HELP! Getting back in Pokemon & feeling lost...

killr_dude said:

I started playing when it first came out. Was around until Team Rocket came out. Sold all my cards (bad move) and now I'm looking to get back into it. I'm looking to buy a few different booster boxes to get me started a bit quicker. Yes I know it's cheaper to buy singles to build decks and what not but I will get there eventually. Been looking around and it seems you can buy a few boxes for as cheap as $70 all the way up until a few thousand. I'm looking to spend $2-300, maybe a bit more and was looking at getting at least 2 boxes. So Anyone have a run down on all that is going on now? or anyone have any tips on what I should purchase? I will be using the cards to play so keep that in mind and I also would like to pull something pretty sweet so keep that in mind too. So drop some knowledge on me and help a guy out. Thanks!

Click to expand...

donavannj said:

So what level of play are you trying to get to? Casual with friends? Local league level play? Making it to tournaments level of play?

My suggestion for a starting place to build a deck is to get one of the two Team Up theme decks as they have several solid cards and decent Pokemon included in them. If you're planning on going to a league, maybe get two decks of whichever deck you choose, as that will give you a full playset of the star Pokemon of that deck plus a play set of several decent/good trainer cards - particularly Cynthia - and some decent support Pokemon - Nidoqueen in the case of the Charizard deck, and Pidgeotto in the case of the Blastoise deck. *Then* go buy a booster box or two. Anything older than Sun & Moon is not worth buying a booster box for *if* you plan on playing at a local league, as most leagues support only the Standard format, which is only the Sun & Moon sets (any set with Sun & Moon as the prefix), the Sun & Moon promos, and the Shining Legends set.

Booster boxes of any of Lost Thunder, Team Up, Ultra Prism, or Guardians Rising should give you your best shot at pulling fun stuff you can use, but I can guarantee you probably won't pull enough basic energy from booster boxes, so you'll want to either buy a box of just basic energy or maybe get an Elite Trainer Box to get sleeves.

Also, from a vet player to someone just getting back in: always sleeve your deck. Preferably use Dragon Shield sleeves as they're the best on the market and have been for close to a decade. And get matte Dragon Shield sleeves rather than glossy ones. Glossy sleeves in general tend to stick to each other more so they're harder to shuffle. Oh, and get a playmat of some kind. It'll make your cards easier to slide off the table period.

Click to expand...

killr_dude said:

My deck will be for playing with friends and whatever I can find around town, tournaments or league play. Used to roll hitmonchan-hitmonlee deck back in the day. Also had a decent charizard deck. Always a good battle between my buddies Blastoise deck. I won the 1st tournament our local shop had against him even though technically he should of won. Long story but anyways, thanks for a good starting point. I'm going to look into it all Friday when i'm off work and I'll up date you on the route I choose. I always used sleeves back in the day and will for sure grab some for these. Thanks for the input and if anyone else has anything to add feel free.

Click to expand...

Spirit Shackle said:

So I'll be the Competitive Voice of Reason:tm: that says "just buy singles silly"

Build a deck to decide what to buy, then buy it. That said, if you're in the market for a Big Ol Box, picking up a Team Up one and just seeing what big scary things you get wouldn't be a bad idea as a deck starter. Not terribly cost-effective, but WAY more fun.

Click to expand...

donavannj said:

One more suggestion I have as a way to refresh your knowledge of how to play as well as to catch onto what has changed in the basic rules is that you should pick up one of the Sun & Moon Trainer Kits. It basically holds your hand through the first 7 turns or so of a game, iirc.

Some of the basic rules have changed because of cards that were game-breaking by abusing specific parts of the previous rulesets, but most are the same.

One thing that has changed and trips nearly everyone new to or getting back into the game: if you go first, you cannot attack on your first turn, but if you go second, you *can* attack on your first turn. Trainer cards can be used on *every* turn.

Click to expand...

killr_dude said:

Had to run to walmart after picking up the kiddo and decided to see what they had on clearance if anything. Kid wanted the charizard ex box so we got that for $12. Didn't think that was a bad deal. They also had a few elite trainer boxes for $30. They had breakthrough, breakpoint, fates colide and sun and moon. Any of those worth the $30? Then they had a bunch of tins for $13, machamp, volcanion, leafeon, blastoise, magearna, pikachu, latios, and venusaur. Not sure if any of those would be worth anything. So any input would be appreciated. Oh ya, also looking at a ultra prism booster box for $140. Didn't know if that'd be a decent price. Thanks again.

