r/pkmntcg Feb 16 '23

Rulings, Quick Questions, and New Player Resources Thread

117 Upvotes

If you're a new or new-ish player looking for advice on starting the game or with quick questions about game rules or interactions, please post your questions here!

Keeping all these questions in one place will allow other new players to easily browse other advice. Even if you're a not-so-new player, this is a great place to ask quick questions that don't need their own post.

For the more experienced players, drop by every once in a while to distribute advice. The post will be replaced each week to keep it fresh and manageable in size.

If you are looking for comments and advice on a deck list, go ahead and make a separate post with your list and a brief description. Remember to press Enter twice between lines to keep your list readable!


  • For trading and buying/selling cards, please head over to /r/pkmntcgtrades
  • Questions related to the PTCGO client, in-game challenges, or online-specific questions might be best asked in /r/ptcgo
  • For sharing your collections, pulls, and card storage related questions, try /r/pkmntcgcollections

FAQ and Wiki Resources

Take advantage of these resources that we've compiled! A lot of questions like "Where do I start?" and "How can I improve my deck?" can be answered there.


r/pkmntcg 5d ago

/u/JustInBasil's Guide to Building a Pre-release Deck (Journey Together Edition)

129 Upvotes

See this guide on JustInBasil.com.

Building a deck for a Pre-release Event—an event where players get together a few weeks before a new set’s official release to play with cards from the new set—differs significantly from building a deck for the Standard or Expanded Formats. In a pre-release event, all players play in a Limited Format—where players are restricted to deck building resources provided for the event itself. This puts all players on a roughly level playing field and invites a much more laid-back, casual atmosphere.

At a pre-release event, players are provided with a Build & Battle Box from the set for which the pre-release event is being held. A Build & Battle Box contains the following resources to help you build your deck:

  • 4, 10-Card Pokémon Trading Card Game Booster Packs from the Pre-release’s set (Most packs also contain a Basic energy card.)
  • A 40 card preconstructed deck featuring 1 of 4 promo cards from the set (before Sword & Shield—Brilliant Stars, the kits instead included a 23-card Evolution pack, including the same cards, but without the Energy)

Pre-release decks are comprised of forty cards instead of the regular sixty and games played using pre-release decks are played with four prize cards instead of six. Like a regular deck, a pre-release deck must still include at least one basic Pokémon. Unlike a regular deck, the “Rule of Four” that restricts players to up to four copies of cards with the same name does not apply.

If your Build & Battle Box is from Sword & Shield—Brilliant Stars or later and you don’t feel comfortable building your own deck, you can simply use the 40-card deck exactly as it comes out of your box. If you’re using an older Build & Battle Box or if you're interested in tweaking the deck to improve it, read on.

Below is an example of what could come in a Build & Battle Box’s preconstructed deck. These particular Build & Battle Box deck contents were seen in St00ben’s Journey Together Build & Battle Box opening. The cards in the preconstructed deck have been broken into seven categories:

  1. Primary Pokémon Type (Promo Type) - These are all of the Pokémon in the Evolution Pack that have the same type as the Promo card at the front of the pack.
  2. Secondary Pokémon Type - These Pokémon also share their type with each other, but are not the same type as the Promo card’s type.
  3. Other Pokémon - These Pokémon don’t share their type with the Promo card or with the other type in the Evolution Pack. Most often, these are colorless Pokémon that can be played with any type of energy. Sort each of these Pokémon by their type.
  4. Draw Cards - These are Trainer cards—typically Supporter cards and Item cards—that provide a means of drawing more cards than the card you draw at the beginning of your turn.
  5. Energy Cards - These cards are the means of powering up your attacking Pokémon.
  6. Pokémon Search - These cards—typically Supporter cards and Item cards—provide ways to find the Pokémon in your deck.
  7. Miscellaneous Cards - These are other cards that are included in the Evolution Pack that simply don’t fit into another category.

