And what’s radical red like?
Gaming Pokémon Strumfest
- Thread starter Snowjoe
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Jamie (@Vault Dweller) review both the Everton and Bodø/Glimt victories at Old Trafford. Listen to the guys discuss 2 wins and 7 goals in the last week, analyse of the Amorim formation, focus on Amad and how he is playing, and also take a look at Hojlund, Rashford & Zirkzee – who starts v Arsenal?
It's a good challenge, you will fail a few times trying each gym if you go in unprepared, but if you think about the opposition's typing and weaknesses and prepare accordingly with your own team in terms of both selecting good Pokémon, and using the right movesets, it's very winnable.
My friend id is 6028-6726-7585-8833
I called my character noodle as a temp not realising it takes thirty days before you can change it :/
I called my character noodle as a temp not realising it takes thirty days before you can change it :/
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Anyone got tips on what makes a good deck?
Real answer - 2x Starmie Ex, 2x Articuno Ex and 2x Misty cards (it's a completely broken meta at the moment)
Personal answer - What kind of deck are you trying to build?
No idea. I am a newbie to actually playing with Pokemon cards, I just like the collection element mostly.
I have good Psychic cards with a Mewtwo Ex, Alakazam, Slowbro etc. I just feel like the way the game works that a 3x evolution card sucks because by the time you get to that stage you're already one or two down.
Can you use the code cards in physical packs in the new game?
No it's not the same as TCG Live
No idea. I am a newbie to actually playing with Pokemon cards, I just like the collection element mostly.
I have good Psychic cards with a Mewtwo Ex, Alakazam, Slowbro etc. I just feel like the way the game works that a 3x evolution card sucks because by the time you get to that stage you're already one or two down.
You're not wrong about sometimes needing to lose a point while you build but from what I gather effective play is mostly about how quickly you can build up that 3x evolution card.
So for example in my grass Venosaur EX deck, which is probably my best one right now, I'm currently running with...
2x Caterpie
1x Farfetched (filler until I get 2x Venosaur)
2x Bulba
2x Ivysaur
1x Venosaur Ex
[Then all the usual supporter cards to fill out the rest of the spots 2x Professor Research, 2x X Speed, 2x Pokeball, 2x Potion, 1x Sabrina].
The fact I'm running with so few Pokemon means there's a very high chance I'll get a Bulbasaur or a Caterpie as my first Pokemon because the game requires you to draw a basic to begin (TCG Live doesn't, but that's a different story).
In terms of my setup/play, Caterpie ideally goes in my active spot because its only attack is 'find a friend,' which allows me to draw a random grass Pokemon from my bench and hence speeds up my evolution of Bulba > Veno.
Using an example of a recent game I played last night, let's say I put Caterpie in my active spot on my first turn, then I pull a Pokeball and draw out bulba. I put that lil guy on my bench and put an energy on Caterpie who finds a grass pokemon, ideally Ivysaur. I'm halfway to building up Venosaur at this point and just need to manage out three more turns until the very high likelihood I've powered him up to full within four turns. Of course I'm not losing the game in this time and if I manage attacks with potions I can often keep the Caterpie alive long enough until it gets turned into green goo, which realistically doesn't happen until turn 3/4 at best.*
What also often happens is that within my first two or three turns, I will draw professor research cards, allowing me to draw Ivy or Veno without needing to use Caterpie's ability. I usually get Veno by turn 3/4 at worst and by that point I've charged up my Ivysaur so I'm ready to unleash that Solar Beam (not the name, I've forgotten what the move is called).
Now in your case with a Psychic deck, you should probably be looking to run a similar idea and get an accompanying card out early while you build the big hitters from the bench. I have a deck like that with 2x Alakazam and 1x Mewtwo. Slowpoke/Slowbro line requires an evolution so I pair those two EX cards with Jynx, or alternatively Mr Mime, who go out first and are basic Pokemon with low retreat costs and effective cheap move-sets (edit - in fact I rarely power them up).
Something I've been finding tough with this deck is how random the Kadabra pulls are. It's not like my grass deck where I can manage the rate of pulls for stage 1 pokemon. It often stumps me because I don't pull Kadabra out early enough which means I'll abandon that strat halfway through. I also find Mewtwo Ex and Alakazam Ex tough to build because they take up a combined 8 psychic cards to attack. In either case, I'm building the first one I draw in my deck and managing the other as a backup attacker. I would also consider dropping the Alakazam line altogether if I had two Mewtwo Ex's and running them alongside Ralts/Gardevoir line because that would be a strong line with lots of early attacking potential.
So in short it's about finding your best cards, balancing them alongside slightly worse cards that work well with them, and getting lucky you aren't coming across a Starmie Ex deck which is the current meta right now (Pikachu Ex is also a problem).
