaveSlasher decks.

More questions (I always ask a ton of these on this site it seems, I probably annoy someone out there I'm sure). I don't want to play competitively at all, just with one other person, could we technically mix and match theme cards from several different things and play that way or would it turn into a cluster of confusion going that route? If we wanted to play/get a certain theme, would we always have to buy two theme decks to do that? Are booster packs just that, to boost a theme deck or to add different cards to a theme you like?

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If you're just playing with friends then unlimited format is fine and you can use anything, but decks still must be 60 cards and contain no more than x4 of a card (other than basic energy, which you can have as many as you'd like within the 60 limit)

Something I advise to all players, new or old, is to pick up one of the Rayquaza vs Keldeo Battle Arena packs. The pack contains two decks from the expanded format and both have a lot of fun and excellent cards in them. They run a lot better than theme decks and provide you with a ton of staples that are still usable in the standard format (Sycamores, Ns, VS Seekers, Dive Balls, Ultra Balls etc). I really can't recommend this package enough. As for adding to the decks, boosters and singles from eBay/buying groups are the way to go. Selling/Buying here is prohibited by the rules, but anyone from the tcg community here would happily point you in the right direction if you were indeed looking to purchase singles.

I read some topics around here, and some stickies, and it cleared up playing the actual game a lot and some of the basics of what to get but I'm still a little confused (see above wall of texts). Sorry if this has been asked a billion times (and explained just as much) before but I wasn't able to concretely answer some of these basic questions (which I'm sure some people are thinking dude seriously why did you ask X?)

Thanks for the help! It's much appreciated and definitely needed!

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It's absolutely fine, everyone needs to start somewhere and none of your questions were stupid ones.

Thanks for all your help! That definitely helps to clear up some of the confusion I had. I'll respond to a few points to better explain/make sure I understand things.

-While I myself have played before (long ago) the person I would be playing with has never played. So I was thinking a trainer kit might be good as both a refresher course for me and a teaching course for my partner. If it was just me and I just wanted to jump to playing in leagues or tournaments, I probably would skip out on the kits.

-I was looking at trainer kits and getting them confused with trainer boxes, which I guess have 80 or so cards in them? Are these just expanded theme decks with more goodies included in the package I guess?

-I'm mostly familiar with the first generation so I was interested in the Generations set of cards, the 20th anniversary sets (like the trainer box and such) also look pretty cool. I'm planning on branching out past generation one though as I want to explore the rest of the series but would the Generations set be a good place to start for now? It doesn't look like there's a Generations trainer kit though so I'll probably have to get something else just to start/learn with.

I'm drawing total blanks as to what else I was going to ask, long day so I'm a little foggy. I guess the last thing to ask for now is where to get decks/cards? Amazon seems to charge a few dollars more than buying locally from a retail chain. I have some comic/hobby shops near me that I haven't checked yet but do they typically charge more than an online retailer would? Would I be better off ordering from a certain site?

Twisting River said:

Thanks for all your help! That definitely helps to clear up some of the confusion I had. I'll respond to a few points to better explain/make sure I understand things.

-While I myself have played before (long ago) the person I would be playing with has never played. So I was thinking a trainer kit might be good as both a refresher course for me and a teaching course for my partner. If it was just me and I just wanted to jump to playing in leagues or tournaments, I probably would skip out on the kits.

-I was looking at trainer kits and getting them confused with trainer boxes, which I guess have 80 or so cards in them? Are these just expanded theme decks with more goodies included in the package I guess?

-I'm mostly familiar with the first generation so I was interested in the Generations set of cards, the 20th anniversary sets (like the trainer box and such) also look pretty cool. I'm planning on branching out past generation one though as I want to explore the rest of the series but would the Generations set be a good place to start for now? It doesn't look like there's a Generations trainer kit though so I'll probably have to get something else just to start/learn with.

I'm drawing total blanks as to what else I was going to ask, long day so I'm a little foggy. I guess the last thing to ask for now is where to get decks/cards? Amazon seems to charge a few dollars more than buying locally from a retail chain. I have some comic/hobby shops near me that I haven't checked yet but do they typically charge more than an online retailer would? Would I be better off ordering from a certain site?

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Ill edit this later with a detailed response

Those trainer boxes are like the MTG phat packs. They're 8 (10 in generations) random boosters, some cool dice, some.really horrible sleeves and a nice little box.

If you like 1st gen id really just hold out till evolutions releases as the whole set is first gen and features a lot of throwback art to original base set, I'm attending a prerelease for it in a few hours so will get some pics to show you

u could jst start using tcgo online. it will help u n ur friend started n learn ehat kind of deck playstyle u want

Hands said:

Ill edit this later with a detailed response

Those trainer boxes are like the MTG phat packs. They're 8 (10 in generations) random boosters, some cool dice, some.really horrible sleeves and a nice little box.

