Help Should I just move to Expanded?

TCG_Destory

TCG_Destory

Darkness player
Member
So I've been playing all of my tournaments in the Standard format so far. The meta was interesting, people brought all kinds of different decks to them, although I sometimes ran into repeat matchups, and on PTCGO there was a lot of variety. Recently though, I built a couple of BREAKthrough-on decks to take on the PTCGO ladder and have been disappointed by the amount of different decks on the Standard ladder to be honest. I have gotten fairly good win rates so far (55-60%) on the VS ladder with those two decks but it is getting somewhat boring because as I've said, I tend to run into the same decks within 5 matches. I run into Volcanion, Golisopod, Tapu Bulu, Tapu Koko, Zoroark, Garbodor, Gardevoir and basically nothing else. Only when I move onto Expanded do I have fun discovering what my opponent is playing and that it forces me to learn to play against matchups (and acquire knowledge from doing so). Then again, the meta might eventually gain much more variety with more sets dropping (Shining Legends and Crimson Invasion for example) but it still feels like I belong in Expanded more than in Standard now.

There's more, I have a playset of Shaymin-EX but no Tapu Lele-GX, which means that any deck I could save from the rotation took a big hit in consistency. Already a rather unlucky player, I have some unfair consistency disadvantages when I go up against meta decks. In Expanded, that wouldn't be a problem because in that format, decks are hundreds of times more consistent. I have more fun in Expanded because it feels more like a skill game there and less like a starting hand and draw gamble.

I also am ready to invest into the cards I need to fully convert my decks into the Expanded format. I have all the necessary XY series staples already, so I only need the likes of Colress, Virbank City Gym, Dark Patch and Hypnotoxic Laser, with some that I won't need right away. So, what do you think? Should I start attempting to work around not having Tapu Lele-GX in Standard or just move to Expanded and buy the staples for it? (Side note: as for now, I am not considering buying 3 Tapu Lele-GX and the Primal Clash-on Standard before Guardians Rising was one of my favorite formats so far.)
 
I think Standard, for the most part, has a healthy variety at the moment. Gardevoir, all the different decks that use Garbodor like Golisopod, Drampa, and Espeon, Ho-Oh and other Volcanion variants, Metagross, Greninja, Tapu Bulu, Alolan Ninetales, Zoroark. I'm sure there's others, but I see all kinds of different decks online. In terms of variety, I don't think it's all that different than Expanded. In Expanded, you have Night March, Trevenant, Turbo Darkrai, Mega Rayquaza, Seismitoad variants, and a couple others. Obviously there's going to be more options in Expanded because you have access to like 3-4 years of sets, but in terms of "Meta" decks, the number of them isn't really that different compared to Standard. Every format is going to have a "core" number of generally agreed upon good decks. It is what it is.

As for you question, if you say you enjoy playing Expanded more than I think you answered your own question. ;)
 
Personally, I would stick to the Standard format over Expanded. Yeah, there's more toys in Expanded, but you're also more likely to get your head handed to you in a spectacularly unfair fashion. If you're prepared to get bombarded by Night March and Turbo Dark and their greedy tactics, then go have fun there; otherwise, prepare to hate this game really soon.
 
If you're interested in the wider card pool and potential strategies of Expanded, I'd say go for it and pull together some Expanded cards and decks. Be warned some decks get overwhelmingly powerful with years worth of support stacked. That being said, you will still want to keep an eye on Standard and new cards. Some of the new cards and strategies will still be relevant regardless of format.
 
I see no reason to limit yourself at all on the PTCGO, unless you have neither time, talent for trading, or funds to invest in all formats.

Have a solid assortment of Theme Decks, Standard Decks, Expanded Decks, and try for at least one Legacy Deck, if you can. ;)
 
If your looking for variety play all the formats. I personally play Standard and Legacy and didn’t feel at all like there was no variety (but Legacy is VERY costly so Expanded may be good) but my point was play 2-3 formats :p
 
Sabaku said:
Personally, I would stick to the Standard format over Expanded. Yeah, there's more toys in Expanded, but you're also more likely to get your head handed to you in a spectacularly unfair fashion. If you're prepared to get bombarded by Night March and Turbo Dark and their greedy tactics, then go have fun there; otherwise, prepare to hate this game really soon.
Click to expand...
This is one reason why I want to play in the Expanded format: even though it'll be a rough experience at first, it will only make me a better player. I'll have to deal with more than just big tanks that build up to 1-hit K.O.s or two-shot with denial (Think Gardevoir-GX, Golisopod-GX, Turtonator-GX/Ho-oh-GX, Metagross-GX, Tapu Bulu-GX). There is more skill involved in that format and much less luck. In Standard right now, a good chunk of the games I lose are games where I start a dead hand and never draw out of it. Standard decks can't explode, so if you are behind, it is very difficult to catch up, especially if you play Evolution Pokémon. Also, I am better equipped for Expanded than for Standard, having no Tapu Lele-GX. I also know of ways to improve big matchups in Expanded. For Night March, play a Karen. For Darkrai, you can play a Marshadow-GX. For Trevenant, you have to have a durable deck, healing or Dark. There are so many different decks in that format, it is likely that I'll run into very varied matchups throughout the tournaments. It will take some getting used to but I have been playing with and against some of the Expanded-only cards in the past, so I already am ahead of never players in that regard, and still have many of the good Expanded cards. As for hating the game, that is likely to eventually happen if I stay a Standard-only player and it doesn't change enough with Crimson Invasion. Also, the big cards that rotated out I still have in my collection, so I can start off with XY-on decks that include some BW days cards, such as Keldeo-EX.
 
