PTCG/O General: "Nobody made a new thread?" Edition

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Anything from this versus reward pull any good?

>>28151869
Read each and every card and you tell us.

>>28152117
So it's a maybe?

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Buying 3 of this stupid slut today. Looking at around $100-$120 on ebay. Im surprised pokemon ever ended up with cards like this.

>tired of all the legitimately good decks in standard
>know that after the rotation there are going to be even fewer good decks until a couple other sets are released

even my meme decks are starting to get dull

someone post some fresh meme decks

>>28152293
If you're paying $33-$40 a piece that's a good deal because they go for $60 individually. And yeah I can believe it. Did anyone else play this card game in 2012?

Also anyone who played this card game when Shaymin EX came out last May has no excuse for not already having a playset of Shaymin EX. They were only $25-$30 for most of last summer.

what day & time do bundles rotate again?

>>28152423
I'm bored too. i'm just going to wait a couple of months for some fresh memes.I like the Professor oak's hint card. Shaymin is for nerds.

>>28152841
My bad, I meant I'm buying digital ones at that price. I'd buy every real copy in the world at $40/ea right now. Here's to hoping these ebayers with 100% feedback arent scamming.

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Hello senpai, long time lurker here I dont play the online game but I still collect the cards so here are some codes for you all. I hope you enjoy.

>>28154602
Thanks anon, I appreciate it.

I redeemed two and left the others for other vp friends here because I'm not a jew.

I appreciate it!
Makes me want to do giveaways for VP once I get some more established wealth wise.

>>28154378
>buying digital copies
>when you can buy ROS code cards and trade for them

What the actual fuck

>>28154707
This.

>>28154602
Thanks, anon. Pulled a Raichu Break.

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Help me improve this deck.

>>28155402
The deck is already pretty solid but I would wonder how often you're getting off Max Elixer. With only seven energy, in addition to the fact you're usually evolving pretty quickly, it doesn't seem like a useful addition. At the same time I'm not sure what you could replace them with.

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reminder that the japanese version of this set will be the only one worth collecting

>>28155461
Super rod, fisherman, sacred ash(?) or possibly the niche delinquent?

Thoughts.

>using simipour to recycle my dive ball over and over

Why is Basic Blue so based?

>>28156564
Super Rod at one seems fine. And you have Skyla to search it. Fisherman seems unnecessary since you have Mega Turbo. And Sacred Ash is rotated. Delinquent could be a thing.

If you feel like your deck isn't fast enough you could try +3 Acro Bike. I'm currently testing that in my Mega Ray build.

What are the best theme decks to use other than the basics?

>>28156771
Dark Hammer is aight, you're better off sticking to Basic Blue/Green though

just bought a crystal ho-oh.

not sure why. I need my glossy paper

Post expanded decks

Are any of the theme decks in PTCGO worth buying to expand card collection? New and sitting around 600 coins because I don't know what to buy.

>>28157047
>playing expanded

loving every tear of the faggots that lose their decks in the rotation

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Hey guys, would any of you be willing to help me trim the fat on a pet project of mine?

I've seen variants of this deck with Max Elixir, some with more switch-in options, etc. but I feel like this is a decent baseline for the new Standard rotation. Hell, I've even seen Sky Field, but I have no idea why you'd want to throw it into this deck personally.

>>28157230
Oh also, I've been laddering with theme decks to make more money and win some cards and tickets(?). Any great decks for theme laddering?

Abomasnow EX when

>>28157469
Dark Hammer is great. I hear Battle Ruler is good too.

>>28157251
Well last year Expanded actually mattered a lot. Now it really doesn't.

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Is there anything that can stop this faggot?

It's like it's in every deck

>>28157632
Yes, you flip heads on a coin.

>>28157632
Did someone already put together a Sage TCG?
I was working on one in Unity, should I just stop now?

I feel bad for crushing all these people with standard pokemon by spamming ex that hit them for 110 on turn 2.

I wish the game worked so that their decks were actually viable. I miss games where you slowly evolved your pokemon while chipping away at each other instead of dicking around with shaymins for 3 minutes until you can oneshot things turn 2.

>>28158010
Just give it some time-- I think they're pushing to make this slower pace of gameplay return (BREAK cards, GX cards only able to use their GX move once, etc.). My fingers are crossed for the rotation next year to be way slower.

>>28157395
Also, bumperino.

>>28158010
Yeah, I feel bad for those Night March, Trevenant, Vespiquen/Vileplume, Yveltal/Zoroark, and Greninja decks that just can't compete in today's EX meta :'(

>>28158076
>every deck mentioned is irrelevant in new standard

The era of ex is over guys

>>28158126
Unless >>28158010 literally has a time machine, that's irrelevant.

>>28158076
>lol fuck those noobs trying to manually evolve to whatever stage 3 they pulled out of their pack
>they're basically the same as night march, really

I opened a xy pack and got lugia break and genesect ex,

im a newfag to tcgo, any decks i can buy/packs i should get to build around something like this?

>>28158126
Is Greninja now irrelevant?

What's it losing exactly that makes it unviable? I know compressor is gone along with sacred ash but I don't think any other main core card is gone yet until maybe next year.

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>>28158159
>EXs are so broken guys!!
>Remember when pic related absolutely dominated Night March at every tournament? So unfair!
>I feel really bad stomping these Trevenantfags with my broken Meowstic EX :^)

>>28158190

People suspect that everyone is going to run garbodor despite the fact that if everyone is running it it's no longer going to be useful.

>>28158190
The ability to stop garbagemon from fucking it in the ass for one thing. Its matchup against m mewtwo is shit for another. Also xy greninja loss reduces its reach even more.

>>28158190
It's not losing anything, but it will be facing new challenges. The first is, everything will have ridiculous HP. Megas and Basics+FFB make it impossible to grab OHKOs while OHKOing Greninja and Greninja BREAK back will be very possible in some matches. And second, if Garbodor becomes everywhere the deck just flat out has no win condition.

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>>28158219
Seriously, EXs are too fucking strong! 60 damage for two energies is way too fucking efficient, this needs to be balanced immediately.

>>28158219
>i'm a retard conjuring a complete strawman
ok.

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>>28158258
It really just isn't fair. EXs are INHERENTLY better than non-EX Pokemon 100% of the time.
There is literally no non-EX Pokemon that can beat ANY EX, period.

>>28158189
bump

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>>28158266
>Strawman fallacy
Remember when >>28158010 said
>I feel bad for crushing all these people with standard pokemon by spamming ex that hit them for 110 on turn 2.
>I wish the game worked so that their decks were actually viable.
Yeah, a real strawman there!

But he's absolutely right, EX Pokemon are just BETTER than non-EX Pokemon 100% of the time. It's those two letters that make them so absolutely broken.

>>28158283
does pokemon fanclub trainer card work on ex's?

>>28158189
they're both garbage cards

Quick competitive fairy deck for the 2017 format go! Smalladditions that arent fairies welcome

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>>28158323
I mean, let's even forget about SHIT decks like Night March and Trevenant and Yanmega.
Even untiered non-EX decks like Garchomp, Medicham, Toxicroak, Entei, Xerneas, Pyroar, Fossils, Noivern, Haxorus, Magnezone variants, any mill deck, Typhlosion, Exadrill, Golurk/Eons, and Lucario absolutely CANNOT compete with these EXs I'm posting.

Since the EX mechanic is just inherently better. There's absolutely no chance at all that these EXs can lose to ANY non-EX deck, EVER.

>>28158283
>There is literally no non-EX Pokemon that can beat ANY EX, period.
>>28158323
>>Strawman fallacy
Yes, strawman. How fucking retarded do you have to be to legitimately think "literally all ex beat literally all non-ex literally all the time" is somehow equivalent to
>>I feel bad for crushing all these people with standard pokemon by spamming ex that hit them for 110 on turn 2.

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>>28158480
Prefferably around this

>>28158480
Despair Ray Mega Gardevoir
Rainbow Force Xerneas

>>28158498
>Megas
>Normal EX

Choose one

>>28158506
Card is bad, do not play it.

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>>28158499
That's not a strawman, it's reductio ad absurdum.
All he said was his EXs are beating non-EX decks. He even goes on to say he wishes non-EX decks were "actually viable".
So I'm showing him how absurd a statement that is.
Even if you ignore the current meta where EXs are the minority, there are still a shitload more good non-EX cards than there are bad EX cards.

>>28158531
You're right, I'm sorry. I'll only post broken EXs that win 100% of non-EX matchups from now on.