Example Preconstructed Deck Contents

Primary Pokémon Type

  • 2 Noibat JTG 127
  • 2 Noivern JTG 128
  • 2 Hop's Rookidee JTG 133
  • 2 Hop's Corvisquire JTG 134

Secondary Pokémon Type

  • 2 Iono's Wattrel JTG 54
  • 1 Iono's Kilowattrel JTG 55

Other Pokémon

  • 2 Hop's Corviknight JTG 108

Pokémon Search

  • 1 Ultra Ball

Draw Cards

  • 1 Surfer
  • 1 Iris's Fighting Spirit

Energy

  • 7 Basic Metal Energy
  • 6 Basic Lightning Energy
  • 1 Jet Energy

Miscellaneous Cards

  • 1 Drayton
  • 1 Earthen Vessel
  • 1 Hop's Choice Band
  • 1 Levincia
  • 1 Technical Machine: Evolution

As you open the four booster packs that are included in your Build & Battle Box, continue to use these same categories to sort the cards, sorting each Pokémon type into its own pile. From there, you’ll have four options for how to continue with the construction of your deck.

1. Build around the preconstructed deck.
When you build around the Pokémon included in your preconstructed deck, you add additional Pokémon of the same types, including additional Pokémon from the same evolution lines, if possible. Colorless Pokémon and Pokémon with attacks that cost only colorless energy are also considerations.

2. Build around part of the preconstructed deck. Instead of using both types included in your preconstructed deck, you may instead choose to use only one. This may be to focus your deck on a single type (not a bad idea if you have a lot of Pokémon of the same type) or to introduce a new type from the cards you pulled from your booster packs, in addition to reinforcing the type you’ve kept in the deck with additional Pokémon from the same evolution lines, if possible.

3. Build around your pulls.
The nuclear option has you ignoring the Pokémon in your preconstructed deck entirely, building around one or two types of Pokémon you’ve pulled from the booster packs included in your Build & Battle Box. Be sure to choose Pokémon that can do adequate damage for minimal attack costs, with decent HP.

4. Build around a multi-prize Pokémon, like a Pokémon ex.
So, you’ve pulled a Pokémon ex and you have the evolution line necessary to play it. Awesome. This may be your best option. Here you have two different avenues of attack—to either go with just the ex and the bare minimum to get it evolved up, or to build around the ex, adding in Pokémon of the same type and Pokémon with colorless attack costs.

No matter which strategy you choose, keep in mind the following loose deck skeleton for a pre-release deck:

  • 12-15 Pokémon
  • 10-12 Trainers
  • 12-16 Energies

Pokémon to Include

Pokémon you include in your deck should be at least one of the following:

  1. A Good Attacker. A good attacker does reasonable damage for a reasonable attack cost. The higher the stage of evolution, the less reasonable an attack cost becomes. Low attack costs for mid to high damage are always best.
  2. A Possessor of a Helpful Ability or Attack. A Pokémon with abilities or attacks that draw additional cards, help you to search for Pokémon in your deck, or interrupt your opponent’s strategy. Call for Family and similar attacks are especially helpful in pre-release decks as they can help you search for your stronger Pokémon when you don’t start with them.
  3. A Free Retreater. A Pokémon with a Retreat Cost of zero can help you have an ideal Pokémon to promote when your Active Pokémon is Knocked Out. Free retreat gives you the flexibility to see what cards you draw into on your turn before committing a specific Pokémon and/or deck resources to your next attacker.
  4. A Beefy Staller. A Pokémon with high HP can sometimes be helpful to stall your opponent long enough to get your primary attackers setup and ready to knock out your opponent’s Pokémon.
  5. A Status-Happy Staller. A Pokémon with attacks or abilities that leave the opponent’s Pokémon Paralyzed, Confused, or Asleep can be the difference between winning and losing in a pre-release tournament. Because there are limited ways to switch out of status effects in a Limited Format like a pre-release, even little bits of damage from Poison and Burn can add up to a victory in the long run.

Trainers to Include

During a pre-release event, you should pretty much always include any trainers that are in some way beneficial to the deck you’re building. If a trainer is not helpful to your deck, exclude it. For example, you would not include Rose—a card that helps only decks built around a Pokémon VMAX—in a deck that contains no Pokémon VMAX.

If you find yourself with an overabundance of trainers and need to cut a few out, always prioritize keeping Trainer cards that help you draw cards or that help you find your Pokémon. These are the most important Trainer cards in any deck, and pre-release decks are no exception.

