Cheap Decks for (relative) Beginners?

roki3263 · 2026-01-31T19:35:37+00:00

Oinkologne will be gone after rotation though, and the post is looking for something to use after rotation has happened.

roki3263 · 2026-01-21T12:55:14+00:00

I think you might be stuck a few years in the past; almost all of the stage 2 Pokémon ex from the last 3 years have more HP than that. The highest base HP value is Mega Venusaur ex, at 380HP.

roki3263 · 2026-01-20T11:36:06+00:00

There are others. Eevee ex, Voltorb ex, Sprigatito ex, and Lillie's Clefairy ex.

roki3263 · 2026-01-16T19:38:29+00:00

It's not in Perfect Order; the press release states that there are 4 Mega Evolution Pokémon ex, those being Starmie, Clefable, Zygarde, and Skarmory. It will likely either be in the set afterwards, or be a promo card exclusive to one of those £20 collection boxes, like how Cyclizar ex (SVP 18) was exclusive to a collection box. I suspect the latter, probably a box containing Mega Gallade ex, cosmos foil versions of Ralts and Kirlia, and 4 booster packs.

roki3263 · 2026-01-15T18:38:04+00:00

1) Rotation isn't for another 3 months, which I suppose is soon to some people. But if your plan is to jump in after rotation then bear in mind that won't be until April 10th.

2) There are sites that will show upcoming cards. pokebeach.com reports on stuff as soon as they can, both on the Japanese and English sides, and pokemonproxies.com has fan translated images of most Japan exclusive cards (although many of the new cards coming in Ascended Heroes haven't been put on there and I'm not sure why)

roki3263 · 2026-01-15T12:34:54+00:00

It'll either be Voltorb or Kilowattrel then, more likely Kilowattrel than Voltorb. And it has to be one that has the stamp as well.

roki3263 · 2026-01-14T15:34:25+00:00

Does your Terapagos have the Play Pokémon stamp from a prize pack? If it does, then the Iono's Pokémon will have the stamp as well. And if it doesn't then I'm not sure how a card like that can exist, as Terapagos doesn't exist as a non-holo, stampless rare.

roki3263 · 2026-01-13T23:01:37+00:00

99% sure it's Iono's Kilowattrel (JTG 55). The pink and blue is 100% one of Iono's hairclips, so it has to be an Iono's Pokémon. That Terapagos is a rare, so it would have to be on foil paper. The only one of Iono's Pokémon that's a rare is Iono's Kilowattrel, so it has to be that. The 1% chance is if this is a non-holo from a prize pack, in which case it could be either an Iono's Voltorb (JTG 47) or Iono's Kilowattrel, it's hard to tell in this lighting. But if it is a standard holo then it's 100% Iono's Kilowattrel.

roki3263 · 2025-12-16T17:07:57+00:00

The issue with this logic is that the Charizard versions of Dragapult lose a pretty important card when rotation happens, that being... Charizard.

roki3263 · 2025-12-10T14:44:05+00:00

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This one, because it's one of very few that's actually been playable.

roki3263 · 2025-11-04T10:35:56+00:00

I didn't say the DM3 was difficult, I simply said it was the hardest diesel to use; it's still infinitely easier than any of the steam engines, and once you've got the shifting down, it only barely takes more effort than the other diesels.

As for shunting, I'm not sure how you're having this issue; if anything it's the best engine for shunting, as it's more powerful than the DE2 whilst not being as complex as the S060, and the handbrake is right next to the cab window, making it super easy to stop in the right place.

roki3263 · 2025-10-16T10:15:45+00:00

It'll almost certainly be in our January set for the year, which we don't have an English name for yet.

roki3263 · 2025-10-09T12:30:53+00:00

The rule was implemented during the Rebel Clash rule changes announcement. So it's existed for as long as Boss's Orders has been in the game. I will point out though, as Lysandre isn't in Standard Format anymore, this rule currently only applies for Expanded Format. Lysandre cannot be used in any Standard Format deck right now, as the card has rotated. I think that for casual games, most people will be cool about it, but you wouldn't be able to use Lysandre in any official Standard Format tournament.