If you like 1st gen id really just hold out till evolutions releases as the whole set is first gen and features a lot of throwback art to original base set, I'm attending a prerelease for it in a few hours so will get some pics to show you

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Cool! If you can get some pictures that would be awesome. This set sounds awesome.

So after I looked around more and saw lots of videos, it looks like Booster Boxes are good for getting into a new set if you want to try and go for a full set. The Evolutions set looks really cool and I think getting the whole series would be awesome. I found the box for 95 dollars (which is well...expensive for never really getting into the card game much before). The only thing that's sort of a bummer is that it doesn't look like these boxes come with the stuff starter decks/trainer kits would. So should I get some other things to supplement a Booster Box if I wanted to play the game and not just simply collect the cards?

Twisting River said:

So after I looked around more and saw lots of videos, it looks like Booster Boxes are good for getting into a new set if you want to try and go for a full set. The Evolutions set looks really cool and I think getting the whole series would be awesome. I found the box for 95 dollars (which is well...expensive for never really getting into the card game much before). The only thing that's sort of a bummer is that it doesn't look like these boxes come with the stuff starter decks/trainer kits would. So should I get some other things to supplement a Booster Box if I wanted to play the game and not just simply collect the cards?

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1x Booster box
1x Keldeo vs Rayquaza Battle Arena kit

Then you should be set :)

So I'm going to make my first purchase over the weekend but was thinking this might be a little excessive. Here's what I was thinking:
-Booster Box of Evolutions
-Evolutions 2 theme decks (mewtwo and pikachu look cool)
-XY trainer kit, to learn to play the game
-XY elite trainer kit (both the charizard and blastoise ones, again, I like the theme of the boxes, the fact that come with a book explaining the XY stuff, markers, dice, etc.)

This totals to about 200 bucks (yikes!) but does this seem like overkill, or could this be justified?

Also, FYI to Hands, I haven't forgotten about the Keldeo vs Rayquaza set! That will be apart of my next order. :)

(Double Post, sorry)
Well I did it! I spent more money than I'm comfortable with but I figure this will be the only set I'll be going all out for. I got everything I listed in my previous post. Hopefully I get all the cards from this series with everything I bought, if not I'll buy individually what I missed. I also figure I can recover a little bit of my expenses by selling cards I have doubles of or multiple copies of.

I noticed none of what I bought came with a playmat. Are those really all that necessary? I understand the concept behind them (keep the cards from getting too beat up) but I'm not really concerned about resell value and the like once I get the cards and decide I want to keep them. I kind of like the concept of them, some of them look cool, but 20 dollars for a mat seems a little too much with everything else I bought in mind. Do they make playmats big enough for two players or are they all just all for a single player?

Twisting River said:

(Double Post, sorry)
Well I did it! I spent more money than I'm comfortable with but I figure this will be the only set I'll be going all out for. I got everything I listed in my previous post. Hopefully I get all the cards from this series with everything I bought, if not I'll buy individually what I missed. I also figure I can recover a little bit of my expenses by selling cards I have doubles of or multiple copies of.

I noticed none of what I bought came with a playmat. Are those really all that necessary? I understand the concept behind them (keep the cards from getting too beat up) but I'm not really concerned about resell value and the like once I get the cards and decide I want to keep them. I kind of like the concept of them, some of them look cool, but 20 dollars for a mat seems a little too much with everything else I bought in mind. Do they make playmats big enough for two players or are they all just all for a single player?

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Most of the sturdier playmats are just for a single player.

What you should do is get a pack of 100 card sleeves (like from Dragon Shield) and just use those sleeves on yours card when you play. They make the cards easier to pull off of tables in addition to protecting them when you're shuffling (and your cards WILL get frayed when not using sleeves for them, and they will fray very quickly; speaking from experience, and that fraying will make them more difficult to shuffle).

donavannj said:

Most of the sturdier playmats are just for a single player.

What you should do is get a pack of 100 card sleeves (like from Dragon Shield) and just use those sleeves on yours card when you play. They make the cards easier to pull off of tables in addition to protecting them when you're shuffling (and your cards WILL get frayed when not using sleeves for them, and they will fray very quickly; speaking from experience, and that fraying will make them more difficult to shuffle).

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I cannot recommend Dragonshield Mattes enough. Much better than the ultra pro equivalent and around the same price when numbers are taken into account.

If you get an ETB (Elite trainer box) at any point do NOT trust the sleeves in those, they will bend your cards awfully. They're fine to store an individual card in with a top loader, but that's about it.