>>28158538
How is it bad exactly? In a fairy deck and having a bench with 6 energy on all your other mons non counting the ones on this card the damage would be 180. Despair Ray does 110 damage and can only do more damage at the extreme cost of losing your bench for a one time use
The fuck am i missing?

>>28158626
>That's not a strawman, it's reductio ad absurdum.
You didn't reduce anything you moron. You just sperged out extrapolating to something which wasn't even implied because you're such a retard that you can't conceive of the possibility of someone having a point other than your strawman "literally all ex are overpowered" fucktardery.

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>>28158647

It's not that bad of a card. Most people try to build around it in a controlling way with Aromatisse and Max Potion, which is literally garbage. It's a much better card when you focus on Max Elixirs and Mega turbos to build energy and recover energy quickly. It's not a world beater but you'll win against meta shit decks frequently.

>>28158286
theres a good genesect deck based around genesect and bronzong and aegislash. unfortunately the crucial bronzong for acceleration rotates. And without hella accelration, Genesect kinda sucks. Could be worth playing in Expanded.

Lugia Break ehh.. nothing amazing offhand, but it is quite splashable.

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>>28158709
>>28158626
>>28158499
>>28158323
>>28158283
>>28158266
>>28158258
>>28158219
>Getting this riled up over the prevalence of EX Pokemon.
Or, y'know, just shut the fuck up.

>>28158647
Welcome to the card game, new friend. Allow me to explain.

All Brilliant Arrow Gardevoir does, is damage. That's it. No effects, nothing. Just raw damage. Unfortunately in this category, the bar for speed is set extremely high. Darkrai EX and Yveltal EX have access to Elixer and to some extent Oblivion Wing Yveltal (which does damage unlike Geomancy Xerneas). Volcanion EX can power up Volcanion which then goes on to set up Volcanion EX. And Mewtwo and Rayquaza have access to Mega Turbo. Rayquaza can even evolve first turn and given a good set up can swing for 240 in one turn. That's nuts.

Meanwhile, it'll take you several Geomancy's, successful Elixers and Turbos to start approaching threatening numbers. And every time you lose a Mega Gardevoir, your win condition becomes much less stable because you've lost three energies. You kill one Mega Mewtwo, they can still pull up another one with energy on it and continue swinging hard. Same for Rayquaza.

It's just slow. That's all.

And Despair Ray doing damage for 110 is perfect because that 2hkos the entire meta. And that "extreme" effect? Actually quite helpful. Clearing your bench of useless Shaymins and Hoopas before they get Lysandre'd and knocked out is awesome.

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How am I doing?

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>>28158647
>In a fairy deck and having a bench with 6 energy on all your other mons non counting the ones on this card the damage would be 180
Six energies takes a very, very long time to set up. That's either two turns of Geomancy (assuming you draw into energies too), or some inconsistent Mega Turbo/Elixer plays. 180 damage spread out over three turns is only 60 damage a turn, which is nothing. Not to mention you'll need 8 energies total to KO Belt/Megas, and you lose three of those energies every time you lose a Gardevoir, EXP Share excluded.

>Despair Ray does 110 damage and can only do more damage at the extreme cost of losing your bench for a one time use
That's what makes it so good. It's not about the damage, it's about being able to run 4 Shaymin, 3 Hoopa, and however many other support Pokemon with no risk, since you just clear your own bench. It's about only needing 1-2 energies to 2HKO the format. It's about doing meme plays like discarding your own damaged Gardevoirs to deny prizes.

>The fuck am i missing?
Brilliant Arrow Gardevoir requires a stupid amount of setup for on-par results. Fairies have some meme tools like Aromatisse+Max Potion, but the former is rotating.

So since Brilliant Arrow ONLY does damage, it ends up being a shit card compared to the dozens of other stronger, faster, more efficient raw damage dealers.

Meanwhile, Darkrai EX/Giratina and pic related function identically yet have many other advantages to them. Darkrai isn't a Mega and only needs a DCE to attack while also having some very good partners and type support, while Xerneas Break isn't an EX and makes for a much more compact engine.

>>28158065
Sorry for ignoring you for the idiot anon, I just had to deal with someone being wrong on the internet. What makes you think they're trying to slow the game down? Not questioning your opinion, just wondering.

The one thing they're doing that I like is trying to make middle stages actually useful. Greninja and serperior have middle stages that actually contribute something instead of just being an extra turn wasted before your pokemon turns into something that can actually fight.

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>>28158709
I reduced the statement
>My vague EX "spam" deck is better than the garbage non-EX decks I'm playing against
to
>EX decks are just better than non-EX decks
The guy literally said "I wish non-EX decks were viable", which is an absurdly ignorant thing to say.

What was his "point"? Do you agree with him? Do you think a vague EX card like pic related can compete with Night March, Trevenant, Greninja, etc?

>>28158798

I know you're comparing the damage output and not so much the matchups, but Gardevoir actually excels against other EXs not named Rayquaza. It's the long, drawn out games against Trevenant, Greninja, and other non EX decks that still require 5-6 energy in play that a Gardevoir player needs to worry about.

Is there any way to filter my trade searches? Ever since I got my shaymins, no matter what card I search, I always see 50 retards trying to trade every card in their collection for one and can never see the card that I'm actually looking for

>>28158894
It just feels like BREAK was an obvious attempt at giving evolutionary Pokemon some love, and if I'm not mistaken, a lot of them come with anti-EX characteristics. Maybe not, I haven't taken a good look at many of them.

Granted GX cards become more of a staple than EX, I think they'll retain the whole high power, high HP thing but will come at greater costs (their GX move is only single-use, high-cost moves, etc.) but we'll have to see how that pans out, y'know?

Then, lastly, it sort of feels like more evolutionary Pokemon are receiving (actually useful) abilities than they used to. Maybe I'm crazy? Still, shit like M Rayquaza EX goes against everything I just said.

>>28158985
I was speaking in terms of the new standard format. Although I think the fact that Mega garde never saw much play this last season speaks enough volumes.

>>28152977

Early afternoon on Wednesdays I think~

So tomorrow!~ ^_^

>>28158010
How do you deal with Mega Rayquaza and Mega Mewtwo when they can 1HKO you and you only 2HKO them?

How do you deal with Mega Scizor when he makes you discard energies every turn?

>>28159097
You git gud

>>28159097
Counters to Mega Ray would be, I guess, Stadiums to snuff out Sky Field and then lots of shit like Lysandre to pick off the benched Pokemon, force them to dedicate energy/trainers towards switching back in, so forth.

>>28159097
Wear them down

They have to work through 6 regular pokemon while you just have to take down 1 main attacker and 2 shaymins.

>>28159031
Breaks seem like a weird way to try to fix things. "Wow these pokemon are waaayyy too slow to be viable. We should give them comparable stats to an ex but only if they evolve again!"
Really I want to see them make stage 2s that have enough hp not to get 1shot by most things. You spent three cards and 2 turns getting that thing, it shouldn't be effectively as fragile as its base form.

The other thing they need to do is make their attacks cheap. These things trade 2-1 with exs so they need to use half the energy to have a chance.

>>28158946
No I said 'their decks'. As in the types of decks a new player might build that try to manually evolve shit before they realize it's going to get knocked out by 110 damage turn 2.

The point was that a traditional style pokemon deck that play like base set will never work unless something changes. Greninja is the only pseudo-exception because they made the middle stage very useful.

>>28159097
>How do you deal with Mega Rayquaza
Hope they don't set up 1-shots fast enough
>How do you deal with Mega Mewtwo
Abuse weakness
>How do you deal with Mega Scizor
Lose

>>28159521
>>28159357

If it were so easy then M-Ray and M-Mewtwo wouldnt be considered the two best decks post rotation.

>>28159097
Win out the prize trade. See: Night March, any non-EX deck topping right now, Lysandre.
Lock out items/Shaymin/damage. See: Trevenant, Vileplume, Giratina, Jolteon, Glaceon, Carbink, Beautifly, Garbodor.
Take multiple prizes a turn. See: Trevenant, M Audino, Ho-oh.
Just go faster. See: Any Grass deck, most other two-attach Megas, Elixer-viable cards.
Hit for weakness.

>>28159565
Giratina/Darkrai will probably outperform both of them for obvious reasons.

How do i know values of cards and packs? I want to build a greninja deck but don't wanna get scammed.

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post hot meme decks for next format

fuck darkrai, mewtwo, rayquaza, and volcanion

>>28159565
Card games aren't easy. This is serious business.

