Would Buying 2 Rayquaza vs Keldeo Battle Arena Kits Be Wise?

[PheonixBlayze]

I'm returning to the game and have started with

20th/steam siege ETBS
pika libre and latios starter decks
lugia and noivern theme decks

my girlfriend and I are having a great time playing these basic decks back and forth, but I will be going to my locals for weekend tourneys, and would like to have some staples..

is doubling down for all those sweet trainer cards worth it? should I only get one(Ray battle arena), then 40 bucks in singles?

PS is the Mewtwo Arena deck still a good idea as well? I found a few local for decent price

 

[bbninjas]

Yes! The Rayquaza vs Keldeo and Mewtwo vs Darkrai Battle Arena Kits are the perfect kits for getting into a more competitive scene, because they contain both powerful and playable Pokemon, as well as the staples used in virtually every deck. Unfortunately the starter decks that you have picked are pretty average and won't contain the stuff that can really enhance your deck. Honestly, two Battle Arena Kits will give you playsets (four of the same card) for most things you need, so if you can afford it, buying two would be good. You'll even have two playsets of things like Professor Sycamore and Ultra Ball. You should keep in mind that these decks are created for the Expanded format, rather than the Standard format. Both formats are common in competitive, however only half of the cards (including staples) in these Battle Arena Kits have been printed also for Standard use (i.e. N, Sycamore, Level Ball, Ultra Ball, VS Seeker, Lysandre). That said, buying two of each will basically net you the main staples for Standard anyways.

I compared to the kits (see the links for the decklists) and I'd say that the Ray-Kel kit is a little more relevant to both formats than the Mewtwo vs Darkrai, primarily since the former has just been released (the latter is a year or so old). However, buying one of each provides more variety and is more interesting, and you'll still get full play-sets of the main staples anyways.

So, yeah, buying the Battle Arena Kits is probably the most efficient way to obtain the staples. Unfortunately, that would leave you with little money to buy other cards for your deck to make it even better, however the kits are pretty decent already. If there's some particular card that you want to add, you could use the cards you've obtained from the kit or the ETBS as trading buffer.