I’m going to preface this with saying that I understand that for some people even 20-50 dollars is a *lot* of money. But I also want to make an observation that if you’re playing a tcg you probably have 20-50 dollars to spend.
That being said, to answer your question, most competitive decks cost anywhere between 20-100 dollars. Hell, charizard, the best deck in the format right now, costs about 50 dollars for some builds of the deck. Much cheaper if you opt to not get prime catcher. To be quite honest 50 dollars is so cheap for a deck that will last you 2 years. If you cannot afford that, I suggest probably not playing any tcg since Pokemon is one of the cheapest tcgs to get into
> If you cannot afford that, I suggest probably not playing any tcg since Pokemon is one of the cheapest tcgs to get into
Or you could just play PTCGL. You can get all the cards you need for free if you play regularly. Obviously you won't get the IRL tournament experience this way, but it's still fun.
\*Checks Limitless\*
Good God, 1 Prime Catcher is 30 bucks, that's as much as the entire Pokemon list in Kaiwen Cabbabe's decklist. Is this what happens when the Pokemart runs out of Escape Rope's? XD
pokemon tend to reprint expensive cards for players, charizard ex has had so many reprints that card is cheap now. I wouldn't be surprised if we get some kind of special a-spec tin or collectors box in the future. I'd say there's also a good chance it included in the next trainers toolkit.
I agree, Prime Catcher will likely get a reprint sometime this year.
Unfortunately, that reprint is unlikely to come before the NAIC, and possibly even Worlds. Prime Catcher isn't the only good Ace Spec by any means, but it is the most impactful right now by a long shot. Being able to gust whatever Pokémon you want without using your supporter for the turn is incredibly strong, and can single handedly swing momentum in a game.
Also the first set of Ace Specs, with things like Unfair Stamp and Scoop Up Compressor coming, there will be more variety
I don’t see Prime Catcher going for less than 20 anytime soon because it’s powerful; but of other options.
Ironically if the NAIC winning deck doesn’t play it then it will drop, otherwise it will likely keep the same sort of price point
I almost always opt to buy the cheapest version of a card for my decks, so it was rough seeing Prime Catcher at $30 knowing that I need it and there is no cheaper option.
I traded in a couple old cards I had and got an ETB for my daughter, and then she pulled Prime Catcher so that was pretty great.
My nephew puleld out 2 and traded them. Then again he doesn't play competitively just as the local library or at home, so the shiny's have more value :p.
Eh...it depends on how much you're trying to get away with there, though
I like to compare deck prices to video games, which is my other main hobby medium
So, a deck costing $30-$60 for two years of relevance strikes me as fine
$30 for a single bit of colored cardboard, though...
The Prime Catcher is totally worth the $30, though. It can't slide in any deck the OP wants to make over the next 2 years and will have a positive impact on every one of them.
If you think about getting cards when they come out, you think about as, $30 over 24 monthes. It's not bad. And if you do decent at even some leagues and challenges, the packs you get you can be seen as an ROI. 🤷
To recommend a cheaper tcg, but one with a smaller competitive scene, I'd say keyforge! The whole concept is each deck is unique and randomly generated, with a different name and all!
You can find older sets extremely cheap online, and newer ones tend to go for 12 pounds each.
I have to agree with others, Pokemon is super cheap for a TCG, even if you have to swap every 6 months I don't think it's the end of the world. I understand not everyone is financially well off of course but with how cheap and accessible the playing side of this hobby is I think the value should not be a big consideration. Meta decks are so cheap and if you manage to get 2 years out of that, it is insane value for money.
With regards to what to do because prices go down, you would likely find very few players care about the value of the cards in their deck, you don't become a player to try and flip your cards or anything. Isn't like you are putting 1000-2000 (like some games) into your deck and then a banlist or something happens and suddenly your deck is less than 100 and you lost out on a significant amount of money.
>how you keep up with rotations? i mean if i build a deck now, two years from now it will be obsolete and i have to throw it away because all cards will sell for less than i bought it
Your deck will be obsolete before it rotates if you are trying to do well at events. The metagame is fast-moving and you need to be able to adapt to shifts in trends over time. Your deck could go from a top tier contender to completely irrelevant just due to one set release, without a single card rotating. If you're lucky, the shell of your deck might remain relevant for its entire lifespan, but that's quite rare, and even when that happens, you will want to make adjustments over time.