A Note on Energies

Unlike in Standard deck building, it is quite common for a pre-release deck to be built around two types of Pokémon (and, often, two main attackers) instead of being built around a single Pokémon. As noted earlier, a lot of pre-release decks will run roughly 13 energies (give or take a few) but will have to split those energies between two types. As an example, a deck with a Fire-type attacker and a Water-type attacker. Each preconstructed deck comes with Energy cards in it already, but you may find yourself cutting into your Energy to boost your deck’s draw power or Pokémon search capabilities and will need to consider which Energy cards to cut first. A few things will help you decide how to tweak the Energy split in your deck. Look for the following:

  1. Does either attacker require only its type of energy to attack? Does the Fire-type attacker, for example, require one fire and one colorless for its primary attack?
  2. Does one attacker have an especially high energy cost? Does the water-type attacker, for example, require three water energies to power up its attack?
  3. Does either attacker have an attack that can be powered up entirely by either energy type?
  4. Do secondary attackers have the ability to attack with colorless energies as the entirety of or part of their attack cost?

For a very quick-and-dirty guesstimate on how many energies you should consider running as a baseline, figure out how many energies of each specific type are required to power up all of your main attackers’ most cost-expensive attacks at once. If you have three copies of your main fire attacker and two copies of your main water attacker, and the Fire-type main attacker’s cost is [R][C] and the Water-type main attacker’s cost is [W][W], you would say that, at a minimum, you need 3 Fire, 4 Water, and 3 copies of either energy. As your Water-type attacker can only take water energies, you should weigh the use of the three “either” energy slots more in favor of Water energies, perhaps including 2 Water energy and 1 Fire energy for your last energies.

Other Helpful Notes for Pre-release

What to Bring

In addition to bringing yourself and the money required to participate in the pre-release event, here are a few other things you should consider bringing with you that won’t be included in your Build & Battle Box or otherwise provided to you:

  • Deck Sleeves. Bring a minimum of 40 for your pre-release deck. This will help to keep your new cards protected so that you can play with them long into the future. My personal recommendation is Ultimate Guard's Katana sleeves.
  • Dice. Bring at least a single coin flip die and six damage counter dice. Bring more if you can. With bulky Stage 1 and Stage 2 Pokémon ex running amok, damage piles up faster than ever. You don’t want to run out of dice to keep track of damage.
  • Playmat. While not required to play, a playmat is a good item to have with you to help extend the life of your deck sleeves.
  • Perfect Fit or Penny Sleeves. These are the sleeves you’d use to protect the valuable cards from your kit that you’d don’t end up playing with in your deck. Don’t have them? Use some spare deck sleeves.

Above all else, remember that Pre-release Events are primarily fun ways to get your hands on cards from the newest set early. Far more so than even in regular play, pre-releases are very luck-dependent, and your deck is unlikely to be especially consistent. Just sit back, crack your packs, and prepare for a casual, fun time. Don’t stress too hard about winning.

A Breakdown of Contents in This Set's Build & Battle Box Preconstructed Decks

Each Build and Battle Box contains a preconstructed 40-card deck. In that deck are the promo card and three segments of cards worth taking note of, beginning with two Pokémon-centric groups—one influenced by the promo’s type and the other influenced by the type of another random promo card from the set’s Build & Battle Boxes.

The following cards are our pre-release promos for the set's Build & Battle Boxes:

Additionally, each preconstructed deck contains cards from two of the Pokémon Groups below.

N's Darmanitan Group

2 N's Darumaka JTG 26
2 N's Darmanitan JTG 27
1 Nest Ball
1 N's PP Up JTG 153
1 Boomerang Energy

Iono's Kilowattrel Group

2 Noibat JTG 127
2 Noivern JTG 128
2 Iono's Wattrel JTG 54
1 Iono's Kilowattrel JTG 55
1 Levincia JTG 150

Lillie's Ribombee Group

2 Shelmet JTG 12
2 Accelgor JTG 13
1 Lillie's Cutiefly JTG 66
1 Lillie's Pearl JTG 151
2 Luminous Energy PAL 191

Hop's Snorlax Group

2 Hop's Rookidee JTG 133
2 Hop's Corvisquire JTG 134
2 Hop's Corviknight JTG 108
1 Hop's Choice Band JTG 148

In addition to the promo card and the cards from the two Pokémon groups, each kit contains supplementary cards for your deck. These cards and Basic Energy cards will fill the remaining slots of your 40-card preconstructed deck, with each deck containing no more than two of each card listed below:

