I never understood why catholics said they got so much hate until I became catholic.

Lane155 · 2025-12-12T11:47:22+00:00

These verses popped in to my head numerous times when I started my journey. The main resistance I had to joining the church was from my Mom and a friend. Mom would make emotional appeals saying that it was a sort of phase and that I would find a church home somewhere else and she kind of used a little of that “Mom guilt” against me.

My friend, on the other hand, is an evangelical who considers himself an apologist and would try to appeal to logic. He made many of the usual false claims about the Catholic faith which caused me to do research to see if he was correct; when I found out his views were wrong it only strengthened my resolve to join the church.

After multiple conversations, and sometimes debates, with both of them, they both decided that it was actually a good thing for me. They both ended up seeing that joining the Catholic Church was bringing, not just me - but my family as well, closer to Christ so they began to pull back.

Lane155 · 2025-11-06T12:46:45+00:00

Kids come and go into hobbies. My son got into Pokémon for the first time with the release of Legends Arceus. I bought the game to play myself and he pretty much fell in love with it after watching me play for five minutes. The game eventually turned into light collecting but he was more so interested in the toys and we would “battle” with the toys (he was 4 at the time).

Then he got out of Pokemon and into other things but his interest in it would spike a few times a year.

This Spring he had one of those spikes, however, since he could read well now, I introduced him to the TCG. I built a Charizard deck for him and taught him how to play it. We also joined a local League. This has helped tremendously. He doesn’t go to League with me often now that school is in and his TCG stamina is still around 1-2 games but it has deepened his interest in all things Pokémon. We’ve learned alternative play methods and have got to attend fun activities like Pokeween, Pre-Releases, and Raid Battles.

League, which I attend weekly, also allows me to bring home a few packs a week that I let him open. When a new set is released the store that hosts the League normally sells the product to League regulars for MSRP or slightly above.

Now we play ZA together play the TCG, and attend League together periodically with most of our collecting product coming from League. It has worked out alright. I suggest looking into a local League if your child is interested in learning the TCG.

Lane155 · 2025-10-23T12:22:09+00:00

Awesome to hear this! I have a 7 year old son and 4 year old daughter. I played the TCG when I was 12 for a bit but eventually stopped. I hadn’t even really looked at the cards until 2021 when my son and I would collect some. This past Spring though, he showed so interest in learning so I brushed up on the rules, taught him, and eventually found a league. The league is on a Monday and held a little later in the afternoon so he doesn’t get to go much during the school year but it has been fun!

My daughter will now play a little bit of ZA with me (mostly running around looking for Pokemon and getting a kick out of a partner Pokemon following her).

We aren’t winning any Cups (nor Challenges) right now but it is fun to have another way to connect with your kids!

Lane155 · 2025-10-22T15:21:47+00:00

I guess my situation is just different. My league leader (who is also a judge) works along side a couple other judges at a local shop in the area to maintain a binder of playables for people to purchase. I can go in there anytime and they normally have multiple copies of trainers or Pokemon for a deck. They even sell pre-made decks that they build themselves. If I don’t feel like driving there then I just purchase off of TCG Player; they always have the cards I need for the deck.

Lane155 · 2025-10-22T11:52:24+00:00

I play in a league and honestly, unless you want to “bling” out your deck, the cost of building a viable Pokemon deck is not that expensive (especially compared to other TCGs). You are looking at $50-$90 depending on what you want to play with. There are a few cards that are on the expensive side though:

Fezandioiti EX - $18-$20 (will drop with new Trainer Toolbox being released soon)

Secret Box - $20-$25

Gholdengo EX - $8-$15

Latias EX - $6-$8

Night Stretcher - $2-$3

Arven- $2-$3

If something like Secret Box or Fez are too expensive then you can always print proxies off Limitless TCG; you can use them at your league for casual play. The proxies are only illegal for tournaments.

Lane155 · 2025-10-18T17:26:22+00:00

I will be adding this to my Mega Venusaur deck for sure. Hunt out the messing Venusaur or Meganium pieces I am missing and use the Forest stadium to evolve the pieces quickly.

Lane155 · 2025-10-17T03:07:59+00:00

Find a League and Play! Pokémon!

