how 2 git gud?

[Necnix]

So, I've been playing Pokemon for a long time now. Since Diamond, in fact. But I've always enjoyed the TCG more than the games.
For starters, the game is never repetitive- Every battle plays out differently. Due to how many variants there are of the same Pokemon, you can have 5... Let's just say, Pikachus, and most of them will have unique move names and whatnot. I say move names alone because it's hard to balance out good damage and good effects with a weaker Pokemon. With some Pokemon, there will be completely unique moves in both their effects, names and damage.
Second of all, the game requires a level of skill for you to even play it properly. Unlike Pokemon where 90% of the story battles require one single attack,most of the time the attack itself doesn't matter, in the TCG there are rules you need to know to even play it properly, you need to have a decent semblance of strategic know-how, so on, so forth. Unlike the main games.

And because i enjoy the TCG so much, i wanted to try to play it semi-competitively. I may not be playing in tournaments or anything, but i want to be better at the game, maybe even get into playing it seriously. Thing is, i have no idea where to start.
-How do i figure out card rarities?
-What percentage do you have of getting cards of each rarity?
-Where should i go to figure out the rare cards i should be going for? For example, the silver and gold cards; how do i find out when things like those release?
-Are specialised stores for card games and the like effective, or do i just buy from EBGames/Gamestop?
-How do i build a deck? What do i need? What criteria should it satisfy? What do i build the deck around?
-How does a player need to think and strategise in this game? What should i be thinking about? What should i be looking for?

 

[donavannj]

So, I've been playing Pokemon for a long time now. Since Diamond, in fact. But I've always enjoyed the TCG more than the games.
For starters, the game is never repetitive- Every battle plays out differently. Due to how many variants there are of the same Pokemon, you can have 5... Let's just say, Pikachus, and most of them will have unique move names and whatnot. I say move names alone because it's hard to balance out good damage and good effects with a weaker Pokemon. With some Pokemon, there will be completely unique moves in both their effects, names and damage.
Second of all, the game requires a level of skill for you to even play it properly. Unlike Pokemon where 90% of the story battles require one single attack,most of the time the attack itself doesn't matter, in the TCG there are rules you need to know to even play it properly, you need to have a decent semblance of strategic know-how, so on, so forth. Unlike the main games.

And because i enjoy the TCG so much, i wanted to try to play it semi-competitively. I may not be playing in tournaments or anything, but i want to be better at the game, maybe even get into playing it seriously. Thing is, i have no idea where to start.
-How do i figure out card rarities?
-What percentage do you have of getting cards of each rarity?
-Where should i go to figure out the rare cards i should be going for? For example, the silver and gold cards; how do i find out when things like those release?
-Are specialised stores for card games and the like effective, or do i just buy from EBGames/Gamestop?
-How do i build a deck? What do i need? What criteria should it satisfy? What do i build the deck around?
-How does a player need to think and strategise in this game? What should i be thinking about? What should i be looking for?

1. Could you expand on what you mean by this? You looking for a breakdown of each rarity level?

2. That's not something I know offhand, and it varies from set to set anyway (typing this quickly before heading out to dig out my car before work, so apologies for brevity; also trying to hammer out an answer to the other thread from Saturday night before work, too).

3. Picking cards you like the effects of that seem like they'd work well together. Most decks should be fairly Energy light compared to the theme decks and trainer heavy. Pokemon numbers should depend on the Pokemon you use but any Pokemon that doesn't contribute to the focus of your deck or to countering decks that are strong against yours should not be in your list.

 

[dot hash]

Well, it can be overwhelming at first until you practice a lot and get familiar with things.



First to understand, there are different formats of the card game. So there's -
Standard: This is where people use the cards that are considered 'current' so the newest sets and a few sets before the newest are the only ones allowed (with some reprint exceptions). In my opinion this is the easiest place to start, because most people writing blogs or making videos about it will have info about the cards used in this format, and it is a smaller number of cards and tactics for you to get familiar with. You can learn the basics of Standard format in a couple of weeks of playing it and remember what most cards do.
Expanded: This is all the newer cards but then loads of older ones too, and ones that are not used in Standard. In my opinion it is harder to do well in this format for beginners because there are a lot of cards, and many people playing it have practiced with their cards for a long time and new players can be defeated in like 2 turns.
Unlimited: This is all the cards, and I would strongly advise against it for new players.



Next thing that may help, is download and play the Pokémon online trading card game, it's free, and will teach you the basics through tutorials on how to play properly, and will give you access to a database of all the cards and filters to quickly see what is usable in each format, and which cards you want to try and get. It will also give you a taste for what decks and cards other players use often, and how they play.
I would suggest playing this for a couple of weeks before you start buying cards irl if possible, to save yourself from wasting money.



I would also say, it doesn't really matter about how rare a card is. Usually you can buy single cards anyway on ebay or from online stores if you really need a particular card. But also, many great cards are not so rare at all. Especially not the ones you should use while you learn how to build better decks.
There are some cards that are considered 'staples' though, that 'everyone' uses in their basic decks. It would be worth looking for blogs about those, trainer cards that are most common tend to involve drawing more cards, or switching Pokémon around or removing/adding energy cards

Usually, people tend to have a couple of different Pokémon the deck is based around, either for their abilities, attacks, or other functions, Pokémon that compliment each other and work together. They will use multiple copies of the same cards usually depending on how frequently they need to draw that card. Then they will use Trainer cards that suit those Pokémon, making them faster to put into action, or boosting their attacks, or other things. Then lastly you need to make sure you have the right amount of energy cards. A common mistake people make is putting too many energy cards in a deck, because really you only want the amount you need, or they will take up valuable draw space that could be used for other more effective cards. Usually trainer cards make up the largest number of cards in a deck unless there is some other special theme.
Mostly it all comes down to just practicing a lot to learn more cards, like you can only really understand more about how to play by doing it yourself and learning.

The official Pokémon website has some basic guides on making decks that are okay for beginners. Strategies really vary a lot for each person, and opinions will vary depending on who you ask. Things like being able to draw more cards than your opponent can give you an advantage, or being able to attach more energy each turn, or evolving your Pokémon faster, it really depends on how you want to play.
I'd say your best option is play the online game a lot to get familiar with things, or if you don't want to do that, watch a lot of videos on youtube of battles, or read blogs about it.