Any Pokemon TCG players here? I just got into the game and I feel a little lost
So I was wondering through a book store and I found the Greninja ex Battle Deck, which I thought looked really cool, and I've always wanted to own a Pokemon deck, even if I don't have anyone to play with.
I learnt the deck is meant for absolute beginners and that it doesn't stand a chance against meta decks, but I expected that (it's the same for Yu-Gi-Oh structure decks, you usually need to buy 3 and add a bunch of staples to get something slightly competitive).
Now since I can't play with anyone IRL, I hopped on Pokemon TCG Live, scanned the deck's QR code and built a better version of the deck using this video from LittleDarkFury. Except I replaced 2 Starmie and 1 Staryu with 1 Comfey, 1 Pyukumuku and 1 Lapras because I don't have anything else that synergizes, and I ran out of credits. (I can share the decklist if needed.)
Mostly because I dumped all my credits into building a Giratina Lost Zone deck because I felt cocky and then I realized I have no idea how to play it. That was a mistake.
My problem right now is that I feel really aimless, I have 2 decent decks but I can't really seem to get the hang out of them. I do understand their main win conditions (get Giratina VSTAR out, respectively get Greninja ex out) but besides that I don't really know how to play them. It does feel like I just need to get a bunch of games in, to see what decks other people play, and what situations I need to adapt to.
Locally there are no game shops I could go to, but I would have loved to play with someone IRL and have them guide me through everything. This means I'm stuck with online resources, but most of them are aimed at players that already know the game.
What do you think I should do? I'll keep playing games in hopes something will click with me, but until then, I'd appreciate some guidance (feel free to ask me anything in case I didn't give enough information).
It’s been a little bit since I played the Pokémon TCG, but my experience with most TCGs is pretty much exactly what you were suspecting - I just had to play (and probably lose) a whole bunch of games
It’s probably possible to get a feel for the current landscape of the game through YouTube and online discussion, but ultimately just playing more for right now is probably going to get you more useful information. Luckily since you just started the game should be matching you up against people who also don’t know what they’re doing yet (which is also another reason doing a bunch of research probably won’t do you too much good at this point, most of those resources are going to be geared towards winning against other players who know what they’re doing - at lower levels those strategies aren’t necessarily as relevant anyways)
There’s an official mobile game app (Pokemon TCG, I think it’s named) that guides you trough the rules. With it, and patience, you might get it!
I think OP knows the rules, he's just not clicking with the decks he built. Like he's not following the "correct" lines of play.
Also, it seems that he's already using Pokemon TCG Live which is the mobile app/PC game for the TCG
Yeah OP, I think really all you need is to get some more reps in, especially if you just raw dawg netdecked a list without knowing the cards first (which only really comes from playing more).
Like Tenkuu mentioned, maybe watch some gameplay of the deck on YouTube and really pay attention to the lines they're playing and how they setup. And get reps yourself, and try to pick up on what you're doing, with what works and what doesn't.
Luckily Pokemon has no instant speed interaction, so coming from yugioh it shouldn't take you too long to pick them. You got this OP I believe in you!
Well since I made that post, I got the hang of the Greninja ex deck, and I honestly love it. I do have some difficulty against Charizard ex and Origin Dialga VSTAR, but I'm winning some games here and there, more than I would have expected.