PTCG/O Guide August 2019

PTCGO Pastebin/FAQ
Updated July 01 2019

Q: I'M NEW, HOW TO POKEMON CARD???

1. Download the PTCGO client from http://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-tcg/play-online/download/

2. Go to the 'Redeem codes' page under the shop and enter the codes 'flashfire' 'furiousfists' and 'phantomforces', these will give you copies of the Rallying Cry theme deck, which gives you a bunch of shit cards but also copies of some useful trainers, some of which are no longer in print as well as a playset of double colorless energy (DCE). If you would like a complimentary fedora for your avatar, enter 'dragonsexalted'.

3. Go to the Trainer Challenge page and complete those battles (YES, ALL OF THEM) with each of your starter theme decks. Beating the trainer challenge will unlock cards for your three starting theme decks, allowing you to use them online as well as granting you tokens.

4. Once you have earned 500 tokens from competing in the trainer challenge, purchase ONE theme deck from the shop. The Necrozma and Dragonite ones are the newest, but Charizard is retardedly easy to pick up and win with. You can buy any of the theme decks post-Lost Thunder and do well, but Charizard is still probably the strongest.

5. Complete the trainer challenge battles again with your new theme deck. Upon beating each trainer with a new different theme deck, you will be awarded one pack, of the expansion the theme deck was released with. You gain a new pack by completing a league with every theme deck you purchase - that is, 12 battles against the AI vs different opponents.

6. Once you have completed the trainer challenge, begin playing versus matches to earn prizes as much as you can each day. You also earn points towards versus ladder rewards with each prize you take, even if you lose.

Q: OKAY, THEN WHAT?
After this, progression becomes more open ended. Your goal is to accumulate TRADABLE value. All packs and cards purchased with tokens or awarded by the trainer challenge/bonus wheel are no-trade.

You can acquire TRADABLE value by
1. Reaching trainer level 16 and completing daily challenges that award packs (packs awarded before lv16 are no-trade)
2. Entering tournaments, even if you lose in the first round, you get at least one tradable item.
3. Purchasing PTCG paper products and redeeming code cards, or purchasing second-hand code cards from these products.
4. Playing the market.

On the third option, you will usually find the best prices for code cards on ebay. Beware of mixed code card lots that do not list exactly which packs you are getting, people will generally try to inflate pack count with low value packs such as Celestial Storm, Ultra Prism or from expanded sets. Currently Team-Up and Unbroken Bonds are the gold standard of trading packs, with Unbroken Bonds valued at 1. Unbroken Bonds includes the most expensive Tag Team GX and BDIF at the moment, Reshiram/Charizard, and also gems like Dedenne-GX and Gardevoir/Sylveon. Team-Up has a lot of electric support for the second best deck in format, Pikachu/Zekrom and also has Jirachi. Both Dedenne GX and Jirachi are bound to become more valuable post-rotation. Unified Minds has just released, but new packs will always be more volatile.

Every trading site varies a little bit in what they're willing to give for each pack but the difference in value is about the same when it comes to which packs are high value and which ones are low value. When trading for high value cards like popular full arts, meta Pokémon GX or Jirachi, people often won't even accept shit packs like Celestial Storm as part of a trade even if it's a 'fair' trade.

OPENING TRADABLE PACKS IS GAMBLING, since packs are the primary currency of this game, and chances are high you will get less than one pack's value by opening a pack. Sometimes you will hit it big, most of the time you're just burning money.

When it comes to playing the market,  https://ptcgoguide.com/ is a pretty decent guide of what cards cost and generally reflect what prices you should expect in public trades. Unless you find a reasonable trade listed, it's almost always worth listing your own since people will list looking for more than what they're selling is worth.

Q: OKAY BUT WHAT DO I DO WITH THESE FUCKING TOKENS?

1. Purchase a theme deck if it has cards you need for building a standard deck, saves you tradable value. Charizard builds into a nice rogue deck. Buying two of them also gives you 4 Cynthias, that are possibly the best draw support at the moment. Battle Mind also includes nice Fire support in the form of Salazzle and Welder.
2. Purchase Unbroken Bonds and Team-Up packs hoping to get that Dedenne-GX / Jirachi.
3. Save them until a new set of your interest releases, so you can get cards without trading. Keep in mind there's a 25,000 token limit.
3. If you're a hardcore trader, use them to set-up chains of trading for the stuff you want (use the trading guide for reference).

Q: WHY DOES THIS GAME PLAY SO SLOW

Theme plays very slow compared to standard and expanded, it's a format designed for kids so the decks are built so that it's hard to run away with a game with them.

Q: WHAT THE FUCK ARE STANDARD AND EXPANDED?

Standard format is the format that most people play. It includes every set newer than Sun and Moon. Standard usually rotates every year after worlds, but this year is different. Standard is rotating August 15, just before worlds, and the new format will include the sets from Ultra Prism to Unified Minds.

Expanded format includes all sets newer than Black and White base set. At some point, older BW sets may be rotated out of expanded, but TPCI has stated they aren't doing it yet. The format tends to play faster and more consistently due to battle compressors and VS seekers making it easier to rapidly thin your deck. Zoroark GX, lockdown decks and Archie's variants are top dogs on that format.

Expanded has a banlist that is growing after many years of it being a minimally regulated format.
https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-tcg-banned-card-list/

Legacy is the third PTCG format which includes only cards from the HGSS era and BW era, no XY/SM cards allowed. This format is the hardest to get into since none of the cards that can be used in it are in print or available in the store except as promo bundles. The format is mostly a meme with no IRL support and rapidly declining online support but the meta never changes, so if you don't like change this is the format for you.

Q: OKAY I GOT ALL OF THAT AND HAVE SOME PACKS TO TRADE, WHAT NOW?

Build a decklist, post it in the general, get criticism. Post-rotation, Dedenne-GX and Jirachi are possibly the most universal consistency boosters. Even then, there's others available like Zebstrika, Salazzle, Alolan Ninetales-GX, etc., so pick the one that works better for your deck.

For best results, post your decklist as an image. Most standard decks will want

x3-4 Pokemon Communication
x3-4 Cynthia
x2-3 Lillie (with the loss of Tapu Lele and Ultra Ball, it's much harder to drop Lillie turn one for 6-8 new cards)
x1-2 Erika's Hospitality
x1-2 Reset Stamp
x1-2 Dedenne-GX
x1-3 Stadiums of your choice . Given how strong current prism star stadiums are (Black Market, Heat Factory, Thunder Mountain, Wondrous Labyrinth) and since they're also immune to Field Blower, you want to out them as quick as possible. Power Plant and Lysandre Labs are popular options post-rotation.

The Jirachi package
x2-3 Team-Up Jirachi
x2-3 Escape Boards
x2-3 Switch/Escape Rope

Q: WHAT'S THE META?

No one really knows what will end up taking the lead post-rotation, but Reshizard, PikaZekrom and Malamar/Giratina are shaping up to be some of the strongest picks. They get to keep many of their consistency cards or receive new ones, keep their energy acceleration and benefit from the slower format by setting up much faster than any of the other decks. Dark Box (Weavile GX, ZoroNinja, MegaSableye/Tyranitar and some form of energy acceleration), Keldeo GX variants and MewMew box may be decks to pay attention to.