@@choro604 What are you even talking about? Highlander Hipster already specified the Standard format and in the video it's already explained how the rotation and the legality of the most recent sets work...
@@TolarianCommunityCollege I see a comment about kanto community college and my instant thought was “I am guessing he’s a johto guy” then saw this Huzzah !
@Kunoros Hound of Athreos I can think of many worse companies in gaming. EA, Bethesda, Activision-Blizzard, 2k Games, Ubisoft just to name a few of the top of my head.
@@regirayquaza im sorry what was that about a limited digital release of 3nemulations? Without anything added at all outside of the soundtracks? What about mariomaker and unintentionally allowing people to make cool machines with icicles, cat suits? How about earlier constantly undersupplying amiibo before recently, joycon drift? They arent the worst by far, they could be a lot more predatory but they are nowhere near paragons. they have plenty of issues.
@Kunoros Hound of Athreos ok i disagree, they are poor in many ways but they dont riddle every mainline title with oodles of unnecessary microtransactions whenever possible, and lazily slap a higher number on something and ask people to pay 70 or put lootboxes in their games. They are not consumer friendly by any stretch of the imagination but others are doing worse
Wait, you're saying that you get a digital redemption code in every booster pack and everything else for this game? Wow, I'd hate to play a card game that has a digital version that almost never gives out codes to redeem cards online as well.
yeah, I got into magic via pokemon and i was blown away by this. then again pokemon does have some other (notably more minor) flaws like insane powercreep and having threeferi's effect as an emblem throughout the entire game.
@@brockmckelvey7327 yeah thats what I mean and really its up to personal prefference but having many options in a game is what i like about magic- it keeps you on the ropes with its complicatedness
@@brockmckelvey7327 bro that removes so much interesting interaction from the game. Complex stack interactions and instant speed cards are one of the best parts of magic.
@@user-ww3js8ci7d Just because it ruins Magic does not mean that it's the same with Pokemon. The game was designed with that in mind, so of course it does other things to keep things fun and interesting. You're losing absolutely nothing. You're just playing a different game. Pokemon being simple is not a disadvantage. It caters to a different audience, and there is absolutely no doubt that it's doing a good job. If you prefer Magic, just keep playing Magic. It's nice to have options, isn't it?
Something not mentioned here but pretty important is how affordable PTCG is. There’s typically only ever one really expensive staple (Crobat V at the moment) and once you have your play set of it and staple trainers (another $10-12 tops) you’re basically able to build anything you want with minimal investment.
I play the online version of this game sometimes. It can be frustrating to evolve a Pokemon through all three stages only for your opponent to drop some superpowered EX card that doesn't have to evolve and does 200 damage and makes you wonder why normal Pokemon cards even exist in the game.
The only upside being if you can kill the GX or EX or V card, you draw two prizes instead. But yeah, feels bad man. And 1st base set and 2nd base set cards are mostly useless compared to modern cards.
Normal pokemon still definitely have their place in the TCG, even competitively. Baby Blacephalon can still take out the biggest VMAX/GX/Tag Team GX decks (especially because knocking out a normal pokemon card only provides 1 prize card, and knocking out a V/GX provides 2, and knocking out a VMAX/Tag Team GX provides 3. Decidueye (daa 013) is another normal stage 2 pokemon card that decks are built around SPECIFICALLY to counter big V/VMAX/GX/Tag Team GX decks because decidueye is simply immune to them. Other normal pokemon cards are often used for their abilities which help with acceleration (for example: volcanion UNB 25), draw support, or interaction. I can assure you especially on the online version of the Pokemon TCG, playing a good 1 prize deck (normal pokemon) is one of the most annoying things for VMAX/GX players to play against.
@@jerrysantoso8624 Some people like to play decks they've made themselves, not gimmicks made specifically to counter the broken format. "More prizes" is not a drawback. When both Pokemon have an attack like "RRR: 100" (and usually EX/GX/V have more powerful attacks than regular Pokemon), then you have to spend the same amount of resources powering each card. Dumping six one-Prize Pokemon against your opponent's two Tag Teams means you have to use *three times as much resources*. And that doesn't take into account healing and other effects which are made more powerful when using high-HP Pokemon.
rare candy, as of sun and moon (or maybe earlier), is always reprinted when theyre about to be rotated out, much like switch. And yes, stage 2 decks has been feeling bad to play for the past sets because you HAVE to run 4 rare candies, and thats 4 extra cards to bring compared to none for basic or stage 1/Vmax decks.
@@TemporalOnline magic isn’t for rich people you can build absolutely blasting commander decks for under $100, just check out the channel Commanders Quarters. There are also plenty of budget options in most formats, you could also just play casually, I which case you can get decks do like 10-20 bucks. Plus Pauper is a thing.
There's also the "Theme" Format, in which you only use Theme Decks as they are. However, this Format is more associated with the Online TCG. There's also Unlimited, in which you just use whatever cards you want, typically whatever you just happen to have available.
