Gamers of a certain age will fondly remember the late nineties and the height of the Pokémon craze. Chunky Game Boys, clunky Link Cables, the fantastic, terrifying, wacky world of Gen I sprites… it was a wonderful time.
During this period, the Pokémon TCG was the scourge of classrooms everywhere. Cards were traded, admired and bought brazenly, but many didn’t even know how to play the game itself. They were just in it for the popularity of the cards. If you are interested in actually playing the TCG, here are some general pointers you might not have known back then.
10 Don’t Covet The ‘Strongest’ Cards Too Much
Sometimes, what attracts new players to a particular TCG is taking a look at some of the strongest cards the game has to offer. With that in mind, the legendary holo Charizard card could single-handedly make people become collectors for life at a glance.
It’s not simply about filling a deck with raw power, though. In the world of Yu-Gi-Oh!, for instance, some of the strongest decks have revolved around statistically very weak cards with incredible effects, such as the notorious ‘Yata Lock’ deck. Back in the day, it was easy to be beguiled by a holo Hitmonchan or the like, but do they truly contribute to or benefit your deck? That’s the main factor.
9 Your Favorites Just Might Not Be Very Good
In the TCG as in the main games themselves, there’s one sad golden rule of Pokémon that everybody just has to live with: some critters are much better than others. They’re all somebody’s favorite (even the humble Caterpie), but those who buy into the noble ‘use your favorites’ thing will have a bad time with some of them.
Of course, if you’re simply playing the TCG casually with some friends, you’ll do just fine with just about any deck, but serious, competitive games will go south very quickly if you don’t accept that your favorite critters aren’t up to snuff.
8 Trainer Cards Are The Key To Victory
Back in the day, when the craze had a firm grip on fans’ imaginations, it was a natural conclusion to assume that the deck that contains the strongest, rarest Pokémon would be the one that claimed victory. Often, of course, it was, but powerhouse Pokémon aren’t really the main factor in a deck. It’s crucial to be sure that your Trainer Cards are ready and waiting.
These cards don’t deal any direct damage themselves, nor do they power your Pokémon’s attacks like Energy Cards. As such, they’re often underrated by newer players. Their role, however, is perhaps the most vital of all: they allow you to get your hands on the cards you need when you need them. That’s the idea, anyway. They’re the draw power of your deck, the searchers, the card-advantage-providers; vital factors in any TCG.
7 Ensure Your Deck Is Well Balanced
Once again, new TCG players are often tempted to throw together a mixture of the strongest cards they can get their hands on. How many new Yu-Gi-Oh! players pump their decks full of level 7+ powerhouse monsters, then struggle to put together enough tributes to summon any of them? Lots, that’s how many.
Balance is also vital to success in any TCG. The recommended ratio of Pokémon, Energy and Trainer cards is a question everyone new to the Pokémon TCG will ask, and as a deck must have 60 cards, a split of 20-20-20 is sometimes considered. With the importance of Trainer cards in powering everything else, though, 15-15-30 in these cards’ favor (or something similar, usually with less Energy cards) is often preferred. This isn’t something you’d really consider while lusting after those powerful holos.
6 Pokémon-EX- And Pokémon-GX Aren’t The Be All And End All
If you grew up after the Pokémon series was firmly established, you won’t remember the launch of the Generation I games and the TCG as it was back then. Instead, you may have gotten into Pokémon later. During the Pokémon Black & White era, for instance.
If this is the case, you’ll surely have been tempted by some of the strongest and coolest-looking cards the TCG has ever seen: Pokémon-EX. These cards were followed by Pokémon-GX in the Pokémon Sun & Moon era, tremendously powerful cards with great HP that can inflict major damage. Once again, brute strength doesn’t guarantee victory, though, and your younger self may have neglected to be careful with these cards: when one defeated, the opponent can claim two prize cards instead of one!
5 Always Build A Deck With A Goal In Mind
In any TCG, successful players will be need to customize and tweak a deck that works with their specific style. Do you take a defensive approach, or are you more damage-oriented? Do you prefer to play a long game, building up to a key turn or two, or do you try and rush your foe from the start before they’ve got their own footing?
You could have a deck of 60 great cards, but if they don’t synergize together, you’re bound to fail regardless. Identify how you want your deck to function, which cards (and how many copies of them) play into that and key combos you can pull off. Just as in the main series, there’s a dizzying amount of strategy here that newer players often overlook.
4 Understand The Differences Between Standard And Expanded Format
As a brand-new fan conducting illicit Pokémon card trades in a secluded area in your school two decades ago, complicated notions like Standard Format versus Expanded Format might well have been so much meaningless jargon to you. You were just crossing your fingers that the coveted Charizard would appear in your next booster pack, after all.
Standard and Expanded weren’t implemented back then, true enough, so those who have drifted in and out of the series since may not be up to speed. Essentially, both are formats in official competitive play, with Standard allowing more recent expansions and additions (with some older ones becoming illegal as each new season goes by) and Expanded offering a greater variety of older cards (up to the Black & White set). Decks and staple cards differ wildly between the two, so know which you’re playing!
3 Stage Two Pokémon Can Be Very Awkward To Use
If there’s one universal Poké-truth young fans learn very quickly, it’s that evolution makes a Pokémon stronger. It naturally follows, then, that if one evolution is good, two must be better. In the TCG, however, it’s a little more complicated than that.
Having several stage two Pokémon in a deck can be very difficult to manage. One or two particular evolution lines might be key to a deck’s strategy, but the more of these you add, the less reliable your deck becomes and the less effective by default. It doesn’t matter how great your cards are if you don’t have the right ones in your hand at the right time, after all. This all plays into deckbuilding and identifying key cards for your strategy and style.
2 Starter Sets Are The Best Way To… Start
As basic as this may seem, it’s a crucial point. Childhood trades might have consisted of the flashiest, strongest Pokémon cards two collectors could muster, but this wasn’t really the way to build a deck or an understanding of the game.
For that, starter sets are ideal. Perhaps the best way to find your footing in the TCG (or re-learn everything you’ve forgotten) is to pick up one of these simple pre-built decks (or packs of two). They’re not flashy and they’re not competitive, but they’ll show you how certain cards work together and the basics of the game. Don’t try to race Usain Bolt before you can walk, friends.
1 Try To Keep Track Of What’s New, Popular And Powerful
Of course, the majority of players are looking for more of a casual experience. The intensity of tournaments isn’t for everyone, and new cards and sets appear so often that it can be exhausting to keep up with.
Nonetheless, the meta is always important to keep in mind. New fans might have been more concerned with securing coveted cards that whatever their opponents might have, but even in friendly matches, it pays to know what the most competitive decks are capable of. They’re often imitated by players of all skill levels, after all.
NEXT: Pokémon TCG: 10 Best Tips For Making An Awesome Deck