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>>28159647
>>28159647

>one hex maniac and you have to discard stronk energy

lol

>>28159562
That's fair enough.

>>28159565
It isn't easy. The things people are suggesting won't always work in the matchup. M Ray especially is insanely strong (or will be, I'm sure).

>>28159736

>anyone running hex maniac in a format without compressor and garbodor in half the decks

rofl

>>28159774
Ur a cheeky lil cunt m8. fite me irl

>>28159562
>No I said 'their decks'. As in the types of decks a new player might build that try to manually evolve shit before they realize it's going to get knocked out by 110 damage turn 2.
So bad players are building bad decks. You blame this on mechanics? You blame this on EXs? They're going to build bad decks and you're going to stomp them no matter what the format looks like and no matter what you're running. This has nothing to do with EXs.

Actual good players playing the game on a competitive level are beating out EX decks left and right. I've listed them already. Why are you ignoring all these non-EX decks that consistently win?

EX Pokemon aren't inherently better. A mechanic is only as good as what they print for it. And they've printed a lot of SHIT EXs, and they've printed several GOOD non-EXs.

>The point was that a traditional style pokemon deck that play like base set will never work unless something changes.
Except Base Set was WORSE. Haymaker was Tier 0. And actual Tier 0 with a 60%+ win rate, not Night March's meme 30%.
Other meta-defining decks included Haymaker ft Mewtwo, Haymaker ft Magmar, and fucking Mewtwo Stall.
You had Rain Dance and Wigglytuff sitting uncomfortably in Tier 2 which is what I assume you're talking about, but they were still virtually unusable.
The only other time the game was that bad was during LuxChomp's absurd domination. Maybe there was another dark time during one of the early Gen III formats, but no one played then.

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>>28159647
>mega catcher was made for the new standard format

at last I truly see

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>>28158219
Seriously, I just evolved my pokemon! Those EXs don't stand a chance!

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>>28160057
You can get high-res card images and pkmncards.com

You're wrong, though. If I get even one heads after attaching two Double Dragon Energies to my Flygon, your Linoone is done for and I'll take one prize card.
What were you thinking, bringing a non-EX to an EX card game?

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>>28158258
Oh man, Oh man, You don't stand a chance!

>>28159863
>You blame this on EXs?
Yes. EXs have huge hp and damage stats that normal pokemon can not compete against. The only way normal decks can compete is with crazy combo bullshit like nightmarch or vileplume vespiquen. This means slow, manual evolution gameplay can not exist. This isn't the fault of bad players, the style of deck cheap cards are made for just doesn't work. With some extremely rare exceptions like greninja.

Frankly nightmarch is the sole thing that was keeping ex down this past meta. With it gone you know exactly how the upcoming meta is going to look. Literally the only low-ex decks that will be good are xerneas.

>EX Pokemon aren't inherently better.
Yes they are. This doesn't mean they're all good and it doesn't mean that normal pokemon comboed in the right way can't be top tier but an Xth percentile EX card will always be better than an Xth percentile regular card. Throw a random ex in your deck and it will perform mediocre. Throw a random evolutionary line in your deck and it will be complete shit.

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>>28158283
It really ain't fair! Look at this bastard, I'm gonna destroy all EXs!

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>>28160165
Hah, your Snorlax can't compete with my Swampert. We both do the same damage for the same energy, but I have 50 more HP, and this is the only difference between us, nothing else. Objectively BETTER.

Are we going to do this all day?

>>28160216
that's literally a tech card

>>28159774
Hex Maniac is a mini Garb for decks that don't run it. I run two in my Ray deck to drop turn one after I set up my Mega Fug.

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>>28160235
You're already dead, kiddo. My Mr. Mime is in the top percentage of Mr. Mimes. A true seasoned war hero who cannot be defeated by any EXs.

>>28160313

I know what it does. It's not going to be that common.

>>28160198
>Yes. EXs have huge hp and damage stats that normal pokemon can not compete against.
Pick any of the shit EXs I've been posting.

Have them play against any untiered viable non-EX deck. I listed SIXTEEN of them off the top of my head at >>28158498, which you ignored.
NONE of them are "crazy combo bullshit" like NM or Vespiquen. I'm not even going to touch on how retarded that statement is.
ALL sixteen of those decks can easily beat out 99% of EX Pokemon.
Because the two letters at the end of a card have NOTHING to do with a card's viability.
In a shitload of cases, it actually ends up being a LIABILITY because of the prize trade.
When your four-energy M Blaziken literally cannot keep up with Entei or Volcanion, then giving up two prizes is so ridiculously huge that it makes shit EXs literally unusable, unlike shit non-EXs.

There are 265 EX Pokemon in Standard alone right now. Out of those 265, you can count the meta-relevant one on your hands.
There are 1463 non-EX Pokemon in Standard right now. NO SHIT there's a bigger number of non-viable filler non-EXs than EX cards. There are literally six times as many of them.
Those numbers count full-arts and reprints, but that shouldn't change the point.

>>28160484
>Pick any of the shit EXs I've been posting.
Pick any of the pokemon the other guy has been posting and build around it. I said 'random'. The average ex is more usable than the average non-ex. The fact that you have the 20 shittiest exs memorized isn't relevant.

>it makes shit EXs literally unusable, unlike shit non-EXs.
Oh yeah, if there's one thing 3 turns and 3 cards of investment getting one shot by 2 energy attacks screams, it's "usable".

>then giving up two prizes is so ridiculously huge
It only matters if your opponent can charge up 2 attackers to chunk 1/2 of your ex's hp for each 1 ex you charge. This is why the only usable stage 2 pokemon have 1-2 energy attacks. But that's not the norm. And exs even get better energy acceleration than longer evolutionary chains because of max elixer.

>There are literally six times as many of them.
That isn't somehow relevant to the ratio. They make shit exs but they don't make "stage 2 90 hp 30 damage" tier shit exs.

>>28158219
God why couldn't this thing just use that ability from the bench?

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>Play theme decks
>Win a lot, be bored out of my mind by the same fucking decks
>Build a deck
>End up getting into 7+ lose streaks
>Get annoyed by how absurdly leveled you get by everything but the kids who don't seem to know what they are doing
Am I terrible? Is this an ok deck?

>>28160931
Read op

>>28160931
>trying to make a viable deck with no shaymins
heh, better luck next time kid

>>28160985
>Grind tournaments for packs so you can trade for cards to build your netdeck
That's even less fun.

>>28160762
>The average ex is more usable than the average non-ex.
Again:
There are 265 EX Pokemon in Standard alone right now. Out of those 265, you can count the meta-relevant one on your hands.
There are 1463 non-EX Pokemon in Standard right now. NO SHIT there's a bigger number of non-viable filler non-EXs than EX cards. There are literally six times as many of them.

>The fact that you have the 20 shittiest exs memorized isn't relevant.
It would be easier to list the relevant EXs for next format:
>Darkrai
>Giratina
>Mewtwo
>M Mewtwo
>M Rayquaza
>Shaymin
>Hoopa?
>M Sceptile
>Sceptile
And that's being generous.
So that's 9/265. That's ~3% of all EXs. Even if I fucked up and forgot 10 whole EXs, that's still a tiny fraction of EX cards that are actually usable.

But all of this is MASSIVELY IRRELEVANT when the original post is about >>28158010 making a retarded blanket statement and equating BAD players with BAD decisions and cards.

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I got one Steeeeeeixl of a deal with a few packs

>>28157395
i found parallel city to be way better than scorched earth in testing. you can even out the m-ray matchup or make your volcanions survive some waterbox attacks by automatically reducing 40 each shot. you also want to use your energies to fuel volcanions every turn, and you already have ultra ball, volc-ex, and sycamore to discard them.

was never a fan of double letter since it's pretty easy to naturally draw into shitloads of fire energy. tje second copy makes fisherman/retrieval redundant, and can actually be dead if you have one of those two cards (or a seeker) already in your hand

kinda surprised about 3 mini volcaion instead of 4, especially since it's your main engine. equally surprised with double entei since you only drop it against m-rays for some ez kills.

something you might want to try is energy reset. that card is nuts late-game option if you need to tackle a loaded ex or some ridiculous gamestate

>>28161129
Steelix is worth less than a pack, sorry dude. But hey at least you made up for it with Ranger.

>>28161095
Don't be upset. I beat Exs all day long with non-Ex.

