new to pokemon. Basic questions

[tripitaka]

Hi,

In the basic Pokemon Black and White TCG. There are 3 theme decks (Blue assault, Green tornado, and Red Frenzy), and 4 different booster packs.

If i just buy one of these theme decks can i get all of the other possible cards 114 in total i think by just buying the booster packs? Are there any differences between the booster packs apart from their packaging or are they all just a random selection of 10 cards - some rare, some common, foil etc?

Is there any reason you'd buy all 3 theme decks?

Expansions: now there are also other version of Black and white. Emerging Powers, noble victories, next destinies, and dark explorers. these come with theme decks and booster packs also. Can i just buy the booster packs for these expansions and add these cards to my my original theme decks (Blue assault etc.) or do i need to buy one of these theme decks too?

Sorry for the dumb questions, really new!

 

[donavannj]

The main reason you'd buy the theme decks is to get energy for any decks you'd want to build. That or to save yourself time in getting some very good trainers (and sometimes even very good support Pokemon are included in the theme decks) that are considered staples of almost every deck. Every single card in a set can be gotten through its booster packs. There are no cards that are exclusive to the theme decks (except that the energy included in the theme decks have no set symbol on them and no collector's number, iirc). The only exclusive cards to theme decks are that some of the cards that are normally holofoil in the set are printed without that holofoil pattern in the theme deck, and some of the holofoil cards included in the theme decks have a special holofoil pattern that you wouldn't get on the version in the boosters, but those cards aren't really anything special.

And there are actually a few "secret" rares in each set, where the collector's number on the card is higher than the total stated on the card. Those pulls are the very hard to get ones. ;)

 

[tripitaka]

and the 4 expansions (emerging powers etc), these cards can be used in the base decks to play the game or should they/do they need to be kept separate?

thanks

 

[donavannj]

They most certainly can be used together. You can even mix in the older sets as you like. But only certain sets can be used at tournaments. I made a thread containing a list of them here: https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=265503

 

[tripitaka]

Thanks donavannj,

a few more questions

If i was given a pokemon character card, how do i find out which version/expansion he/she came from. eg. Tepig is from black and white

is there an identifier on the card? And don't some of the characters appear in several versions? Is there a list of all of these characters and when they were introduced?

do you know of any good online resources?

thanks

 

[donavannj]

There is a symbol on the bottom right corner of the card that identifies which set the card is from.

As for online resources, I'll link some later when I'm not posting from my phone.