Not even that. If unlimited format was actually played, you might as well be playing Rock Paper Scissors, because all of the good decks in unlimited would be able to win turn one
However, Unlimited isn’t played that much, being broken as heck. If you’re looking for something less broken Extended is something. It’s any set from BW and forward, being less broken and instead rotating by power creep
I used to play games at school with the decks you could buy back in the 90's. Never knew about building your own decks though. We all had either grass, fire, water or whatever. We all lost our shit when one of use came in with a jungle set one day, then my mum surprised me with the Fossil sets that she got her mate in the US to send me. I was the coolest kid for weeks.
Please note: the Pokemon TCG Standard format is in its worst condition right now. Not in "one deck is too strong" kind of way, but "the fundamental rules of the game are broken" kind of way. As such, you are NOT going to build your own custom Standard deck, unless you want to lose on Turn 2. It's not all roses here.
@@shiranui498 It's kinda weird it's just TCG and anime. It still appears in the video games. The last time Abra was printed was in 2007, and it had an attack that let it skip the Kadabra stage straight into Alakazam (no Kadabra was printed in the set LOL). Alazakam has a lot more recent printings though, whenever the opportunity arises that allows it be printed straight as a Basic Pokémon (skipping the evolutionary phases), such as Alakazam-EX and Alakazam-V.
I bought a league battle deck a little while ago and it looks awesome. As a bonus, the foils turned into pringles just like magic cards so I feel right at home
@Kunoros Hound of Athreos a foil pikachu and zekrom gx, raichu and alolan raichu gx, charizard and reshiram gx and charizard and braixan gx. All tag teams. They look amazing, but sadly they curl
At the start of October, Cannel Fireball started a new RUclips channel called Channel Pokéball, where they upload the new Pokémon TCG strategy videos they've been adding to their main site. That's when I fully knew that, while Magic isn't actually going away, it's time to start investing more heavily in other TCGs.
I think it would be good to show what the average breakdown of a deck is, rather than just what kinds of cards people play. For example, in Magic you have generally 24 lands + 36 spells, and those spells are spread across a mana curve. When I looked up the PTCG some time ago, I was surprised to find that most decks only had a combined total of less than 10 pokemon+energy, and among them, Pokemon EX or equivalent were the only kind played. Nearly the entire deck consisted of trainer cards.
Good luck on that. I recently relearned YGO because MTG has gotten onto what must be my last nerve and the rampant power creep would turn the prof off pretty immediately.
The Prof should add an MtG tree to his name if he wants to be a legit Pokemon sage. Professor Ironroot, Weatherseed, Scarwood or Deadwood sounds nice. Or he can simply be Professor Colfenor, Doran or Multani.
I never thought in all my life I'd see a video like this from tolarian community college ! I've just gotten into Pokemon TCG and I'm pleasantly surprised.
I remember when I came back to PTCGO, first thing I built was a Medicham deck in Expanded. It has low attack but can attack twice, so I jammed a lot of attack boosts and would take a ton of prizes by turn 3 or 4, very fun. Then I went to make a solitaire deck that takes basically infinite turns and broke the game with jank.
B&B was banned because control/mill was too strong and no longer revolving around taking prizes, and Mismagius because it allowed to consistently destroy your opponent's hand on turn 1. Both of which are cases that can easily slip through in testing. There are other strong cards, but only two needing bans is pretty impressive.
Also, for a very long time, no cards were banned for being too good except lysandres trump card, in standard. Everything had a counter. In fact, bellabella and mismagius arent too good, but they dont make for very fun games, which is why they are banned
They aren't banning cards, they prefer to absolutely ruin the game with overpowered Tag Teams/VMAX cards and ridiculous acceleration. Imagine if the broken part of Magic wasn't "a card' or "a deck", but "sorceries". This is the state of Pokemon standard right now.
Wanted to say a big thank you, this video dropped perfect because I ended up giving Pokémon TCG a try a few weeks back, got myself an elite box, a couple of themed decks and was able to make a decent fun deck to play with, on top of that the online game is so much fun! Keep up the great work as always!!
Id recommend starting on tcgonline, specifically spending like 20-30 dollars on pokemon codes, thered an amazon deal for 100 packs for 30 dollars- about 1.5-2 competitive level decks for 30 dollars, which will last long enough for you to grind games for more decks
Also, once you have the core supporters/items, brewing rogue decks can be pretty cheap. I remember trading like 40 packs for a deck, and like 25 of it was for alt art ADP because it had just released. If you have time, you can also grind dailies/ladder for rewards and trade up, playing for entirely free.
@@CrosswaIk my nephew aged 6 loved it, he kept saying stuff like... "You I think we should play this again.", "I want to try use the charizard next.", Many of my students also play, using the online version as well as paper. Back in my day it was for collecting and not playing but at least my experience kids actually play it now.
@@MasterDoctorBenji during WOTC era the actual game was trash, although I wouldn't say its in its prime right now but its still very good compared to the old way. Surprisingly after Wotc left Pokemon took control and pushed really hard into making it a game first and foremost.
I just noticed that if I take the first letter of each word from the key principles (Synergy, Acceleration, Consistency and Interaction) they form the word "SACI" which is the name of a one-legged trickster in Brazilian folklore. I don't know, I just found that interesting and easy for me to remember lol
A while back my roommate had the original pokemon TCG gameboy game on emulator. I built a gnarly deck that used defenders like chansey, snorlax, and mr mime, control effects like switch, gust of wind, and energy removal, and imposter prof oak. All together it made a real dirty lantern control-esque mill through attrition win con that was super effective(no pun intended), especially against gum leaders, as the higher prize count gave more time to win
I came to this channel originally because of the pokemon tcg videos. Kept watching out of enjoying the professor for himself despite not being a magic player myself. Glad to see more content I can relate to/understand!