TL;DR The best thing to do imo is make changes to a deck and experiment in solo mode. You can often intuitively pick up on what's causing an issue in your deck and change bad cards out for something you think would work better. If you're never using certain pokemon and they're just sitting in your hand all the time, or your slowpoke isn't killing anyone, then consider removing them altogether because they're taking up chances of you pulling out better words from your deck.
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*Unless I'm dealing with an Starmie Ex of course which can deal 90 damage in 2 turns if played effectively and that's why Starmie Ex is an absolute bellend.
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Amazing mate, thank you so much. I will check out these decks to try and build and get back to you on the progress.
The Pikachu EX is something I kept coming up against when I started to try and play the PVP battles and it was destroying me haha.
Oh yeah it's a total pain but thankfully it's been nerfed this week with a fighting deck.
Basically... Mankey has a new promo card from the current Lapras event that deals 20 damage but does 10 damage back. Its evolution Primate has a move that does 40 damage and does another 60 if it's been hurt (100 damage total)
If you deal damage with Mankey on the first turn and hurt yourself, then evolve it to Primate within turn 2/3 you deal 100 damage + 20 extra damage to Pikachu due to weakness to fighting. Pikachu has 120 HP so it's a knockout straightaway.
Requires some lucky early pulls and seems a bit boring to play imo but it's an effective tactic to counter the Pikachu deck.
Aye, I think aswell I just need to get some luck in wonder and pack picks. Basically 4/5 cards are now duplicates, sometimes all.
I know pal. I've been eyeing up your wonder packs and you're not getting many hits there
Cheers. Done some research and seems like this is a dumbed down version of the main TCG game.
Yeah it is but it's quite fun for quick bursts and a good alternative. Collecting is a big part of the appeal - it's addictive as you'd expect from a gacha game!
I haven't played TCG Live since I picked this up but I'll probably go back at some point.
You forgot the part where the AI cheats and knows what move you're going to choose.
Feck that game
People saying the Mewtwo x gardevoir deck is OP but I've been playing with it and it's actually pretty underwhelming. Involves a lot of luck getting ralts evolved into Gardevoir and having your Mewtwo at full health to take advantage of Gardevoirs ability
Up against the Pikachu decks and Starmie/articuno decks it seems to lose more often than not
Up against the Pikachu decks and Starmie/articuno decks it seems to lose more often than not
Agree. I don't play with it but I've played enough against it to see it's great but not OP. Starmie/Pikachu are the best decks and frankly not very fun to play against. The former is unbeatable with the right RNG (misty flips) and Pikachu is beatable but the only consistent strat I've found is with a mankey promo fighting deck, which takes the fun out of things quite a bit.
Both win because players can power up strong attacks in two turns. Mewtwo/Gardevoir deck need at least three due to evo stages and Mewtwo needs four psychic energy for its attack.
Imo DNA should put a retreat cost onto that starmie asap, or better yet limit misty flips to 2 energy card adds max. A double energy add is still a good card but not an OP one.
/opinion
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Seen some good comments in this thread but thought I'd weigh in a bit too. There's different kinds of playstyles in Card Games which typically boil down to:
Aggressive / Hyper Offence (Aggro)
Aggro Decks are fast-paced, you don't want to waste too many turns doing things other than dealing damage or gaining points (whichever the win condition is for said game). Pocket is a bit of both, dealing the most damage as quick as possible to gain your 3 Points first. They're low to the ground, so in this game you generally wouldn't want Pokemon that need more than 2 Energy to attack.
Slower / Build Up (Control)
Control decks tend to try and build up their resources and game pieces in the early stages of the game to then be able to take over the game in the later turns, trying not to get overwhelmed early and then turning the tables. Usually these decks would need heavy resources to have bigger end-game threats, in this game think Mewtwo ex and Charizard ex.
Bit of Both (Mid-Range)
Mid-Range decks try to fit both of the above, but as the name would say they fall a bit in-between and aren't quite as good at the aggressive part or the Control part. Typically stronger in the mid-game (no surprise). However, they can definitely be some of the best decks even if it doesn't quite sound like it there. I would say though that they tend to be the more difficult deck to play for newer TCG players. This is because the decks are designed to be flexible and you need to be able to understand when you are the aggressor or not. There tends to be more decisions to make each turn compared with the other decks, which while great for very knowledgeable and experienced players, can also be a negative as it means there are more opportunities for you to make the wrong decision.
Aggro decks tend to be the best way for newer players to learn the game IMO, but you should of course eventually try to play lots of matches will all kind of decks until something clicks for you and you know what kind of player you are.
