Help Returning after a loooong break

Ok guys so I got the 2 mach strike decks for £20 which is a steal after plenty of searching. I looked at the tcgplayer market but as I'm uk the delivery wipes out any savings.

What support cards would you recommend excluding the ultra balls? And is there an accepted ratio of support/energy/pokemon?

I've tried to get on the tcgo to practice but it isn't compatible with android oreo yet and I don' own a pc/laptop :(

Thank you to everyone who has helped this far. I really can't wait to get playing
 
Arc88 said:
Ok guys so I got the 2 mach strike decks for £20 which is a steal after plenty of searching. I looked at the tcgplayer market but as I'm uk the delivery wipes out any savings.

What support cards would you recommend excluding the ultra balls? And is there an accepted ratio of support/energy/pokemon?

I've tried to get on the tcgo to practice but it isn't compatible with android oreo yet and I don' own a pc/laptop :(

Thank you to everyone who has helped this far. I really can't wait to get playing
Click to expand...

Cynthia, Sycamore, N, Guzma are the staple supporters you’re going to want
A couple field blower, float stones, and choice bands are some staple items

Most decks run 8 to 18 Pokemon, and 4 to 12 energy (occasionally fire decks will run more) and fill the rest up with trainers

Good luck :D
 
Arc88 said:
Ok guys so I got the 2 mach strike decks for £20 which is a steal after plenty of searching. I looked at the tcgplayer market but as I'm uk the delivery wipes out any savings.

What support cards would you recommend excluding the ultra balls? And is there an accepted ratio of support/energy/pokemon?

I've tried to get on the tcgo to practice but it isn't compatible with android oreo yet and I don' own a pc/laptop :(

Thank you to everyone who has helped this far. I really can't wait to get playing
Click to expand...


Nice job on getting the two decks man! Yeah, it seems like people in the UK typically have issues ordering cards due to shipping :( I would give you some advice, but I live in the U.S. so its different for me.

@arulz pretty much mentioned the good ones. I would also add that brigette is an important staple in most decks right now as well. You should also pick up some up some Acerola just because it is used in a few decks.

Choice band, field blower, float stone, super rod are great trainers to pick up as well! Most decks run Zoroark GX as well do I would recommend picking up 4 Zorua and 4 Zoroark GX along with 4 puzzles of time.

Most decks run a high count of Trainer cards followed by Pokemon and then a few energies. I think if you're starting off, hearing someone say 4 to 12 energies is kind of misleading. Normal decks that don't rely on energy acceleration play between 6-8 basic energies. Having 6 energies will mean that out of 60 cards in your deck, you'll have a 1/10 chance of drawing an energy. Cards like Professor Sycamore that discard cards and let you draw increase your odds since you thin out your deck.
 
Arc88 said:
Ok guys so I got the 2 mach strike decks for £20 which is a steal after plenty of searching. I looked at the tcgplayer market but as I'm uk the delivery wipes out any savings.

What support cards would you recommend excluding the ultra balls? And is there an accepted ratio of support/energy/pokemon?

I've tried to get on the tcgo to practice but it isn't compatible with android oreo yet and I don' own a pc/laptop :(

Thank you to everyone who has helped this far. I really can't wait to get playing
Click to expand...
are you planning on playing much before September? every year there is a ''rotation'' that usually happens mid to late September. the rotation is when certain stes become illegal for tournament play to balance out the amount of playable sets since 4 new ones come every year. the sets that are currently legal in the STANDARD format are breakthrough-on likely after rotation the stets that will be legal will be Sun and Moon base-on
as for expanded, expanded is a very different format, the format is black and white-on and this is likely to change with rotation, though predictions are tough to do with this format.
so if youre looking to play standard before rotation here is my list, and it will be bolded if it is before SM base
4Professor Sycamore
3N
4(if you play a deck that would need it)Max Elexir(not exactly a staple but its a good card in lots of decks)
4(if you pay a zoroark deck)Puzzle of time (good in zoroark GX decks)
4double colorless energy
4Guzma
2Field blower
3-4float stone
2-4choice band
 
Acetrainer_Samwise said:
Nest balls are also really good cards...
Click to expand...
Not necessarily. You can just use Brigette is the better choice because it allows you to get 3 basics instead of 1 from Nest ball. Nest ball has its uses in some decks, but it is not a staple in my opinion. This might change after the rotation, but even then we'll have Pokemon Fan Club.
 