PtcgRadio here on youtube is also a really good way to learn about the game. I knew nothing to start but watching his videos made it easier to figure out for my self how good cards were :)
I'm an MTG player first, pokemon trainer second, and YGO pleyer third. A friend of mine is trying to get me to play more of the Pokemon card games and I gotta say that your Pokemon videos are very helpful. Thank you.
Funny how a MTG creator can give more concise, example driven content than half of the PTCG creators I browse from time to time. I get that in the average audience member probably already knows how the game works, but feeding in tidibts about why a card is good is so helpful to a new viewer.
For those who want a Zacian/ADP deck, there will be a League Battle Deck (challenger deck if you're playing Magic) featuring both Pokémon that will be released this November. It also comes with everything that lets you start playing immediately like coins and dice, along with code card redeemable in PTCGO.
A good way to start playing competitively is to find a deck list online and modify it to your needs. As of June 2022, one of the best decks right now is Origin Palkia VSTAR. So you find a list and modify it. Little dark fury makes unique competitive decks so that’s a good starting point if you want to compete at a regional since they’re back this year. Just a tip.
I was just starting to think of changing from MTG to Pokémon because .. I dont want to give Wotc any more money. And because I absolutely love Pokémon! A joy seeing you make a video to start making the shift.
Awesome video. Even has made me consider getting back into the TCG. Wish it was a bit easier getting cards for their digital game. Anyways keep up the awesome content Professor!
I’ve played Pokémon since 2012 and the Trainer’s Toolkit is the best Pokémon TCG product I’ve ever purchased. I plan on buying a couple more. But two of those and you will have most of the Trainer cards you will need for a standard deck.
People if you want a headstart into deck building pre-order the ZADP league battle deck for $20-25, and get yourself a trainers toolkit if you can. gives you the majority of a top standard deck for cheap and filling in the small holes isn't that hard from there. Pokemon makes it extremely easy to get meta cards by printing products like this regularly. If you want to be competitive I would also look out for a Crobat V product that is sure to come out sometime next year as Dedenne GX rotates and Crobat V becomes the staple card you need for every deck, tbf its currently $12 and can only go down from there.
As a mainly Pokemon TCG player who watches your channel for the occaisonal MTG itch, I'd like to add in that when it comes to buying the cards for the deck you've built, the trainers toolkit and singles is simply the cheapest way to build your deck. Only open packs for fun and if your budget allows you to (it's also important to note that due to a lot of the recent Pokemon hype, a lot of sealed product is being scalped and prices for sealed product can be a complete rip-off, especially in the secondary market). Furthermore if you'd like to play online (exclusively), buying code cards online from reputable sites (like card cavern, potownstore, etc.) is cheapest. You don't have to buy physical packs for code cards to trade with if you don't find yourself wanting to play paper.
I really enjoy the Pokemon TCG game, I started playing it with my oldest daughter quite a while ago and now my youngest daughter is losing interest and Im afraid that after she totally quits I wont be able to play anymore
Hey Prof, could you please do a video on the other Format in Pokemon and how to build a deck for it? Also would love to see more videos about Pokemon, like the ones you do for MTG.
I don't know what is happening but I literally started playing Pokémon last week, and now Prof, Channel Fireball and even Rudy are making Pokémon related content :o
Little korrection you can actually use old printings of trainer cards with different rules text. The new effect is obviously applied. This is because they errata the cards before reprinting them. For example i can use quick ball from diamond and pearl even though it has completely different card text ptcgi just erratat the card then reprinted it
I came to this video for two reasons 1, I like watching Prof's content. 2, I built a full on "competitive" deck (a tier 2-3 deck) and tied with a 7y/o so I'm assuming I didnt understand something.
This was a nice refresher. It's been ages since I played the TCG, but it's good to know that the game's not very different from I remember, at least in terms of deck construction. Haven't played since my Team Magma deck was stolen back in Gen 3, but I've wanted to return for a while. I am very encouraged to do just that, to say the least. Funny thing, though: that Team Magma deck I mentioned was purely Pokemon and Energy. Not a single trainer in sight, lol. And it was brutal. The primary win con was Team Magma's Houndoom and his Magma Spurt. XD While I doubt I'll be pulling off any such shenanigans in the current meta, I simply can't wait to see what I can do when I return to this card game.
the game has definitely changed since the gen 3/EX days, and even back then I'm not sure I built my decks correctly. I don't think I'd get into the TCG again, but Pokémon is definitely one of my favorite universes.