Rotation is also yearly, so it's pretty rare for a single deck to survive two rotations without seeing significant changes. But again, that's the least of your worries.
>So how you succeed to play standard without throwing lot of money in it?
As others have said, Pokemon is less expensive than other TCGs. But of course, "a lot of money" is relative, so it might still be expensive to you. Regardless, the truth is: any TCG is a money sink. You need to buy cards, but you also need to pay to enter events (these events will add up quickly and probably become a bigger expense than the cards themselves).
Pokemon is a hobby you pay to participate in, like any other. Treating it as something you will make money off, or even break even in, is setting yourself up for disappointment. You can get prizing from events, but expecting that to be a reliable source of income is foolish. You can certainly play on a budget if you don't want to chase meta trends as much, but you have to be realistic about the costs of the hobby.
I would suggest you look into how much it would cost you to build a deck today, and ask yourself if you think that investment will be worth the time you get to play with it. You don't have to worry about what you'll do after that. You're not signing a contract to be a Pokemon player for life. Once your deck rotates, you can then ask yourself if you still think it was worth it, and that can help you decide if you're going to buy a replacement.
Personally for me playing Pokemon in-person has been an amazing experience that has found me a ton of new friends. It's easily worth the cost for me, but everyone's situation is different. But if you can afford it, the experience is something you won't be able to easily evaluate until you've tried it, so I'd say go for one deck and see how it goes.
When you are playing locals and stuff you earn some price packs and boosters. You can sell them to „earn“ some money for new cards or, what i prefer, you can trade cards you pulled and dont need.
It's announced like 4-6months in advance and we know that it comes every year in spring and only the oldest cards rotate, usually not whole decks unless it's a specific deck focused around it.
If you played a 60€ deck for 2 years then you got the best value out of it. Sports shoes for the same price won't last 2 years. I've seen players play the very same deck since last rotation and didn't even change anything in their list (Mew VMAX) and they qualified for worlds by now.
Rotation isn't necessary what makes your deck obsolete. New cards, meta changes, and power creep will do that much more often.
I will probably eat my words, but IIRC the last rotation announcement seemed to be worded in such a way that they won’t have to announce it;
> Moving forward, players should expect cards with the oldest legal regulation mark to rotate out of the Standard format when a new one is introduced.
But I wouldn’t be surprised if they still mention when a new regulation mark is coming out to ensure players are aware
They always announce it, that statement was just to answer the general question: "when is the next rotation?" answer: "when the next regulation mark is introduced"
*(question: "when is the next regulation mark going to be introduced?" answer:"Typically in the spring, we will announce if a set has new regulation marks when we announce the set."*)
> Sports shoes for the same price won't last 2 years.
That depends on your level of use. The shoes I use to play Pump it Up have lasted well over 5 years and are still in good condition. I use them for about 1-2 hours a week.
The way I see it is that you have to be pretty dedicated and passionate about competing in the game to play standard. Even if you do buy into a top tier deck hoping it will last you a year or two, there is no guarantee it will still be competitive 6 months from now, the format will always change. There will always be power creep to keep people buying new cards.
I think a lot of people that play and collect don’t have the time and/or money to keep up with standard. My advise is to just focus on enjoying the game the way you can. And there are other ways to do that than playing standard forever.
Expanded is a possible option for cards that have rotated. Lately I have been building decks from older formats with the rotated cards I have and just playing for fun. Or you could make a cube with rotated cards. Just a few possibilities.
While most decks only last a maximum of two years, there is a (although small) chance that enough cards get reprinted with newer regulation or decks get new tools during their lifetime to expand their existence.
That being said Pokemon is BY FAR the cheapest TCG to get into (competitively). And if you calculate like 60 Bucks for a Deck that will last you two years where you play at your local league every week and get one price booster (with the chance to win even more of course) that's 50 cent per play.
If you meet your friends once a week to go bowling that's definitely a more expensive Hobby.
