Gambit49x said:
1) When does modified format rotate out?
1st September is the start of a new season. Usually it is announced a few weeks prior what the next format will be.
Gambit49x said:
2) Are non-meta decks even competitive or do you have to play the meta to do well?
You can do well with non-meta decks and meta decks and you can just as easily to bad with both. However to actually be able to build a non-meta deck and do well with it requires a good amount of knowledge on whatever the metagame at the time consists of. Also sometimes the card pool may not allow a lot of non-meta decks to be competitive. It's often easier to just use a meta deck, and just adjust to your local metagame usually through appropriate teching. However that's not to say you can just pick up a meta deck with no testing, roll into a tournament, and expect to go X-0. If you don't put in the time to test and if you don't know the metagame you'll get rocked.
Gambit49x said:
3) What is the basic breakdown of a deck? (ie: how many Pokemon/trainers/energy, how many different evolution lines/Pokemon)
It's usually 10-15 Pokemon, 25-35 Trainers and 10-14 Energy. These numbers won't add up to 60 as these are just rough guidelines. Some decks (if allowed to) can exceed the amount of pokemon in exchange for the Trainers and Energy and still be competitive e.g. Gothitelle/Accelgor variants.
Gambit49x said:
4) Best pack to buy ATM? I've purchased only BW-on packs lately and today picked up a Plasma Trainers Kit thing. Also my current deck is the White Kyurem structure deck (that with recent pulls I plan on moding to my liking)
You should focus less on buying packs and focus on buying singles for now. Specifically, you should be look for "The Staples"; The Trainers that ALL decks run in order to function effieciently. These include:
Ultra Ball
Pokemon Catcher (A luxury card, but it does give players a great advantage)
Professor Juniper
Colress
N
Bianca
Skyla
Rare Candy (Only for Stage 2 decks, but a staple nonetheless)
All other Trainer cards would either be, what i call 'Utility' cards (Tool Scrapper, Max Potion .etc) or be specific to certain decks like how Dark Patch is a staple in all Darkrai decks. There are also ACE Spec Trainer cards which would fall under the same line as Dark Patch as there are specific ACE Spec cards which would benefit some decks better than others (Gold Potion is better in decks that like to tank, Computer Search is better in fast & set-up decks .etc)
Gambit49x said:
5) Can you use older cards if they have been reprinted in new sets?
Yes. (Barring Pokemon of course) If you are playing a card that has had text significantly modified in later printings, you must have a copy of a card with the most recent printing outside your deck available as a reference for your opponent. In a few cases, if a card has changed dramatically from it's originally named version, the old version is not allowed at all (Pokémon Center, for example).
Gambit49x said:
6) Is there anyway a Sandslash deck could be modified legal right now? Haha
As far as i can remember, there is no Sandslash card in the modified format, and if these is, then it's so absymal that it isn't even worth noting outside of jokes.