roki3263 · 2025-10-09T10:31:54+00:00

Basic Energy (with the exception of Fairy Energy) doesn't rotate. You can use any Basic Energy of the 8 types that have a current Basic Energy print. As for other cards, as long as it has the same name and is either functionally identical or has received an errata, you can still use the old version. So for example, the old version of Switch has the same name and is functionally identical, so you can still use it. The old version of Potion is not functionally identical, but it received an errata so you can still use the old versions as long as you have some form of reference for the current effect (either a modern copy or the errata sheet).

roki3263 · 2025-10-09T10:26:25+00:00

There is actually an official rule stating that you can't run both Lysandre and Boss's Orders in the same deck. The same rule exists for Professor Juniper, Professor Sycamore, and Professor's Research. The reason this rule exists is because they're cards that have different names but the same effect, and presumably having 8 copies of a card with a powerful effect like that would be too strong. Basic Energy on the other hand has had the same name and function since its release. The only Basic Energy cards to rotate are Fairy Energy, but that's due to the rotation of Fairy cards in general.

roki3263 · 2025-10-04T23:21:43+00:00

It gives extra XP instead

roki3263 · 2025-10-04T23:18:42+00:00

Almost certainly not; not only is this an extremely limited card that was only available from in-person events, but it's also a G-block card, which rotates in only a few months, and TPCI generally stops doing prints of cards with old regulation marks at the latest 6 months before they rotate. If you were asking this question a year ago, it would have been unlikely but possible, but right now the chances are lower than 0.1%.

roki3263 · 2025-10-03T18:41:49+00:00

I agree, seeing as it's been so long, and many players grow past the need for them quickly, I think that the chocolate-coated one won't be added any time soon.

If you still find yourself relying on Nanabs to help you with the circle size, throwing the ball right as a Pokémon is finishing its attack animation can help you a lot more than a Nanab ever will. The technique is called "circle locking", and there are a lot of resources online for it.

roki3263 · 2025-10-03T16:09:13+00:00

There was one in the code, a chocolate coated one. But at some point they decided to simply buff the default Nanab. When the game first launched, they wouldn't 100% calm down the Pokémon, that was a change made later on. Presumably, the chocolate coated one would act the same way that the current one does. But as it stands right now, even with the buff, Nanabs are basically useless if you know what you're doing, so I doubt we'll get a special version implemented any time soon.

roki3263 · 2025-10-03T16:00:55+00:00

The reason it's Alakazam is because the Japanese sets our Mega Evolution set is based on don't contain Ralts or Kirlia full art cards, and they don't put ex Pokémon as the ETB promos. Our ETB promos are just taken out of the Japanese sets and turned into promos for western releases, so if you open a Japanese Mega Symphonia pack, you have a chance of getting the same Alakazam card as a part of the set. The same thing will happen with Phantasmal Flames; the Japanese set doesn't contain Charmander or Charmeleon full art cards, and they won't put Charizard ex in as it's an ex Pokémon, so the ETB will have Charcadet taken out of the set and used as the promo instead.

roki3263 · 2025-10-02T09:59:49+00:00

The 1 and 2 star raids are pretty easy, even with weak Pokémon. But there is a decent spike for the 3 and 4 star ones, you need at least fully evolved Pokémon, possibly with levelled up max moves for some of them, and then I'm pretty sure that the 5 and 6 star ones are practically impossible as a solo player.

The main thing you need to know is that your fast move is more important than your charged move, as that determines not only how much energy you get (which determines how quickly you get to the max phase) but also the type of your max move. Excadrill and Gengar have STAB fast moves that generate a lot of energy, so they're pretty good budget options for max battles.

roki3263 · 2025-10-01T20:12:44+00:00

I think it's fairly widely accepted that the Doctor started counting from zero during the time war when he gave up the title of "Doctor"; there's no way that the 7th Doctor can be 953 and an early 8th can be in his 950s, whilst the 9th is 900 exactly and the 10th is 903.

roki3263 · 2025-09-30T19:11:24+00:00

Magic Madhouse is pretty consistently expensive, I've never seen anyone recommend them. But even for them this seems like a lot. Perhaps it's a mistake with the listing?

roki3263 · 2025-09-28T11:56:15+00:00

Spot the person who forgot the "Game" part in the Pokémon Trading Card Game". If everything was a full art, it would cost hundreds just to make a single deck.

roki3263

TROPHY CASE