Hey i am just starting out and was wondering what is the first thing I should buy that is less then like 75 dollars. I would really appreciate a response and something simplistic because I'm so new, thank you in advance!
Starting Out - What to Buy?
- Thread starter jswanson001
- Start date
What format are you looking to play? Expanded or Standard?
Well I like to play the online version and I feel like standard would be best to start with but like I said I'm extremely new to the game
There are a lot of good decks out there one of them being the Talonflame Break deck with burning energy, if you want to know more about it watch the video I've embed into the text. It is a really good deck which would be good for someone starting out and for people who have experience because it is low costing and competitive all at the same time.
While theme decks are an option, they tend to not contain the competitive staple cards used in most decks in today's format, so I wouldn't recommend them. However, there are some pre-constructed Battle Arena Decks that do contain many of these competitive cards. There's the Darkrai-EX vs Mewtwo-EX decks and the soon-to-be-released Rayquaza-EX vs Keldeo-EX. Both Battle Arena Decks are a great beginning kits containing highly competitive cards for your collection.
Thank you for the advice. This is literally gonna be the first Pokemon set I buy, do you recommend me getting maybe a Tin of something of the sorts with it?
I would recommend building a collection more-so for trade fodder. The most fun way to do this is to buy things like a Tin or an Elite Trainer Box, which contain a decent amount of booster packs to add to your collection. You could just buy the staples you need from sites like TCG Player, but that's certainly not as fun. 
I would recommend an Elite Trainer Box personally, as it gives you a neat box, damage counters, dice and a few other nifty goodies great for starting off your collection. Your also get 8 booster packs of 10 cards each, which is great. This may not fit your budget with a Battle Arena Kit, however. If it doesn't, then a tin would be your best bet. You are guaranteed to get an EX, and you get some nifty boosters as a bonus.
Elite Trainer Boxes (ETBs) have been released for each expansion and contain boosters only from that expansion, and tins obviously also have quite a few different variants. If you get the Darkrai-EX vs Mewtwo-EX set, I would recommend looking at getting a Breakthrough ETB, as the cards in those expansions (Zoroark, Gallade, Assault Vest, Mega Mewtwo-EX) are quite synergetic with the cards in the Battle Arena Decks, and the expansion also contains many staples as well as staples (Float Stone, Skyla, Octillery). If ETBs are too expensive, than the recent Shiny Yveltal-EX tin would be a great choice for the Yveltal-EX. If you choose to wait for the Keldeo-EX vs Rayquaza-EX kit, then I would suggest the Breakpoint ETB (for Magnezone, Raikou, Gyarados-EX) or the Primal Clash ETB (for Primal Kyogre-EX, more Archie and Rough Seas), or again the Shiny Yveltal-EX tin (a good card and it can go well with Blastoise).
Good luck with your collection!
I would recommend an Elite Trainer Box personally, as it gives you a neat box, damage counters, dice and a few other nifty goodies great for starting off your collection. Your also get 8 booster packs of 10 cards each, which is great. This may not fit your budget with a Battle Arena Kit, however. If it doesn't, then a tin would be your best bet. You are guaranteed to get an EX, and you get some nifty boosters as a bonus.
Elite Trainer Boxes (ETBs) have been released for each expansion and contain boosters only from that expansion, and tins obviously also have quite a few different variants. If you get the Darkrai-EX vs Mewtwo-EX set, I would recommend looking at getting a Breakthrough ETB, as the cards in those expansions (Zoroark, Gallade, Assault Vest, Mega Mewtwo-EX) are quite synergetic with the cards in the Battle Arena Decks, and the expansion also contains many staples as well as staples (Float Stone, Skyla, Octillery). If ETBs are too expensive, than the recent Shiny Yveltal-EX tin would be a great choice for the Yveltal-EX. If you choose to wait for the Keldeo-EX vs Rayquaza-EX kit, then I would suggest the Breakpoint ETB (for Magnezone, Raikou, Gyarados-EX) or the Primal Clash ETB (for Primal Kyogre-EX, more Archie and Rough Seas), or again the Shiny Yveltal-EX tin (a good card and it can go well with Blastoise).
Good luck with your collection!
Other key cards used in most decks are considered "staples" and these are typically Trainers. When you scan players' decks (definitely consider perusing the Deck Garage Forum for additional ideas and insights), you'll see that most decks are typically comprised of about 30-35 Trainers. The Trainers utilized MUST/NEED to compliment the deck's strategy and Pokémon, but some of the most popular Trainers you'll see in decks "most" often include:
I'd suggest buying these cards individually versus trying to get them in packs.
- Brigette - to help setup your bench when running "lots" of non-EX Basic Pokemon
- Crushing and/or Enhanced Hammer - to remove energy from opponent's Pokemon
- Fairy Garden - Stadium that gives your Pokémon free retreat when a Fairy energy is attached to the Active Pokémon
- Giovanni's Scheme - to either provide card-draw support or additional damage output boost
- Hex Maniac - to temporarily shuttoff Pokemon Abilities
- Judge - to have both players shuffle their hands into their decks and draw 4 cards
- Lysandre - to "gust" an opponent's benched Pokemon to the active position
- Max Elixir - for Item-based energy-attachment acceleration
- N - for card-draw support (and possible opponent's hand disruption since it affect both players)
- Ninja Boy - to search (in deck) and replace Basic (already in play) Pokemon
- Parallel City - Stadium that provides useful advantages
- Professor Sycamore - card-draw support
- Trainer's Mail - Item that allows you to view several cards and choose 1 Trainer (excluding another Trainer's Mail item)
- Ultra Ball - to search for any Pokemon
- VS Seeker - to recover Supporters from the discard pile
I'd suggest buying these cards individually versus trying to get them in packs.
Just checking, do you mean the Pokémon TCG Online? There are some unofficial programs as well, but the reason I ask is specifically some of the advice isn't so good for people playing on the PTCGO. If you want to play on the PTCGO, avoid buying physical product that has already been opened, as you won't get the redemption code for them. If you're doing both, buy key cards as singles because the odds are low you'll be able to get them just by lucky pack pulls (though trading is an option, but can also be hard work).