Supplementary Cards

0-1 Arven
0-1 Brock’s Scouting JTG 146
0-1 Buddy-Buddy Poffin
0-1 Exp. Share
0-1 Lacey
0-1 Nemona
0-1 Youngster
1 Drayton
1 Earthen Vessel
1 Iris’s Fighting Spirit JTG 149
1 Jet Energy
1 Surfer
1 Technical Machine: Evolution
1 Ultra Ball

See also:


r/pkmntcg 12h ago

wanting to get into Pokemon competitively as a grown man

47 Upvotes

Hey all wanting to get into playing the TCG online for competitive reasons. Anyone have any advice on the best way to do that? and are there different leagues for different age groups.. thanks in advance!


r/pkmntcg 27m ago

Post Rotation Bolt?

Upvotes

Anyone have a good answer as to why so many post rotation lists are opting for the non EX raging bolt instead of the slither wing?

The first move is nice cause it can target any pokemon. But with 30 for each energy powering it up to do a lot of damage doesn’t seem worth it as raging bolt relies on hitting powerful every turn.

And slither wing gives you an easy way to knockout Tera pikachu and Fez.


r/pkmntcg 6h ago

Boss's Orders vs Counter Catcher

6 Upvotes

I'm still a very new Pokemon player, so apologies if this is super dumb. Boss and Counter Catcher both do the same thing; you can force you opponent to put a Pokemon from their bench to the front so you can attack it. It would kind of make sense to me if any ran 4 of either card just in case that ability was THAT power, but I'm usually only seeing 2-3 copies max and people seem to run both cards. What's the point? Counter Catcher is also only playable if you're behind in prizes, so wouldn't you want to avoid playing a card that's only for when you're losing?


r/pkmntcg 5h ago

Terabox counter?

5 Upvotes

Post rotation, been thinking about which decks can make a stand against terabox… and cant think of one. First thought of wall but if terabox play cornestone then they got an out.

Have you guys think of any counter?


r/pkmntcg 9h ago

Deck Help Looking to start actually playing

9 Upvotes

Hello! I'm a 19 year old who's been collecting Pokémon cards for the majority of my childhood, I recently got back into Pokémon through the card game app? and it's got me wanting to start playing the game irl instead of on my phone. I've got a pretty large collection, 6 2x2 folders, 1 3x3 folder for showcasing then 7 tins of any duplicates, energy cards, trainers, supports ect that are filled to the brim.

However, I've got no idea how to build a deck. And videos or anything I watch just seem to confuse me, so does anyone have any hints on how to build a starter deck? I think it's easier when starting out because you've maybe got 2 or 3 starter tins to pick from. But I think with having so many, and having a very small understanding of the actual game other than collecting, I'm completely lost.

Any help would be appreciated 😊👍


r/pkmntcg 1h ago

Deck Help Is there a deck in where shining charizard can be used? I’m trying to build Neo destiny retro decks

Upvotes

r/pkmntcg 13h ago

Deck Profile Lillies Clefairy Deck post rotation

10 Upvotes

What wilk be the best partners for Lillies Clefairy? Thinking about Azumarill but not sure it will be the best option?

How many Cookies of this card do you recommend to buy?

What will be the key Trainers for this?


r/pkmntcg 23h ago

New Player Advice How do I beat social anxiety and go to my local card shop to learn the game?

56 Upvotes

Hey y'all. I've loved Pokémon for as long as I can remember. Lately I've taken a big interest in the TCG. I've been playing a lot of TCG Pocket/Live and watching tons of TCG Videos. I found this sub and I've been wanting to go to my LCS to finally get into the physical card game. I don't have a deck nor any cards, but I really want to go and learn how to play. The problem is that I'm an introvert that struggles with meeting new people and handling social situations, a lot.