prof!! need this video two days ago!! because i buy my first deck yesterday!! im exausted for playing only mtg. in Argentina we are still in quarantine..so...i need pokemon! jaja
The current standard format is awesome. For anyone looking to get in cheap, the new Leon Charizard theme deck is awesome. If you take two and cram them together you have an almost complete tier 1.5 deck. Or get a battle arena deck. Keep in mind, legacy, cube, modern, and draft are all formats in Pokémon most with official tournament and prize support. Also working on an EDH format for Pokémon. The difference is instead of a commander you have an ace Pokémon and a Trainer. The trainer is a support you can use at any point instead of a supporter in your hand. Still only one a turn. The ace Pokémon can be any Pokémon but all Pokémon in your deck must match it’s types. So if your ace is a fire type Pokémon that has an attack with a colorless cost and a fighting. Your deck can have only fire fighting and colorless. I’m debating if it works better as singleton, singleton with mutation evolution, or non singleton. Also working on deck count and prize count. There is also my other format I’m working on which I’ve only just started playing with
Isn't it so cool how their products have redeemable codes for their online gaming platform as well as a means of trading on said platform as well
Ya, it'd be pretty dirty if other card games online didn't offer that. It only seems fair.
the trading system is completely useless
@@hyperjank5129 maybe so but it's there, then it becomes a matter of making it less useless
And they're made by the same company!
It's cool until you have to actually only depend on those to build your online decks and trade with other people to try to get what you need
Many Magic: The Gathering players ask the question: How do I build a deck for literally any TCG other than Magic?
Amen
Next time: Digimon.
@@RobbieLeeFYI I'm actually hoping the Prof makes a "How to play Digimon TCG" I already tried it and liked it a lot
@@Yakkosprite You could make a video of how to play the TCG, I would watch it.
Hope we get a Force of Will TCG video eventually - I'm really tired of being the only person who really likes it.
"Hello. I am the Professor and welcome to Kantonian College."
Maybe Viridian College instead
@Kunoros Hound of Athreos Viridian Academy does have a ring to it.
... We need to get the Professor a proper tree moniker.
@@actuallogic6411 Professor Treant?
@@SomeRUclipsTraveler Briar
Imagine only having two cards banned in standard.....
Actually, it's more, but they aren't "banned", they're not playing more in the format, they're playing in the expanded format
@@choro604 What are you even talking about? Highlander Hipster already specified the Standard format and in the video it's already explained how the rotation and the legality of the most recent sets work...
@@aberomoa5149 the collections that fall in the rotation are technicaly banned from the standard format
@@choro604 uhh no its just sets are only legal for a certain amount of time in standard. they dont get banned
@@thonk7611 well, that's the definition of a ban
Having Tolarian covering the Pokemon TCG game is one of the best thing could happen to the game, thanks mate
@Kunoros Hound of Athreos the professor has been dotting Pokémon vids in on his channel for years lmao.
Well i for one am 100% on board with this new era of *Hoenn Community College*
We're based out of Johto, actually.
@@TolarianCommunityCollege ah, a man of taste, I see
@@TolarianCommunityCollege I see a comment about kanto community college and my instant thought was “I am guessing he’s a johto guy” then saw this
Huzzah !
@@TolarianCommunityCollege Johtopilled, I see. Yes, very nice
When nintendo is being more consumer friendly than your company you know theres something wrong with you
Nintendo is generally consumer friendly. Also, this is The Pokemon Company, not Nintendo.
@Kunoros Hound of Athreos I can think of many worse companies in gaming. EA, Bethesda, Activision-Blizzard, 2k Games, Ubisoft just to name a few of the top of my head.
@Kunoros Hound of Athreos not even close. If Nintendo is 20% on the shit scale, then the ones I listed just max it at 100.
@@regirayquaza im sorry what was that about a limited digital release of 3nemulations? Without anything added at all outside of the soundtracks? What about mariomaker and unintentionally allowing people to make cool machines with icicles, cat suits? How about earlier constantly undersupplying amiibo before recently, joycon drift?
They arent the worst by far, they could be a lot more predatory but they are nowhere near paragons. they have plenty of issues.
@Kunoros Hound of Athreos ok i disagree, they are poor in many ways but they dont riddle every mainline title with oodles of unnecessary microtransactions whenever possible, and lazily slap a higher number on something and ask people to pay 70 or put lootboxes in their games.
They are not consumer friendly by any stretch of the imagination but others are doing worse
Prof the last 10 years: WOTC please listen and dont be greedy.
Prof 2020: Hey everyone, lets learn about POKEMON TCG *evil grin*
Not to mention Runeterra and Keyforge videos, haha.
This is like his 20th Pokémon video
Wait, you're saying that you get a digital redemption code in every booster pack and everything else for this game?
Wow, I'd hate to play a card game that has a digital version that almost never gives out codes to redeem cards online as well.
yeah, I got into magic via pokemon and i was blown away by this. then again pokemon does have some other (notably more minor) flaws like insane powercreep and having threeferi's effect as an emblem throughout the entire game.
@@aeneas1677 Are you talking about everything you do being only on your turn? I always liked that aspect; it keeps things simple
@@brockmckelvey7327 yeah thats what I mean and really its up to personal prefference but having many options in a game is what i like about magic- it keeps you on the ropes with its complicatedness
@@brockmckelvey7327 bro that removes so much interesting interaction from the game. Complex stack interactions and instant speed cards are one of the best parts of magic.
@@user-ww3js8ci7d Just because it ruins Magic does not mean that it's the same with Pokemon. The game was designed with that in mind, so of course it does other things to keep things fun and interesting. You're losing absolutely nothing. You're just playing a different game. Pokemon being simple is not a disadvantage. It caters to a different audience, and there is absolutely no doubt that it's doing a good job. If you prefer Magic, just keep playing Magic. It's nice to have options, isn't it?