Click to expand...

donavannj said:

If you're just playing with friends, they elite trainer boxes are worth $30 because they come with 8 packs, sleeves, damage counter dice, a coin flip die, and burn and poison counters. Sun and Moon is the only one of the Elite Trainer boxes that contains packs from a set legal in standard if you choose to try to go to a standard league, though. And most leagues run on the standard format. All of those cards would be legal in the expanded format, though.

Most of those tins will be fine for casual play but not for moving onto a league, as iirc every one of those tins contains a card that's legal in expanded but not standard, and as I mentioned earlier in this post, most leagues run standard as their format. Some, like the one I go to, do run Expanded instead.



While that would pretty high if it were a new booster box, it looks like that's on the low end of where UltraPrism boxes sit for price now.

Click to expand...

Items (can play as many of these a turn as you wish)

Supporters (can play one per turn, unless an effect in play states otherwise - these replace the really powerful trainer cards like Bill, Lass and Prof Oak)

Stadiums (I actually think these MAY have been around when you last played, i am sure Gym series 1 had a stadium. These remain in play, you can play one per turn and they effect both players. You can use a Stadium that is in play in a turn and replace it with a new stadium, but only if said stadium was in play before your current turn started)

Tools (attach to a specific pokemon, stay in play unless stated otherwise or hit by effects of another card)

Click to expand...

donavannj said:

If you're just playing with friends, they elite trainer boxes are worth $30 because they come with 8 packs, sleeves, damage counter dice, a coin flip die, and burn and poison counters. Sun and Moon is the only one of the Elite Trainer boxes that contains packs from a set legal in standard if you choose to try to go to a standard league, though. And most leagues run on the standard format. All of those cards would be legal in the expanded format, though.

Most of those tins will be fine for casual play but not for moving onto a league, as iirc every one of those tins contains a card that's legal in expanded but not standard, and as I mentioned earlier in this post, most leagues run standard as their format. Some, like the one I go to, do run Expanded instead.



While that would pretty high if it were a new booster box, it looks like that's on the low end of where UltraPrism boxes sit for price now.

Click to expand...

Hands said:

If you want to buy a couple of booster boxes I'd suggest nothing prior to ultra prism. Ultra Prism onward is safe from the next rotation, we dunno if Crimson Invasion and Shining Legends are.


There is currently a pretty ok Charizard build going around, and you can get MOST of what you need for it from buying two of the Team Up Charizard theme decks (including 4x Cynthia, which is about as close to the old Professor Oak card as you will get in this format)



A lot has changed since you last played



Player who goes first cannot attack on turn 1, but does now draw a card (I dont remember the ruleset of base-rocket, but in the first EX era you couldn't draw on T1, but you could attack)


Trainers are now spilt up into four groups




There are now different classes of Pokemon

GX - usually very powerful, but will cost you two prizes when they are knocked out.

Prism Star - Can only have one copy of each per deck, usually have a very good supportive effect (Ditto prism acts as a basic for any stage 1. You can also have prism stadiums, supporters and energy, which follow the same rule)

Regular pokemon (these work the same as the old ones and make up the bulk of cards)


Poke-Powers are replaced by abilities, which are a lot more present than Poke-Powers were


Other than that, the core mechanics are the same. Attach an energy per turn manually (though a lot of cards exist to speed this up), play any item or pokemon you can/want to, use any ability that needs to be activated and then either retreat or attack or pass turn.

Click to expand...

killr_dude said:

Thanks for the reply. Sorry I'm just getting back to ya. I haven't pulled the trigger on a booster or 2 yet. Thanks for that input though. I was thinking of grabbing a team up and a lost thunder or forbidden light. I'm cheap so trying to get the best deal on some. lol Might have to check out that theme deck. I started playing online a bit so I'm sort of getting some of the new ways things go with the trainers and what not. I'm still trying to learn about the new classes and how everything with those works. Couple buddies said they'd lend me a deck to get caught up with but haven't had time to go hang out with them. So for now I'm keeping an eye out on some deals and should have a deck going shortly. Thanks again for the reply, you helped clarify a few things.

Click to expand...