Returning Player - Getting Into the Upcoming Season

[Kelzam]

Hey there everyone,

There's probably a lot of threads about these but I didn't want to hijack someone else's return thread!

I used to play the TCG ages ago and haven't played since the Gym Leaders 1 release was released in English (used to collect the Japanese cards - kinda miss them, haha). A couple years back a friend showed me how the card game has evolved and changed since the early days, and I've finally reached a point where I have the time to pick up another hobby alongside my other games. I have a few points I'd love for some help understanding with regards to the game. The community seems really cool apart from occasional fansite/YouTuber drama I've seen pop up on my Twitter feed (from other fansites, not PokeBeach), so I'm looking forward to interacting with y'all.

1. What are the formats and how does rotation work? I understand there's something like Magic's Standard, which is the most recent sets. I don't, however, understand how Pokemon's release cycle works and when cards rotate out of whatever Pokemon's version of Standard is. I'd also ask about what I should buy, but I have the "What to Buy" thread opened in another tab to read after I post this. Any additional advice would be great, though.

2. I heard there's a prerelease event for a new expansion called Steam Siege coming up this weekend, which was sort of what made me decide to take the dive and try to get back into the game. My question here is, how do Pokemon TCG prereleases work? How easy/hard is it to build a deck? In Magic we call this sealed and get 6 packs to build a deck from, but don't have to consider evolutions. Limited (building decks from packs) requires a different mindset. As someone who is basically starting all over, what would be some advice on how to build my deck? Is drafting a thing in Pokemon?

3. Are the Pokemon 20 promos usable in Standard or the format usually played at League? I've been debating picking them up, but was wondering if that's the case.

4. What is the relevance of the dual type cards coming back in Steam Siege? Y'know, the ones with the split background. Are they played differently are there any pros and cons to playing them? I was able to find where it was in certain previous expansions like Triumphant and whatever before then, but nothing really about the mechanic of being a dual type.


I'm sure as I look into the game and returning that I'll have a lot more questions, but those are the most immediate ones, especially as I'm considering really getting into it again. I've always been a lover of Pokemon, and between a prerelease this weekend and Pokemon GO it's all just perfect timing. Thanks for any feedback, suggestions or info, everyone!

 

[Otaku]

Hello and welcome back. I wasn't active in the online community when you left (didn't start until late 2000/early 2001) but I've been playing since the North American release (so 1999). I wasn't able to keep up with the game the whole time, but I've gone back to get at least an idea of what I missed from each time I was on "hiatus". Now to answer your questions, though I might only tackle the first one because it can be a bit more complicated than you realize.

Edit: Reading homework includes the official rule book you can download here and then the official organized play rules here. Hate to make the game look bad, but as I recall there might be an error in those official organized play rules with regards to banned cards. No one reads those rules for which cards are banned (I'll explain that in a bit) but for the rest it should be useful. Also I am uncertain if it contains the most recent changes to Pre-Releases.

1a) Formats

The Pokémon TCG has Constructed and Limited Formats, but I'm guessing we are only worried about the former (not much Limited Format play apart from Pre-Releases). That means Unlimited (basically any card is allowed), Expanded (Black & White and later releases), and Standard (XY and later releases). Those are general descriptions; unfortunately there are a few banned cards. Currently there is one that I believe is banned in all formats, Lysandre's Trump Card. I think Unlimited only has a few promos banned; Shiftry is legal but I don't know about Lysandre's Trump Card. The Shiftry I mention is Shiftry (XY: Next Destinies 72/99); it is banned in Expanded play (it is not from a legal expansion for the purposes of Standard play).

1b) Releases

Typically we get four sets per year in Pokémon: one in February, May, August, and November. There may also be additional releases of product, which this last year included a special "bonus" expansion to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Pokémon. It is called Generations. Other atypical but not unexpected releases are things like mini-sets, kits, and of course various promos. Pokémon sets for years have had a prefix to help identify approximate generation, but we don't have the more detailed breakdown like in Magic: The Gathering (or at least as I understand it - never was a MtG player). So things like "set block" are informal. New releases become legal for organized play the third Friday after their release. That was just changed recently as it was a flat three weeks I think as recently as a month ago (maybe two). Before that it was the official release date of the product and had been that way for years.

1c) Rotation

So for Standard and Expanded play, once per year the oldest sets rotate out. This is not a fixed number; the-powers-that-be decide based on what they think is best for the game. For Standard we've had no sets rotate and we've had as many as seven leave at once, however those are both one time occurrences due to specific circumstances. Usually a set lasts in Standard play about two years, and typically they cut four sets (plus the promos and other miscellaneous releases that happened during those sets). Rotation happens after the World Championships are done and gone, so about September 1st. What will rotate is announced a few months earlier. Exact dates and lead times vary, so if you look historically we've had (for example) an emergency rotation shortly before World Championships.

