Thursday 26 January 2012
Upcoming League Session - Double Points!
Ooh, and I almost forgot to say - this coming Sunday will be a double points day at the League! Don't miss it!
Deck Building for Beginners
Hello, everyone! It's been a while since I last posted, but I thought especially with recent interest from numerous people in deck building advice, I would give some basic advice for those new to the game.
A caveat: I am relatively new to the Pokémon TCG, so any advice I give should be taken as opinion. I'll do my best to give helpful advice without too many errors, but if there are problems or additional questions, I'm happy to respond in the comments.
First of all, it doesn't hurt to check out websites like Six Prizes for inspiration. There are a ton of sites out there that give advice and deck skeletons, but Six Prizes is possibly the most well-known. Some of the advice isn't always impeccable, but it's a good site for those interested in the competitive game and general tips and strategies.
Secondly, there is no one proper way to build a deck. While the game is fairly narrow in choices for certain game actions right now, eventually newer sets will alter that fact. In addition, the build of a deck will depend heavily on each individual player's preference, and the focus of the deck.
Cards
Draw
Most cards that help you to draw are Supporters, and as such you can only play one a turn. Still, most decks should be running between 8-12 draw supporters in order to ensure consistency. Draw Supporters such as Professor Oak's New Theory, Professor Juniper, Cheren and Sage's Training are used most commonly. There are very few Pokémon that give decent draw support, though Cleffa, Magnezone Prime, Ninetails HS, and to a lesser extent Virizion NV are the most notable among those that do.
Pokémon Search
In general, these search cards allow you to look through all or a part of your deck for Pokémon. There are Supporters; Pokemon Collector and Professor Elm's Training Method: Items such as Great Ball, Poké Ball, Dual Ball, and Pokémon Communication: and a few Pokémon such as Sunflora HS and 'mons with the attack Call for Family like Litwick.
Support Items
These vary highly depending on the deck you are building. Any deck with a number of Stage 2 Pokémon can tend to benefit from Rare Candy, which allows you to evolve your Pokémon faster. however the card is fairly rare and expensive. Most decks can make use of Junk Arm (an incredibly good card and considered a staple of competitive decks), Pokémon Catcher, Switch, PlusPower, and newer cards like Eviolite and Rocky Helmet. What you put in your deck will depend on what sort of support cards you need, and that might not be apparent until you test your build later.
Energy
Most decks run a minimum of 12 energy, but yet again this can vary depending on the deck's needs. Apart from basic energy cards, it's worth considering the utility of cards like Double Colorless Energy, Rescue Energy, Rainbow Energy, the upcoming Prism Energy, and Special Metal and Darkness energies if you have access to them. Remember that you can only have four copies of the same Special Energy in your deck, unlike Basic Energy which has no number limit.
Pokémon
HP
There are more than a few things to consider when seeking what Pokémon to include in your deck, and in fact it's almost certainly the most involved and strategic part of deck building, so I will simply point out a few important things. At the moment the Pokémon TCG is heavily dominated by high HP and high damage output basic 'mons like Reshiram, Zekrom, etc. As those two dragons are capable of dealing out 120 damage unaided, any Pokémon under 120 HP is considered an almost certain OHKO. As such, Pokémon with 130 HP and above are considered much more play-viable, and 130 is often referred to as the "magic number" for HP.
Damage
The speed you can deal damage at and the amount of damage is also important. For example, while Tornadus and Thundurus deal 80 damage - respectable, but not huge - they are capable of doing that much damage on the second turn without any form of energy acceleration. The big basics are again usually good choices for the reasons of Damage output.
Ability / Poké-Power / Poké-Body
A good ability may be a reason to include a Pokémon that otherwise doesn't conform to these categories. As Abilities, etc. do not take up a player's attack for the turn, it allows the player to further manipulate the game to their advantage. Not all Abilities are equal, but the most popular ones allow you to accelerate the speed at which you can place energy on your 'mons, or heal/move damage.
Consistency
The most important quality of a competitive deck when seeking to test it is consistency. If I win one game, but the game hinged on a card that I have only one copy of in my deck, can/should I run four copies of that card? If it's a card that is regularly going to pull my deck through tight spots, it might be worth doing. The more redundancy in your deck the easier it will be to judge how functional the deck will be in a competition. Having a variety of cards in your deck can be an asset, but it can also be counterproductive. Narrow your deck down to an ideal build, test it with the help of Proxy cards, and trade for the cards that you need - then you will make decks that crush the competition!
Numbers!