Arc88 said:
Ok guys so I got the 2 mach strike decks for £20 which is a steal after plenty of searching. I looked at the tcgplayer market but as I'm uk the delivery wipes out any savings.

What support cards would you recommend excluding the ultra balls? And is there an accepted ratio of support/energy/pokemon?

I've tried to get on the tcgo to practice but it isn't compatible with android oreo yet and I don' own a pc/laptop :(

Thank you to everyone who has helped this far. I really can't wait to get playing
Click to expand...

Hi I am also from the UK and buy my singles from Magic Madhouse and Chaos Cards.
Both sites are really good although Chaos Cards can be pricier for singles but cheaper for boosters and boxed products.
 
For competitive play you should always have 4 Double Colorless Energy (short: DCE). They will not rotate this year and they're extremely useful in many decks that have (C)(C) attack cost.
 
Hi guys, sorry for the delay in response. I didn't get a notification.

Anyway, I've made my first deck.
4 gible
4 gabite
3 garchomp
4 riolu
2 lucario
10 fighting energy
2 null
4 Cynthia
2 energy recycler
3 energy lotto
3 energy retrieval
3 brooklethill
2 wistful baton
1 looker
3 kukui
3 escape rope
2 spiritomb
3 rescue stretcher
2 pal pad

I know these aren't the best support cards but it' not cheap getting set up with a wife and 2 kids!!!

Will any of those be out in the rotation? I've also bought 4 Dce off eBay. Can I get some feedback please? Thanks again.
 
All of those cards are from SM so you I'm pretty confident you'll be good for the next season. Since you are playing Garchomp I'd get some rare candies, they are staples that help accelerate pokemon to stage 2 (what garchomp is). Nest ball/ultra ball will also help you out a lot and pokemon that draw cards for you would also be helpful. (traditionally I would suggest Octillery here, but since it's rotating soon, maybe focus on Oranguru or even Marshadow)
 
I was banking on the gible and gabite abilities to get garchomp out and then lucario to keep bringing the other into play
 
Arc88 said:
I was banking on the gible and gabite abilities to get garchomp out and then lucario to keep bringing the other into play
Click to expand...

@OppositeAttract is correct, you will want to get Rare candies for any stage 2 decks. Sure you can use ascension to evolve, but what about your benched Gabite? If you get rare candies, you can quickly evolve your Basics into Stage 2.
 
True, it does evolve itself, and it can setup, but with rare candy it sets up much more consistently. In order for Garchomp/Lucario to work you need to have at least one lucario/Garchomp in play and many times a second one of either will be necessary as well. Considering if you only have one Garchomp and Lucario set up most people will target your Lucario with guzma
 
Would you throw an Alolan minerals in to stop gx/ex moves?

I'll get the rare candies in, do I need 4?
 
I'm not sure if you are talking about alohan Ninetales, but I don't think I would run Alohan Ninetales given it requires water energy and the use of Alohan Vulpix. Alohan Vulpix isn't a terrible pokemon to have in set up decks as its beacon attack requires no energy, and allows you to pick 2 pokemon from deck and put them in your hand which can help with set up.
I think considering you are playing 3 garchomps you might be ok with 3 but 4 would be more ideal.
 
Yes Alolan ninetails - new game, guess the pokemon from the autocorrect
So may be put a couple of vulpix in for the spiritomb? Kinda doing a similar job.

Is 3 garchomp overkill?
 
Nvm spiritomb is support cards from discard pile so maybe drop the nulls and just play a gambit on getting garchomp out?
 
Here are my thoughts:

-You have too much energy recovery. I would drop a lot of the energy lottos/ energy retrievers

-Add in 4 Ultra Balls to get your Pokémon out fast

-Add in a couple Choice Bands to help you hit good numbers, like maybe 3

-Add in 2 or 3 Guzma to hit Pokémon from the bench

-Remove the Nulls and Spiritomb and add some Oranguru as draw support (Octillary is also good but as others have said its rotating).

Good luck!
 
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