You can just tell how much work and thought is put into all these videos. As a viewer, it is very much appreciated.
Something not mentioned here but pretty important is how affordable PTCG is. There’s typically only ever one really expensive staple (Crobat V at the moment) and once you have your play set of it and staple trainers (another $10-12 tops) you’re basically able to build anything you want with minimal investment.
You should do more Pokemon tcg episodes this was a blast in the past for me thank you prof
I play the online version of this game sometimes. It can be frustrating to evolve a Pokemon through all three stages only for your opponent to drop some superpowered EX card that doesn't have to evolve and does 200 damage and makes you wonder why normal Pokemon cards even exist in the game.
The only upside being if you can kill the GX or EX or V card, you draw two prizes instead. But yeah, feels bad man. And 1st base set and 2nd base set cards are mostly useless compared to modern cards.
Normal pokemon still definitely have their place in the TCG, even competitively. Baby Blacephalon can still take out the biggest VMAX/GX/Tag Team GX decks (especially because knocking out a normal pokemon card only provides 1 prize card, and knocking out a V/GX provides 2, and knocking out a VMAX/Tag Team GX provides 3. Decidueye (daa 013) is another normal stage 2 pokemon card that decks are built around SPECIFICALLY to counter big V/VMAX/GX/Tag Team GX decks because decidueye is simply immune to them.
Other normal pokemon cards are often used for their abilities which help with acceleration (for example: volcanion UNB 25), draw support, or interaction.
I can assure you especially on the online version of the Pokemon TCG, playing a good 1 prize deck (normal pokemon) is one of the most annoying things for VMAX/GX players to play against.
@@jerrysantoso8624 Some people like to play decks they've made themselves, not gimmicks made specifically to counter the broken format.
"More prizes" is not a drawback. When both Pokemon have an attack like "RRR: 100" (and usually EX/GX/V have more powerful attacks than regular Pokemon), then you have to spend the same amount of resources powering each card. Dumping six one-Prize Pokemon against your opponent's two Tag Teams means you have to use *three times as much resources*. And that doesn't take into account healing and other effects which are made more powerful when using high-HP Pokemon.
rare candy, as of sun and moon (or maybe earlier), is always reprinted when theyre about to be rotated out, much like switch.
And yes, stage 2 decks has been feeling bad to play for the past sets because you HAVE to run 4 rare candies, and thats 4 extra cards to bring compared to none for basic or stage 1/Vmax decks.
Well there's plenty of counterplay though, namely energies and evolving your pokemons faster through supporters or items
The Pokemon TCG for Magic Refugees! Yaaaaaaay!!!
EVEN SWITCHING GAMES I'LL BEING PLAYING RAMP GOOD STUFF.DEC
play Centiskorch VMAX
Hey, Welder is a thing, and that’s technically ramp!
I feel like prof is trying to tell us something... 🤔
funny enough WOTC did the first couple sets of the pokemon tcg
magic is just for rich people now.
@@TemporalOnline Magic is for the casual players now. Tournament scene is a joke now.
@@TemporalOnline magic isn’t for rich people you can build absolutely blasting commander decks for under $100, just check out the channel Commanders Quarters. There are also plenty of budget options in most formats, you could also just play casually, I which case you can get decks do like 10-20 bucks. Plus Pauper is a thing.
There's also the "Theme" Format, in which you only use Theme Decks as they are.
However, this Format is more associated with the Online TCG.
There's also Unlimited, in which you just use whatever cards you want, typically whatever you just happen to have available.
yeah but unlimited isn't really play and can become pretty much broken cause some deck will let you win in 2 to 3 turn.
Not even that. If unlimited format was actually played, you might as well be playing Rock Paper Scissors, because all of the good decks in unlimited would be able to win turn one
However, Unlimited isn’t played that much, being broken as heck. If you’re looking for something less broken Extended is something. It’s any set from BW and forward, being less broken and instead rotating by power creep
So unlimited is basically commander got it
@@JohnnyYeTaecanUktena The difference being that the best Unlimited Pokemon decks have an 80% win rate turn 1
I've always wondered how to actually use all the random pokemon cards I had collected over the years.
Then this video isn't for you since they are probably not standard legal
@@lerbyn and even if they were, they'd be so laughably underpowered that it's not even worth trying thanks to the immense powercreep
@@daanjamo that moment when your stage 2 is Knocked out by the opponent's basic, without coin flips and luck.
I used to play games at school with the decks you could buy back in the 90's. Never knew about building your own decks though. We all had either grass, fire, water or whatever. We all lost our shit when one of use came in with a jungle set one day, then my mum surprised me with the Fossil sets that she got her mate in the US to send me. I was the coolest kid for weeks.
Please note: the Pokemon TCG Standard format is in its worst condition right now. Not in "one deck is too strong" kind of way, but "the fundamental rules of the game are broken" kind of way.
As such, you are NOT going to build your own custom Standard deck, unless you want to lose on Turn 2. It's not all roses here.
I feel kinda bad for everybody whose favorite is Kadabra.
@Kunoros Hound of Athreos I would argue that the middle stages of the kanto tarde evolutions are an exception.