In general most decks I build start with numbers like this:
18 Pokémon (Fewer if not running evolution lines)
18 Energy
24 Trainers (8-12 Draw, around 8 Pokémon Search, the rest varies)
... and get adjusted as I play them. This is the template I use when designing decks on the fly, especially when helping our younger players, unless I know I can cut numbers in one for needed cards elsewhere. It's pretty vague, but might be the starting point that some of you will need.
Hopefully some of you out there will find this post useful. Any questions, comments, or feedback would be deeply appreciated; I don't know if this is overly technical, or unclear in any ways.
A caveat: I am relatively new to the Pokémon TCG, so any advice I give should be taken as opinion. I'll do my best to give helpful advice without too many errors, but if there are problems or additional questions, I'm happy to respond in the comments.
First of all, it doesn't hurt to check out websites like Six Prizes for inspiration. There are a ton of sites out there that give advice and deck skeletons, but Six Prizes is possibly the most well-known. Some of the advice isn't always impeccable, but it's a good site for those interested in the competitive game and general tips and strategies.
Secondly, there is no one proper way to build a deck. While the game is fairly narrow in choices for certain game actions right now, eventually newer sets will alter that fact. In addition, the build of a deck will depend heavily on each individual player's preference, and the focus of the deck.
Cards
Draw
Most cards that help you to draw are Supporters, and as such you can only play one a turn. Still, most decks should be running between 8-12 draw supporters in order to ensure consistency. Draw Supporters such as Professor Oak's New Theory, Professor Juniper, Cheren and Sage's Training are used most commonly. There are very few Pokémon that give decent draw support, though Cleffa, Magnezone Prime, Ninetails HS, and to a lesser extent Virizion NV are the most notable among those that do.
Pokémon Search
In general, these search cards allow you to look through all or a part of your deck for Pokémon. There are Supporters; Pokemon Collector and Professor Elm's Training Method: Items such as Great Ball, Poké Ball, Dual Ball, and Pokémon Communication: and a few Pokémon such as Sunflora HS and 'mons with the attack Call for Family like Litwick.
Support Items
These vary highly depending on the deck you are building. Any deck with a number of Stage 2 Pokémon can tend to benefit from Rare Candy, which allows you to evolve your Pokémon faster. however the card is fairly rare and expensive. Most decks can make use of Junk Arm (an incredibly good card and considered a staple of competitive decks), Pokémon Catcher, Switch, PlusPower, and newer cards like Eviolite and Rocky Helmet. What you put in your deck will depend on what sort of support cards you need, and that might not be apparent until you test your build later.
Energy
Most decks run a minimum of 12 energy, but yet again this can vary depending on the deck's needs. Apart from basic energy cards, it's worth considering the utility of cards like Double Colorless Energy, Rescue Energy, Rainbow Energy, the upcoming Prism Energy, and Special Metal and Darkness energies if you have access to them. Remember that you can only have four copies of the same Special Energy in your deck, unlike Basic Energy which has no number limit.
Pokémon
HP
There are more than a few things to consider when seeking what Pokémon to include in your deck, and in fact it's almost certainly the most involved and strategic part of deck building, so I will simply point out a few important things. At the moment the Pokémon TCG is heavily dominated by high HP and high damage output basic 'mons like Reshiram, Zekrom, etc. As those two dragons are capable of dealing out 120 damage unaided, any Pokémon under 120 HP is considered an almost certain OHKO. As such, Pokémon with 130 HP and above are considered much more play-viable, and 130 is often referred to as the "magic number" for HP.
Damage
The speed you can deal damage at and the amount of damage is also important. For example, while Tornadus and Thundurus deal 80 damage - respectable, but not huge - they are capable of doing that much damage on the second turn without any form of energy acceleration. The big basics are again usually good choices for the reasons of Damage output.
Ability / Poké-Power / Poké-Body
A good ability may be a reason to include a Pokémon that otherwise doesn't conform to these categories. As Abilities, etc. do not take up a player's attack for the turn, it allows the player to further manipulate the game to their advantage. Not all Abilities are equal, but the most popular ones allow you to accelerate the speed at which you can place energy on your 'mons, or heal/move damage.
Consistency
The most important quality of a competitive deck when seeking to test it is consistency. If I win one game, but the game hinged on a card that I have only one copy of in my deck, can/should I run four copies of that card? If it's a card that is regularly going to pull my deck through tight spots, it might be worth doing. The more redundancy in your deck the easier it will be to judge how functional the deck will be in a competition. Having a variety of cards in your deck can be an asset, but it can also be counterproductive. Narrow your deck down to an ideal build, test it with the help of Proxy cards, and trade for the cards that you need - then you will make decks that crush the competition!
