TCG Ancient Origins/XY: Launch Kit vs Booster Box vs Trainer Kit

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Flyboy24

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Hello Pokebeach community,

My son and I have been out of the Pokémon game for quite a while and want to get back into swing of things with our local leagues. However, since most of the cards we have are from way back they are already out of cycle(Our cards are from Heart Gold/Soul Silver and older), I am considering the purchase of some of the Ancient Origins and/or XY packs to get "standard" compliant cards. My question is, do you recommend getting the Launch Kit that has 72 packs, 8 theme decks, 16 holos with some extras, a couple booster boxes with 36 packs each, and/or the Trainer Kit. What makes the most sense? Are there any recommended vendors to make sure you get the sealed versions, etc? Some people recommend getting singles of exactly what you want as well. Any advice is welcome. Thank you.
 
Ah, ah, Launch Kit's aren't really for the customers, more for the retailers, so it is probably worth not getting those. Booster Boxes gives you singles of cards that got perhaps be more useful for trading, and Trainer Kits, tbh, aren't that good like ever. There is a Xerneas vs Yveltal Battle Kit that has a lot of good staples in it, so it may be worth getting that. Also, look through your cards for those that have been reprinted! Things like VS Seeker have been reprinted, and are staple 3/4 ofs.

If you'd like to get Booster Boxes, I suggest Phantom Forces as your choice, as it has a lot of playable, cheap cards as well as numerous staple Trainers.
 
In my opinion, either buying single cards, or buying booster boxes are the best way to go. I personally pick out a few decks I want to build/play and simply buy those cards and just start testing it out at League or going online to like TCG One or TPCG Online if I have the code cards to trade for stuff. Trainer Kit's I believe have damage counters and sleeves sometimes but it's just far cheaper to buy dice and mattes sleeve to practice with and usually the cards they give are mediocre at best.
 
Look on ebay and other single card sellers for people who do whole collections, like you can get a playset of each common, uncommon and rare from one set for about a quarter or less of the RRP of a booster box, if you are serious in investing a couple of hundred quid and want the most for your money I would invest in the complete common and uncommon set of XY, flash fire, furious fists, phantom forces, primal clash, roaring skies and ancient origins. Then you can have a lot of fun just building decks against each other. Then you can invest in rares and EX's as you need for your decks, this will get you a great base for what you need which you can tailor to any deck in the format for just a few EX's. But the EX's are only necessary if you want to play at a local league or what have you. If you are just playing against each other at home then the commons and uncommons from standard should be more than enough for you guys to have some great games with a few cheap rares thrown in which you can buy singularly.


Here are some examples I pulled off (British) eBay for you to illustrate my point, I suggest you search around for better deals than these as I don't know if these are the best.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pokemon-X...et-New-Mint-/291541167379?hash=item43e1352d13

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pokemon-X...d-Sets-/221853414838?var=&hash=item33a77e75b6

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pokemon-3...-Clash-MINT-/301647054896?hash=item463b90c830

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pokemon-2...790?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item43deb7077e

Again, I'm not endorsing these particular sellers or lots, just trying to give you an idea of what I honestly believe is the best way to get quick complete collections. Remember you can have up to four of the same card, so buying say four of each sets full common and uncommon set is often not a bad idea.
 
To get back into the game, I'd recommend buying a Booster Box of Phantom Forces, maybe even two. It should give you a playset of Sycamores, VS Seekers, and the Crobat line, as well as hopefully a Mega Manectric-EX or Secret Rare Dialga-EX. This will give you most of your staples for playing and you'll really only need Ultra Ball, Muscle Band, and the other main supporters to construct the main, typically used engine.

You could also gamble on a Booster Box of Roaring Skies, as that will get you the most sought after cards (Shaymin-EX, MRayquaza-EXs, SR VS Seeker, etc.) and trade those for your staples.

If you're not really concerned much about Standard and plan on playing a lot in Expanded next year, it might help to buy 2 Red Genesect Collections, if you can find them, as they'll give you a playset of Juniper, N, and Ultra Ball, iirc, which are normally automatic four-ofs in most decks.

The final way (and probably cheapest) way of doing things is to make a list of things that crop up a lot in decks, and just make a list of them, and work on securing bargains on them via negotiating on Virbank City Pokemart. WARNING: This WILL be incredibly time-intensive, and it'll take about a year to finally build up a collection. Work on getting easily techable cards, like Seismitoad-EX, Muscle Band, Shaymin-EX, Hoopa-EX, VS Seeker, Sycamore, Ultra Ball, N, Colress, Skyla, Manectric-EX, Crobat PHF, Lugia-EX AOR, etc.
 
Thank you all for your advice. I had initially thought to go with the Launch Kit because it came with 72 cards and the 9 * theme decks, but there are only the two theme deck types, so a lot of repeats of not really the best cards. Looking at the cards that are recommended, I wanted to get your opinion on the Xerneas vs Yvetal battle arena deck. That pack has a bunch of supporter/training cards that are awesome and even some nifty pokemon like Amaralise. Stuff like Lysander, Fan club, Sycamore, Tierno, Ultra Ball, Shauna, Switch.

EDIT: I just noticed that X vs Y was recommended earlier. I will be getting this one, Phantom Forces Booster Box and Ancient Origins Booster Box.
 
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Flyboy24 said:
Thank you all for your advice. I had initially thought to go with the Launch Kit because it came with 72 cards and the 9 * theme decks, but there are only the two theme deck types, so a lot of repeats of not really the best cards. Looking at the cards that are recommended, I wanted to get your opinion on the Xerneas vs Yvetal battle arena deck. That pack has a bunch of supporter/training cards that are awesome and even some nifty pokemon like Amaralise. Stuff like Lysander, Fan club, Sycamore, Tierno, Ultra Ball, Shauna, Switch.

EDIT: I just noticed that X vs Y was recommended earlier. I will be getting this one, Phantom Forces Booster Box and Ancient Origins Booster Box.
Click to expand...
I would not recommend the Ancient Origins Booster Box, as the only majorly "good" cards in the set (the ones that will be seeing significant meta play) that I can find are Sceptile-EX, M Sceptile-EX, and a bunch of commons, rares, and uncommons, which can be bought for MUCH cheaper. I'd recommend getting a Furious Fists or Roaring Skies booster box instead, as Furious Fists has Lucario-EX and Seismitoad-EX, while Roaring Skies has Shaymin-EX, MRayquaza-EX and SR VS Seeker.
 
I would recommend you take a look at a couple of deck lists and think what you might like to play.
there are a lot of staples that you can buy online.
these would be the standard trainers that you need to run in any deck.
Sycamore, UltraBall, etc...

before you invest too too much into the pricier EX level cards.
you might think about proxy'ing the cards just to see how you like the deck and how it runs.
many times, I/we find that the decks either aren't that fun (each their own)...
and everyone tends to have a deck they "like".

even if you buy a booster box or 2 from any set... you still may not get the cards you need.
especially if you want to run x4.
but you could always sell the code cards, commons, and EXs to recoupe some of the cost .
 
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