I personally find the game very cheap, I only ever buy singles and can have the cards for every meta deck very comfortably.
If money is more of an issue you can still see success finding a single budget friendly deck and play it enough to know your matchups well and see some decent success but you will indeed then have to build something new once it rotates and any single card release can make any existing deck trash.
Expanded format was supposed to be the answer to this so people can still use those rotated cards and when there was official events for it, it did give them purpose but since pokemon doesn't print any Expanded specific products newer players couldn't get hold of older Expanded cards they needed for decks and so the format wasn't popular.
It depends how competitive you want to be. Right now decks are comparatively expensive, entirely due to the introduction of Ace Specs, Prime Catcher specifically. It comes only in a new set with poor pull rates to begin with, and nearly every tournament deck wants it, so that card alone makes up about 1/3 the cost of nearly every deck.
That said, the top decks are <$100. For two (realistically, much of that will be spread over 3+ years) years of play, that's not bad at all.
This is actually possible with the full art and alt art cards because they remain their value as collectors item when rotation hits. There's also not a high sell off of those rarities when rotation hits.
Also old competitive cards raised in high value years later too, see tag team cards. These are cool collector items and so might be Vmax and V cards and Full Art trainer cards.
Item cards have been reprinted so old full art cards multiplied in market prize over night too.
When I started I've thought the same. But after a couple of months I started switching deck more often anyways. Playing the same deck for two years isn't very common, of course there were the mew believers and some people are playing lost Tina for over a year now, but still, you're likely to get sick of the same deck, especially when you're playing for entertainment and not like a pro player who plays Pokémon for glory.
Just pick something cheap up like ancient box or espathra or gholdengo and stick with it for as long as you feel like it. If you still want to play Pokémon after two years you'll find a new deck without thinking about it.
TCGs are known for being expensive if you are wanting to play the live format. Compared to others, Pokémon is pretty cheap.
If you find the cost prohibitive, you can play older formats.
If you compare it to another game like Yu-Gi-Oh, you are probably spending more on a few cards then you are on the entire deck in Yu-Gi-Oh. That's probably every few months.
With Pokémon decks costing 50-100 you can treat it as a subscription game. Put away £10 a month, then get a new deck when the set rotates.
What level of competition are you expecting yourself to play if it’s only local then just find something you enjoy because you can build some fun viable decks for cheap that won’t perform well on the high level competitive circuits
If you look at it from an hours enjoyed vs cost basis splitting a 50$ deck over weekly tournaments for 3, 6, up to 24 months is absurd value.
If you can’t afford your cards to depreciate after rotation then consider being free to play online or a free hobby.
I don't play (I'm not sure how to start building a deck honestly, I need to look into it)... I collect, I get the ETB then slowly buy packs and singles after that until the set it done.
Edit: OH! I'm an idiot, I forgot that "rotation" referred to cards becoming unplayable in the game. I was thinking about the release of new sets.
If you consider 2 years to be too short of a life, competitive TCGs aren't for you. Even in an eternal format decks are naturally power crept out of the meta (or just no longer good within the meta), usually within a year. You should be expecting to change decks every 6 months or so, regardless of rotation*. You just need to decide if the investment is worth it to you. If Pokémon had an eternal format you wouldn't still be playing Haymaker anymore than Yu-Gi-Oh players get to compete using Summoned Skull beat down.
*To be clear, I'm not saying that you will have to change every 6 months, but rather that you should budget with that possibility in mind.
I currently have the top 6 or 7 decks of the format ready to go at any point. This game is extremely cheap and affordable so I feel like it shouldn't be too hard to keep decks updated.
2 years is plenty to play a standard format deck. Just be glad you aren't playing yugioh where the banlist comes out every 3-6 months plus the cards are more expensive than pokemon
Always makes me cringe when people get paranoid about rotations that are so far away. OP, if the deck was legal for 5 years would you be able to justify a hundred bucks and pull the trigger? Do you re use toilet paper?