So far Expanded has had no rotations. Based on what has been said we believe it does rotate, but that the goal is to create a more stable environment so that year round it is easier to get into the game. The last major change in fundamental game mechanics/card design happened with the release of the Black & White expansion, which began the BW-era. Possible they intend to never rotate, possible they are just waiting until we get into Gen VII (Sun & Moon) releases that they'll finally let the BW-era leave Expanded.

 

[bbninjas]

Welcome back to the game! Otaku's advice up there is great, so I'll just fill in for the other questions:

2. I heard there's a prerelease event for a new expansion called Steam Siege coming up this weekend, which was sort of what made me decide to take the dive and try to get back into the game. My question here is, how do Pokemon TCG prereleases work? How easy/hard is it to build a deck? In Magic we call this sealed and get 6 packs to build a deck from, but don't have to consider evolutions. Limited (building decks from packs) requires a different mindset. As someone who is basically starting all over, what would be some advice on how to build my deck? Is drafting a thing in Pokemon?

A week or so before the official release date of each set, "Prerelease" events will be held. Here, players can get their hands on a new expansion early, obtaining four booster packs, a nifty promo card and one of four pre-made packs of 22 "key" cards from expansion. Using these cards, players construct a 40-card deck, and they battle it out. Rules are the same as in a normal game - you do have to consider evolutions - except that you use four prize cards, instead of six. I personally really enjoy Prereleases, as it tests your deck-building skills with a limited pool of cards. It's not a difficult process, to deck-build in Prereleases, and you're less likely to be disadvantaged if you get unlucky pulls, due to the pack of 22 "key" cards. If you're interested in history, here's a brief history of Prereleases.

In deck building for Prereleases, you need to consider consistency. Since you'll most likely have only a few Trainer cards in the Prerelease deck, your deck will be less consistent then a typical competitive deck. As such, running multiple Stage 1/2 lines or thin Stage 1/2s are generally not strong plays. Rather, cheap but powerful (and high HP) Basic Pokemon typically perform the best. Basic EXs are generally an auto-inclusion, as they are quite bulky and can just sit on your bench until it's powered up. Basic Support Pokemon are also often good plays, especially those that let you search for or draw cards. When I played in the Roaring Skies Prerelease, Meowth and Jirachi were both great cards due to their consistency.

Of course, being familiar with the new expansion is important. I've gone through the English setlist, and here's my thoughts on what will be good:
- Tangela and Tangrowth (Both of these Pokemon are bulky, have some great self-healing options and dish out high damage. The only disadvantage is that high Energy cost.)
- Larvesta/Volcarona (If you get a thick line of this, then maybe it would be a good inclusion. A single [G] for a chance to Confusion or Paralyze could be devastatingly manipulative in a Prerelease.)
- Ponyta/Rapidash (Also if you get a thick line of this, Ponyta has a nifty attack to keep your Energy draw consistent, and Rapidash can hit high numbers cheaply.
- Volcanion (Perhaps. Power Heater could be really nice with the right partners, but getting those Energy in the discard might be problem. This card will be one of the Promos of the set that you could get.)
- Joltik/Galvantula (Double Thread looks quite deadly - it's cheap and powerful. As a lot of Pokemon on the Bench will be of low HP, a couple Double Thread attacks could net you half of your prizes. If your opponent has weakness to [L] or [G], then even better, because Double Thread now does 60 damage!)
- Hoopa (Like Galvantula, Hoopa also looks quite powerful.)
- Mankey (If you can use Focus Energy and survive a hit, you're retaliating with 60 damage for a single Energy on a Basic! That's insane! His evolution doesn't look all that great, though.)
- Pawniard/Bisharp (If you get a thick line of this, Bisharp's Retaliate attack will be a great asset.)
- Yveltal (It's bulky, accelerates Energy and strong in general. If you get very lucky an pull its BREAK evolution, then even better!)
- Cobalion (A lot of your opponent's Pokemon will be Basic, so this card is amazing in those clutch situations. And if you just need aggressive power, Revenge Burst will clean up.)
- Xerneas (Also a bulky, Energy-acceleration, strong Pokemon. Like Yveltal, if you pull a BREAK, then I'm jealous.)
- Aipom/Ambipom (Aipom is manipulative, meaning that if you've forced your opponent into a bad spot, you can keep them there. Ambipom, on the other hand, is aggressive and gives you the opportunity to discard your opponent's most vital cards (especially with Aipom).
- Talonflame (If you pull one of these, it may be worthwhile to use it due to its Gale Wings Ability. Unfortunately that also means that if you whiff it first turn, it's a dead card for the rest of the game.
-Hawlucha (A nice clutch card that has an Ability that could give you the win or prevent your opponent from winning.)