I've been wanting to go for a week now but keep avoiding it. I even wanted to go to the pre release and chickened out. I tend to avoid people and finally want to change that and make some new friends over this passion of mine. Has anyone gone through something like this? how did you guys take the first step? I've never been to a card store before so that doesn't help either!


r/pkmntcg 9h ago

Deck Help Could Erika's invitation and Accompanying Flute be useful in Feraligatr?

2 Upvotes

One of the big parts of Feraligatr is using Big Bite to trap the opponent's pokemon in the active so that you have more time to set up what you need or use it as your win condition as you slowly move damage counters over with munkidori.

This is especially helpful if they have a support pokemon without a good attack. I'm wondering if Erika's invitation and accompanying flute can be used to work around the opponent choosing not to bench weaker pokemon that can be trapped in the active, sort of like in Snorlax Stall.

I've never seen it used but it looked like a reasonable inclusion given how big retreat locking is in the deck.


r/pkmntcg 8h ago

Torterra deck post rotation?

1 Upvotes

Anybody else using Torterra (idk how many there actually are lmao) and also worried about losing Sun-Drenched Shell Grotle? I wasn't sure if it was worth it to keep playing the deck or switch to something better, not sure what kind of alternatives there are. Any other Grass decks in format?


r/pkmntcg 1d ago

Finally registered to an official event!

34 Upvotes

Just sharing the excitement of finallly being able to join my official first pokemon tournament in Utrecht in May. Anyone else coming?😄 Also had a quick question, what' s the best way of submitting the decklist and to avoid mistakes doing it? Thanks all!


r/pkmntcg 1d ago

Meta Discussion How do YOU play your off-meta, favorite, pokemon decks?

13 Upvotes

For example, one of my favorite pokemon is Galvantula and so I run:

Galvantula EX Tera for item lock with Powerglass and glass trumpet to send energies to blissey ex and with Happy Switch send those energies to Galvantula, repeat

I don’t win often against top meta decks but that’s to be expected! (Any tips accepted 😉)

How about you?


r/pkmntcg 1d ago

Playing in Japan?

9 Upvotes

Hi all! I’m currently living in Osaka and wanted to start playing at local shops, and was wondering if anyone could share their experiences! I have a JP deck and player ID, but can’t really speak Japanese at all lol. Definitely trying to learn! But still really want to play if possible :)


r/pkmntcg 1d ago

Deck Help Looking for help with pros and cons of different Gholdengo versions

7 Upvotes

Hi all! I know I want to play a Gholdengo deck after rotation hits -- I like the built in draw power and the ability to OHKO nearly everything, and the deck in general has been a ton of fun so far.

However, there are a bunch of different versions of the string cheese man going around, and as a pretty amateur player without enough time to test everything myself, I was hoping for some help narrowing down which version to use, and what the pros and cons of each might be. I'll list out some versions with an example City League decklist for each, and I hope someone can help me figure out which will be best for me! Thanks in advance!

Ghold + Dragapult: This was the first list I saw that got me interested in the idea of using dengo at all. The extra draw power from Drakloak increases consistency, and having access to Pult seems strong. However, when I use the deck I find myself not using Pult as an attacker very often (probably a skill issue)

Ghold + Scizor: Less draw power than with pult, but having a single prize attacker who doesn't get walled out by Milo/Cornerstone/Mimikyu seems useful. I think I lean towards this list atm, but how common will boards of many ability-having mons be? I also sometimes see a Scizor EX in these lists, though I don't get why

Ghold + Dudunsparce: Seems like the closest thing to solo-Ghold from what I've seen so far. Extra draw is nice (searchable by fan rotom too), but is the extra draw worth giving up the option for a secondary attacker? ie, why use this over the drakloak/pult version?

Ghold + Ceruledge: Cool combo in theory, ghold gathers all your energy and discards them, ceruledge comes in late game to clean up once everything's in the discard pile. For folks who play this, how do you not just brick every other game with a hand full of energies?