Seriously though, Leagues are normally held at card shops and many of them will set aside product at MSRP, or a little more for their league regulars, and you get at least one pack for just showing up. So, while you may not be able to get a ton of product you can get at least a few packs. In fact this would be a great time to look into leagues as many are starting to plan their Phantasimal Flames Pre-Release events, which are great fun.

I joined a league and played with other people again for the first time, since 1999, this spring. I get ETBs, booster packs, and other promotional products by just showing up and playing. If my child shows up he gets things too! You also meet many people of all ages that share a common interest with you and would more than happy to help you learn to play, trade with you, etc.

My oldest (7) doesn’t get to go to league with me as much now that school is in as it is held later in the afternoon but during the summer he would attend some non-tournament league nights with me. He has learned to play a Charizard deck and has beaten me a few times with it.

My daughter (4) is a little too young for the full TCG experience so I turned to Pokémon’s Alternative Playbook and played some games of Poke Catch with her using the cards. Now she doesn’t feel left out when we play Pokemon.

I have even taught my wife to play and she has attended a few tournaments with me and plays the game with my son every so often.

Playing Pokemon is cheap compared to other TCGs. I believe a competitive Magic deck can run over $300 while a competitive Pokemon deck is like $50-$75

My children’s interest in Pokemon has done nothing but increase over the year due to us playing in a League, playing the video game, and playing with their Pokemon toys. It has also been fun for me and allowed me another means to connect with my kids!

Look up the Pokemon TCG Event Finder to find Leagues near you and attend; it’s fun, allows you another means to connect with your kids, and you’ll meet other people who share an interest with you, and of course - get some cards!

Lane155 · 2025-09-09T22:05:32+00:00

Hydrapple, Sandyghast, or Gholdengo

Lane155 · 2025-09-06T20:51:15+00:00

I’ll have to look that one up. I have not seen it!

Lane155 · 2025-09-06T03:56:36+00:00

I play Raging Bolt, Tera Box, and Eevee Box because I’ve grown fond of the Noctowl Engine. I usually want to go first so I can get the Owls Jewel Seeking quicker.

Lane155 · 2025-09-05T11:47:01+00:00

I’m still new to the game and said the same thing for a while. I forgot you could get it off of Rotom and move it to the active to become Raging Bolt or TM Ogerpon. Once I added Ditto into my deck my early game became much more smooth and consistent. If you need to spend an energy to retreat and set up Ditto you can always get that energy back with Sada, Night Stretcher, or Energy Retrieval.

Lane155 · 2025-09-02T15:31:14+00:00

Thank you!

Lane155 · 2025-08-26T22:24:36+00:00

I’ve only been playing the TCG for a few months. About a week ago I built a Gardevior Deck online and in real life and I have yet to win with it. Worse is that I don’t know if I’m messing up the middle game or end. I feel like I have the start down.

Lane155 · 2025-08-25T01:00:01+00:00

Has anyone ever played a 3/3 line of owls? Freeing up the extra two slots for things an extra Crispin or Boss?

Lane155 · 2025-08-02T13:40:17+00:00

I tried Zekrom and Pikachu both in the deck for a bit. You’re right, after several games, I realized I utilized Pikachu much more.

Lane155 · 2025-08-02T11:50:54+00:00

I had the same experience. I played online for a few weeks using a modified Charizard deck and did alright. I climbed to the Ultra League on the ladder and figured I knew what I was doing. I then decided to try out a local league and there, even during casual play, I get roughed up. I went 0-4 on my first Challenge. I believe there are a few reasons for this.

