deck rules for player vs. player?

[buddyglass]

Pretty sure this is a n00b question, but...

 

When constructing a deck, are there "rules" for which cards it can include in order to compete against other players?

[Mod_Jynthu]

Hello buddyglass,

 

I am not sure what you mean by different rules when playing versus another player. There are certain deck rules for different formats, such as standard versus expanded. Is that perhaps what you meant? 

 

I recommend checking out the latest version of the rules, which can be found at https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-tcg/rules. Deck building is covered on page 22 of the pdf file linked there. 

 

Additional resources can be found at https://www.pokemon.com/us/play-pokemon/about/tournaments-rules-and-resources/. 

 

I hope this helps! If you have additional questions, please let us know!

[buddyglass]

I read the rules and it makes more sense now.  Thanks for that.  One followup question:  I created a "standard" deck and saved it.  Now it shows up under both "Standard" and "Extended".  Should that be possible?  If I somehow included an "Extended" card by accident, shouldn't it only show up as an "Extended" deck?

 

I guess my original question was more related to deck "strength".  Like, is there a way for me to compete against other players whose decks are approximately "as strong" as my own.

[WingsofFire1014]

I read the rules and it makes more sense now.  Thanks for that.  One followup question:  I created a "standard" deck and saved it.  Now it shows up under both "Standard" and "Extended".  Should that be possible?  If I somehow included an "Extended" card by accident, shouldn't it only show up as an "Extended" deck?

 

I guess my original question was more related to deck "strength".  Like, is there a way for me to compete against other players whose decks are approximately "as strong" as my own.

If you have any expanded cards in it, it will show up in expanded as well.

 

Sadly, there is no way to get yourself an even match in a game. when I started up, I had a bad deck up against one of the best decks.

[RobRatt]

One followup question: I created a "standard" deck and saved it. Now it shows up under both "Standard" and "Extended". Should that be possible? If I somehow included an "Extended" card by accident, shouldn't it only show up as an "Extended" deck?

If you have any expanded cards in it, it will show up in expanded as well.

^^  Not so.  You don't need "expanded" cards for this to happen.

 

The Expanded Format is all cards from B&W-on (BW sets, XY sets, Sun & Moon sets).

 

The Standard Format is cards from the Sun & Moon sets.

 

Standard fits within Expanded.  Even if you only have Sun & Moon cards (Standard), they can still be played in any Expanded event.

 

NOTE:  If you have even one card that's NOT Standard (something from the BW or XY eras), it will only show available for Expanded.

Edited January 24, 2019 by RobRatt

[buddyglass]

Standard fits within Expanded.

 

That makes sense.

 

I guess it's not possible to use cards from the three starter decks to build custom decks?  The custom deck I built was absolutely destroyed in the few versus matches I've tried so far.  I get the feeling it's mainly due to having sub-standard trainer cards.  My opponents are able to get a pretty powerful card (Stage 2, EX/GX) active and fully powered up within about 3-4 turns.  At that point the match is pretty much over.

Edited January 24, 2019 by buddyglass

[SandaledOtter]

 

 

 

I read the rules and it makes more sense now. Thanks for that. One followup question: I created a "standard" deck and saved it. Now it shows up under both "Standard" and "Extended". Should that be possible? If I somehow included an "Extended" card by accident, shouldn't it only show up as an "Extended" deck?

 

 

 

I guess my original question was more related to deck "strength". Like, is there a way for me to compete against other players whose decks are approximately "as strong" as my own.

 

 

RobRatt correctly answered part one, though I'll add that there are sometimes bans that will temporarily affect one format but not the other, if they hit the right card at rotation time.

 

 

 

As for the second, the rating doesn't ever look at decks. With enough time playing, you will tend to matched against players who have the ability to play about as well as you. They might be good players with bad decks, bad players with good decks, or somewhere in between. Maybe they drop down the ranking when they start experimenting with new things, maybe they they ******** a bit when they copy the latest winners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That makes sense.

 

 

 

I guess it's not possible to use cards from the three starter decks to build custom decks? The custom deck I built was absolutely destroyed in the few versus matches I've tried so far. I get the feeling it's mainly due to having sub-standard trainer cards. My opponents are able to get a pretty powerful card (Stage 2, EX/GX) active and fully powered up within about 3-4 turns. At that point the match is pretty much over.

 

 

 

You can certainly use them, and some of those cards are good. You'll need to add things though. The popular example involves combining two Mach Strike decks to get extra copies of the good stuff. That deck uses no GX cards, and can often beat GX-heavy decks within a certain range.

[buddyglass]

Huh.  When I was using the tool to create a deck, I didn't see any of the cards from the Fire/Water/Electricity starter decks available to choose.  Maybe I just missed them- will check again.  So far I have those three (fully powered up from trainer battles), the "rallying cry" deck, and an XY deck (the one w/ two Mewto) that I bought w/ coins.  Plus all the random stuff from booster packs I got fighting trainer battles.

[Felidae_]

I get the feeling it's mainly due to having sub-standard trainer cards

 

 

That is a good observation on your part.

 

Many new players get fixed on EX and GX cards, believing that those are the reason they lose their games, when in reality their trainer cards are just horrible.

Pokemon, unlike many other popular TCG/CCG titles, is build around cycling through a majority of your deck within the first few turns. Since you can play as many trainer cards as you want, using them to omit other cards becomes preferable (i.e. instead of clocking your deck with 20 energy cards you can safely run 12 and omit the remaining 8 with trainer cards that can search for energy, shuffle used energy back into your deck or plainly draw more cards.

 

As a complete beginner the best course of action is to stick to the Theme deck mode for a while, at least until you get comfortable with the mechanics of the game. Then, as SandaledOtter said, starting by combining two Mach Strike decks will give you a decent entry point into Standard.

Edited January 24, 2019 by Felidae_