Interested in playing the Pokemon collectible card game at the Battlegrounds' league?
Parents start here with the brief Parent's Guide to Pokemon -
http://www.pokemon.com/us/parents/How do I start playing?First check out the latest rulebook -
http://assets.pokemon.com/assets/cms/pdf/tcg/rulebooks/Black_White_Rulebook.pdf (a copy of this can also be found in the Black & White theme decks). Older theme decks have outdated rulebooks. While the basic flow of the game stays the same year to year, the rules sometimes get tweaked when a new block of cards come out. For example, one of the changes starting when the Black and White set was that during the first turn, the player going first can play trainers, supporters, and stadiums. Typically the hardest part of learning how to play is remembering the different parts of each turn. Thankfully, all the theme decks (sold at the stores) also come with a playmat that shows the placement of cards and lists the parts of each turn.
Next put together a 60 card deck (or purchase a theme deck) and bring it to play and have fun at the Pokemon league. The league is an unlimited format league, so you can use any Pokemon cards from the first set to the latest set. Most of us at the Plainville league follow the "modified" format, which follows the rotation of sets every year. See below for what's currently legal in the "modified" format. A word of a caution: many of the older cards are underpowered compared to the cards in the newest sets. Theme decks are pre-made full 60 card decks and are a good starting point. Some of the league members also have decks that can be borrowed for that day.
If you (or your child) are just starting out and still need some help, let one of the parents at the Plainville store know (most of us play too) and we can help coach the first several games until you're comfortable. Also bring a randomizer (coin or dice - heads=evens, tails=odds) and damage counters (some of us also use dice as damage counters). Again those can be found in theme decks.
Already have a handmade/theme deck and want to make it better? A good starting ratio is 20 Pokemon cards, 20 trainer cards, and 20 energy cards when building decks. This ratio then goes up or down based upon the needs of the Pokemon cards and their attacks. How quickly and consistently you setup your attackers will often determine who wins a game. It is much better to setup your main attackers 100% of the time and win only 50% of those games (win 5 out of 10 games) than setup your main attackers only 20% of the time and win 100% of those games (win 2 out of 10 games). See the end of this post for an example deck.
First start with the Pokemon cards Main Attacker - Determine your main attacker and run the maximum (4) line of this Pokemon. Running the maximum amount increases your chances of setting up your main attacker. So if Serperior (a stage 2 Pokemon) is your main attacker, then also have 4 Snivy's and 4 Servine's - often seen simply as "4-4-4 Serperior" on some Pokemon websites. Sometimes people run less of a stage 1 Pokemon if they're running trainer cards (Rare candy) that allow for the skipping of the Stage 1 Pokemon (so now a 4-3-4 Serperior line). Unfortunately, most theme decks only give you 1 or 2 of the main attackers.
Secondary attackers or helpers - Next pick a secondary attacker or helper Pokemon. The secondary attackers can just be backup attackers in case all your main attackers are knocked out or can be situational attackers. For instance, grass Pokemon are weak to fire Pokemon and fire Pokemon are weak to water Pokemon. So putting in some water Pokemon help in the battle against fire Pokemon. Others help you setup your main attackers. One of the better helpers is Sunflora from the HeartGold SoulSilver set which has a Pokepower that lets you search for 1 grass Pokemon each turn. How many helpers and/or secondary attackers you have depends on deck space and how crucial they are to your deck's strategy.
Starter Pokemon - Some decks run "starter" Pokemon as a means to help setup your main attacker quicker and therefore help you attack earlier. Most run 3-4 (mostly 4) starters to increase the chances of starting the game with these Pokemon.
Trainer cards (including Supporter and stadium cards)Most people don't have enough of these cards because they think that since the cards can't attack your opponent that they aren't much use. In truth, they are some of the most important cards in the game because they help you get the Pokemon cards you need quicker and more consistently. Rather than hoping and praying a certain Pokemon card is the next card on your draw pile, some trainer cards will let you search your deck for it. Some of the best cards for this are Pokemon Collector (search your deck for 3 basic Pokemon) and Pokemon Communication (swap a Pokemon card in your hand for any one in the deck). Many people run 3-4 of each in their decks. Both cards can be found in the HS Trainer kit theme deck. Pokeballs and dual balls are suitable replacements but rely on the flips of a coin. Other cards act as recovery cards, like Flower Shop Lady which lets you take Pokemon cards and energy and put them back in your deck so you can use them again.
Energy cardsWhile 20 energy cards is a good starting point, after Pokemon and trainer cards are selected, the number of energy cards used is much lower, typically around 10-15. Try to have enough energy cards for about 4 of your main attacker's attacks (imagine if they were all deployed to your bench at the same time). Recovery cards will help you recycle energy cards back into your hand or deck.
Example deck of an updated Growth Clash theme deck4 Tropius (from Unleashed set #66) - Starter Pokemon - use the Green Call attack to setup Sunflora and Meganium on your bench
2-2 Sunflora (HeartGold SoulSilver #31) - helper Pokemon - use it's Sunshine Grace to help setup Meganium
4-3-4 Meganium (HeartGold SoulSilver #26) - Main attacker - put your opponent to sleep with Sleep Powder attack and finish them off with Giant Bloom
1-1 Metapod - helper Pokemon that removes the weakness to fire attakers
1-1 Cinccino - With a full bench it can do 100 damage to your opponent's active Pokemon with Do the Wave attack
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23 Pokemon
2 Pokemon Collector - Get 3 basic Pokemon
4 Pokemon Communication - Swap 1 Pokemon in hand for 1 in your deck
3 Professor Oak's New Theory - shuffle your hand into the deck and draw 6 new cards
2 Dual Poke-ball - Get 2 basic pokemon
2 Twins - In case you're behind on prize cards get any 2 cards from your deck
2 Seeker - Return one benched Pokemon to your hand (including any cards) and your opponent does the same - good way to remove damage counters and distrupt your opponent
4 rare candy - Allows you to skip the stage 1, and play your Stage 2 card directly onto your basic Pokemon
1 Flower Shop Lady - allows recovery of 3 Pokemon and 3 Energy back to the deck
3 PlusPowers - increases damage to my opponent by 10
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23 trainers
6 grass energy
4 Double Colorless Energy - acts as 2 energy cards - good for Meganium's 2nd attack and Cinccino's 2nd attack
4 Rescue energy - keeps my Pokemon from going into the discard pile when knocked out
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14 Energy
Modified format - What's legal?:The following sets are allowed for Modified play:
HeartGold & SoulSilver (theme decks listed below each set)
Growth Clash
Ember Spark
Mind Flood
HS Trainer Kit
Unleashed
Chaos Control
Steel Sentinel
Undaunted
Daybreak
Nightfall
Triumphant
Verdant Frost
Royal Guard
Call of Legends
Retort
Recon
Black & White
Green Tornado
Red Frenzy
Blue Assault
HGSS Promos
McDonald's 2011 Promos
Generally, every year 4 new sets are released throughout the year and 4 old sets are retired/rotated in September. This year's sets were retired early (July 1st). Any old trainers or energy cards with the exact same name as a current card can be used, but must follow the current card's text and rules. Battlegrounds carries a number of the latest sets of booster packs (and some of the recent out of rotation booster sets for collectors) and some of the theme decks. How do I know if my cards are from the above sets? See the Researching Tower link below. On the left side of the website, there's an icon for each set that corresponds to a small icon on the lower right side of each card.