He's referring to the fact that Kadabra is no longer printed in PTCG, ever. Look it up, the story is pretty interesting
@@shiranui498 It's kinda weird it's just TCG and anime. It still appears in the video games. The last time Abra was printed was in 2007, and it had an attack that let it skip the Kadabra stage straight into Alakazam (no Kadabra was printed in the set LOL).
Alazakam has a lot more recent printings though, whenever the opportunity arises that allows it be printed straight as a Basic Pokémon (skipping the evolutionary phases), such as Alakazam-EX and Alakazam-V.
Holy shit. I looked it up since I never heard about this, and I could feel my blood pressure rise when I saw Uri Geller's name lol
This actually got solved recently, presumably Uri Geller trying to get some media attention out of the many years of people pestering him about it.
I bought a league battle deck a little while ago and it looks awesome. As a bonus, the foils turned into pringles just like magic cards so I feel right at home
@Kunoros Hound of Athreos a foil pikachu and zekrom gx, raichu and alolan raichu gx, charizard and reshiram gx and charizard and braixan gx. All tag teams. They look amazing, but sadly they curl
Prof: Maybe I can be a Pokémon master
Me: *gasps*
At the start of October, Cannel Fireball started a new RUclips channel called Channel Pokéball, where they upload the new Pokémon TCG strategy videos they've been adding to their main site.
That's when I fully knew that, while Magic isn't actually going away, it's time to start investing more heavily in other TCGs.
"Whose your favorite Pokemon?"
Looks sadly at Mismagius plush :(
Theres one other mismagius card in champions path
Dont worry the banned cards are getting alternate reprints with different effects.
Is it in Sword and Shield?
@@AlexaRobin21 No, and it hurts that she isn't
I think it would be good to show what the average breakdown of a deck is, rather than just what kinds of cards people play. For example, in Magic you have generally 24 lands + 36 spells, and those spells are spread across a mana curve. When I looked up the PTCG some time ago, I was surprised to find that most decks only had a combined total of less than 10 pokemon+energy, and among them, Pokemon EX or equivalent were the only kind played. Nearly the entire deck consisted of trainer cards.
If you end up doing a video like this for Yugioh, I would love to see you try to figure out and explain how Dragon Link works.
Great video prof.
He may be the one to crack how Pot of greed works
Good luck on that. I recently relearned YGO because MTG has gotten onto what must be my last nerve and the rampant power creep would turn the prof off pretty immediately.
Thank you professor for making this video. I found it very helpful to bring casual players who only do theme decks into the Standard game.
The Prof should add an MtG tree to his name if he wants to be a legit Pokemon sage. Professor Ironroot, Weatherseed, Scarwood or Deadwood sounds nice. Or he can simply be Professor Colfenor, Doran or Multani.
I never thought in all my life I'd see a video like this from tolarian community college ! I've just gotten into Pokemon TCG and I'm pleasantly surprised.
I remember when I came back to PTCGO, first thing I built was a Medicham deck in Expanded. It has low attack but can attack twice, so I jammed a lot of attack boosts and would take a ton of prizes by turn 3 or 4, very fun.
Then I went to make a solitaire deck that takes basically infinite turns and broke the game with jank.
Dude Pokemon standard has 2 banned cards, 2. BANNED. CARDS.
I don't even know how many cards are banned in mtg standard
B&B was banned because control/mill was too strong and no longer revolving around taking prizes, and Mismagius because it allowed to consistently destroy your opponent's hand on turn 1. Both of which are cases that can easily slip through in testing.
There are other strong cards, but only two needing bans is pretty impressive.
Also, for a very long time, no cards were banned for being too good except lysandres trump card, in standard. Everything had a counter. In fact, bellabella and mismagius arent too good, but they dont make for very fun games, which is why they are banned
MTG has 8 at the moment.
They aren't banning cards, they prefer to absolutely ruin the game with overpowered Tag Teams/VMAX cards and ridiculous acceleration.
Imagine if the broken part of Magic wasn't "a card' or "a deck", but "sorceries". This is the state of Pokemon standard right now.
I'm mostly a yugioh guy, so that completely blows my mind.
Wanted to say a big thank you, this video dropped perfect because I ended up giving Pokémon TCG a try a few weeks back, got myself an elite box, a couple of themed decks and was able to make a decent fun deck to play with, on top of that the online game is so much fun! Keep up the great work as always!!
Id recommend starting on tcgonline, specifically spending like 20-30 dollars on pokemon codes, thered an amazon deal for 100 packs for 30 dollars- about 1.5-2 competitive level decks for 30 dollars, which will last long enough for you to grind games for more decks
Also, once you have the core supporters/items, brewing rogue decks can be pretty cheap. I remember trading like 40 packs for a deck, and like 25 of it was for alt art ADP because it had just released.
If you have time, you can also grind dailies/ladder for rewards and trade up, playing for entirely free.
@@MrZerodaim agreed, most decks have overlaying cards amd account for easily 60-70% of a deck since theyre staples
I was looking at my collection on Pokémon TCG Online wondering what to do. I closed the app, opened RUclips, and found this. Thanks, Professor.
The proffessor really teaching us how to play ever game. Magic is really uncertain right now, you know what I'm going to build my first Pokemon deck!