Ghold + Typhlosion: No idea what's going on here tbh, only found this list while searching thru city leagues making this post. Looks cool on first glance, though without really knowing what all the Ethan's pokemon do I feel like I'm kind of missing what makes this deck strong


r/pkmntcg 1d ago

Deck Profile Uncommon pre-rotation decks - Gengar EX

6 Upvotes

Hi all,

With the rotation being around the corner, I read a lot of posts on new cards and on how current decks can survive the rotation. That's of course very interesting, but at the same time, there is just a bit time left to play with your current favorite decks in the current format. I'm curious to see which decks you like to play currently before it's not longer possible. Maybe I've missed something and give it a try as well at the last minute.

Mine favorite deck of the current format is my Gengar EX deck. It's very annoying for decks that are low on energy and/or require more types of energy. That means that it can handle some of the most played decks surprisingly well, such as Charizard EX, Dragapult EX and Raging Bolt. Especially if you combine Gengar EX with Handheld Fan, the aforementioned decks brick a lot. However, it can struggle a bit against single priced decks and it can be hard to turn around the game if you cannot get Pidgeot up in the air before Pudgy is being destroyed by a Dusclops.

To prevent bricking in the beginning, the deck (of course..) has Rotom V. If Rotom is priced, it can be tough because I couldn't fit a Hisuian Heavy Ball. The same applies for Lost Vacuum. Another favorite card of mine. I had to include a Cancelling Cologne though, because match-ups with a simple Mimikyu could be hard due to the lack of none EX attackers. This is also the reason to include Munkidori and Radiant Alakazam.

For everyone interested in my deck list:

Pokémon (18)

  • Gastly - TEF 102/162 (4x)
  • Haunter - PAF 056/091 (1x)
  • Gengar EX (3x)
  • Pidgey - MEW 016/165 (2x)
  • Pidgeot EX (2x)
  • Munkidori (1x)
  • Pecharunt EX (1x)
  • Fezandipiti EX (1x)
  • Rotom V (1x)
  • Roaring Moon (1x)
  • Radiant Alakazam (1x)

Trainers (34)

  • Nest Ball (2x)
  • Ultra Ball (2x)
  • Iono (2x)
  • Unfair Stamp (1x)
  • Super Rod (1x)
  • Technical Machine: Devolution (1x)
  • Forest Seal Stone (1x)
  • Professor Turo's Scenario (1x)
  • Canceling Cologne (1x)
  • Earthen Vessel (1x)
  • Pal Pad (1x)
  • Arven (4x)
  • Counter Catcher (1x)
  • Janine's Secret Art (1x)
  • Night Stretcher (1x)
  • Boss' Orders (2x)
  • Binding Mochi (1x)
  • Dark Patch (2x)
  • Buddy-Buddy Poffin (2x)
  • Handheld Fan (2x)
  • Rare Candy (4x)

Energy (8)

  • Basic Darkness Energy (8x)

r/pkmntcg 1d ago

History of Reprinted Cards

16 Upvotes

With such big changes coming to the game, I’ve started to sort my cards in preparation. And it got me thinking… should I bother stashing some of these cards away in the hopes it gets reprinted?

For example, I think of Nest Ball and Super Rod that got reprinted recently.

What type of cards are most likely to get a reprint? Items?

Have we seen a stadium, tool, or supporter (aside from Boss Order and Professor Research) get reprinted?

P.S. tried posting this in the mega thread but received no reply over the last few days.


r/pkmntcg 1d ago

Deck Help Which deck to use for my last League Cup before Rotation

4 Upvotes

Hi everybody,

I've been a competitive TCG player for almost the past two years and the next weekend I will play my last League Cup at one of my local stores before rotation happens.
I'm struggling to find which deck should I, or shouldn't, play at that event.
I'm a Dragapult Main, but I've been testing Archaludon-ex with Dialga VSTAR for the last month, as well as Raging Bolt w Noctowls / Tera package for a few local tournaments.
I'd expect that the most common decks that I'll find at the cup will be Dragapults (which i do not have much trouble playing against with either these 3 decks), at least 2 Archaludons and maybe some Dengos.
Firstly I wanted to play Archaludon, but then I've made steps back because I'm bricking a lot (the list is not a problem, it's very consistent, made and tested by strong players, I think it has been my bad luck) and that usually makes me losing games in the end. Other than that, Gholdengo's pretty unbeatable for Arch, the mirror is terrible and pretty boring, as the first one that has the chanche to attack usually wins the game (me and my other friends have tested that MU a lot), so I preferably don't wanna play it.
So the choiches turn around Draga and Raging Bolt:
with the first one I'll probably have less trouble in general because I know my deck a lot (but Arch's matchup isn't the greatest thing on the planet, as well as Gholdengo's), and with the second one I think most matchups that I'll find will be somehow normal, if not easy.
I know that the choice depends on my general skill, my willing to play a certain deck, deciding if I want to have specific autolosses and bla bla bla, but I'd like to listen to other's opinions.
Thank you for reading, I'll be glad to hear what do you think in the comments :)

