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Pokémon Trading Card Game |OT| Gotta Collect them all!

1upsuper

Member
I used to collect/play Pokemon off and on for years but I got heavily into Magic the last several years. I didn't think I'd go back to Pokemon but I have this strong urge to dive back in...is the game in a healthy state right now? How much does a competitive deck run about? If I just want to crack some damn packs, what's a good booster box?

Thanks a bunch for your help. I'm sure you guys get asked this all the time, so I'm sorry about that. <.<
 

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
Playing in "events" (tournaments) and buying physical packs are the only way to get tradeable packs afik.

I'd rather trade these like 30+ event tickets I have into a complete Evolutions box collection. I wish The Pokemon Company would let me do that.
 

teeny

Member
So, uh... after being really into Evolutions and saying I was going to start with the new Sun & Moon sets... my resolve broke and I picked up a Steam Siege booster.

h6q6lY1.jpg

I love these full art holos. <3
 

Betty

Banned
/\ That looks fantastic

So I want to grab some Pokemon cards to celebrate Sun & Moon.

What is the best booster pack/s or collectable box for someone wanting a one off purchase and no interest in the game.
 

johnsmith

remember me
/ That looks fantastic

So I want to grab some Pokemon cards to celebrate Sun & Moon.

What is the best booster pack/s or collectable box for someone wanting a one off purchase and no interest in the game.

I'd grab one of the elite trainer boxes. They come in a nice box you can keep the cards in and stick on your shelf.

http://www.pokemoncenter.com/tradin...iner-box-(mega-charizard-y-version)-699-16743

http://m.gamestop.com/product/toys/pokemon-trading-card-game-generations-elite-trainer-box/133412
 

norm9

Member
Been playing the Pokemon trading card game online the past three days nonstop. Really digging and finally have a handle on how to play card games.

Went out and bought three theme decks; all evolution series, one with Mewtwo, one with Pikachu, and a legendary one with a fire bird Montes or something. Gonna gift them to my littlest nephew over Thanksgiving and hope he wants to play it "correctly," though most likely he'll just pick out the good looking cards and mix them all up. If that happens, I'm taking back the Pikachu theme deck.
 

Fishious

Member
Barnes & Noble is having a 30% off cyber monday sale on toys and games + a 15% off coupon BNCYBER16 that stacks. The Evolutions Elite Trainer box is $23.77 + tax after discount and coupon with free shipping.

There might potentially be other deals on their site, but it's a bit deceptive in that it shows B&N's price on the search even if it's only available through market place sellers for an inflated prcie.

CoolStuffInc is having a cyber monday sale with some decent Pokemon deals. Only catch is you need $100 for free shipping. A fair amount of the stuff is already sold out, but here's some highlights that are in stock as of the time of posting:

Battle Arena Decks: Rayquaza vs. Keldeo 19.99
- Contains two full playable decks. Generally better than the standalone starters and has a slew of competitive cards like VS Seeker and N.
Mewtwo EX Box $13.99- Comes with 4 packs (1 being Roaring Skies) and a normal sized and jumbo Mewtwo EX card.
Blastoise-EX or Pikachu-EX Red & Blue Collection $17.99- Comes with an EX card, pokemon figure, and 4 Generations packs. Generation packs aren't sold in booster boxes or single boosters so you have to buy some sort of package set like this to get them.
Evolutions, Breakthrough, Breakpoint,, Steamsiege, or Fates Collide Booster Packs ~$2.50 - I think this is actually about CoolStuffInc's normal price, but it's still about the cheapest you'll find non-tampered booster packs and you might consider throwing a few in if you need filler for free shipping. Booster boxes are also on sale, but price per pack is similar so if you want less than 36 packs you might as well go with this.
 

Card Boy

Banned
Battle Arena Decks: Rayquaza vs. Keldeo pack is a must due to the competitive level cards you get in them. The two VS Seekers alone are worth some serious dough.
 

MacAttack

Member
What are some good fan sites to look for decks and learn more about the meta?

A lot of fan sites are subscription based for premium content, so there's a limit to how much information is available for free.

Charizard Lounge is great free resource for tournament results: http://thecharizardlounge.com/

Pokebeach is a good news site: pokebeach.com

PTCGRadio is a great source for meta breakdown: podcast and youtbe channel

There's also a closed facebook group called Virbank City.
 

nicoga3000

Saint Nic
You can buy booster pack online codes pretty cheap. Via eBay or other stores for around $0.20 per pack.

Is the online scene full of netdecks? I may splurge and pick some codes up.

E: Where do you see $0.20 a code? Everything I see is 2-3x that at least.
 
So yeah, I played a bit of PTCGO against the AI and I'm really liking it, wondering why I never got into the card game when it was new.

I'm sold on it, going to buy some theme decks and a booster box probably.
 

Fishious

Member
Got my order from CoolStuffInc today. Went ahead and opened up the 4 Pikachu Red & Blue Collections I ordered and I think I did pretty well. I forgot to take a pic of the promo Pikachu cards.


I don't know why I keep getting Flareon Ex. I already had 4 before I opened these packs. I feel like every time there was an extra rare foil in a pack it was Flareon. Oh well, guess I can't complain too much.
 

norm9

Member
So yeah, I played a bit of PTCGO against the AI and I'm really liking it, wondering why I never got into the card game when it was new.

I'm sold on it, going to buy some theme decks and a booster box probably.

I got three AR cards from theme decks i bought for my nephew who showed no interest after a few minuts. Once I get more confident on the online version, I might even give the physical game a try at a game shop, though they only seem to advertise Magic nights.
 
Hi guys. I used to play a lot back in the day and we want to try this again with some friends.