TCG_Destory said:
This is one reason why I want to play in the Expanded format: even though it'll be a rough experience at first, it will only make me a better player. I'll have to deal with more than just big tanks that build up to 1-hit K.O.s or two-shot with denial (Think Gardevoir-GX, Golisopod-GX, Turtonator-GX/Ho-oh-GX, Metagross-GX, Tapu Bulu-GX). There is more skill involved in that format and much less luck. In Standard right now, a good chunk of the games I lose are games where I start a dead hand and never draw out of it. Standard decks can't explode, so if you are behind, it is very difficult to catch up, especially if you play Evolution Pokémon. Also, I am better equipped for Expanded than for Standard, having no Tapu Lele-GX. I also know of ways to improve big matchups in Expanded. For Night March, play a Karen. For Darkrai, you can play a Marshadow-GX. For Trevenant, you have to have a durable deck, healing or Dark. There are so many different decks in that format, it is likely that I'll run into very varied matchups throughout the tournaments. It will take some getting used to but I have been playing with and against some of the Expanded-only cards in the past, so I already am ahead of never players in that regard, and still have many of the good Expanded cards. As for hating the game, that is likely to eventually happen if I stay a Standard-only player and it doesn't change enough with Crimson Invasion. Also, the big cards that rotated out I still have in my collection, so I can start off with XY-on decks that include some BW days cards, such as Keldeo-EX.
Click to expand...

If you got a lot of the Expanded cards already, then there shouldn't be any problem. I only speak from past experiences with other online card games, namely, Hearthstone. It was not a fun experience, both game-wise and community-wise (so many people complaining on the forums, and messing up your first or 2nd turn hurt much more there than here). So glad to have stepped away from that game...

Where was I? Oh yeah. You go have fun in Expanded if you already have the cards, just make sure you're prepared to go against some obnoxiously greedy decks thanks to all the good cycle and acceleration.
 
What format do the championships run in? I too have been thinking about getting into expanded, but I am unsure as to whether they run as Standard or Expanded? And with hopes to attend said championships, I would rather know which way they run, if someone would be so kind to share the information? :oops:
 
Regionals will oscillate between Standard and Expanded, but you have to look up the format online. I think U.S. Nats and Worlds are always Standard, though.
 
I feel the EXACT same way as your, standard just isn't fun for me anymore. I moved onto expanded and have built 3 decks in expanded (Trevenant, M Manectric EX, and Accelgor/Wobuffet). It's super fun to play at league and have a great time with everyone, not playtesting heavily and taking things super seriously.

Another thing I've done is build legacy decks! If you're ONLY interested in having a good time and having fun, legacy is 100% the way to go. Keep in mind, there's a huge learning curve and you probably won't know any of the decks you'd be playing against, and will take a long time to adapt. If you'd like I have a few really fun decks I could send you decklists for! I've also built 5 legacy decks on cardboard and bringing them to league and giving another person my deck, it's the most fun experience ever!

Another great thing is that since legacy isn't supported in tournaments, most of the cards are super cheap, and you could make my favourite deck (Empoleon/Dusknoir) for about ~$40.
 
TCG_Destory said:
This is one reason why I want to play in the Expanded format: even though it'll be a rough experience at first, it will only make me a better player. I'll have to deal with more than just big tanks that build up to 1-hit K.O.s or two-shot with denial (Think Gardevoir-GX, Golisopod-GX, Turtonator-GX/Ho-oh-GX, Metagross-GX, Tapu Bulu-GX). There is more skill involved in that format and much less luck. In Standard right now, a good chunk of the games I lose are games where I start a dead hand and never draw out of it. Standard decks can't explode, so if you are behind, it is very difficult to catch up, especially if you play Evolution Pokémon. Also, I am better equipped for Expanded than for Standard, having no Tapu Lele-GX. I also know of ways to improve big matchups in Expanded. For Night March, play a Karen. For Darkrai, you can play a Marshadow-GX. For Trevenant, you have to have a durable deck, healing or Dark. There are so many different decks in that format, it is likely that I'll run into very varied matchups throughout the tournaments. It will take some getting used to but I have been playing with and against some of the Expanded-only cards in the past, so I already am ahead of never players in that regard, and still have many of the good Expanded cards. As for hating the game, that is likely to eventually happen if I stay a Standard-only player and it doesn't change enough with Crimson Invasion. Also, the big cards that rotated out I still have in my collection, so I can start off with XY-on decks that include some BW days cards, such as Keldeo-EX.
Click to expand...

"There is more skill involved in that format and much less luck."

I disagree. Both formats take skill, but I wouldn't downplay Standard right now. If anything, there's more strategy involved than last season. You can't rely on cards like VS Seeker to grab you a game-winning Lysandre, or Shaymin EX to save a bad hand. You have to build decks with consistency in mind. You're going to have bad hands regardless of which format you play in, it's part of the game. However, if you're having bad starts often, I think you need to take a look at your deck and make some changes. I personally like the new Standard format because it's slower. It allows for strategies that just wouldn't have been plausible last season. I like that you have to actually take the time and evolve to big Stage 2s because the TCG, just like the video games, SHOULD focus on that.

Anyways, like I said in my first post, I think you already answered your own question when you initially made this thread, and have reinforced that with your responses on here. I recommend that you play Expanded but keep your eye on Standard as well and see if some new sets change you mind.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top