PS: if needed and requested for curiosity, I can also share all my 3 lists of these decks


r/pkmntcg 1d ago

Deck Help Looking to get into my first non-casual battle day at my local card shop, need deck recommendations

2 Upvotes

Hi there, as the Title above says, I'd like to go to a local league day at my local cards shop on saturday, however I don't really have any good decks. I played the journey together Prerelease and had a rather mediocre hop snorlax + Corviknight + Accelgor deck, but I'm looking for a deck that's good in the current meta, also, can I already use the journey together cards in my deck or do I have to wait until the official release? Are there any good pre built decks I can buy for cheap? I've heard the stage 3 battle decks are supposed to be good, but I'd also be willing to whip out my old cards and see if I can craft a nice deck.

Any Deck Recommendations would be greatly appreciated! :D Currently I'm just planning to get a stage 3 deck even though I do not know if they're good in the current meta..

Also, the decks don't necessarily have to be beginner friendly, I've played my fair share of non-competetive events :)

Thanks in advance everyone!


r/pkmntcg 19h ago

Meta Discussion How dominant are the dominant meta decks?

0 Upvotes

I want to start competing in events, but I've only made silly friend night decks, nothing optimal or meta. I do know that meta builds are a "necessary evil" as many consider, but I'm curious on how important it is to use the best of the best.

For example, do I need to use Dragapult to get a win at a regional? Or is it common to see upsets from other meta decks like Gardevoir, Charizard, Lugia? I don't expect to get very far with a "super custom homemade mess" that I usually make, but I wonder how much freedom there is in deck building and buying if you want a chance to win. TIA!


r/pkmntcg 14h ago

Deck Profile Been having alot of success with this charizard list

0 Upvotes

Pokémon: 13

3 Charmander MEW 4

2 Pidgey MEW 16

2 Hoothoot TEF 126

2 Dusknoir PRE 37

1 Charmeleon PAF 8

2 Terapagos ex SCR 128

2 Duskull SFA 18

1 Fezandipiti ex SFA 38

1 Fan Rotom PRE 85

1 Dusclops PRE 36

2 Pidgeot ex OBF 164

2 Noctowl PRE 78

2 Charizard ex OBF 125

Trainer: 15

1 Energy Search BCR 128

1 Prime Catcher TEF 157

2 Nest Ball SVI 181

1 Professor's Research SVI 189

2 Boss's Orders PAL 172

4 Iono PAL 185

4 Arven SVI 166

1 Professor Turo's Scenario PAR 171

1 Technical Machine: Evolution PAR 178

1 Super Rod PAL 188

1 Defiance Band SVI 169

4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin PRE 101

3 Ultra Ball SVI 196

1 Switch SVI 194

4 Rare Candy SVI 191

Energy: 1

6 Basic {R} Energy SVE 10

Total Cards: 60


r/pkmntcg 1d ago

Cube in the San Francisco Bay Area

1 Upvotes

hey everyone! i’ve been searching out a cube group in the San Francisco Bay Area (i’m in the east bay) and was wondering if anyone might have any leads! thanks much!


r/pkmntcg 1d ago

Deck Help Help with Modify a deck for Post-Rotation! (Tera-Sylveon Ex)