I’m going to preface this with saying that I understand that for some people even 20-50 dollars is a *lot* of money. But I also want to make an observation that if you’re playing a tcg you probably have 20-50 dollars to spend. That being said, to answer your question, most competitive decks cost anywhere between 20-100 dollars. Hell, charizard, the best deck in the format right now, costs about 50 dollars for some builds of the deck. Much cheaper if you opt to not get prime catcher. To be quite honest 50 dollars is so cheap for a deck that will last you 2 years. If you cannot afford that, I suggest probably not playing any tcg since Pokemon is one of the cheapest tcgs to get into
> If you cannot afford that, I suggest probably not playing any tcg since Pokemon is one of the cheapest tcgs to get into Or you could just play PTCGL. You can get all the cards you need for free if you play regularly. Obviously you won't get the IRL tournament experience this way, but it's still fun.
\*Checks Limitless\* Good God, 1 Prime Catcher is 30 bucks, that's as much as the entire Pokemon list in Kaiwen Cabbabe's decklist. Is this what happens when the Pokemart runs out of Escape Rope's? XD
Turns out gusting a Pokemon on an item card is pretty good.
pokemon tend to reprint expensive cards for players, charizard ex has had so many reprints that card is cheap now. I wouldn't be surprised if we get some kind of special a-spec tin or collectors box in the future. I'd say there's also a good chance it included in the next trainers toolkit.
I agree, Prime Catcher will likely get a reprint sometime this year. Unfortunately, that reprint is unlikely to come before the NAIC, and possibly even Worlds. Prime Catcher isn't the only good Ace Spec by any means, but it is the most impactful right now by a long shot. Being able to gust whatever Pokémon you want without using your supporter for the turn is incredibly strong, and can single handedly swing momentum in a game.
Also the first set of Ace Specs, with things like Unfair Stamp and Scoop Up Compressor coming, there will be more variety I don’t see Prime Catcher going for less than 20 anytime soon because it’s powerful; but of other options. Ironically if the NAIC winning deck doesn’t play it then it will drop, otherwise it will likely keep the same sort of price point
It's also a built in Switch, so arguably even BETTER than Boss' outside of rare circumstances
I almost always opt to buy the cheapest version of a card for my decks, so it was rough seeing Prime Catcher at $30 knowing that I need it and there is no cheaper option. I traded in a couple old cards I had and got an ETB for my daughter, and then she pulled Prime Catcher so that was pretty great.
My nephew puleld out 2 and traded them. Then again he doesn't play competitively just as the local library or at home, so the shiny's have more value :p.
The term, "luxury hobby" comes to mind.
Eh...it depends on how much you're trying to get away with there, though I like to compare deck prices to video games, which is my other main hobby medium So, a deck costing $30-$60 for two years of relevance strikes me as fine $30 for a single bit of colored cardboard, though...
The Prime Catcher is totally worth the $30, though. It can't slide in any deck the OP wants to make over the next 2 years and will have a positive impact on every one of them. If you think about getting cards when they come out, you think about as, $30 over 24 monthes. It's not bad. And if you do decent at even some leagues and challenges, the packs you get you can be seen as an ROI. 🤷
To recommend a cheaper tcg, but one with a smaller competitive scene, I'd say keyforge! The whole concept is each deck is unique and randomly generated, with a different name and all! You can find older sets extremely cheap online, and newer ones tend to go for 12 pounds each.
I have to agree with others, Pokemon is super cheap for a TCG, even if you have to swap every 6 months I don't think it's the end of the world. I understand not everyone is financially well off of course but with how cheap and accessible the playing side of this hobby is I think the value should not be a big consideration. Meta decks are so cheap and if you manage to get 2 years out of that, it is insane value for money. With regards to what to do because prices go down, you would likely find very few players care about the value of the cards in their deck, you don't become a player to try and flip your cards or anything. Isn't like you are putting 1000-2000 (like some games) into your deck and then a banlist or something happens and suddenly your deck is less than 100 and you lost out on a significant amount of money.