Heck the only Ex in my deck is MewTwo Ex, other then that I run Ghastly, Haunter, Dedenne (Pro Ex killer), Mew, Kazakhstan and Hoopa

I usually get stomped by the top 10% since I only got into the online game about three to four weeks ago but generally I'm able to hold my own with terrible non-Exs and what I've seen people call "tech" Pokemon (Hoopa)

>>28161095
You forgot:

>Glaceon
>Jolteon
>Scizor
>M Scizor
>Yveltal
>Gardevoir
>M Gardevoir
>Regirock
>Zygarde
>Flareon
>Volcanion

What are the best tematic decks?

>>28161280
>GlacJolt
Loses to Ranger very badly, they are currently worse off than Regice because at least Regice isn't an EX.
>M Scizor
Slept on
>Regirock
Will quickly be abandoned because it's too risky to bench. Zygarde isn't that good and it better off without him unless you're running a Weavilebox.
>anything fire
Garbodor says hi, nobody will play Volcanion after it becomes clear the deck doesn't function under ability lock.

>>28161095
>There are literally six times as many of them.
Do you just not understand what a ratio is?

>no gardevoir
>no manaphy/glaceon/palkia
>no scizor
...
But let's ignore that. Now list all the non exs that will have higher usage than any of the ones you mentioned :^)

also
>putting a ? next to to hoopa when half the decks won't even be running a non-ex
What the hell are you smoking?

>>28161280
>The post said even if he forgot to post ten Exs

>Thos guy posts eleven thinking he's slick

Now this is shitposting

>>28151346
Just getting into the game. It's an incredibly stupid question most likely, but when you're making a new deck, how do you see exactly which cards you own? I tried making one but it said I didn't have all of the cards needed, though I thought I read otherwise.

>>28161359
If they're greyed out in the top line of the deck manager, that means you're attempting to put in multiples that you don't own (trying to put four sycamores in your deck when you only have three forces the manager to spout that you don't own all the cards)

Hey guys, are should I trade my M-scizor for 4 SS?

>>28161359
>>28161415
To expand on this, if you have different editions of the card, the system will still tell you don't have them if you try to add 4 of a card you have split among different editions. You need to add them individually.

>>28161419
I don't like Nazis nor will I look up what SS means in the relation to the card game

>>28161349
GlacJolt loses to ranger. But they are the reason Ranger has to be in EVERY deck.

Those two EX alone define the meta as it is in their way.

>>28161419
Yes.

You can get if from a trading company for 2.

>>28161553
>But they are the reason Ranger has to be in EVERY deck

u wot?

Even without Ranger around neither were more than a tech because even then they weren't that good

>>28161553

>GlacJolt loses to ranger. But they are the reason Ranger has to be in EVERY deck.

Glaceon and jolteon are memes. I run evolutions and basics in my deck. ;^)

>>28161351
>Do you just not understand what a ratio is?
A ratio, and this entire argument, is irrelevant.
There are SEVERAL
>SEVERAL
SEVERAL non-EX decks that beat out a MAJORITY
>MAJORITY
MAJORITY of EX decks.
The current meta has MORE non-EX than EX cards topping tournaments.
Period. Plain and simple.

The original statement of "EX Pokemon are inherently better" ignores all of this.

>>28161349 isn't me, by the way.

>>28161624
The idea is that together they would make a competent deck core that could abuse their attacks and Ninja Boy to shut down any deck. The ideal set up is either Jolteon or Glaceon active and that's it. That way, unless they play Ranger, they cannot attack and are soft-locked into taking at least 70 damage a turn until they lose.

Now of course, Ranger does exist and this strategy is pretty silly. But no one would want to simply lose to someone because they didn't run a supporter.

>>28161624
>Even without Ranger around neither were more than a tech because even then they weren't that good


Without ranger Mega decks insta lose to Glaceon.

Without ranger basic decks (volcanions, yveltals, darkrais-giratinas etc) instalose to Jolteon.

The main reason Ranger HAS to be included in every deck is Jolteon and Glaceon and Chaos Wheel to a lesser extent.

>>28161750
>Without ranger Mega decks insta lose to Glaceon.

What you do play the mega on?

>>28161766
A basic EX that is nullified by Jolteon and ninjaboyd into Glaceon as soon as you put the mega into it.

>>28161716
In theory. In practice it's hard to hard to charge two different exs that use two different energy in a deck and still have enough attack power to be a threat. Even before ranger the opponent could just lysandre.

>>28161677
>A ratio, and this entire argument, is irrelevant.
It's irrelevant if you decide to cling to your "hurr literally all exs beat literally all non-exs literally all of the time" strawman.

>The current meta has MORE non-EX than EX cards topping tournaments.
>clinging to a meta that lasts 1 more day
>clinging to a meta where night watch is the only reason mewtwo and fug weren't dominating

Ex are inherently better. They're just not universally better in every situation like you're trying to equate that statement with.

>>28161817
The idea, like I said, is to put no other Pokemon down on the bench to nullify Lysandre. As long as you have one Water and one Electric (it doesn't matter what the third energy is) on the Pokemon, Ninja Boy requires no extra work.

But again this strategy is completely ruined by Ranger so it's not really a consistent deck idea.

>>28161716

Like you said, it's silly. Both cards rely on your opponents deck being one dimensional, slow, and having no disruption. The idea of having 1 pokemon in play is unrealistic as well. The idea is fucking theorycrafting to the maximum. In practice, it does not work with or without Ranger in the format.

>>28161750

>Without ranger Mega decks insta lose to Glaceon.

Mega decks run basics senpai. They don't archies or maxies that shit into play.

>Without ranger basic decks (volcanions, yveltals, darkrais-giratinas etc) instalose to Jolteon.

They would if Lysandre or Escape Rope weren't commonly used cards.

Like I said, you can romanticize this idea of never being able to be attacked all you want, but it doesn't work.

>>28161794

And if they have a mega and a basic in play? What do you do?

>>28161794
It's not like you can't have both your Mega and base EX ready to switch between when need be.

And if they're getting consistent Ninja Boy then you may as well get consistent Lysandre.

>>28161888
>>28161925

Im not saying its flawless, in fact obviously its not because Jolteon-Glaceon deck is not a thing because its too inconsistant.

That doesnt change the fact that EVERY tiered deck NEEDS to have at least 1 Pokeon Ranger because of those 2 cards.

Without Jolteon and Glaceon no one would even bother to add a Ranger in their deck.


Jolteon and Glaceon arent good because they shit on every deck. They are good because they force every deck to run a certain card to counter them.


It seems its too hard of a concept for you though.

So, will the single player in online give you new theme decks for the new standard?

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>no more scoop up
>no more AZ
>no more Noivern

How do I improve my evolution challenge deck?

What are the breakthrough xerneas worth?

>>28162004
>Jolteon-Glaceon deck is not a thing because its too inconsistant.

Yes

>That doesnt change the fact that EVERY tiered deck NEEDS to have at least 1 Pokeon Ranger because of those 2 cards.

Jolteon/Glaceon lock is certainly something to keep in mind in case someone does add one of those cards to their decks.

Regice is more of a threat in my opinion since it stomps out all exs. If anything you would need ranger for regice.

>>28162004

>Jolteon and Glaceon arent good because they shit on every deck. They are good because they force every deck to run a certain card to counter them.

But that's literally not the case. Not every deck is going to run them. I'll make a perfectly good comparison here. In the next format, very very few people are going to run Greninja. This is because Garbodor is a card that's likely to be played. Not every deck is going to run Garbodor. In fact, it might just be 2-3 decks that consider running Garbodor. This leaves Greninja with a good matchup against all the other decks in the format. Those aren't really relevant though, since Greninja is practically going to autolose against those 2-3 decks running Garbodor. This is going to be enough to detract most people from playing the deck.

It's the same situation with Jolteon and Glaceon in relation to Ranger. A couple of decks are going to run Ranger because they are practicularly weak against a pokemon with an on hit effect, such as Jolteon, Glaceon, and Giratina. The rest of the decks one give a flying fuck about those cards, and won't run Ranger. Not every deck is going to need Ranger, because the uses for Ranger are going to be limited. That being said, Jolteon and Glaceon are going to be useless enough in the majority of matchups that decks that could use Ranger might omit Ranger, seeing as it's unlikely that they'll face those cards.

It's not a tough concept. You're just making your argument some caricature instead of framing it realistically. Jolteon and Glaceon were niche cards that lost their niche. That's it. If Ranger didn't exist, they would still have a niche and nothing more. Niche cards are in no way meta defining.

>>28162206
People are still going to want garbadore even in a completely greninjaless environment for things like carbink and giratina. Also greninja is terrble against m mewtwo even without garbadore.