For deck building in this game, I think it's good to look at what the packs can offer and honing in on a particular pack at first to have a greater chance of building the optimised version of that deck. The pack arts (Charizard, Pikachu, Mewtwo) have some cards that are specific to them, while there is a selection of cards that can be found across all three packs. I wouldn't worry too much if you haven't been doing this, but once you have decided on a deck I would just keep opening those packs until you can build that deck - or at least get extremely close and use Pack Points to buy the missing card(s). I would advise using Pack Points on Supporter Cards mainly as they have been somewhat difficult to pull and are the glue that brings some decks together.
The two most popular decks are Pikachu ex & Mewtwo ex but they're both beatable and might have quite different builds. Pikachu can go with a lot of different cards, but Mewtwo tends to need Gardevoir which makes it quite slow in the early game and you may find yourself not managing to get Gardevoir in play at all (and you'll probably end up losing half the time or more if you don't). I'll list a few decks but I'm going to start with an Aggro one which is really strong and should be quite easy for most people to build:
Blaine Deck
2 Ponyta
2 Rapidash
2 Vulpix
2 Ninetales
2 PokeBall
2 X Speed
2 Professor's Research
2 Blaine
2 Giovanni
2 Sabrina
I love playing this deck as it's fun and super fast. You might lose quick, but you'll win a lot of games quick once you get the hang of it. It can also make great use of the extra damage from Supporter Cards and utilises Sabrina really well to pick KOs when people overload their bench. If they don't manage to get 130+ HP Pokemon into play early then you can overwhelm them. As said above, you want to go fast and deal damage almost every turn. Ponyta is a good lead and can then evolve the next turn to deal 40 Damage with Rapidash (50 or 70 with Supporters) which is great by your second turn. You can then build up Vulpix into Ninetales on the bench and hopefully be able to keep swinging into things for 90-120 by added one Energy each turn. X Speed is great as it allows you to switch around without spending the Energy Cards, as everything only has a One Retreat Cost. I don't think you need to waste time with trying to fit in cards like Moltres, Magmar, Potion, Red Card etc like some try to. Just go 2 of all of the above cards and hope you can keep the pressure on. You can get all of these cards in Charizard Packs except for Giovanni and the Shop Exclusive Trainer's like X Speed, PokeBall and Professor's Research, but they're easily affordable with Shop Tickets. If you're missing some of the Supporters and can't buy them with Pack Points, that's when you can just drop in some other cards like Heatmor, Magmar, Moltres ex, Farfetch'd, or Trainers like Red Card and Potion just as a gap filler.
Primeape Deck
2 Mankey (017/P-A)
2 Primeape
2 Diglett
2 Dugtrio
2 Cubone
2 Marowak ex
2 X Speed
2 PokeBall
2 Professor's Research
2 Sabrina
There's an event going on at the moment (Lapras ex) where you can get this Mankey card so play lots of that to get some. This deck is a bit more flexible than the Blaine one IMO in terms of which cards you can choose. Diglett/Dugtrio could be replaced with Sandshrew/Sandslash, or even cut entirely and just go with the Mankey and Marowak lines. You also have access to a regular Marowak card just in case you didn't pull 2 ex variants. Giovanni can easily go into this deck, as can Potion but it's a bit clunky at times since you want damage on Primeape so he can deal 100 with his attack. The Promo Mankey has made this deck playable as it deals 10 damage to itself when it attacks (smarter players would just not attack Mankey/Primeape until they could one-shot them). Red Card is always a decent filler choice if you can't complete the deck, but I'd only really use it if it looks like your opponent has been heavily leaning into a particular bench Pokemon (eg. They've put 2-3 Energy on their Charmeleon) which means it's probably somewhat likely they have Charizard ex in their hand. Or more optimally, using Red Card when your opponent has 4+ cards and has used up most of their Professor's Research/PokeBall and can't rely on them to draw additional cards for the rest of the game.
If you want to build Pikachu or Mewtwo, or some of the other ex decks, then obviously just lean heavily into opening those booster packs. However, these decks really need 2 copies of the ex card to function consistently and it's more likely that you can hit the lesser rare cards to use the decks above faster. The more you win battles on random match, in the battle event, in the other events and solo play, the quicker you will level up. Every level up gives you 12 Hourglasses I believe (an extra pack at worst), so even if you're mostly a collector it's well worth investing in this as it will allow you to open more packs. I can post in some other decks, but it might be better watching some YouTubers that have decks showcased. Another more decent budget option is Exeggutor ex, I was using that early on as I opened Charizard packs first and managed to get 2 in my first 20 packs.
The game is still fresh and more will be figured out, but I think the best cards in the game are probably:
Sabrina
Professor's Research
PokeBall
Pikachu ex
Starmie ex
Mewtwo ex
Some other contenders as well like Misty being able to cheat out wins, but it isn't as consistent as the above cards, they're just really good.