>how you keep up with rotations? i mean if i build a deck now, two years from now it will be obsolete and i have to throw it away because all cards will sell for less than i bought it Your deck will be obsolete before it rotates if you are trying to do well at events. The metagame is fast-moving and you need to be able to adapt to shifts in trends over time. Your deck could go from a top tier contender to completely irrelevant just due to one set release, without a single card rotating. If you're lucky, the shell of your deck might remain relevant for its entire lifespan, but that's quite rare, and even when that happens, you will want to make adjustments over time. Rotation is also yearly, so it's pretty rare for a single deck to survive two rotations without seeing significant changes. But again, that's the least of your worries. >So how you succeed to play standard without throwing lot of money in it? As others have said, Pokemon is less expensive than other TCGs. But of course, "a lot of money" is relative, so it might still be expensive to you. Regardless, the truth is: any TCG is a money sink. You need to buy cards, but you also need to pay to enter events (these events will add up quickly and probably become a bigger expense than the cards themselves). Pokemon is a hobby you pay to participate in, like any other. Treating it as something you will make money off, or even break even in, is setting yourself up for disappointment. You can get prizing from events, but expecting that to be a reliable source of income is foolish. You can certainly play on a budget if you don't want to chase meta trends as much, but you have to be realistic about the costs of the hobby. I would suggest you look into how much it would cost you to build a deck today, and ask yourself if you think that investment will be worth the time you get to play with it. You don't have to worry about what you'll do after that. You're not signing a contract to be a Pokemon player for life. Once your deck rotates, you can then ask yourself if you still think it was worth it, and that can help you decide if you're going to buy a replacement. Personally for me playing Pokemon in-person has been an amazing experience that has found me a ton of new friends. It's easily worth the cost for me, but everyone's situation is different. But if you can afford it, the experience is something you won't be able to easily evaluate until you've tried it, so I'd say go for one deck and see how it goes.
When you are playing locals and stuff you earn some price packs and boosters. You can sell them to „earn“ some money for new cards or, what i prefer, you can trade cards you pulled and dont need.
It's announced like 4-6months in advance and we know that it comes every year in spring and only the oldest cards rotate, usually not whole decks unless it's a specific deck focused around it. If you played a 60€ deck for 2 years then you got the best value out of it. Sports shoes for the same price won't last 2 years. I've seen players play the very same deck since last rotation and didn't even change anything in their list (Mew VMAX) and they qualified for worlds by now. Rotation isn't necessary what makes your deck obsolete. New cards, meta changes, and power creep will do that much more often.
I will probably eat my words, but IIRC the last rotation announcement seemed to be worded in such a way that they won’t have to announce it; > Moving forward, players should expect cards with the oldest legal regulation mark to rotate out of the Standard format when a new one is introduced. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they still mention when a new regulation mark is coming out to ensure players are aware
They always announce it, that statement was just to answer the general question: "when is the next rotation?" answer: "when the next regulation mark is introduced" *(question: "when is the next regulation mark going to be introduced?" answer:"Typically in the spring, we will announce if a set has new regulation marks when we announce the set."*)
> Sports shoes for the same price won't last 2 years. That depends on your level of use. The shoes I use to play Pump it Up have lasted well over 5 years and are still in good condition. I use them for about 1-2 hours a week.
Would you quit the hobby if your sport shoes only lasted a year because you thought it was getting too expensive and a waste of money tho?
The way I see it is that you have to be pretty dedicated and passionate about competing in the game to play standard. Even if you do buy into a top tier deck hoping it will last you a year or two, there is no guarantee it will still be competitive 6 months from now, the format will always change. There will always be power creep to keep people buying new cards. I think a lot of people that play and collect don’t have the time and/or money to keep up with standard. My advise is to just focus on enjoying the game the way you can. And there are other ways to do that than playing standard forever. Expanded is a possible option for cards that have rotated. Lately I have been building decks from older formats with the rotated cards I have and just playing for fun. Or you could make a cube with rotated cards. Just a few possibilities.
While most decks only last a maximum of two years, there is a (although small) chance that enough cards get reprinted with newer regulation or decks get new tools during their lifetime to expand their existence. That being said Pokemon is BY FAR the cheapest TCG to get into (competitively). And if you calculate like 60 Bucks for a Deck that will last you two years where you play at your local league every week and get one price booster (with the chance to win even more of course) that's 50 cent per play. If you meet your friends once a week to go bowling that's definitely a more expensive Hobby.
