YooperDude said:
I'm new to Pokemon TCG and I'm interested in starting to collect the cards and play with my kids (yes, I'm old). My question is what cards should I be collecting to build a deck? XY or Flashfire? I'd like to play in the local league we have and I also have been playing Pokemon X on 3ds. I'm not familiar with a lot of the Pokemon and the evolutions in the 3DS game, so I thought collecting the XY cards would help me get a better feel for the Pokemon in the game. My daughter seems to like a lot of the cards in the training deck I bought. On the flip side, should I be getting all Flashfire cards since they're the "latest and greatest"? I know I used to get upset playing Magic: The Gathering because cards became unusable in tournament play after what seemed like too short of time. I wasn't sure if that was going to be the case with XY. I also like the fact that you can get the XY fat packs for a reasonable price.
So - where should I begin? What makes the most sense for a beginner that wants to have cards that can be used in the foreseeable future as well as be able to build a fun semi-competitive deck without blowing a ton of cash?
I myself have not been playing for very long (a little over a year), so take what I have to say with a grain of salt.
If you're choosing between XY and Flashfire, it's a difficult decision to make, and honestly one I would not make. Both sets have their share of competitive cards, but I would not say that you could devise any meaningful strategy from either set alone. If you're getting into the game and looking to play competitively, I would always start with the staple cards: common supporters and items such as N (an older card from the BW series), Professor Sycamore (in XY), ultra ball (In Flashfire), muscle band (in XY) etc. You'll find that these cards alone (at least in multiples of 3-4) can speed up decks and make games a lot more fun. Note that though many of the cards I listed
are from the two most recent sets, they are far from a complete list.
Since you're concerned about cards being competitively usable, I'll say that there's not much reason for alarm. Almost all leagues allow unlimited play (all sets allowed, whether or not they're currently in format) for friendly play. With regards to competitive play, sets almost always stay in format for at least 2 years after release before they're rotate, and strong or staple cards often get reprinted in later sets to stay in format longer (such as rare candy, a card that's been in format for over 10 years!). I should mention that sets get rotated in groups of 3-5 at a time, and since they almost always start at least one season with the first set of an era (such as Black and White or XY), XY and Flashfire will almost definitely be rotated at the same time.
With regards to cheaper competitive decks, you're in good luck. The current format has tons of variety, meaning that you can see great success even without spending money buying rare and powerful cards. Obviously the strongest archetypes are the most popular ones (and thus tend to be the most expensive) but only a few stretch to the hundred's of dollars mark. The Pokemon Company (the runners of the game) also like to throw us competitive players generous bones by reprinting the strongest cards in promo tins which can be purchased for far less than their original prints (especially if you purchase the promo cards alone second hand).
For perspective, the cheapest 'competitive' decks (many of which are still strong) start at around ~$70USD (ESTIMATE) to build from scratch. That number drops a good bit once you have the staple cards. The bigger archetypes often float around ~$120 - 150 USD, and the very most expensive decks reach in excess of $350USD (and I should point out that we are at a rare point in the current format where there is a single card -- tropical beach -- which is not only a strong card often played in multiples, but is also very expensive at >$120USD a piece!).
If you're not interested in reading all that text, I'll summarize: don't collect cards from just one set to be competitive. Try and get the staple cards and build decks with those. If you're looking for neat deck ideas, or want to get feedback on your own, check out the
deck garage sub-forum.
And most of all, have fun!
Your best best would be to buy single cards (or playsets) on eBay, where you only buy the cards you need for your deck.
