Greetings Pokebeach,
I am considering returning to playing the TCG competitively after a nearly 3 year hiatus. To give you a sense of where I left off, my final states was spent watching my Reshi-Phlosion deck get clobbered by the then dominant Mewtwo EX
Yeah, I guess you could say that I was pretty frustrated by the way the meta-game was shifting. The idea of a card as powerful and valuable as Mewtwo was difficult for me to grasp after having a blast in the fairly balanced HGSS-on format. I abruptly quit after that disastrous states tournament, although I would have had to put the cards away inevitably as I was transferring to a much more rigorous school in the fall of 2012. Between then and now, I have taken up baseball card collecting, which is definitely cool, but doesn't have that same competitive spirit as Pokemon. I've also tried to take up Magic the Gathering at least twice during that time period, and found the rules a bit out of my reach and the financial aspects way too costly. That is why I started thinking about Pokemon again. I brought it up in an informal conversation with my dad, who immediately shot the idea down. I can understand his frustration after all those years of driving me to league and tournaments, and seeing how disappointed I was after that final States. I have watched some online battles recently, and am aware that the current format is very EX centered. You must understand, however, that this is much better in my mind than the format I left where there was one EX to rule them all. The current format reminds me of that weird window where everything from Majestic Dawn to HS Triumphant (something like that, I was playing a weird Nidoqueen/Jumpluff deck with Shaymin Land Form), where there were a lot of powerful options, but enough cards in play that there was some balance.
My main questions are:
a) Is it worth it for me to get back into the game? Although I should have mentioned it earlier, I have a very demanding academic life, and playing Pokemon isn't exactly a great hobby to have as a freshman in an athletics-centered private high school.
b) I can definitely make time for online battles and obviously tournaments, but do I need to go to league weekly anymore? I understand it is beneficial as a returning player to at least test the water and get to know some people, but after the initial few months to I have to attend regularly? The closest league isn't that close to me, and in hindsight really wasn't worth the trip when I was going when I became pretty competitive.
and lastly,
c) If I were to get back into the game, how much of a financial undertaking would it be to play competitively? In an ideal world I'd have playsets of every card, but are there any cheap deck options or starting points I should investigate? Preferably a deck that stays legal for the next rotation.
Your feedback is appreciated, and maybe I'll see you guys at a tournament next year.
Yours truly,
Enigma
I am considering returning to playing the TCG competitively after a nearly 3 year hiatus. To give you a sense of where I left off, my final states was spent watching my Reshi-Phlosion deck get clobbered by the then dominant Mewtwo EX
Yeah, I guess you could say that I was pretty frustrated by the way the meta-game was shifting. The idea of a card as powerful and valuable as Mewtwo was difficult for me to grasp after having a blast in the fairly balanced HGSS-on format. I abruptly quit after that disastrous states tournament, although I would have had to put the cards away inevitably as I was transferring to a much more rigorous school in the fall of 2012. Between then and now, I have taken up baseball card collecting, which is definitely cool, but doesn't have that same competitive spirit as Pokemon. I've also tried to take up Magic the Gathering at least twice during that time period, and found the rules a bit out of my reach and the financial aspects way too costly. That is why I started thinking about Pokemon again. I brought it up in an informal conversation with my dad, who immediately shot the idea down. I can understand his frustration after all those years of driving me to league and tournaments, and seeing how disappointed I was after that final States. I have watched some online battles recently, and am aware that the current format is very EX centered. You must understand, however, that this is much better in my mind than the format I left where there was one EX to rule them all. The current format reminds me of that weird window where everything from Majestic Dawn to HS Triumphant (something like that, I was playing a weird Nidoqueen/Jumpluff deck with Shaymin Land Form), where there were a lot of powerful options, but enough cards in play that there was some balance. My main questions are:
a) Is it worth it for me to get back into the game? Although I should have mentioned it earlier, I have a very demanding academic life, and playing Pokemon isn't exactly a great hobby to have as a freshman in an athletics-centered private high school.
b) I can definitely make time for online battles and obviously tournaments, but do I need to go to league weekly anymore? I understand it is beneficial as a returning player to at least test the water and get to know some people, but after the initial few months to I have to attend regularly? The closest league isn't that close to me, and in hindsight really wasn't worth the trip when I was going when I became pretty competitive.
and lastly,
c) If I were to get back into the game, how much of a financial undertaking would it be to play competitively? In an ideal world I'd have playsets of every card, but are there any cheap deck options or starting points I should investigate? Preferably a deck that stays legal for the next rotation.
Your feedback is appreciated, and maybe I'll see you guys at a tournament next year.
Yours truly,
Enigma
