New to Locals?

Sure thing bud, let's give you a brain dump.
=========================II: Pre-release info III: Guide to buying singles IV: Help I can't hit 3rd place ever=========================
Your resources are your friend:
For current set, here's a list of decks that have topped events in the english format, to give you a guide to what wins usually.
digimonmeta.com/deck-list/deck-list-english-format-meta/
Here's your theorycrafting/Decklist site to keep track of a build
https://digimoncard.dev/deckbuilder
Here's a comprehensive list of decks that have topped overseas so you can see the lists of stuff that has topped in the sets that we don't have yet. docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16jpIdXR6Gh7KBasU8QtwWSt4WRapSexIfzPl2lxLT10/edit#gid=340485810

As for your card shop info/etiquette:
Your local stores will probably have a facebook page or website that tells you what days are for digimon tournaments. I recommend you play in two locals per week, so you can feel out the shops and find what you like. Entry fees for tournaments are usually $5, some not nice stores are $10 which sucks. When you arrive at your locals, get there usually half an hour early to tournament start so you can shoot the ship and get to know other players. Remember that Clear sleeves aren't tournament legal, so don't get in the habit of using them. Most people pick a color of Matte Dragon Shield sleeves to run, they don't stick, shuffle easy, and when double sleeved are a breeze. Buy two different color sleeves, one for your deck and one for your digitama. I use the official Bandai sleeves for my Digitama. Dragon bone Ivory sleeves are clean af, by the way. Petrol is a really nice dark teal too, Lime is super bright, Sleeves named after gems have some sparkle to them.

**Don't bring proxies. No one wants to play against a guy using fake cards or substituting one card for another.
Remember your deckbuilding restrictions. 50 card deck, 0-5 card Egg deck, 4 copies max per card. There is also a banlist, so make sure you stay up to date with that. https://world.digimoncard.com/rule/restriction_card/
Accept losses graciously and don't sperg out if things go badly. You may lose every match depending on your experience and deck. Treat it like a learning experience.
It is common practice to offer a cut after shuffling. If you want to be pandemic conscious, it is okay to simply say "how do you want me to cut?" to avoid contact.** Thanks anon


Get yourself a Mat, rubber bottom cloth top, most card shops have them. Never get the solid rubber mats, they suck. Don't buy vanguard mats, they're small. if you're going to buy singles for your deck, buy  two packs of BT5 so you can try to get a nice pull, and grab the memory cards. Then sleeve your memory counters in the same sleeves you have your digitama in so you don't accidentally shuffle them into your deck.
Get a deckbox, obviously. One of the plastic ones are fine, or even put them in your Dragon shield box.

Get yourself a die, card shops have them, I recommend a D6 just because they're smaller. You will also use this for your memory counter.

If you plan on buying boxes to get cards, which at some point you will be, you need a binder. go with a side loading one, Target sells Cardguard binders which are pretty good for $20. Also pick up some standard size penny sleeves to sleeve your holos for your trade binder. I also recommend marking your binder, I penny sleeved a Starter deck Tentomon, then taped it on my binder for marking. This is key if you're going to a locals that holds Yugioh tournaments, as they're all dirty thieves, and you need a way to prove it's your binder.
Never ever put duplicates of cards in one binder slot, you're gonna bend stuff and rip open your binder pockets. Organize by color for easier trading. Always confirm prices of cards with current TCG values for trading, you need to know the prices on the Rares of sets, so you don't get scammed by the only bad person that shows up. (My first day I traded 2 Jamming Veemon for some green stuff, they were $8 a piece at the time and I traded them and other blue cards for 60c worth of commons and uncommons.)

Get a BCC ID. https://global.carddass.com/club/bcc/
This is used to track your points in tournaments, and shops need BCC id's so they keep getting tournament packs. Your bcc id will be the number starting in BCC and it's 6 numbers. take a screenshot or record it to your memory so you don't stand there like an dingleberry while you sign up.

The card shop meme is true, there are landwhales and people that stink, you gotta suck it up unless one dude just really reeks, if that's the case, talk with the other players and see if you can plan a shower intervention. Also bigbois will take breaks after their match and eat food. Make that player wash his hands before he touches your deck.

Most tournaments go until one player is undefeated, usually 3-4 swiss rounds. each round is 50 minutes of play time, if you run out, it goes to turns (4 I believe) at the end of the timer, whoever's turn it is starts at turn 0. When the end of turn 4 hits, if no one has won, you get a draw for your match. (Usually happens with Black blocker vs Black, Sec control Vs Purple.)

Matches will either be announced or posted on a sheet of paper and stuck to a wall. Waltz up, find who you're up against and just keep shouting out their name until that poor soul answers, find a place to sit and go at it. Little ruling reminder, whatever you use to decide who goes first (Usually high roll on a die) whoever wins MUST go first during the first round. After the first round, the Loser of that round gets to pick if they go first or second *BEFORE SEEING YOUR HAND* (thanks anon). (Extra tip: if you're going against a green player, you always want to go second, because they can ramp so easily off of any extra memory you give them, same with security control, as most of their high drops they can't play turn 1)
Shuffle your deck. (If it's in list form, as in your cards are in order by level, do an 8 pile shuffle, then do a normal shuffle by taking half of your deck and shoving it into the other half.) These half shuffles are the best way at randomizing your deck according to mathematics, 5 shuffles is the standard optimal shuffle if you get exactly half of your deck every time you shuffle, if not, shuffle 7 times with the half stack. Then present it to your opponent, who will make a cut of your deck, you do the same for them. I always cut a little deeper than halfway to prevent any stacking in the middle of the deck. Then shuffle your digitama quickly. make sure your opponent shuffles their digitama too. The first five cards off the top of your deck, are your security always. the next 5 are opening hand.