Unfortunately most of the Trainer cards here look pretty unviable. Spirit Links are fairly useless, the Special Energy will also be limited. Greedy Die is a bit too situation in my opinion, the fossils obviously won't help, and I don't think there will be many situations calling for a Pokemon Ranger. Captivating Pokepuff may not be all that useful unless you're running a Galvantula deck. Ninja Boy is really the only auto-inclusion.
EDIT: Otaku just reminded me that Pokepuff also lets you use see your opponent's hand (derp), and ran through some other scenarios, so it is definitely another auto-inclusion.

Also note that you do get an unlimited number of Energy provided by the event for the event, so you don't have to worry about actually "pulling" them. Good luck!

3. Are the Pokemon 20 promos usable in Standard or the format usually played at League? I've been debating picking them up, but was wondering if that's the case.

Yes, they are. I'm not sure exactly what you're referring to as "promos" - the cards with the black stars where the symbol belongs, or the cards in the Generations booster packs... but both a definitely usable in a league. =P
Unfortunately, the black star promos of those boxes aren't really that powerful, although a decent number of the Generations cards are.

4. What is the relevance of the dual type cards coming back in Steam Siege? Y'know, the ones with the split background. Are they played differently are there any pros and cons to playing them? I was able to find where it was in certain previous expansions like Triumphant and whatever before then, but nothing really about the mechanic of being a dual type.

I personally do not think there are any cons for the mechanic itself, and rather the cons will depend on the effects printed on the cards itself. On the other hand, the positives are significant. These dual type cards can hit for two Weaknesses instead of just one and take advantage of more type-specific effects (i.e. Volcanion-EX, Special Energy, many Stadiums). I suggest you check out the Competitive Play - or even make a thread there - for a bit more in-depth discussion on the topic.

Hopefully that wall of text wasn't too much, and that this is all helpful! Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Kelzam]

Hey guys, thanks for the feedback!

I went to my Saturday Steam Siege pre-release last weekend and had a lot of fun re-learning the game. The prerelease kits were interesting and I didn't expect them to be seeded. I sadly didn't see the posts here before I went there or I think I would have done much better, haha.

It ended up being a small event with 8 players, but there was some miscommunication on the start time. It was pretty special as 1.) it was the store's first Pokemon TCG prerelease, and 2.) a couple people were there that had only played Online exclusively, before.

Anyway, deck building was a real challenge. I got a Grass Pokemon seeded pack, and did note that the trainers seemed lackluster. I had a couple Poke Puffs but didn't think anything of them. I opened a Klinklang, two Klink and two Klank and wanted to use them as they seemed pretty good. My promo was Volcanion and I did have a lot of Fire Pokemon, but they all seemed to be based around the mechanic of returning Fire energy from the discard pile to Pokemon on the bench. I thought it seemed like a neat mechanic but in this prerelease I really didn't have anything to take advantage of that, other than the obvious synergy between those and my single Litwick. For basic Pokemon I ended up with a Rufflet and Braviary, and a Hawlucha that I used with Ninja Boy a few times to my advantage, which was a fun interaction. Ultimately I settled on Metal/Psychic, as I also pulled the pack Hoopa. Hoopa and Klank probably dealt out the most damage over the three rounds we did. I'd post my deck but my partner dismantled them already, haha. I had a couple Drifloom and Drifblim in there and a single Nidorino M that really should've been something else, but I found the 10-10-15 split suggestion somewhere and was trying to stick to that.

At the end of the day, I lost two rounds to strong Samurott lines, though. It's first ability Ultimate Pike is just absurd in limited and I had no way to recover once it got out. Typically my opponents were smart and evolved it on the bench. It would have gone better if Hawlucha let you pick which Pokemon they had out. I will admit a funny fact is that I nearly decked myself twice because I had 2x Ninja Boy, 2x Great Ball, 2x Tierno and 2x of that one that lets you shuffle your hand into your deck and Draw 5. My last round I drew my last card and was going to lose my next turn but used Hoopa's Hyperspace punch to KO two of their benched Pokemon and draw my last two prize cards for the win. Clutch games like that are always the best. I went 2-2 and probably would have done better if I'd tried to use my key cards, as outside of Hoopa my Psychic bunch weren't all that great and I could've been using Tangela and Tangrowth. Still, I felt there was little I could do against an opponent that had two Samurott lines.

We had a lot of fun, though. We got a Volcanion EX and Steelix EX, the Steelix which we traded for a M Mewtwo EX (I had a regular Mewtwo EX I pulled from a pack last week). We also pulled the full art Pokemon Ranger card! Now I'm sitting here on an Alakazam EX and some other goodies trying to figure out what to build for League. I know packs aren't the most optimal thing, but I got a bunch of Fates Collide, BREAKPoint and BREAKThrough to get a variety of stuff to work with, and ended up getting the Mewtwo EX tin. Going to sort through my cards later today and see what all I have and maybe post in the thread above for help with what to build.