>>28162296

Sure. I was just framing Greninja's spot in the next meta, not arguing the usefulness of Garbodor.

>>28162173
It's just not worth adding one pokemon ranger card unless you run pure builds because regice/jolteon/glaceon are tech cards.

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Hmm did I do good? I wanted couple of Hydreigons as I had 0 and I have the break Hydreigon so I wanted to test it. So I traded 1 steam siege pack.

Left is what I got for that one pack. like 100 pokemons, Jirachi with wish, 1 night march Joltik, 20 Inkays? etc.

>>28162452
You could have gotten a 4-4-4 line of either of them for a single pack
Ironically, that prerelease Hoopa is the most valuable thing on the screen, and not by much.

My luck is so shit in this game.

Almost every game I get most of my energies prized and start out with shit like 4VS Sekers and a Hex Maniac.

FUCK

>>28159591
Darkrai is good? Does that mean I can trade my full art Darkrai-EX on PTCGO for some M-Gardevoirs?

>>28162774
3 regular

>>28155402
-3 Elixir
+1 Parallel City
+1 Mewtwo EX
+1 Delinquent / Shrine of Memories / Switch / Escape Rope

Max Elixir isn't good in this deck..With only 7 basics and your main attacker not being basic, you rarely get the desired effect.

Parallel City is a very flexible card. First, it's a great tech against M fug and Xerneas gay force. Now that Sacred Ash is rotated, they'll have a bad time trying to set up again. Second, this deck doesn't need much bench space to work once you have a Trubbish and another Mewtwo so you can play the other side of Parallel city to get rid of Hoopa and Shaymin and avoid easy prices and Lysandre stalls.

Another Mewtwo is good for the deck because it raises the chance to start with one and you can afford to ultra ball one without worrying about trying to recover it with super rod.

The last spot is really an open one.
I personally play another Shrine of Memories just to win the stadium war. Delinquent also helps here and is a devasting card when played on a 3 or less card hand.
Switch or Escape Rope may save you when affected by a status condition.

>>28158323
>Implying Aurorus Ex wasnt the tech for OHKO greninja break/trevenant break/other 170 EX in water box

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>>28162811
Any idea how many of these I could get?

>>28162646
Alright well I'm fairly new so I didn't have many of those cards so it seemed pretty good, I have that Hoopa already and its good, I didn't even see it first but now I'm glad that I have 2 of them.

As a fairly new player its quite hard to understand the values of things, all I know that Shaymin EX is fucking expensive and that I need one.

>>28162904
1 of those and 2/4 Steam Siege packs.

What's a good site to buy pack codes? Any sites with instant delivery?

>>28163229
https://professor-oak.com/TCGOCodes/Default.asp

Man I wanna buy some packs too but none of the places accept Skrill as a payment.. if anyone knows a way to buy packs etc. with Skrill, let me know.

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>>28162072
You shouldn't have been doing it in standard. Legacy or Expanded is better since you have Dragon Call Gabite.

>tfw just getting back into the game after having not been interested since Gen 3 games
>tfw seeing this powercreep
Are ridiculous cards like >>28158498 seriously considered bad?

>>28163869
>4 turns to charge
>if you evolve straight away without a spirit link waste one turn
>deals 160 damage unboosted and if you do you mill everyone's decks for three cards
>on the brightside it has 220 hp right :D It's still a 2 hit ko from most decks
>if it dies you take 2 prize cards

yes

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Fuck this card. Can't wait until this fucking thing rotates.

>>28164174
Can't wait for the 2019 season to begin either.

Are these any good? I'm only just getting into the game, but there are a lot of cards with art I like a lot out there.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01IUAJX0O/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1472606635&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=mega+gardevoir&dpPl=1&dpID=51RXSgUrLBL&ref=plSrch#immersive-view_1472606655273

Also, where can you check what a card is actually worth so you don't get scammed?

>>28164174
Enjoy waiting 2 years

>>28163869
It's not really power creep. Things with huge energy costs and no way to accelerate them have always been bad. The best decks back in the day were "1 energy:do 20-30 damage" and "shit all your energies onto the field thanks to this ability"

The numbers are just doubled nowadays. A 180 HP EX is just two 90 HP basics put together because it gives 2 prizes. There were 90 HP basics back in the day too. A 220-240 HP Mega is just two 110-120 HP evolved Pokemon. Overall, it's about on-par with Base set Charizard.

>>28164236
That's about $1.25 more than you actually should pay for it.

If you mean the worth of physical cards, check TCGplayer for prices. Trollandtoad and eBay(as listed in the OP) for comparison in case TCGplayer is being bought out and Trollandtoad is out of stock. TCGplayer is an aggregate seller, so you're basically shopping from hundreds of different sellers when you shop from there. But that also means anyone buying out a card due to hype can buy out the stock of hundreds of different sellers.

Does anyone have 4 Breakthrough Xerneas?
I'm willing to overpay by a bit

>>28161238
I'll probably ditch one Entei and one Professor's Letter and look into a fourth mini-Volcanion. Double Entei was more prepping for a potential M Ray-filled meta.

About Parallel City... did it really work that well for you? Using it is such an exciting prospect, but I kind of wonder how fucked over you are by the 20 damage debuff in M Ray matchups. Considering Steam Up, I guess it wouldn't be TOO bad. And damn, I never even considered Energy Reset.

Hey Anon, I just wanted to say thanks by the way for looking at my deck. I was getting super frustrated by all the quasi-relevant bickering about EX Pokemon and shit earlier. Makes me really happy that somebody managed to take a look at my deck. <3

>>28164274
>It's not really power creep.
>The numbers are just doubled nowadays.

>>28164983
That's not power creep, that's just bigger numbers. Everything else is scaled up. Power creep is if one day they decided to release a set of Megas that all had 400 HP and did 300 damage for one energy. That would be the definition of power creep.

>>28165077
>power creep is when you do more damage for less energy but only to the extent that i officially declare powercreep otherwise it's just changing numbers

>>28165282
If everything scaled along with it, it wouldn't be power creep. If nothing scaled, it wouldn't be. Since we've had the same level of power since EX's were introduced in NXD, a new set introducing 400 HP Megas dealing 300 damage for one energy would be a huge power creep. But if this doesn't happen for years and everything else has caught up by then, it isn't.

I am actually quite worried GX is going to be a power creep. Lunala and Solgaleo GX are both really good and if they make more like them we'll see our first major power creep since NXD.

>>28165416
GX cards will be just EX cards with an attack they can use only once per game.

Their HP will range in the 160-190 HP and the energy cost for their attacks will also be reasonable.

This game is not balanced by morons, they know what they are doing.

>>28165695
The once per game clause is what's keeping it under control but good god those attacks are ridiculous. Hopefully they will have equally ridiculous energy costs.

Also
>This game is not balanced by morons
>no tool removal card was printed in the last year

>>28164174
What does this thing prevent?

>>28165835
Shaymin EX
Hoopa EX
Giratina EX
Alakazam EX
Greninja BREAK
Volcanion EX
Zoroark

To name a few.

>>28164347
Oh, so it is viable? Getting physical cards for a future deck sounds nice. Thanks.

>>28165875
You forgot the most important one.

OCTILLERY.


Makes it useless thus forces every deck to run ShayminEX or lack draw power.

>>28165968
To be fair Octillery was also useless trash outside of Greninja that only poorfags had to deal with. Every deck should already be running two Shaymins minimum.

How over centralized is the current meta? Is having multiple Shaymins a meme or is this VGC 2016: Card Battles?

>>28166148
Shaymin is a draw card. It's no more or less staple than Sycamore or N.

>>28165968

We don't have to run shaymin. We could just go back to the good ol' days of 4 juniper, 4 other draw supporter, and energy efficient attacks

>>28166148
The meta was centered around high damage-dealing non-EX cards VS stall. The new meta will be centered around high damage-dealing EX cards with a shit ton of HP smashing into each other.

Shaymin EX is just a support card. It plays no primary role in a deck's win condition.

Is there anything I can do against garbador? Xerosic is out right?

>>28166605
Yes. Until September 1st.

>>28165968
>forces every deck to run ShayminEX or lack draw power.
Nigga, we're talking about Garbodor. It makes Shaymin useless too.

God forbid some asshole is running both Garbodor AND Trev.