If there's an odd number of players, someone will have a "Bye" round it's essentially a free win and scores you free points, you just sit there because there's no one to play with until next round.

During the tournament, or immediately after you'll get your Tournament pack for entry, which is a pack with 1 promo card in it. these are pretty much free cash and trade bait. Some stores also give instore credit based on standings (My $10 local does this.) Best advice is if you get instore credit, save it to cover next week's local, or keep saving up to buy a box.

TCG's are a money pit, know what you want to build and focus on it. Don't be like some of my buddies that build 4 decks per new release and end up dropping 800+ on boxes.

Also, Digi players are super friendly, just mention to the guy that looks like he knows what he's doing the most that you're new to the game, and this will be your first tourny and I'm sure he'll be happy to go over the rules and some practice matches. Good luck pal.

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II PRERELEASE INFO:
Welcome to your first pre-release event. Every time a new box is about to get dropped we get these little events in stores that get you some product, provides a tournament, gives you some Promo cards, and a pack of 2 Pre-release stamped cards you can use to bling out your deck with. 1st place also gets a special Promo.

Pre-release is your opportunity to pick up your pre-ordered product of the new set, and then you slap down a chunk of money (25-35) for 6 packs for the tourny. This is a sealed event, you rip open your packs and assemble a 40 card deck. There's no duplication limit, so if you pull 8 of the same level 4's you can use them all. Also your deck ignores color restriction for digivolving, meaning your red agumon can go into a blue garurumon. However effects that list color requirement still apply, Option cards still need their color to play as well. cards you don't use in your deck, are made into a side board that you can swap out with in between games.

this makes usually bad cards into really good cards, in BT5 I pulled 2 Neptunemon during the pre-release and he was the most overpowered mf on the field because of his normally meh effect.

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III BUYING SINGLES

first off, try to trade for everything you need when you go to a pre-release. with the purchase of one good box, you should be able to walk away with a tier 2 off of trading out of it. If you're coming into the middle of a set, buy one box of the newest set to give you pulls and trade fodder.

TCGPLAYER: https://www.tcgplayer.com/search/digimon-card-game/product?productLineName=digimon-card-game&view=grid
Tcgplayer is your friend, NEVER BUY CARDS FROM A SET THAT ISN'T OUT YET. They will be at ballooned prices that are asinine (Shoutmon DX was a $40 dollar card that is now 1.72) The days after release will see a huge dump in cards, so if you need cards bad, this is a good price while everyone is fighting. It will normalize to standard prices after a week.

Guidelines: TCG player sellers come in two varieties you can filter out for your card. Verified Sellers, and Direct by TCGplayer. Verified sellers are actual card shops, Direct by tcgplayer means that your card comes from them, then the seller ships a copy of that card back to TCGplayer to replenish their stock. DO NOT buy from anyone below a 90% rating, they're unreliable. DO NOT buy boxes of new product from TCG player, you won't get your dash packs unless the listing says you do, and you can just pick your stuff up from locals on pre-release.

BUYING: Orders under $20 do not require tracking, so they can send all those commons in an envelope and ship it out and you get to wait around. Orders above $20 REQUIRE tracking. Sellers have 48 hours from when you've paid to ship the item out. When you pay, your money goes on hold for a week before the seller gets it. So awful sellers get shafted, and that's a good thing. the waiting period for refunds is 15 business days after shipping, but it is guaranteed. If you buy under $20 and that package never comes, you will get your money back 100%. If your order above $20 never arrives and they didn't put tracking on it, you can file a complaint to TCG player and the seller will get shafted HARD.

When checking out you'll see a button that says "CART OPTIMIZER" this will give you the cheapest cart in as fewest orders as possible that you can filter through, this is your best friend.

Trading is always better, especially for commons and rares.


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IV HELP I CAN'T PLACE THIRD

Well buddy, it's rough to say this, but stop playing black. It's not good, it gets okay in EX01, and it might be decent in BT7, but right now it blows chunks. Also, you theory crafting something that you think is going to change the meta, is not going to work out. We know what will be good before release. If you're a deck tinkerer like me, focus on techs that break the meta, as opposed to this super cool Idea you have to go Black/Blue with Bushi Agumon tech. It's not gonna work. Or if somehow it does, you will be in 8th or lower place. Find a meta deck for the format and have fun, you only have 2 months before the new kids show up to take a dump on it.

Lastly, there's META, and your meta. Although you'll find across the board that the best decks are the ones reported to digimonmeta, your locals might have a different top 3 deck list, based on what people play. For example, in BT4 the meta was Yellow Wargrey and OTK green. In my area, it was OTK Green, Hercules Kabu, Security control, Anubis. No one played Yellow wargrey. BT5 is Lordknight>ChaosGallant>Shoutmon. At my locals it's Security control, Shoutmon Tribal, Wargrey Tribal, Lilith Loop. You need to find techs for your deck depending on the color usage of your area, and what decks are ran.