I'll look around for good mats then for sure. I also decided I'm going to work on getting sleeves for all the cards. I figure if I'm spending 200+ dollars on cards I should at the very least spend a little extra to keep them in a good form. Is it a good to get sleeves for ALL the cards, or just the ones being played that day? I figure constantly taking cards in and out of a sleeve (like with option 2 I just mentioned) would me a little damaging in the long run as opposed to just spending a little extra to get sleeves for every card and leave them in there permanently.

Twisting River said:

I'll look around for good mats then for sure. I also decided I'm going to work on getting sleeves for all the cards. I figure if I'm spending 200+ dollars on cards I should at the very least spend a little extra to keep them in a good form. Is it a good to get sleeves for ALL the cards, or just the ones being played that day? I figure constantly taking cards in and out of a sleeve (like with option 2 I just mentioned) would me a little damaging in the long run as opposed to just spending a little extra to get sleeves for every card and leave them in there permanently.

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If you get one color of sleeves, I guess it reduces the amount of times the cards are pulled in and out of sleeves.

I tend to like to color code my decks so I know what I'm using, though. Maybe get penny sleeves (the clear plastic sleeves that are tight to the card) to put each card in and then slide the card while it's in the penny sleeve into the Dragon Shield sleeve. That should minimize damage if you're pulling the cards out of the sleeves.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I got a box this afternoon to store up to about 1000 cards, and five packs of 100 sleeves. They're the Ultra Pro kind, so they weren't top of the line but they're what I was looking for.

I'm trying to collect the whole base set now, I just ordered a full set of Trainers from the original base set, a bunch of energy cards (about 125...it was a good deal) and now I'm trying to get the original 151 cards. I found a lot on ebay that looks great and I sent the seller a question, if he comes back with good news I'll get it. All I need after that is the trainers from the other two early sets (jungle and fossil). I'm excited!!

I'm also going to look up play mats tonight and find a good lot of Ultra Pro cards.

Extremely excited edit: I just bought the original series, full! I got all 151 english release pokemon cards, all the trainers from the first three sets, the energy card lot. Super super excited!
No more card buying after this for a few months though...definitely spent way more than I should have! But I'm crazy excited. I wanted the original set (base set) since I was kid, now that I got the original 151 on top of that is nuts. Really happy right now!

Third edit: I just ordered a 10 pack of 100 card sleeves and two playmats with two tubes. They're Ultra Pro mats because I really liked the designs (Pikachu, Charizard). There's a cool pokeball design but it's not out until December. I was hoping to find a Squirtle mat but nothing came up.

Twisting River said:

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I got a box this afternoon to store up to about 1000 cards, and five packs of 100 sleeves. They're the Ultra Pro kind, so they weren't top of the line but they're what I was looking for.

I'm trying to collect the whole base set now, I just ordered a full set of Trainers from the original base set, a bunch of energy cards (about 125...it was a good deal) and now I'm trying to get the original 151 cards. I found a lot on ebay that looks great and I sent the seller a question, if he comes back with good news I'll get it. All I need after that is the trainers from the other two early sets (jungle and fossil). I'm excited!!

I'm also going to look up play mats tonight and find a good lot of Ultra Pro cards.

Extremely excited edit: I just bought the original series, full! I got all 151 english release pokemon cards, all the trainers from the first three sets, the energy card lot. Super super excited!
No more card buying after this for a few months though...definitely spent way more than I should have! But I'm crazy excited. I wanted the original set (base set) since I was kid, now that I got the original 151 on top of that is nuts. Really happy right now!

Third edit: I just ordered a 10 pack of 100 card sleeves and two playmats with two tubes. They're Ultra Pro mats because I really liked the designs (Pikachu, Charizard). There's a cool pokeball design but it's not out until December. I was hoping to find a Squirtle mat but nothing came up.

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Ultra pro mats are fine. You can get custom mats made up too via a few websites

Oh? I didn't know about that. Do they let you use any image? I imagine you can't use anything that's copyright protected.

Twisting River said:

Oh? I didn't know about that. Do they let you use any image? I imagine you can't use anything that's copyright protected.

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http://www.patriotgames.ltd.uk/store/product/20556/Custom-Playmat-24-x-14-inches/

http://www.inkedgaming.com/products/custom-playmat

http://www.erolj.com/

Use whatever image you want mate, these companies will print anything really.

There are sites these days that can print custom playmats of any size for you. I got a mat from yourplaymat.com and it came with all the specifications that I wanted at a very reasonable price. However, @Hands is wrong since it's illegal to use someone else's artwork without his or her consent