Starting from scratch

[Loner_grunger]

Well guys, I haven't touched a pkm TCG card since... '06 or '07, and even then I had never played competively. I got rid of all my cards (yes.. i know T_T), and now that I'm into pkm again I wanted to know how should I start? Do buying boosters or a deck or something else? Any help will be pretty much appreciated. Thanks for reading.

 

[donavannj]

Well, to help yourself get re-familiarized with the rules, you should buy the Black & White Trainer Kit. That'll help you re-teach yourself, and it comes with a few decent trainers that are staples in many decks.

 

[Nesferxty]

As for purchasing cards, it depends whether or not you are going to collect the 'old' cards or newer. I've recently decided to re-collect all my old cards (dispute with my little brother and my cards...he now claims they are his even though they are from 5 years before he was born >_<) and i've been mainly buying lots of eBay, its definately the best source if you can't get out and about to places. Other places such as garage/carboot sales, local ads in the paper and the likes can be good places to get a bargin.

If you are going for the newer cards definately look online rather that in the shops, you can find them 10 times cheaper! And make sure you check out Bulbapedia for a list of all the cards you get in each deck so you can decide whether its worth buying one or just sticking to boosters.

Hope that helps!

 

[Loner_grunger]

Ok guys I bought a BW starter kit and I gotta say that the rules haven't changed that much. How do I know which cards are now banned and that kind of info? Is there a page or something I may read to learn?

 

[donavannj]

Well, it's easier to see what cards are legal instead. I have compiled a list of legal sets here in the thread linked to below:

https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=265503

If a card was reprinted in one of those sets, the newest version of the card is the wording to go by (and, in the cases of trainers like Bill from the Base Set, it adopts the card type of the new version, which is considered Trainer - Supporter under the new Black & White version of the rules), not the wording on the older version(s).

For a Pokemon from an older set to be usable, it has to have the attacks, energy costs, HP, and such that are a perfect match for a reprinted version of the card, provided there is a reprint in a tournament-legal set.

If you want to see if a specific card is tournament legal, PokeGym has an easily searchable database that defaults to the "Modified" format (a name commonly used to refer to what is tournament-legal) here: www.pokegym.net/tower/

 

[LEXAcide]

My option is to just invest $100 into Pokemon. Buy the staple cards...

Buy 4 PONT, 4 Catchers, 4 Juniper, 4 etc....

just buy staples. Invest the rest into Booster Packs. I recommend BW: Dark Explorers since it does have useful cards. Including N, Rare Candy, Ultra Ball, Heavy Ball, Cheren, etc.

I just started on May 5th and I just completed my deck completely yesterday.

Good Luck!