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>>28152293
>Shaymin gets banned
>muh money

This is why I'm choosing to start out by playing expanded format, am I making a mistake? obviously I don't want to spend hundreds for something that will last so little time. I already bought the generations elite trainer box and I'm choosing around 50 trollandtoad cards to fill my deck, even if it won't be too good for now.

>>28166929
Depends how much expanded you'll play. My locals are still standard and the regionals I'm going to is standard so aside from owning a Computer Search I'm avoiding expanded for now.

>>28166824
It only makes Shaymin useless outside of like turn 2. Most often Shaymin is dropped before then. Octillery on the other hand is used throughout the game. So it's affected more.

>>28166929
I'm curious about this too. It doesn't seem like Expanded is recognized in the slightest from what I've seen, but I don't follow competitive play very closely and I'm pretty new to it.

>>28166824
Shaymin can still be used in turn one and two before the garb is set up and thats like the whole point of shaymin to begin with.

Octillery cant.

>>28165077
It really doesn't seem like you're baiting

Doubling the numbers such as life or attack, over the time and expansions, is LITERALLY the definition of power creep, as in, anything old will stand no chance to fight with newer cards. THAT'S power creep.

If you were able to take a base set 30 hp charmander, and say its as good as any 60HP starter nowadays, then yeah, there's no powercreep, but as you said, everything just has more everything now.

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>>28167359
Not him, but he's alluding to a rotation system making power creep irrelevant.
You don't compare a Steam Siege card to Base Set because you literally can't use them together.
You compare Steam Siege to XY (or Primal Clash in a day), because that's the oldest legal set.

Additionally, only the numbers have expanded.
Look at base set Trainers that didn't have the Supporter clause, items like Energy Removal vs today's Crushing Hammer, pic related vs >>28164174, and how the original Blastoise was still getting reprinted almost 1:1 20 years later. Everything unrelated to damage or HP was a lot stronger back then.

>>28167601
>Poison types used to be Grass type for the tcg
Why did they make that switch anyway?

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>>28167648
It happened in Diamond and Pearl, so presumably it was because Nintendo wanted it.
It's also the only type change they've done, other than adding Dragon.

>>28167601
I know where he comes from, but still, even if speed, costs, and pacing, remain relatively the same, INCREASING numbers, can't be dismissed as power creep. Its still the very same definition of the subject, even if it's balanced by today's standards (h*ck, there's a reason I need to say "today's standards", old cards can't even compare)

>3rd match after starting to play the game
>manage to knock out the opponent's EX with 2 prize cards left, but lose because I somehow didn't notice it was EX and clicked outside the space after choosing one card
why

>>28167753
I want them to split types further. How come Steel gets to be separate from fist, dark from psychic and fairy from colorless, but shit like ground and ghost are stuck with their peers? Stuff like rock is distinctive enough from fighting and should be separate. For one, I fucking hate that rocks have a hard time doing stuff to birds.

>>28167769
The second part was more of an aside, it's mainly the rotation thing.
Why would they balance modern cards to be used with cards that have been illegal for literal decades?

>>28167769
Then for all intents and purposes your definition of power creep is meaningless. It serves no purposes to note that newer cards have higher numbers printed on them when newer cards will never interact with older cards, ever.

>>28167794
If the prizes are still up after picking one card, then you're supposed to take a second. Just break the habit of clicking out of the thing.

>>28167894
>when newer cards will never interact with older cards, ever.
That's the thing, though. There could be the scenario in which these cards would interact if there wasn't a creep.

>>28167794
It should have picked both up automatically if they were your last two. Same as when you KO a regular pokemon with 1 prize left.

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I've had this trade up for about two days now. Am I just getting unlucky, or jewing too hard?

>>28168177
No, you dense fuck. The cards will never interact because of yearly rotations that push older cards out manually. We already have three formats spanning back to HGSS era.

>>28168216
Ah, I think I get it. I was using one of those cards where you can claim 2 prize cards if you knock out the opponent's Pokemon with it, and sort of assumed it stacked with EX card penalties. It'd just be 3 cards in that case, right?

>>28168274
That's just it, you dense fuck. If there wasn't a creep, then there wouldn't be a need for rotation other than just switching up the meta and keeping people buying cards.

Chill the fuck out and try to see things from another point of view for once.

>>28164943
np man, it's better than reading about the dumb ex stuff

parallel city is really nice against the m-ray matchup. a -20 debuff is a pretty good exchange for whatever debuff that comes off of ray's next attack. they tend to run only 1 super rod (in standard), so it's difficult for them to remount their attack. shock them twice with parallel and they'll be lucky to exceed 150 a turn.

even without parallel, being able to play a 1-for-2 exchange game is also beneficial, especially when there's so many easy bench targets. the only thing you need to watch for is the t1 or t2 hex maniac, which will stun you out of hoopa/shaymin setups

I'm part of a small CAC group, and we have these weekly contests that follow a theme. This week's theme was
>Create the rules for a new status condition, Frozen.
and it's normally judged in different categories and don't necessarily need to be competitively viable. There were three submissions that really stood out:

>Frozen Pokemon cannot retreat. Unless replaced by Sleep, Paralysis, or Confusion the Pokémon remains Frozen until it is switched out or cured through other means.

>Frozen Pokemon are unable to attack, and prevent all damage done to it by attacks from the defending Pokémon. After each turn, flip a coin; if heads, the Pokemon is no longer Frozen.

>If a Pokémon is Frozen, energies cannot be attached to it from either player's hand for one turn after it becomes Frozen. After the end of the turn, the Pokémon's condition returns to normal. Uses a token like Poisoned/Burned.

Can anyone give their opinions on them?

>>28157395
>>28164943
How do you feel about the deck post rotation? Losing Blacksmith has got to hurt. Obviously there are other ways around it, but it still sucks.

>>28168317
Then send an angry letter to WotC fifteen years ago about why PTCG shouldn't have a rotation and then they, and subsequently TPCi, wouldn't build their entire card game, season structure and product releases around the idea of rotation.

>>28168528
The fuck are you on about? MTG has a rotation and power creep is minimal. Hell, they have a format where all editions play together.

>>28168408
I couldn't tell you, sorry. I built the deck to prepare for the new rotation, and subsequently, I haven't even tested it with Blacksmith. I'm sure things would be infinitely easier with Blacksmith, but the amount of energy generation & recycling in the deck keeps it afloat.

Hell, even basic testing has been hard for me. I only have a small handful of the cards on the online verison, and the only physical events nearby are in the next city over. Hoping to become more active competitively soon though!

>>28168408
blacksmith is actually not as big of a loss as you might think. the only major benefits i see are to mini-volc to achieve its 100 attack and entei for its combat blaze. otherwise fisherman is way better in the respect that it equals 90-120 free damage. if there was a card i'd be more focused on, i'd be more concerned about the loss of battle compressor since it mitigates your dead draws and gives you seeker targets. the deck is still pretty good, though, as long as your opponent doesn't bust a garbador t2.

>>28162904
2 if you're patient

This will probably devolve into shitposting but what would a no EX meta look like? I think it would be a good side mode to add some variety and give noobies somewhere to play where they won't get crushed by 5 minute shaymin turns. Would anything be able to keep up with greninja/serperior?

this thread seems to have a higher than normal amount of retardation.

retard creep.

>>28168950
For next format? Greninja runs into the same Garbodor problem, and half the reason it's even in Tier 2/3 is because of Night March. Serperior still isn't particularly good, especially since they're losing AZ and Scoop Up, making you rely on Devolution.

Yveltal, both Xerneas, Volcanion, and Vileplume variants would probably stay top tier.

>>28168950
>>28169041
No one ever mentions Yanmega when talking about non-ex decks. As a Yanmega Break player, this kinda irks me. It did get first in Seniors at Worlds, after all.

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>>28168981
I chuckled.

>>28169128
Vespiquen did virtually all the work in that deck.

>>28169128
GARBODOR

>>28169148
Did not! I just won a match on turn one because the dude only had a Zorua on field with nothing on the bench. My opening hand was Yanma, Yanmega, Break, Forest of GP, and Judge.

But yeah, that deck has no closer without Vespiqueen. I hope the deck survives rotation.

>>28169157
See: >>28164174 My Yan Break deck is specifically why I posted this.

>>28169041
Garbodor wouldn't be as huge an issue if you didn't have to chop through 200 hp though. You'd still 2 hit everything.

I was thinking about other non-EX evolution chains that seemed like they could compete with greninja. Serperior obviously has an advantage to it. The only other one that comes to mind is garchomp but aside from losing korrina it wouldn't be as good in an EX-less gamemode anyway.

