PKMN TCG Help

[Elekidkid]

So next semester, my roommate, some friends, and myself will be bringing our old Pokémon cards with us to have some fun pkaying the TCG game. I, however, am going to have to teach them how to play because they never really played as much as collected. Any advice that I could pass on to new players using cards from no later than the first Gym Leader set (but probably not even that far out)?

[mr_pikachu]

Er, advice? I'd start with rule changes before moving to tactics.

Let's see... stuff since the Gym sets... might want to start by mentioning new card types. Supporters, Stadiums (for the pre-Gym players), Tools (the people who played during Gym Heroes/Challenge might recognize Gold Berry as being similar), Pokemon-ex, Pokemon-*... can't think of any more offhand, but that's a start.

Other new stuff... I think there have been some changes for how Baby Pokemon work (the "baby flip" as it is often called), Pokemon Powers are now Poke-Powers and Poke-Bodies, and... uh... I'm too tired to think of more right now. But you get the point.

Also, it'd be a good idea to mention Delta Species Pokemon before any of you use or play against them. That could be quite confusing if they aren't prepared for them.

Yup. Rule changes first, then tactics. Always a good idea to complete the base before building a titanic skyscraper. ^_^

[Roarkiller]

If it's before the gym sets, then IMO you'd be better off just sticking with the old rules i.e. playing the way it was 3 yrs ago before the PUSA takeover. Reason being because the new rules are more suited for advanced play, and you're just playing for fun.

Or if you want to include the new rules, well, then the only ones you need to know are these:

-no drawing on the first turn of the game (first player only, 2nd player allowed)
-retreating only allowed once per turn
-only one stadium card playable per turn

On advice on how to play... you're playing for fun. Only please try to explain the status effects (sleep, poison etc) clearly. No real advice needed. However, a few guidelines for the slightly advanced when building a deck:

-stock up on card-drawing ad search trainers, mainly oak and com search. Bill, pkmn traders and others for more examples. And these should take up about 25 cards, give or take (guidelines for BEGINNERS, remember)

-Don't put so many different pkmn in one deck. If you're playing evo lines, a maximum of two.

-Play BBP (big basic pkmn); basically a basic pkmn that can fight alone by itself. It may have lots of HP like scyther or chansey, or it can be fast/hard hitting, like Erika's Jigglypuff.

-Not too much energy please. 18 max.

Here's a beginner's deck I used to recommend for those just starting out, back when these sets were still legal:

Pkmn(12)
4 charmander
4 charmeleon
4 electabuzz

Trainers(30)
3 oak
3 bill
3 com search
3 itemfinder
3 potion
1 super potion
4 gust of wind
2 switch
2 pkmn traders
4 pluspower
2 nightly garbage run

Energy
8 fire
6 lightning
4 double colorless

A lot of rares, I know. But note that this was for beginners who wanted a taste of REAL stuff. You could use other pkmn, of course. Some cheap stuff I recommend are seaking, dodrio, beedrill, dewgong.

EDIT: Edited first rule amendment, was ambiguous.

[Perfect Chaos]

wow, i actually recognize ALOT of those cards you posted in your beginner's deck Roar. That's funny considering how I haven't even looked at Pokemon cards since like the 7th grade lol.

[Elekidkid]

Haha, wow, maybe that's why my decks were always so meh back in the day. I'd always have a lot of Pokémon and a decent amount of energy, but I'd run short on the Trainer cards.

But yeah, Roarkiller, I don't see us getting so into it that we'd actually buy the cards when we could just as easily use whatever we've got available to us, as you said.

[Roarkiller]

So did I. The first deck I made from scratch had like 10 or so trainers, with energy and pkmn an even distribution. Still, it was pretty decent, because it had the most important thing: focus. Put simply, it had a strategy, an idea. Poliwrath and dragonair (and smthng else, I forgot), the idea was energy removal. Poliwrath was the powerhouse (despite only having one), and I had at least 4 removals, so I did decent.

That deck I posted is actually a restyled version of the 2nd deck I built, after getting some tips from better players. It also had magmar and a LOT less trainers, but then I didn't know how to handle fast decks then, and of course, the usual lack of cash meant... you know. Still it did a LOT better than the removal deck since it was at least based on speed and power, and later when I combined both deck ideas and further tweaking, I was already a player most others didn't stand a chance against.

My infamous Deck of Hell (sneasel/chansey) changed the history of competitions in my country, but that's another story. I still have it though, and it's still one of THE strongest unlimited deck in my country. It was already designed to take down Copycat/Removal decks, but even the modified raindance had a tough time taking it down.

Okay enough bragging, let's hear your story