He is a nice man.
He's ok.
I have a hint: try to make a not-meta deck that you think it's great
I have a few Pokemon I really like from the games so I'll try to make a deck around them :) I'll let yous know how it goes
I always know the professor is there for me when I need him! Thanks Prof!
“Card rotation is to keep cards fresh and give cards room to be played” Wizards- “And MONEY”
Yay! More pokemon
Was teaching my family magic but we jumped ship to Pokémon for... Obvious reasons. So guides like these help a lot
Bad move, kids hate playing Pokemon they just like collecting
@@CrosswaIk my nephew aged 6 loved it, he kept saying stuff like... "You I think we should play this again.", "I want to try use the charizard next.", Many of my students also play, using the online version as well as paper.
Back in my day it was for collecting and not playing but at least my experience kids actually play it now.
@@MasterDoctorBenji during WOTC era the actual game was trash, although I wouldn't say its in its prime right now but its still very good compared to the old way. Surprisingly after Wotc left Pokemon took control and pushed really hard into making it a game first and foremost.
I just noticed that if I take the first letter of each word from the key principles (Synergy, Acceleration, Consistency and Interaction) they form the word "SACI" which is the name of a one-legged trickster in Brazilian folklore.
I don't know, I just found that interesting and easy for me to remember lol
A while back my roommate had the original pokemon TCG gameboy game on emulator.
I built a gnarly deck that used defenders like chansey, snorlax, and mr mime, control effects like switch, gust of wind, and energy removal, and imposter prof oak.
All together it made a real dirty lantern control-esque mill through attrition win con that was super effective(no pun intended), especially against gum leaders, as the higher prize count gave more time to win
I came to this channel originally because of the pokemon tcg videos. Kept watching out of enjoying the professor for himself despite not being a magic player myself. Glad to see more content I can relate to/understand!
I really appreciate the love for the TCG! Thanks for this video!
Any time!
PtcgRadio here on youtube is also a really good way to learn about the game. I knew nothing to start but watching his videos made it easier to figure out for my self how good cards were :)
just turned 28 finally learned how to play pokemon after a life of yugioh and magic always loved the video games man is the tcg fun!
I'm an MTG player first, pokemon trainer second, and YGO pleyer third. A friend of mine is trying to get me to play more of the Pokemon card games and I gotta say that your Pokemon videos are very helpful. Thank you.
If im honest, I would personally use this for competitive matches, its really good!
Me and a friend just into Pokemon tcg thank you for all your help
If this is my son Oliver, please finish your graduate paper before you play Pokemon for 21 hour sessions thanks.
Love the professor such an insightful dude. Thanks dude!
Nothing will ever top the feeling of trading around cards in school.
Funny how a MTG creator can give more concise, example driven content than half of the PTCG creators I browse from time to time.
I get that in the average audience member probably already knows how the game works, but feeding in tidibts about why a card is good is so helpful to a new viewer.
that product pokeball the prof was holding is the best part of that product (mostly due to how they put the packs in it)
Oh, I remember Pokemon Play It! Last week I gave Pokemon TCGO a try, and I like it.
I went back playing online Pokémon TCG again since not many here in my country play the game, thanks for this video professor!
A few months ago I got into Pokémon because of the path Magic has taken. It’s been great!
the professor hit it on the nail with this one
I don’t even like Pokémon, but I watched it because I love hearing you talk
“What Pokémon inspires you?”
Me: AD-I MEAN Inteleon.
I have a zamezeanta v
really enjoying these pokemon videos, prof ♥
For those who want a Zacian/ADP deck, there will be a League Battle Deck (challenger deck if you're playing Magic) featuring both Pokémon that will be released this November. It also comes with everything that lets you start playing immediately like coins and dice, along with code card redeemable in PTCGO.
Great video. I've always found Pokemon TCG impenetrable. I literally only buy it to collect.
I'm so glad this video exists. Great job Professor! I've never had pokemon deckbuilding so well explained to me.
A good way to start playing competitively is to find a deck list online and modify it to your needs. As of June 2022, one of the best decks right now is Origin Palkia VSTAR. So you find a list and modify it. Little dark fury makes unique competitive decks so that’s a good starting point if you want to compete at a regional since they’re back this year. Just a tip.
One of the best parts of this is Prof’s pronunciations of the Pokémon names :P
My man covered every tcg, now our teacher knows every trick in every book. He is making an unstoppable army out of us!
I was just starting to think of changing from MTG to Pokémon because .. I dont want to give Wotc any more money. And because I absolutely love Pokémon! A joy seeing you make a video to start making the shift.
And now with the hype, good luck building comp. decks
Awesome video. Even has made me consider getting back into the TCG. Wish it was a bit easier getting cards for their digital game. Anyways keep up the awesome content Professor!
I’ve played Pokémon since 2012 and the Trainer’s Toolkit is the best Pokémon TCG product I’ve ever purchased. I plan on buying a couple more.
But two of those and you will have most of the Trainer cards you will need for a standard deck.