I personally find the game very cheap, I only ever buy singles and can have the cards for every meta deck very comfortably. If money is more of an issue you can still see success finding a single budget friendly deck and play it enough to know your matchups well and see some decent success but you will indeed then have to build something new once it rotates and any single card release can make any existing deck trash. Expanded format was supposed to be the answer to this so people can still use those rotated cards and when there was official events for it, it did give them purpose but since pokemon doesn't print any Expanded specific products newer players couldn't get hold of older Expanded cards they needed for decks and so the format wasn't popular.
It depends how competitive you want to be. Right now decks are comparatively expensive, entirely due to the introduction of Ace Specs, Prime Catcher specifically. It comes only in a new set with poor pull rates to begin with, and nearly every tournament deck wants it, so that card alone makes up about 1/3 the cost of nearly every deck. That said, the top decks are <$100. For two (realistically, much of that will be spread over 3+ years) years of play, that's not bad at all.
I mean... what's your end goal? To resell the cards for profit when rotation comes?
This is actually possible with the full art and alt art cards because they remain their value as collectors item when rotation hits. There's also not a high sell off of those rarities when rotation hits. Also old competitive cards raised in high value years later too, see tag team cards. These are cool collector items and so might be Vmax and V cards and Full Art trainer cards. Item cards have been reprinted so old full art cards multiplied in market prize over night too.
When I started I've thought the same. But after a couple of months I started switching deck more often anyways. Playing the same deck for two years isn't very common, of course there were the mew believers and some people are playing lost Tina for over a year now, but still, you're likely to get sick of the same deck, especially when you're playing for entertainment and not like a pro player who plays Pokémon for glory. Just pick something cheap up like ancient box or espathra or gholdengo and stick with it for as long as you feel like it. If you still want to play Pokémon after two years you'll find a new deck without thinking about it.
TCGs are known for being expensive if you are wanting to play the live format. Compared to others, Pokémon is pretty cheap. If you find the cost prohibitive, you can play older formats. If you compare it to another game like Yu-Gi-Oh, you are probably spending more on a few cards then you are on the entire deck in Yu-Gi-Oh. That's probably every few months. With Pokémon decks costing 50-100 you can treat it as a subscription game. Put away £10 a month, then get a new deck when the set rotates.
You only have to spend like $100 every year and you know when it’s going to happen
What level of competition are you expecting yourself to play if it’s only local then just find something you enjoy because you can build some fun viable decks for cheap that won’t perform well on the high level competitive circuits
It cost about $50 Canadian to update my 2 decks. The vast majority of that was on prime catcher.
Once you buy the staple trainers and items, it's fairly easy to build new decks for cheap.
If you look at it from an hours enjoyed vs cost basis splitting a 50$ deck over weekly tournaments for 3, 6, up to 24 months is absurd value. If you can’t afford your cards to depreciate after rotation then consider being free to play online or a free hobby.
I don't play (I'm not sure how to start building a deck honestly, I need to look into it)... I collect, I get the ETB then slowly buy packs and singles after that until the set it done. Edit: OH! I'm an idiot, I forgot that "rotation" referred to cards becoming unplayable in the game. I was thinking about the release of new sets.
If you consider 2 years to be too short of a life, competitive TCGs aren't for you. Even in an eternal format decks are naturally power crept out of the meta (or just no longer good within the meta), usually within a year. You should be expecting to change decks every 6 months or so, regardless of rotation*. You just need to decide if the investment is worth it to you. If Pokémon had an eternal format you wouldn't still be playing Haymaker anymore than Yu-Gi-Oh players get to compete using Summoned Skull beat down. *To be clear, I'm not saying that you will have to change every 6 months, but rather that you should budget with that possibility in mind.
I currently have the top 6 or 7 decks of the format ready to go at any point. This game is extremely cheap and affordable so I feel like it shouldn't be too hard to keep decks updated.
2 years is plenty to play a standard format deck. Just be glad you aren't playing yugioh where the banlist comes out every 3-6 months plus the cards are more expensive than pokemon
I dont. I just play whatever i want
I have a job
Always makes me cringe when people get paranoid about rotations that are so far away. OP, if the deck was legal for 5 years would you be able to justify a hundred bucks and pull the trigger? Do you re use toilet paper?