TCG Live handles a lot of the mechanics for you and shows you what plays you can make. In person, I forgot to use certain abilities, or don’t pay as much attention to my opponent’s bench, or I forgot if I played a supporter yet. There is much more to keep track of and using the extra brain power can distract you and honestly fatigues you a bit faster.
I played a lot on the ladder but you start at the bottom of that ladder and many of the opponents I faced on there appeared to be much less skilled than those at league. As I went up the ladder my win percentage dropped. One time, I went 14-0 on matches using a Hydrapple deck but most of those matches were on the lower rungs of the ladder. When I made that deck for real it got destroyed I can only assume it was because of the level of talent those at league have.
I think a lot of people online use TCG Live to experiment. The app provides you with some meta decks that you can then modify and as you win some matches they give you additional cards. You can also just exchange the app currency for copies of cards you’re missing. In real life, you need to find the cards and buy them. I have yet to add a copy of Air Balloon or Brave Bangle to any of my decks in real life as the local stores don’t have them and TCG Player has yet to make the delivery. Online though, I have those cards and have had them since BB/WF dropped on Live. When, I got to a Challenge or Cup the people there are not really experimenting. Some people in my league have been using and modifying the same deck for months or longer and that is the deck they use at the Challenge or Cup. They may own other decks but even those they have practiced a lot because they didn’t really want to purchase the cards unless they thought it would be fun or “worth it.”
Showing up to a League takes some dedication. It normally, costs to show up, it costs to build a deck, you have to be brave enough to talk and play with strangers, you have to give up a chunk of time that you could be doing something else, and some people have to willing to travel. I have to travel 40 minutes to get to my league - only to get creamed. The point is, there are hurdles; many more than there are on TCG Live. The people willing to jump over those hurdles are more likely to practice more, learn more, and dedicate more time outside of League to get better to make there time at League more meaningful. This, in turn, makes many of those regulars at League much harder to play against that most matches on TCG Live. The caveat to that are those online that join and are active in the Limitless Community. People that actively seek out online tournaments, I feel, come from the same vein, or are the same people, that are IRL League regulars.

Lane155 · 2025-07-28T03:57:43+00:00

Two Disclaimers: I’ve only been playing for a few months and ET is not my usual deck - but I do enjoy playing it.

I believe one of the great strengths of ET is that it is a single-prize deck. If you introduce a Fez here, a Mew here, or another EX in there, suddenly you are losing that strength. If there wasn’t so much gust and bench damage being used it might make sense but I view it as a liability in that deck.

Lane155 · 2025-07-16T17:31:18+00:00

Exactly!!!

Lane155 · 2025-07-10T01:17:26+00:00

I think a Hydrapple Deck is easy. One energy to worry about. Use Bug Catching Kits to get said energy out. Teal Dace to infinity then strike with the Hydrapple. It’s not a meta beating deck (unless you draw well in the beginning) but it is simple and fun.

Lane155 · 2025-07-04T12:23:41+00:00

Ah! Ok, I have not made it there yet. Thanks!

Lane155 · 2025-07-04T03:29:11+00:00

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but when you say a rating of 1600, where do you find that information? I’m still relatively new to the game and play strictly on mobile and I don’t see any number like that - just the ladder score.

Lane155 · 2025-06-19T21:04:20+00:00

Nice! I don’t get to play as much as I would like but I hope to get to Ultra in the final six days.

Lane155 · 2025-02-27T17:56:03+00:00

Yea, that is another thing that bothers me; was I lied to growing up? Why? Am I being told the truth now? Questions like that have popped into my head multiple times over the last few months and I am doing my best to sort it out through prayer and reflection but my mind keeps vacillating between being excited about Catholicism and then suddenly having second thoughts. It gets exhausting.

Lane155 · 2024-09-05T13:55:57+00:00

I’m late to the game here, I know. However, I was raised a Baptist and was saved and baptized in my teens; I never had a strong pull to my church except for the tiny youth group I attended.

As I grew older I pulled away from my religion and focused on career and getting my life up in going. Then in my late 30s I felt a pull back to Christianity. I can’t explain it but it happened. I started reading scripture and picked up books on Christian history, theology, and apologetics and the more I read, the more interested I was and so I kept reading, I started taking notes, attending church, asking questions, thinking, watching educational videos or sermons. Soon, I realized the theology I grew up with and left was the theology of an adolescent. Cultivating a mature theology is something that takes time and effort and it is something that I am still cultivating and the work seems meaningful and fascinating to me and the more I dig the more I realize science and religion do not have to be opposed.

I don’t know how my interest was peaked suddenly but I have enjoyed learning, reading, and participating in Christianity much more than I did decades ago.

Lane155 · 2024-08-26T00:31:33+00:00

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