People if you want a headstart into deck building pre-order the ZADP league battle deck for $20-25, and get yourself a trainers toolkit if you can. gives you the majority of a top standard deck for cheap and filling in the small holes isn't that hard from there. Pokemon makes it extremely easy to get meta cards by printing products like this regularly. If you want to be competitive I would also look out for a Crobat V product that is sure to come out sometime next year as Dedenne GX rotates and Crobat V becomes the staple card you need for every deck, tbf its currently $12 and can only go down from there.
Thanks prof you’re a real inspiration for me to start my own channel
You even dress like a pokemon professor!! You're awesome man
I want to hear some input from the Prof on Flesh And Blood
It's only available in a very limited number of markets sadly so not especially accessible compared to Pokémon.
As a mainly Pokemon TCG player who watches your channel for the occaisonal MTG itch, I'd like to add in that when it comes to buying the cards for the deck you've built, the trainers toolkit and singles is simply the cheapest way to build your deck. Only open packs for fun and if your budget allows you to (it's also important to note that due to a lot of the recent Pokemon hype, a lot of sealed product is being scalped and prices for sealed product can be a complete rip-off, especially in the secondary market). Furthermore if you'd like to play online (exclusively), buying code cards online from reputable sites (like card cavern, potownstore, etc.) is cheapest. You don't have to buy physical packs for code cards to trade with if you don't find yourself wanting to play paper.
This gave so much more information than the other videos I very much appreciate you
I always love your Pokémon videos.
You’re Pokémon videos literally got me hooked on the channel and made me start playing magic lol.
Great video. This has helped me heaps. I am just about the start my journey in the TCG world. Thanks again
I just bought a deck box for my obsidian flames collection (I saw the trainer box at the grocery store and bought it along with 4 booster packs lol.)
I really enjoy the Pokemon TCG game, I started playing it with my oldest daughter quite a while ago and now my youngest daughter is losing interest and Im afraid that after she totally quits I wont be able to play anymore
@John Marston I really don't have anything that good
Hey Prof, could you please do a video on the other Format in Pokemon and how to build a deck for it? Also would love to see more videos about Pokemon, like the ones you do for MTG.
This is perfect! My friend just got me into Pokemon last weekend and I've been wondering how this game works. Thanks for the awesome vid, prof!
I don't know what is happening but I literally started playing Pokémon last week, and now Prof, Channel Fireball and even Rudy are making Pokémon related content :o
Little korrection you can actually use old printings of trainer cards with different rules text. The new effect is obviously applied. This is because they errata the cards before reprinting them. For example i can use quick ball from diamond and pearl even though it has completely different card text ptcgi just erratat the card then reprinted it
Ooooh! I am hyped for this! I want to expand my TCG knowledge :)
Love that your doing pokemon now!
I came to this video for two reasons
1, I like watching Prof's content.
2, I built a full on "competitive" deck (a tier 2-3 deck) and tied with a 7y/o so I'm assuming I didnt understand something.
This was a nice refresher. It's been ages since I played the TCG, but it's good to know that the game's not very different from I remember, at least in terms of deck construction.
Haven't played since my Team Magma deck was stolen back in Gen 3, but I've wanted to return for a while. I am very encouraged to do just that, to say the least.
Funny thing, though: that Team Magma deck I mentioned was purely Pokemon and Energy. Not a single trainer in sight, lol. And it was brutal. The primary win con was Team Magma's Houndoom and his Magma Spurt. XD
While I doubt I'll be pulling off any such shenanigans in the current meta, I simply can't wait to see what I can do when I return to this card game.
Thank you so much for making this! Really hope you continue making more Pokemon TCG videos!
I can totally see the professor as a Gym Leader or as an elite 4.
After watching this i built an expanded sylveon deck around the eevee my little sister got me years ago
Would be great to see an updated version 😊
Awesome video! Thanks, Professor!
Helped a lot
Wow. This is the video I was looking for on deckbuilding this whole time. Thank you!!
Ive been here for mtg for awhile and now i have a trusted source to learn the basics of setting up pokemon to play with my god kids. Thank you
I love divergent stuff like this prof. Keep the random gaming content coming
the game has definitely changed since the gen 3/EX days, and even back then I'm not sure I built my decks correctly. I don't think I'd get into the TCG again, but Pokémon is definitely one of my favorite universes.
prof!! need this video two days ago!! because i buy my first deck yesterday!! im exausted for playing only mtg. in Argentina we are still in quarantine..so...i need pokemon! jaja
It took me 3 videos for my question to be answered... thank you
This is such a great guide! I can’t wait to get started. Thanks Professor!
The current standard format is awesome. For anyone looking to get in cheap, the new Leon Charizard theme deck is awesome. If you take two and cram them together you have an almost complete tier 1.5 deck. Or get a battle arena deck.
Keep in mind, legacy, cube, modern, and draft are all formats in Pokémon most with official tournament and prize support.
Also working on an EDH format for Pokémon. The difference is instead of a commander you have an ace Pokémon and a Trainer. The trainer is a support you can use at any point instead of a supporter in your hand. Still only one a turn. The ace Pokémon can be any Pokémon but all Pokémon in your deck must match it’s types. So if your ace is a fire type Pokémon that has an attack with a colorless cost and a fighting. Your deck can have only fire fighting and colorless. I’m debating if it works better as singleton, singleton with mutation evolution, or non singleton. Also working on deck count and prize count.
There is also my other format I’m working on which I’ve only just started playing with