You're right that rainbow force/fairies would be S tier though. Volcanion would need to find something else to power up but it also would be good I guess.

>>28169128
I think one major thing is that garbador shits on it harder than on greninja.

>>28169199
>garbador shits on it harder than...
I really wish it wasn't that bad. I was just planning on switching over to the physical tcg and was going to make my Yan Break deck. The only other deck I'm interested in is Volcanion/Flareon, but that's going to cost quite a bit of money to buy. I was already fretting getting a pair of Shaymins.

Question for the Volcanion/Flareon Deck. How slow is it? I've tried playing Xerneas Break/Mega Gard, but it's so slow that I want to slam my head against the wall most of the time.

>>28169720
>Xerneas Break/Mega Gard
Isn't that really redundant? Why even run the Mega?

>>28164174
Why is this allowed? Do they really want a meta completely based on big bulky mon bumping into each other? Might as well release a set entirely without abilities.

>>28169731
Gard is beefier and hits harder. It lets you have multiple threats. It could be seen as either redundancy or synergy. Pick your poison.

>>28169769
Pokemon cards are designed in Japan, for Japan.
The West has zero input on card design, balance, etc.
Japan received a pack called Premium Pack 4 about half a year ago, which reprinted several important cards.
Xerosic and Startling Megaphone were both reprinted in Premium Pack 4.
The West will not be getting Premium Pack 4.

>>28169820
>The West will not be getting Premium Pack 4.
Why?

>>28169832
No reason in particular.

>>28157632
>each of your opponents pokemon that remains asleep
But only the active remains asleep. Fags cant even make a fake card right.

>>28169820
And Xerosic and Megaphone affect Garbodor how? Or were you just making an example?

Even then, I don't see how Japan could be happy with a no-ability meta that involves only having heavy hitters slamming into each other.

>>28169832
To prove glorious Nippon's dominance over the west, of course.

>>28169834
Oh wow. So, the meta is gonna get all fucked up just because no reason?

>>28169878
Garbordor's ability shuts off if he doesn't have a tool attached. Cards that remove tools turn it off until your opponent sets it back up allowing breathing room for abilities to do something.

>>28169878
>And Xerosic and Megaphone affect Garbodor how?

>If this Pokémon has a Pokémon Tool card attached to it, each Pokémon in play, in each player’s hand, and in each player’s discard pile has no Abilities (except for Garbotoxin).

>>28169905
Oh shit. I forgot about that caveat. God, I wish we'd get that reprint.

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>>28169842
Why do so many people forget that double battles were an officially supported format back during Gen III?

>>28169960
Because, as somee other guy pointed out, there is no point to knowing anything about the pre-rotation formats due to how they work. So, nobody keeps up with old stuff.

>>28169982
I think he meant that balancing modern cards around decade-old illegal cards was kind of silly.

>>28165740
Not that guy, but they are balancing it for the Japanese tournament scene like they always have. Even without the CP4 reprints, Startling Megaphone and Xerosic would be legal for one more year there. It's TPCi's fault there's no reprints in English yet, not PCL's.

>>28169960
Because it was a shit format and nobody wants to remember.

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>>28167359
>a base set 30 hp charmander

Base Set Charmander has 50 HP. "Evolving Basic" is the one card type that has barely changed from Base Set days, so you chose the worst possible example.

>>28170000
>Not that guy, but they are balancing it for the Japanese tournament scene like they always have.
Not him, but PCL is still really bad at their job. Like really bad. I don't think any other card game has as many poorly designed cards. I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if both of them completely forgot about tool removal, regardless of reprints.

>>28170130
I really wish basic and stage 1s with evolutions were brought up to standard. They really feel awful underpowered when compared to final stage cards, as in "You ain't even scratching 1/16 of my hp now, let me OHKO u.". Pokemon should be somewhat useful, even if they have evos.

>>28170210

They stopped printing useful attacks on them a while ago for some reason. I remember Memory Berry on Flygon back in gen 4 giving it access to Trapinch's Inviting Trap and Sand Tomb, which were great for decking people out with Flygon LvX. Vibrava even had a great 1 time attack in Energy Typhoon or it could do spread damage with Sand Wind. The utility was so much fun.

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>>28170210
>>28170336
This isn't bad with Lizardon's ability to recall attacks for 1 energy.

>>28169720
Honestly, it's faster than it seems. It will obviously get a bit slower post rotation without Battle Compressor or Blacksmith, but I think it'll still be a solid choice.
Of course it struggles against Garbodor, so if it will be played as much as it's been hyped the deck might be in trouble.

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>>28170344
That's a very nice stage one. Too bad most end up like this, or worse.

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>>28170210
Something like this?

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>>28170393
While I admit Stage 1s really get the short end of the stick, there are plenty of other examples of Basic, Stage 2, Ex, Megas, and Breaks that are pretty shit too. For instance, take a look at Meowstic Ex. Terrible card.

I'm sure they'll continue the trend with Gxs as well, assuming there's more than 2 per set. After all, if everyone is special, then no one is.

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>>28170393

Why is Zebstrika good? What kind of effects would you want to ignore?

>>28171242
Fighting Resistance on Pokemon weak to Lightning,
which lets you do 220 damage to Pokemon such as M Ray, Yveltals, Yanmega, Shaymin, and Lugia,
and lets you do 110 to Pokemon such as Trevenant XY and Pumpkaboo,
all for a single double colorless energy.

>>28171283
No, I'm actually retarded and it doesn't negate resistance.
The point is the attack is still 110 damage for [c][c] and most things that resist fighting are also weak to lightning.

Can anybody tell me the value of the following cards?

>FA Pokemon Ranger
>FA Pokemon Fan Club
>SR Trainers' Mail
>SR Energy Switch

I don't see the point in having them if I have regular art versions, and no Shaymin-EX, which I'm still trying to get packs for.

tfw get a Diance EX full art but it's tradelocked

Got a bunch of Garbodor's, what's a good partner to go with it? I'm thinking M-Tyranitar EX.

>>28171470
I have a bunch of full arts that are trade locked.

FA Sycamore, FA Skyla, and... I had something else that was FA that I can never trade for mad jew packs.


>>28172117
Most mega decks go well with that card.

It shuts down a LOT of decks just by being on the field. I personally used it in the M-Mawile deck I made for trolling around and I think I'll continue to use it. I'll need some new mons though soon because Aroma is getting rotated out I believe.

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I just played a game on Verses against the deck with Zapdos on the box. The person I was playing against got to take 2 prize cards for every one pokemom I lost.

I didn't see him play a single trainer card that would allow him to do that.

Help?

Here is the log file of the match.
http://pastebin.com/dsiudhq4

>>28172981
It was a special pokemon ability, it's written on the card.

Articuno also has this ability too.

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Articuno_(Roaring_Skies_17)

I can't find an index for all pokemon with this ability though.

Regardless, you should make a habit of reading any card you've never seen closely to avoid silly things like this.

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>>28172981
Read the cards.

>ΔPlus: If your opponent’s Pokémon is Knocked Out by damage from an attack of this Pokémon, take 1 more Prize card.

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>>28173130
>>28173086
How the fuck was I supposed to see THAT text? All the special ability cards I've seen are in red text right above the attacks, don't some camouflage shit at the top under the name.

Fuck I'm salty about this.

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>new private trade offer

Let's see how someone is trying to jew me this time!

>>28173177
Sorry anon, but make a habit of completely reading all the text on a card. It'll save you grief in the long run, especially with small interactions.

Like M Mewtwo Vanishing Strike ignores the effects of "resistances and ALL effects" cards even if they'd normally hold true like Regice being immune to EX damage next turn. Because fuck you.

>>28173186
That's ONE rare!!!

Think about it anon, ONE rare!

>>28173186
dafuq? He's not even trying.

>>28173177
There's a symbol and text that isn't on every card, and you don't think to read it? Not even after it takes two prize cards? I only started playing recently and I found out about that shit pretty quickly because of Articuno in the theme deck I've been using. They're Ancient Traits, I think. Just read the effects of cards that come in to play as often as you can.

>>28171242
it cuts through / lets your lightning mons cut through - Glaceon/Jolteon/Regice. Unfortunately with Manectric leaving standard lightning is kind of entirely fucked for a while.

>>28171242
Altaria from roaring skies. Other than that its just a neato anti Ray/Yveltal tech option.

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>>28173225
>All your hopes and dreams set on Regice
>Mega Super Ultimate Chocolate Covered Mewtwo with a cherry on top don't give a fuck

>>28173270
Is Raichu no good?