I have a question regarding an old card, Ecogym. It returns energy cards back to the owner's hand. The question I have is, if I use ecogym with Charizard's flamethrower, do I get my energy cards back? Or does that only happens when my opponent makes me remove my energy cards?
 

Fishious

Member
Hi guys. I used to play a lot back in the day and we want to try this again with some friends.

I have a question regarding an old card, Ecogym. It returns energy cards back to the owner's hand. The question I have is, if I use ecogym with Charizard's flamethrower, do I get my energy cards back? Or does that only happens when my opponent makes me remove my energy cards?

No, you don't get your energy cards back. Ecogym only has an effect when you make your opponent discard energy, or your opponent makes you discard energy.
 

N.Domixis

Banned
Couldn't resist any longer and opened up my xy evolutions here's what I got

Holos
Clefairy
Chansey
Machamp
Garydos
Charizard
Magneton


Ex Holos
Charizard Ex
Venusaur Ex
Pideot EX

M Ex Holos
M Blastoise Ex
M SloweBrow Ex

Full art
Dragonite EX
Pidgeot EX

Breaks
Starmie
Machamp

All secret rares

And M Charizard EX full art is the only other full art but that was its own box.

Not bad. Not bad.
 

fenners

Member
So on Ebay there's listings for entire boxes with 36 booster packs, with prices starting at £9,99

Are these legit? I mean it seems too good to be true but the sellers have fantastic ratings and no one's said it's fake or a scam.

Here's one listing to show what I mean

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pokemon-TCG-Booster-Box-English-Edition-Break-Point-36-packs-324pcs-cards-/152332770499?hash=item2377bd9cc3:g:pKoAAOSwV0RXvw0U#rwid

It's from Glasgow, how can it possibly be bad? :) The actual seller info is Hong Kong if you scroll down to the bottom business seller information.

We had a good discussion about these ebay boxes a while back - at best, ransacked for foil containing packs, but almost certainly it's the worst - knock-off prints from Hong Kong.



How can this not fill you with confidence? :/
"Items are measured by hand, there will be a slight deviation. Hope you understand.
2. The item color displayed may be slightly different on your computer monitor since monitors are not calibrated same."

Save your money if you want real cards.

BTW the first link - they've received over 250 negative ebay reviews in the past month. ...:

Not Authentic Shopkins! Very Disappointed
Totally fake every one of them!!!
Fake item, awful customer service!
DO NOT BUY. Bad English. No item no refund. Awful seller. AVOID
These scammers have taken more money than they should have and will not refund!

Save your money.
 

Betty

Banned
It's from Glasgow, how can it possibly be bad? :) The actual seller info is Hong Kong if you scroll down to the bottom business seller information.

We had a good discussion about these ebay boxes a while back - at best, ransacked for foil containing packs, but almost certainly it's the worst - knock-off prints from Hong Kong.

How can this not fill you with confidence? :/
"Items are measured by hand, there will be a slight deviation. Hope you understand.
2. The item color displayed may be slightly different on your computer monitor since monitors are not calibrated same."

Save your money if you want real cards.

Damn, I totally missed those negative reviews., thanks. Knew it was too good to be true.

In actual good deals though, Tesco have the tins for £13, and in some places you can get 3 for 2. From hotukdeals

I'm going to check tomorrow because I bought the Volcanion tin and it had some pretty great pulls.
 

johnsmith

remember me
Is Ray Eels still a viable deck in expanded? What would be a good modern deck list?

Though it looks like raikou/eels is probably better, still hitting the top 8 in recent regionals.
 

teeny

Member
Anyone in the UK up for trading?


I'm looking to trade the Ninetales BREAK card for either Nidoking BREAK or Starmie BREAK. Also have a Machamp BREAK for trade as well.

Looking to trade Slowbro EX for one of the following:

Blastoise EX
Charizard EX
Dragonite EX
Pidgeot EX
Venusaur Ex

Hope those requests are roughly equivalent :p
 

johnsmith

remember me
Played a lot of Volcanion on PTCGO today, fun deck, won most games even though I made tons of misplays. I just wish i had my Shaymin.
 

norm9

Member

Bilix

Member
Hey GAF.

My mom is insistent on getting my niece Pokemon cards for Christmas. However, she's a bit too young to actually play the game. What's the best thing to get that will just have a bunch of fun cards and things to open?
 

Kito

Member
However, she's a bit too young to actually play the game.

Most of us are collectors anyway.

What's the best thing to get that will just have a bunch of fun cards and things to open?

A few booster packs and a binder.

f25c8640942ec31db2f58b765e2408b0.jpg


You could also import Japanese cards from amazon.jp to make her the cool kid on the block.
 

teeny

Member
Evolutions includes all the cards from the original set?

No, it's missing a few. Blastoise line, Alakazam line, Venusaur line and others (I think). Baffling decision, imo, apart from the stupid Uri Geller thing. Which is still stupid.
 
No, it's missing a few. Blastoise line, Alakazam line, Venusaur line and others (I think). Baffling decision, imo, apart from the stupid Uri Geller thing. Which is still stupid.
Wouldn't have been the most elegant solution, but they could have just reprinted Abra and Alakazam and gave Abra the "Super Evolution" move again. Kadabra probably wouldn't have even been as good as it used to be anyway, there's no way they'd give a stage 1 a ~70 damage attack with no drawbacks.
 

teeny

Member
Wouldn't have been the most elegant solution, but they could have just reprinted Abra and Alakazam and gave Abra the "Super Evolution" move again. Kadabra probably wouldn't have even been as good as it used to be anyway, there's no way they'd give a stage 1 a ~70 damage attack with no drawbacks.

True, I guess, but it's a really weird situation. I didn't know anything about it until I bought a couple of boosters and looked the set list up online. I still don't understand why it affects the TCG but not the actual games.

Evolutions has done it's job for me anyway and gotten me into the TCG.
 
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