Numbers!
In general most decks I build start with numbers like this:
18 Pokémon (Fewer if not running evolution lines)
18 Energy
24 Trainers (8-12 Draw, around 8 Pokémon Search, the rest varies)
... and get adjusted as I play them. This is the template I use when designing decks on the fly, especially when helping our younger players, unless I know I can cut numbers in one for needed cards elsewhere. It's pretty vague, but might be the starting point that some of you will need.
Hopefully some of you out there will find this post useful. Any questions, comments, or feedback would be deeply appreciated; I don't know if this is overly technical, or unclear in any ways.
Thursday 19 January 2012
Pokémon Trading Card Game Championship 2012: UK Regionals
Regionals are the next step before Nationals, so anyone interested in competitive play should make a point of attending! I'll be happy to help any players with deck suggestions and preparation as we draw closer to regionals, and in the next couple of weeks I'll be posting links to helpful resources for TCG players and some reviews of popular deck archetypes, time permitting.
See you all on Sunday!
Wednesday 18 January 2012
Pokémon Video Game Championship 2012: UK Nationals
Already during League sessions we can see that video game play is on the rise, and also that many of us are aiming to participate this year. I'd hope that in the league sessions to come we'll have the opportunity to practice battling with each other, talk strategies and generally psych up for what is sure to be an entertaining tournament.
Over the next few weeks, I'll post up some VGC '12 related blogs (team building thoughts, training methods, strategies etc.) and i may also post up the blow-by-blow "war story" of my first-round defeat that i wrote last year, to show that it's the taking part that counts...(sigh)
For now, i thought that those looking to participate could post up their Pokémon Black/White Friend codes in the comments so we can get some wi-fi practice in at some stage.
Here's my friend code for Pokémon white:
(Trainer name: Nen) 1764 4739 3201
Happy training, all!
Monday 9 January 2012
Next Destinies Prerelease: February 5th, 11AM
I am exceedingly pleased to announce that Edinburgh Pokémon League will be holding a sanctioned prerelease event for the next set of the Pokémon TCG, Next Destinies, on February 5th at Cameron Toll food court. Gordon from the Cumbernauld Pokémon League will be running the event, and I will be assisting him in doing so. Gordon has many years of experience running the Cumbernauld League, and has very kindly offered to run this event for us.
What do I need to know?
There is an entry fee of £20 for the prerelease event. For that fee you get eight Next Destinies booster packs, a huge reduction when compared to retail cost. Registration opens at 11AM, and closes at 11:30, so be sure to arrive before then, as if you are later than 11:30 you may not be able to participate! You will then be walked through the process of opening six boosters and building your deck - no trading of cards is allowed until the tournament is complete. Energy for decks will be loaned to the participants by Gordon. After a set time to construct decks, players participate in a judged and ranked tournament. Since the results are recorded by Pokémon Organized Play on the Pokémon website, participants should be sure to register their POP ID if they haven't done so yet! Also, it might be sensible to bring card covers, to ensure that the new cards you are playing with aren't damaged during the tournament. The length of the event really depends on how quick the rounds are finished, so it may end earlier or later than usual League play. After the tournament, players will receive two additional booster packs, for a total of eight.
If you're a League member, but do not wish to participate in the event, that's fine! Standard League play is also allowed during the tournament for those who would rather not be in the event, and you will gain points as usual.
It's entirely possible that I'm missing some salient information here - I have never attended a prerelease event before, so if you have questions that I have not addressed I would be happy to address them.
If you or your child is planning to attend the event, it would be very helpful to have email confirmation of this just to prepare accurately for numbers of attendees!
I'm really looking forward to this event, and I hope many of you are keen to attend!
League Session of January 8th
Sorry to be slightly delayed in posting the review of yesterday's session! There was an ever-increasing number of League members having VG matches, encouraged in no small way by our very talented trainer, Mark! The TCG play is, as ever, increasingly exciting and competitive. I also got to take advantage of Neil's recent acceptance of the position of League Leader as I met with Gordon concerning the upcoming Next Destinies pre-release - more about that in a soon-to-follow post!
Thanks particularly to Neil, who was a great help, and everyone that gave me some seriously entertaining matches! When the League carries on that long after end time, you know people were having fun! ;)
Thanks particularly to Neil, who was a great help, and everyone that gave me some seriously entertaining matches! When the League carries on that long after end time, you know people were having fun! ;)
Saturday 7 January 2012
Upcoming Sets: Next Destinies
I'm going to be trying something a little bit different with this post, and have a look at an upcoming set of Pokémon cards - this time, the soon-to-be-released Next Destinies.