>>28173742
No. Why would it be?

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$0.34/ page with free shipping.

seems like a good deal.

>>28173796
Circle Circuit seemed fun. Sky Field and one DCE. Doesn't seem bad for a budget deck.

>>28173742
Raichu is fine, just not stellar. But it never was to begin with. 90hp is too kek.

>>28173955
Except you can't kill anything because the most you can swing for with a full bench is 160. And you only have 90 HP so you're getting killed by just about everything.

>>28173955
>>28173985
The guy before me basically covers it.

It can win versus matches but it'd lose to any mega/ex deck as long as their draws aren't dogshit.

>>28173981
>>28173985
>>28174007
Yeah, I didn't really consider the HP. I thought it had more than 90. I'd kill for a standard bracket with no EX Pokemon.

>>28174007
Then again, every budget deck loses to mega/ex decks as long as their draws aren't dogshit.

>>28174105
I've used a budget greninja deck before without break and it managed to win a surprising amount of times against shaymin spam and mega decks.

It got STOMPED by any green deck though really hard and the more meta high tier mega decks though.

I'm also using a for fun mawile deck right now that I'd ask for opinions on if I wasn't at work.
Anyone know a good filler fairy mon with aroma being rotated out?

Using M Mawile, Garbador, and I dunno after rotation.

>>28174063
>>28174105
Yup, welcome to the resurgence of EX i.e. every format for the past five years with last year being the sole exception.

Should I run Kyogre/Garbodor or am I trying too hard to use my glorious whales?

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What's the best pre-made theme deck for playing verses? I got some coins to spend.

>>28174147
I would be interested in seeing this. I love Mawile as a Pokemon but the cards are so shit it hurts.

>>28173742
Raichu is okay. Might be a little better now since no-one is going to be expecting Lightning decks with everything else being shitty. If only it and Zebstrika and the occasional Mag/Raikou deck are popping up, people will be a lot quicker to play the Rayq and the Yanmega decks and this should give Raichu a slight boost. but it's nothing special, especially with Crobat out of the picture for that extra bit of damage it needs to make 180.

>>28174295
XY water :^)

>>28174295
I used the one with Dragonite for a while after XY Blue, it's very easy to get a shit start but a little bit of good luck goes a long way.

Speaking of theme decks, what has the best one been within the past 5 years?

So what's the purpose of buying the newest cards if they will become obsolete in 2 years?

Just pulled Volcanion EX. So happy I thought I'd share

>>28175229
Because two years is a long time. Plus there's still expanded.

>>28175229
I buy cards for the sole purpose of collecting them

>>28175256
I still have my Pokemon lv.X cards and Diamond/Pearl decks but they are fucking useless now.

>>28175601
They're probably worth money as collector items now.

I'm hanging around a 50% winrate with this and I'm wondering what I could change about it.
Started with some shell I found online, but have been messing around with items in response to what I'm losing against so thats why there are 1 offs all over the place.

Getting the xerneas out and powered up hasn't been too much of a problem but I keep getting shat on by mewtwo decks.

>>28175997
pic missing

Why are Dragon cards so garbage with the energy costs?

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>>28176083
oops

>>28176092
Double Dragon Energy

Not sure if a Zygarde EX and Machamp deck is worth making. Does the ability stack? So 2 Machamp on my bench would be giving +40, with Strong Energy giving 20 more? Throw on a Fighting Fury Belt, that's 170 for 3 energy.
Will it just be far too slow?

It does stack, it is slow.

>>28176426
Machamp is rotating. You'd have to use Regirock EX.

>>28176426
Consider Regirock-EX and Carbink Break.

>>28176481
Machamp was reprinted in Generations.

>>28176481
But it's in Generations.
>>28176493
Are they expensive cards? I'll definitely look in to them, thanks.

>>28176563

Regirock EX is around 8 bucks and Carbink BREAK is around 5 bucks.

So i traded my Yanmega break for a Mega Charizard and a Bisharp.

How long until Hoopa goes out of rotation?

I mean, I love the mon and how fast it makes mega and EX decks but... It's so ridiculously good and free that I almost want it to go so it can slow those decks down.

>>28177091
Next September, probably, when PRC-BKT get rotated out.

>>28177175
Also, to further clarify, I know Hoopa EX got reprinted n the Powers Beyond tin but it was still before BKT came out, so my guess is it would be rotated out as well.

Why is the TCGO art so terrible

How often do you guys get the chance to play in real life, if it all? Do most people just use TCGO?

>>28177311
I only use PTCGO for testing decks before buying the physical cards. I predominately play the physical card game. I got to my league and local tournament weekly, and attend big name events when I can. Last year I went to two regionals, two cities, one states and US nationals. So far I only have one regionals planned this season.

But most people in these threads play PTCGO.

>>28177311
I would love to play the physical cardgame, but everyone at my locals is just playing magic and Yugioh.
So I have to stick to the TCGO.

>>28177311
I'm considering getting into the physical card games, but first I need to get my life in order job wise since I'm moving from one job I've been in for around 3 years and transferring to another.

Once I have that done, I'll go and buy a bunch of packs and cards.

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What are they on about?

>>28177997
That Xerneas was reprinted in Steam Siege, my friend.

>it's a 'your opponent has the world championship sleeves and hides their decklist' episode

Is there anyone in the video game more tryhard?

>>28178109
>Have a Delphox with her breathrough.
>Keep stomping people because muh energies.

Okay, this is absurdly stupid card, who thought of this?

>playing second match ever with beginner cards to match
>get swept from turn two by a Volcanion + Volcanion EX combo
Who balanced this matchmaking system

>>28178109
How do you hide your decklist? Can you only view them at the end of a game?

>>28178109
>tfw you beat them
>tfw late game was ass because muh shaymins couldn't protect them from N

Good, I didn't want your decklist anyway! It lost to my budget octillery deck!

>>28178109
>This is literally me
Why should I show my deck to other people if I don't want to?
>>28178201
There's a option in the settings to hide it. If you don't have it toggled your opponent can check out your deck after the game.

>>28178176
I made one a couple of days ago but haven't had a chance to play it yet. Do you have the draw version alongside the Psystorm version? Is it worth running Octillery in the deck if I don't have Shaymin, or just get the draw delphox out?
Not comfortable with the look of the deck enough to use it yet. I have 4-3-4 with 2 Break.

>>28178382
Ah, thanks. I don't mind if people see my deck, it turns out I never come up with anything original anyway, so there isn't much point in that.

>>28178390
I run both versions, and 1 break.

Here is my current decklist.
****** Pokémon Trading Card Game Deck List ******

##Pokémon - 20

* 1 Fletchling FLF 86
* 1 Talonflame STS 96
* 2 Chimchar STS 18
* 2 Monferno STS 19
* 2 Infernape STS 20
* 1 Entei AOR 14
* 1 Delphox BREAK FAC 14
* 2 Fennekin FAC 11
* 2 Braixen FAC 12
* 1 Delphox FAC 13
* 1 Delphox XY 26
* 1 Fletchinder FLF 17
* 1 Heatmor BKP 15
* 1 Torchic PRC 26
* 1 Vulpix PRC 20

##Trainer Cards - 20

* 4 Professor's Letter XY 123
* 4 Ultra Ball DEX 102
* 4 N DEX 96
* 3 Steven ROS 90
* 1 Parallel City BKT 145
* 1 Battle Reporter FFI 88
* 2 VS Seeker PHF 109
* 1 Pokémon Fan Club FAC 107

##Energy - 20

* 4 Double Colorless Energy FAC 114
* 16 Fire Energy XYEnergy 4

Total Cards - 60

****** Deck List Generated by the Pokémon TCG Online www.pokemon.com/TCGO ******

>>28178485
>16 basic energies
>20 pokemon
Is this a joke?

>>28178566
Had 10 games so far, no energy problems.

>>28171431
I'll give you 7 SS for Ranger and Mail

>>28178603
I don't think that's the main issue, you might want to read the OP.

>>28178873
Why only 10 energy? seems kinda limited.

>>28178873
>might

needs

>>28178960
You can only attach one energy to your Pokemon per turn. This means every extra energy you have in your hand is a dead card instead of something useful.

http://www.pokemon.com/us/play-pokemon/worlds/2016/decks/masters/

Here are a collection decks from Worlds. Notice how very few run more than 10 energy. Notice how some even have as few as 4 energy total.

>>28179081
Unless Im running a blacksmith with a greatball then that theory is bunked since I can play 3 energy in a turn.