"Best" definition of 2014/2015 season

[MegaWowEXwithAtomBomb]

Howdy y'all! I have a question about what are the "best" expansion sets to collect, circa the 2015 season.

Background: I've been semi-seriously playing Pokemon TCG with my two young boys since last summer. We've really been getting into it, as far as keeping our cards organized (Boundaries Crossed through Roaring Skies) and building new decks and doing Saturday night tournaments at the local gamer store. It's been a fun year!

But I wonder whether "real" Pokemon TCG players feel the same way I do about the nonstop release of bigger and better cards. Especially the recent releases, where now there are Pokemon that can attack twice or attach two energies etc. It's kind of annoying to have built a nice big beautiful collection of cards for the 2015 season and now most of them are fast becoming worthless because every three months they come out with stronger cards. Am I the only one that feels this way?

Well anyway, let's say I decide to "close the binders" for the 2015 season. The question is how to best define the 2015 season. I see three basic options:

1) Use the 2015 legal list, Boundaries Crossed through Roaring Skies.
2) Use the 2015 extended season, Black and White through Roaring Skies. The question is whether B&W through Plasmas be "worth" chasing down to add to my collection?
3) Stop a little earlier than Roaring Skies, like maybe at Furious Fists. Idea being, the "weird crap" like the now-illegal Lysandre's Trump card really seemed to get going with Phantom Forces and beyond.

I'd really appreciate any perspective you longer-term players could give!

 

[BJJ763]

This forum is to solicit help on your 60-card format legal deck, not for asking question on collecting. I'll move this to our "Collecting and Price Guide Discussion" forum.

 

[BJJ763]

Now if you wish to collect the 2014 - 2015 season, then you would need to collect from Boundaries Crossed up to Roaring Skies (plus the various promos).

I personally keep my cards associated by set, even if a card gets banned, which happens very rarely. The new traits do not make a card more powerful - how many of them are actually used in competitive play? You collect for the thrill of getting the cards and having fun with your kids. Pokemon EX are currently the "big" cards. They may come out with Pokemon LEVEL X like they had a few years ago. These won't automatically be more powerful than the Pokemon EX, just another game mechanic to be played.

 

[MegaWowEXwithAtomBomb]

sensing shifts in the cards

Now if you wish to collect the 2014 - 2015 season, then you would need to collect from Boundaries Crossed up to Roaring Skies (plus the various promos).

I personally keep my cards associated by set, even if a card gets banned, which happens very rarely

Thanks for the reply- right now my binders do include BCR through Roaring Skies, since those are the only cards they let us use at the local gamer store!

I guess what I'm discovering is nobody really senses any sharp, natural "borders" between expansion sets, as though Set A through set J is a good set but set D through set M would be a bad set. Like the changes between expansion sets are gradual enough that it doesn't really matter where I start and end my "house set."

But it still seems to me like (1) the TCG is an inflationary system, where someone playing newer cards will beat someone playing older cards, and (2) there's a major shift in card power happening right now. Like when I was able to start using PCL's Swampert with Diving Search, it really changed the feel of the game for me. It was actually a bit of a downer, because it just didn't seem as "sporting" to be able to search my deck for whatever card I wanted and put it on top for next turn, over and over.

 

[BJJ763]

..., where someone playing newer cards will beat someone playing older cards, and (2) there's a major shift in card power happening right now.

Look at some of the Base set cards: http://pokegym.net/gallery/browseimages.php?c=120 : Professor Oak, Energy Removal, Computer Search, and the (formerly) Big Basic Pokemon Electabuzz and Hitmonchan.

There is a major shift since rotation is going to happen.

If you can get out Diving Search Swampert, then you should be able to get that card (I bet you'd feel really guilty playing Quick Search Pidgeot which people would run 1-0-1 back in the day). Not your problem your opponent doesn't play N or Lysandra it at the active and KO it.

 

[MegaWowEXwithAtomBomb]

BW vs XY

Quick Search Pidgeot is a monster all right!

Some things we can say about the Black and White series:
1) First restored pokemon (in Noble Victories)
2) First EX pokemon (in Next Destinies)
3) introduced Item cards and Abilities
4) First and only Ace Specs (in Boundaries Crossed through Plasma Blast)
5) Is the beginning point of the expanded legals for both 2015 and 2016
6) I was having fun

Some things we can say about the XY series:
1) First Megas, and spirit links
2) First Fairy types (and some dragons have weaknesses to them)
3) First type-specific special energies i.e. Herbal, Wonder, etc.
4) First I've seen of the alpha/beta/omega/delta ancient traits

People say it's not necessarily a good idea to divide according to the generations, but IMHO the BW is looking like a good house set to me!

 

[Leo102]

I personally keep my cards associated by set, even if a card gets banned, which happens very rarely. The new traits do not make a card more powerful - how many of them are actually used in competitive play? You collect for the thrill of getting the cards and having fun with your kids. Pokemon EX are currently the "big" cards. They may come out with Pokemon LEVEL X like they had a few years ago. These won't automatically be more powerful than the Pokemon EX, just another game mechanic to be played.