Help a 23 Year Old Return to TCG?

I

iamnotlame

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Hey guys!

Just taking this opportunity to introduce myself, my name is Adam, im 23, and i first started collecting Pokemon as a kid. I sort of "grew out of" pokemon when i was 12, slowly stopped by the cards and slowly stopped playing the games. When fire red came back out, i got back into playing the games, and about 4-5 years ago i got back into collecting the WOTC cards. I started a youtube channel along with this, iamnotlame. Since then ive been collecting the older cards regularly.

For some reason, i wanna get back into the card game now, but no very very little about it! Im based in the UK, and the closest official league to me is an hour and a halfs drive away (I live in the North East, about 40 minutes away from Newcastle).

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvrOtf3apYE[/video]

The video sort of explains my current situation.

So im looking at what I should be doing to get back into TCG. What series of cards should I be looking to buy, what resources do i need to check for decks, strategies, latest TCG news and so on.

I see this as a journey, and if it is of interest to you guys, would be happy to share my experiences of a noob learning on my blog, or through youtube videos. If no one is interested then I won't bother you with all of that haha.

So id like to say thank you to everyone in advance for helping me out!

Look forward to your replies guys!
 
RE: Help a 23 year old return to TCG

Moved to New Player Help because this forum is for either new or returning players to get into the basics of the game.
 
RE: Help a 23 year old return to TCG

King Arceus said:
Moved to New Player Help because this forum is for either new or returning players to get into the basics of the game.
Click to expand...

Thank you, sorry posting in the wrong area!
 
RE: Help a 23 year old return to TCG

What kind of budget are you on?

The main reason I ask that is because the game is expensive; and while there are ways to play it while spending relatively little money, it's a good thing to know before I can offer advice on how to proceed with the game.
 
RE: Help a 23 year old return to TCG

Blah said:
What kind of budget are you on?

The main reason I ask that is because the game is expensive; and while there are ways to play it while spending relatively little money, it's a good thing to know before I can offer advice on how to proceed with the game.
Click to expand...

Tbh its pretty much unlimited. Whilst I wont be spending thousands of pounds, Im an adult working full time, getting a decent salary so I can put money into this for serious play.

Look forward to your recommendations.
 
RE: Help a 23 year old return to TCG

*Edited*

First thing you want to do is try and obtain 4 copies of all the staple cards. Once you have those you'll have the basic backbone for all decks so then all you would need are the specific pokemon for whatever deck you want which you can get in the future. These are the cards you should track down:

Professor Juniper
N
Pokemon Catcher
Rare Candy
Ultra Ball

Other important cards that are worth investing in:

Computer Search (just get 1 of this, or any Ace Spec in general because you can only play 1 per deck)
Colress
Skyla
Caitlin
Float Stone
Tool Scrapper
Tropical Beach (Not completely necessary as you can live without it. If you do get it only get 1 or 2)


There are other cards like Bicycle, Silver Bangle and Hypnotoxic Laser then you should probably get as well, but those are usually deck specific cards as not all decks need those cards or can even use them due space or other reasons, but you can worry about that later once you're more knowledgeable about the game. Tropical Beach in English is an expensive card, however because the UK is part of Europe you're allowed to play a different language card provided the language is from a country within Europe; foreign Tropical Beaches are cheaper.

Because the nearest league to you is so far away it will be difficult to test decks (necessary) so you'll either need to use the Pokemon Trading Card Game Online (requires using codes from real life packs amoungst other things to get cards) or use PlayTCG or Redshark.
 
RE: Help a 23 year old return to TCG

Don't lie, Tropical Beach is not a staple card you should own four of, if any. Caitlin is neither.
 
RE: Help a 23 year old return to TCG

lol i need to read what i type.

I still think Caitlin is a nice card. It doesn't yield as many cards as Colress does (hand dependant of course) but you can just get rid of dead card and keep whatever you want in your hand. It's still better than Colress early game. Still early to be calling it a staple i guess. I shall make the edits
 
RE: Help a 23 year old return to TCG

Tins are an easy way to build up a collection of playable EX cards to supplement any deck. Keldeo, Rayquaza, Darkrai are all available and very playable still.
There are also the upcoming Plasma tins which can be used together to form the basis of a very competitive deck.
 