Cheers mate! That's really good info. I'm going to play around with the decks you and Vid have suggested. From what you've said above though I am definitely an Aggro type player.
3 heads is an instant game over against misty it's such BS
very satisfying when they get zero heads though! Feels better than actually winningHow you tried a dragonite yet? Came up against it a few times and it seems like a fun team to try
YeahCheers mate! That's really good info. I'm going to play around with the decks you and Vid have suggested. From what you've said above though I am definitely an Aggro type player.
I'd definitely look toward making the Blaine one then if you have most of the cards! Consistency is key in card games. IMO, you don't want to have too many combination pieces, multiple evolution lines, too many different Basic Pokemon etc. You're just making it less likely that you draw the ones you want. Big examples of consistency cards are Professor's Research and PokeBall - you basically won't find a deck that doesn't use 2 copies of those. They find you your Basic Pokemon and draw cards, having more cards is good as it gives you more chance of finding what you need to win.
The only deck which might cut PokeBall is the Articuno ex one with 18 Trainer Cards. The game always gives you a Basic Pokemon in your starting hand, so you know you'll get Articuno. Then people just play Prof, Sabrina, Giovanni, Misty, Scope, Red Card, Potion, Fossils etc.
3 heads is an instant game over against misty it's such BS
How you tried a dragonite yet? Came up against it a few times and it seems like a fun team to try
No I keep meaning to. I saw a guy on reddit yesterday saying it was a potential starmie beater
I'll just picture you as the real noodlehair as it is funnier that way.
Put a binder public so we can give it likes each day which gives you some shop tokens if you haven't hit the limit.
Yeah basically the same guy except for the fishing rod
I've set the binder live and given yours an endorsement
That Starmie Ex and Lapras Ex Expert battle.
How do you give likes on them?
Thanks! I'll like yours after the match ends. They soft-reset each day so can give more tomorrow. Number of likes stay but you can then give out more to the same person.Yeah basically the same guy except for the fishing rod
I've set the binder live and given yours an endorsement
Two options. Go to the Social page and there's something which says something along the lines of "Community Showcases" and it'll show your friends binders and stuff with a thumbs up you can click to hand them out. Alternatively, go to the friends page and I think click on the binder/card and it'll have the thumbs up there. I'm currently streaming from my phone so can't double check but it is something along those lines.
How many cards do I need to become royal crown chinpokomaster?
Nice one, thanks mate. Didn't even notice that.
Just been playing solo battles to try and learn decks. The auto battle mode is actually quite good too to see how AI would best play certain cards and which ones to use at certain moments too.
Downloading this now, is it easy to play without spending actual money on it?
Yep.
8822 7046 7916 5203
Added a few of you that I could find the code for.
Added a few of you that I could find the code for.
Yeah. Havak's posts in this thread are very useful. You can also look on places like this: https://www.pokemon-zone.com/decks/
I've got the full recommended Mewtwo ex deck without spending a penny. The tutorials are very useful in getting acclimatised to the rules etc
Unbound is/was incredible. Was a retro handheld staple for me on long commutes.
I had three good consecutive wins last night.
Match 1: I go first. He puts down two Ralts, I put down one Ralts. First turn I draw a Mewtwo, put it down and he instantly rage quits (closes the app). Had to wait for time to run out and got the win.
Match 2: First turn they put down two Zapdos EX. I get no other basic cards during the game than a Mewtwo, looks like they're going to win. They do the grand coin flip for Thundering Hurricane (3 heads would wipe me out). They get four tails and concede.
Match 3: First turn they put down two Articuno EXs. For a fair while it looks like they're highly likely to win – except Misty failed them and got a tails straight away so no energy gain. I manage to get all the basic cards I need and build that up. They end up conceding too.
Match 1: I go first. He puts down two Ralts, I put down one Ralts. First turn I draw a Mewtwo, put it down and he instantly rage quits (closes the app). Had to wait for time to run out and got the win.
Match 2: First turn they put down two Zapdos EX. I get no other basic cards during the game than a Mewtwo, looks like they're going to win. They do the grand coin flip for Thundering Hurricane (3 heads would wipe me out). They get four tails and concede.
Match 3: First turn they put down two Articuno EXs. For a fair while it looks like they're highly likely to win – except Misty failed them and got a tails straight away so no energy gain. I manage to get all the basic cards I need and build that up. They end up conceding too.
Yeah I'm just fighting the AI to try and get a decent set of cards to build my own deck. The starter deck seems ok so far for it
I have built a lightning deck to do the lapras event, however it won't let me select anything except the starter deck. Anyone know where I've gone wrong?
Have the flips been nerfed or am I getting bad luck? My opponents had 3 out of 5 misty flips fail on the first go last night, which is fair enough, but I also had five out of five Wigglytuff sleep checks fail. Every single one of them!
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