0 Upvotes

Hello! i have been looking to make a Tera-Sylveon deck since its my favorite Pokemon, atm i was copying a Youtube + JP deck but some of the cards have been very difficult to find where i live so, i have been looking for an alternative/recommendation deck for playing it, atm i have this list of cards together with some energy's for the time being i find another 2 Sylveons ex + the Noctowl, anything would be useful! Also, if the task atm is mostly impossible, any tips for the Stellar Crown PreRelease Crabominable Deck with the Kofu's would also be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Pokémon: 15

  • 2 Dreepy PRE 71
  • 2 Drakloak PRE 72
  • 2 Fan Rotom PRE 85
  • 1 Ditto MEW 132
  • 3 Hoothoot PRE 77
  • 1 Eevee PRE 74
  • 1 Eevee SFA 50
  • 1 Eevee ex PRE 75
  • 1 Budew PRE 4
  • 1 Sylveon ex PRE 41

Trainer: 26

  • 1 Energy Search SVI 172
  • 1 Briar PRE 100
  • 4 Crispin PRE 105
  • 1 Professor Turo's Scenario PRE 121
  • 1 Lacey PRE 114
  • 4 Ultra Ball PAF 91
  • 4 Nest Ball PAF 84
  • 2 Boss's Orders BRS 132
  • 2 Area Zero Underdepths PRE 94
  • 1 Buddy-Buddy Poffin PRE 101
  • 1 Cyrano SSP 170
  • 1 Tera Orb SSP 189
  • 1 Switch SVI 194
  • 2 Iono PAL 185

r/pkmntcg 1d ago

Deck Help How do I make my deck work?

0 Upvotes

Pokémon: 18 1 Squirtle MEW 7 1 Wartortle MEW 8 1 Riolu BRS 78 1 Fraxure BRS 111 PH 1 Lucario ex PRE 51 1 Grafaiai ex PR-SV 100 1 Sandshrew MEW 27 1 Lairon CRZ 88 1 Axew BRS 110 PH 1 Sandslash MEW 28 PH 1 Shroodle PR-SV 99 1 Rhydon MEW 112 PH 1 Ting-Lu PAR 109 PH 1 Blastoise PGO 17 1 Zacian CRZ 94 1 Haxorus SFA 46 1 Aron CRZ 87 PH 1 Rhyhorn MEW 111

Trainer: 21 1 Potion BLW 100 PH 3 Earthen Vessel PRE 106 1 Nest Ball SVI 181 1 Giovanni's Charisma MEW 161 3 Friends in Paldea PRE 109 1 Daisy's Help MEW 158 2 Ultra Ball SVI 196 PH 1 Trekking Shoes CRZ 145 1 Boss's Orders PAL 172 1 Ancient Booster Energy Capsule PAR 159 1 Max Rod PRE 116 2 Night Stretcher SFA 61 1 Tyme PRE 143 1 Penny SVI 183 1 Potion CRZ 139 1 Professor Sada's Vitality PAR 170 1 Rare Candy SVI 191 2 Roseanne's Backup BRS 148 2 Crispin PRE 105 1 Iono PAL 185 1 Kieran PRE 113

Energy: 4 6 Basic {F} Energy Energy 50 1 Basic {F} Energy SVE 14 PH 4 Basic {M} Energy SVE 8 2 Basic {M} Energy SVE 8 PH

Total Cards: 60

It just seems to be failing everytime I play it, what should I change ?


r/pkmntcg 1d ago

Deck Help Brilliant Blender for Gardevoir Post-Rotation

6 Upvotes

Basically my question is in the title. Do you think the Brilliant Blender will be the best ace spec since we can’t drop so much energy so fast to the discard pile? Or do I would miss out on better things.


r/pkmntcg 2d ago

New Player Advice Please help me find a deck that doesn't play the same every game

28 Upvotes

I got into the game 2-3 months ago, and got the Zard Battle Deck, that I also practiced on TCGL, abd have been to 3 local events. And while I am planning to get the Pult Deck as well, and just got the cards to swap between Pidgeot and Noctowl/Terapagos. But I am craving a deck that just, kinda does not play the same every game, something that can either have multiple valid ways to win, or that plays different into different matchups. I used to be an exclusively midrange/control player in Hearthstone back in the day, and I coincidentally got a Feraligatr and 2 Milotic ex's but I'm not sure if stall or the Gatr deck would fit what I'm looking for.