RE: Help a 23 year old return to TCG

I think playing online is deffo a good option.

Thanks for the lists of cards.

Is there a specific deck or decks i should start with? Or should i wait for a plasma tin? When will these be launched in the UK?
 
RE: Help a 23 year old return to TCG

No particular deck to start with. Though Blastoise/Keldeo would be fairly easy to build and play with. The sooner you start playing anything, the sooner you'll have a better grasp on the current game and you'll be able to build what you see fit.
 
Help a 23 year old return to TCG

Defz3r0 said:
No particular deck to start with. Though Blastoise/Keldeo would be fairly easy to build and play with. The sooner you start playing anything, the sooner you'll have a better grasp on the current game and you'll be able to build what you see fit.
Click to expand...
Tropical Beach?
Honestly I would suggest either TDK or Darkrai/Garbodor to a new player.
 
RE: Help a 23 year old return to TCG

The simplest advice I can give is play more. Find a competitive deck that looks interesting (Plasma is a decent start although it's a little hard to play, and if you're really on no budget then Blastoise is probably a good option), and start playing games. Online is a great place to start (playtcg.com) and if you build a deck in real life, finding a League in your area isn't a bad start either. Whenever you see or hear about a card that you don't know about, research it and look up what it does. This was probably the single most important thing I did when getting into the game; it allows you to figure out what decks are being played now, why they are being played, and how they work. Don't take every concept you see as competitive, as there are plenty of terrible decks that will pop up online or at a league, but knowing what cards are out there is a big deal.

Edit: @above post Not Darkrai/Garbodor. It's not only extremely hard to build and play, but it has issues with time in tournaments which is not something a completely new player should be worried about.
 
Help a 23 year old return to TCG

Blah said:
Edit: @above post Not Darkrai/Garbodor. It's not only extremely hard to build and play, but it has issues with time in tournaments which is not something a completely new player should be worried about.
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Kind of assumed he was going to net deck until he got good. It's not actually that hard to play and can actually be pretty straight forward. With the new tournament rules it shouldn't have a problem with time. If you feel it's complicated then speed Darkrai works too.
 
RE: Help a 23 year old return to TCG

The new tournament rules actually kill it with time; I'm not sure what the rules are in the UK, but 50 minutes bo3 basically means that if you lose game 1, it's incredibly difficult to win the match. Knowing what to junk hunt for and what to set up first in each matchup can become very complicated and is often a decision based on knowing what your opponent's deck can do, which is not something that a new player is going to know. It's fine once you get into the game, but for now, sticking with something simple like Plasma or Blastoise is the best option (I might suggest Virizion/Genesect, but building a list for that can be tricky).
 
Help a 23 year old return to TCG

Blah said:
The new tournament rules actually kill it with time; I'm not sure what the rules are in the UK, but 50 minutes bo3 basically means that if you lose game 1, it's incredibly difficult to win the match. Knowing what to junk hunt for and what to set up first in each matchup can become very complicated and is often a decision based on knowing what your opponent's deck can do, which is not something that a new player is going to know. It's fine once you get into the game, but for now, sticking with something simple like Plasma or Blastoise is the best option (I might suggest Virizion/Genesect, but building a list for that can be tricky).
Click to expand...
So you win round one. Also I find Darkrai/Garbodor increases skill level by a lot which is how I understand "getting back into the game". It is complicated as will every deck. However it will make you a better player.
 
RE: Help a 23 year old return to TCG

Thanks for the posts guys.

I foolishly looked for a blastoise deck to buy, then realised I would have to build this haha :p.

Ok I currently have a plasma expansion booster box as can be seen in the video. (Here it is again http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvrOtf3apYE)

Should I open this, or just keep it sealed (im also a collector) and buy all the single cards needed for the blastoise deck?

In terms of finding locals for my area, i've looked pretty hard the past week or so and literally can't find any. I have 1 friend who is going to start playing, so that will be someone to practice against, but i think online will be my main source of practice.

Me and my friend are going to buy a deck each just to get started, as there is no "recommended" deck to buy, is it literally just any plasma deck we should get?

I really appreciate the help guys. Im going to be documenting my progress on my youtube, along with my collection and general pokemon videos. It will be awesome to share this with you guys, and for you to see the help you're giving me put into practice.
 
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