Returning to Collecting

S

Stevie Night

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Hey Everyone,

I'm new here, so hello to everybody.

I have not collected Pokemon Cards since back when they first came out, when I was a kid, I remember how much fun I used to have collecting them! I still have a complete base set tucked away somewhere in protective casing!

My problem is I have not collected Pokemon Cards in many years, I think the last set I remember collecting properly was the first team rocket series. I have recently purchased a fair few packs of Mystic Dawn Cards, and this has got me really back into it...but the cards are a bit different to what I remember, so I wondered if anyone could give me a quick rundown on some of the differences?

I am from the UK by the way, so if there is any UK traders etc. get in touch and introduce yourselves :)

Thanks everyone!
 
well... some differences are pokepowers and pokebodies. you USE pokepowers during your turn, and pokebodys are just in play all the time. There are also some new attacks that require no energys.

what else do you want to know?

ps were EX's out when u stopped?
 
O!! WOW!!! then we have a lot to go through...

well... lv.X's are new, and you put them on their previous form, so glaceon lv. X goes on top of glaceon, like evolving.

o geez... now the trainer, supporter, stadium, and tool difference... this could take a while. haven't explained legal/illegal, or rule switchings from hp+ to dp+.
 
lol, I stopped collecting before EXs...thanks for all the new info so far! I did a quick watch of the video on the Pokemon website explaining how to play, in order to refresh my memory of the basic rules!
 
If you'd like, I can help you extensively. Just hook me up if you'd want to.

Anyway, a few basics when comparing Team Rocket to the Now:
- Trainers are split up in 3 groups now: Trainers, Supporters and Stadiums. They each function differently:
Supporters - You can only play 1 of these in your turn. They stay next to your Pokemon until you attacked.
Trainers - They act like your basic old trainers
Stadiums - They stay in play until a new stadium is played or an effect removes them. Their effects work for both players.

Then theres the Level X mechanic. Level X can be considered an upgrade; you play it as if you were to evolve your active Pokemon (For example, you have Gardevoir in play, you can then play Gardevoir LVX on top of it, but only if its active). The Level X retains the original form's PokePowers/Bodies and attacks, but attains the new HP, Weakness, Retreat Cost and Resistance.

Confusion: Now puts 3 damage counters on the attacking pokemon, rather as 20 damage. The difference is not being affected by weakness/resistance. Also, you dont have to flip for a retreat anymore.

A new Energy symbol has been added; the "shadowy" nothing. It means that the energy cost for the attack is free.

Metal and Darkness types are introduced. They have special energy cards, of which you can only use 4. But there are Basic versions of them too which grant their respective types either protection or more power.

The beginning of the game has also changed. The player who starts a game now gets to draw a card, but he cannot play any trainers/stadiums/supporters on his first turn.

Anything else you would like to know?
 
Wow, that is a lot, thanks for all that information!

What is up with the holographic cards now, before you just got a standard holo card, but in newer sets I have seen cards that are completely holo, and 2 versions of most cards etc.

Is this just to make more cards to collect? lol
 
Well, there are these forms:
Holo Rare
Reverse Holo

Holo Rares are what you're used to. They're in 1 every 3 packs (approximately). The Reverse Foils are in every pack - 1 each time. They can be ANY card in the set (Except Level X's) and are always in the spot right before the Rare. Since these can be Holo Rares as well, it can happen that you get 2 of the same Holo Rare in a pack.
Reverse Holos in the Diamond/Pearl and on series are recognized by the fact that the card itself is foil, but the picture is not. In Ex-Series sets (Particulary the later ones), you usually saw the Set Name in the picture.
I prefer the new variety.

Some people specifically want Reverse Foils, others want them to "pimp" up their decks. I myself find them to be more beautiful as regular Holo Rares, because I like to see the full cards art.
 
Some more stuff to watch out for:

• The Burn Condition. It was introduced sometime in the 2nd generation (forgot where). When a Pokémon is Burned, you place a Burn marker on it. Between turns, the person with the Burned Pokémon flips a coin. A tails means you put 2 damage counters on it, and a heads means you put no damage counters on it. Burn is not an "exclusive" special condition; a Pokémon can be Burned and Paralyzed at the same time, or even Burned, Poisoned, and Asleep.

• Poké-Powers and Poké-Bodies now stop working when the user is Poisoned or Burned and not just Asleep, Confused, or Paralyzed.

• Trainers, in addition to Supporters and Stadiums, also include Pokémon Tools and Technical Machines. Both are attached to the Active Pokémon to augment them. You can only have one Tool on a Pokémon at a time, and it gives a continuous boost, such as eliminating Weakness or increasing Attack Power. You can put as many Technical Machines on one Pokémon as you wish, and they give that Pokémon an attack they can use in place of their normal end-of-turn attacks. However, Tools and Technical Machines are still grouped as "Trainers," unlike Supporters or Stadiums.

• Lv. X Pokémon are considerably rarer than holographic Rares. They appear in about 1 in 27 packs, though I've opened possibly hundreds of packs from the D/P sets and only got one (Empoleon). There's also the occasional "Super Rare" that appears in about 1 in every 81 packs. They have a collector's number higher than the set number. For example, "Time Space Distortion" (Mysterious Treasures) says, "124/123" in the bototm right corner.
 
Wow...Team Rocket was a long time ago lol. I think I was in 5th/6th grade then...

You've missed out on a lot! Except the Dark Pokemon, you got to enjoy those. lol.

Lets see...
Base Set, Jungle, Fossil, Base Set 2, Team Rocket...

Gym Heroes & Gym Challenge came out with the Gym Cards...

Neo sets where the G/S Pokemon came out: Neo Genesis, Neo Discovery, and then in Neo Revelation, Shining Pokemon came out. (Which were extrememly rare) and in Neo Destiny, More shining Pokemon, more Dark Pokemon and the new Light Pokemon (Which were like the opposite of Dark Pokemon)

The Legendary Collection reprinted Old Base set, Jungle, Fossil and TR cards. There were also special reverse holofoils in this set. (The first time reverse holos were featured in a set.)

Then they had the E-Cards.
The Pokemon TCG was renamed the Pokemon-e TCG for a short time on the packs. The first set was Expedition Base Set, then you had Aquapolis, and Skyridge.

Skyridge was Wizards of the Coast's last set. Nintendo then took over the TCG after that.

We then had EX sets. First was EX Ruby & Sapphire, then EX Sandstorm, EX Dragon, EX Team Magma vs. Team Aqua, EX Hidden Legends, EX FireRed LeafGreen, EX Team Rocket Returns, EX Deoxys, EX Emerald, EX Unseen Forces, EX Delta Species, EX Legend Maker, EX Holon Phantoms, then EX Crystal Guardians, EX Dragon Frontiers, and EX Power Keepers. There was 16 EX sets. (Woah!)

There was a bunch of cool stuff in the EX sets, like Shining Pokemon, (Pokemon-star) Pokemon-EX, and Rocket's Pokemon,...etc.

Now we are in the DP series of cards. We've had Diamond & Pearl, DP: Mysterious Treasures, DP Secret Wonders, DP Great Encounters, and Now DP Majestic Dawn. We've got Lv.X Pokemon so far from these sets, which are new.

Also the next set, DP Legends Awakened comes out August 20th.

And, theres your lesson in Pokemon TCG History from your Pokemon Prof. Rocket0777.

Get yourself a Beckett guide to see what all the cards from these sets are, or look on Pokebeach. Have fun collecting!
 
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