Next Destinies will be released on February 8th, and the release of this set will have huge effects on how the competitive Pokémon TCG is played. This is largely due to the release of the Pokémon-EX, which are incredibly powerful basic Pokémon that far outstrip the HP and damage output of any other cards in the format. The downside of a Pokémon-EX is that if it is knocked out, your opponent draws two prize cards rather than one, so these Pokémon might be a risky proposition. In particular, Mewtwo-EX is currently dominating the competitive scene in Japan, and we can expect to see similar effects here post-release. But we also have Regigigas-EX, Kyurem-EX, Zekrom-EX, and Reshiram-EX confirmed for the set and they will certainly make their mark.
Next Destinies actually includes cards from two different Japanese sets, called Hail Blizzard and Psycho Drive. Because we don't have the full details of Next Destinies confirmed, we can't know precisely what cards will be included, but it looks like we may be getting all of them, including some cards such as Skyarrow Bridge and Prism Energy that will further increase the power and playability of Basic Pokémon, and by extension Pokémon-EX.
The good news is that I'm meeting with Gordon from Cumbernauld Pokémon League tomorrow about him organizing a prerelease event and tournament for Edinburgh Pokémon League before the 8th next month, so that will be an excellent opportunity to grab some of the newest cards at a very reasonable price, trade with other players, and potentially win some additional cards in a tournament. I'll give details and dates as soon as I have them!
So, if you have any questions or comments regarding Next Destinies or any other upcoming sets or cards, I will do my best to answer them in the comments here!
Next Destinies will be released on February 8th, and the release of this set will have huge effects on how the competitive Pokémon TCG is played. This is largely due to the release of the Pokémon-EX, which are incredibly powerful basic Pokémon that far outstrip the HP and damage output of any other cards in the format. The downside of a Pokémon-EX is that if it is knocked out, your opponent draws two prize cards rather than one, so these Pokémon might be a risky proposition. In particular, Mewtwo-EX is currently dominating the competitive scene in Japan, and we can expect to see similar effects here post-release. But we also have Regigigas-EX, Kyurem-EX, Zekrom-EX, and Reshiram-EX confirmed for the set and they will certainly make their mark.Next Destinies actually includes cards from two different Japanese sets, called Hail Blizzard and Psycho Drive. Because we don't have the full details of Next Destinies confirmed, we can't know precisely what cards will be included, but it looks like we may be getting all of them, including some cards such as Skyarrow Bridge and Prism Energy that will further increase the power and playability of Basic Pokémon, and by extension Pokémon-EX.
The good news is that I'm meeting with Gordon from Cumbernauld Pokémon League tomorrow about him organizing a prerelease event and tournament for Edinburgh Pokémon League before the 8th next month, so that will be an excellent opportunity to grab some of the newest cards at a very reasonable price, trade with other players, and potentially win some additional cards in a tournament. I'll give details and dates as soon as I have them!
So, if you have any questions or comments regarding Next Destinies or any other upcoming sets or cards, I will do my best to answer them in the comments here!
Tuesday 3 January 2012
Facebook and Google+ pages
Just a heads-up to those that prefer to use social networking sites to get updates - the Edinburgh Pokémon League now has both Facebook and Google+ pages to which I will post various updates. The Facebook page is here, and the Google+ page is here. Please follow or Like if you wish!
I'll be posting more thoughts about current competitive decks and such this week if time is available. Also, if you have any rules or other questions, feel free to ask!
I'll be posting more thoughts about current competitive decks and such this week if time is available. Also, if you have any rules or other questions, feel free to ask!
Monday 2 January 2012
League Session of January 2nd
Today was an incredibly busy session, with a huge number of new decks and an absolute ton of video game play. I'm also fairly sure our numbers will continue to increase next week, with a lot of potential Masters players expressing interest to me recently. It would be brilliant if Edinburgh could muster a decent number of players for Regionals this year! We're all just getting into the game, but I think we have a lot of talent and enthusiasm between us, and could make a good showing.
It was also nice to have a new Masters player (another Scott!) join us for this session. I suspect he's going to be assembling killer decks in short order and giving us all a run for our money!
I hope you all have a good week, and will see you next Sunday!
It was also nice to have a new Masters player (another Scott!) join us for this session. I suspect he's going to be assembling killer decks in short order and giving us all a run for our money!
I hope you all have a good week, and will see you next Sunday!
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