Pokemon TCG lingo

[Dunjohn]

Back when I quit the game a couple of years ago, it was all very simple - you had normal cards, you had holos, and, if you were lucky, you had a "reverse-holo" Entei. Now, though, as I rifle through my small-but-expanding pile of Ex-R&S cards, it's all gone horribly befuddling. What the heck am I supposed to call all this stuff? Here's what I have been saying; can someone give me the accepted jargon?

Holos. The standard extra-rare, with a sparkly background in the picture.

Reverse Holos. The opposite of a Holo, where the picture is plain but the rest of the card blinds you.

Premiums. You get one of these in a pack, and it's a funkified version of a random normal card.

Shnazzies. The coolest of the cool, with holo bits twisting and slicing through normal bits. Like my Scyther-Ex.

[Baboon]

Well, here's what I refer to them as...
Holo, as the standard 1-in-3 packs. Like Base Blastoise.
Reverse Holo, the card you get in every pack that the whole card except the artwork is shiny/sparkly
And the ex's, are... just ex's.

[Turbo Blastoise]

Well it depends if you are either talking about rarities or deck-building. If you're talking about rarities, the one's that I know are:

Commons- The easiest most accessible cards to find in the game

Uncommons- Slightly more difficult cards to get a hold of then commons

Rare- Standard rare cards that are much harder to get a hold of. Most standard booster packs have about a 3 to 4% chance of drawing any particular card.

Holos- Same rarity as Rares but have a shiny background in the picture

Reverse Holos- Same as Holo except the whole front of the card is shiny

Promos- Cards that you can't get in a regular booster pack. Most of the time these cards can be obtained in a premier event or as prizes in tournament play.


In terms of deck-building here's some deck-building lingo:

Tech- Cards that are used sparingly to counter other decks or to metagame other deck types

Archetype- A particular deck or deck type that is commonly found and played regularly in the tournament scene and is among the "top-tier" of decks played in tournaments.

Staple- A card (usually a trainer card) that is essential in most every kind of deck. A card that you pretty much "can't live without".

Metagame- The general tournament scene that usually consists of what everyone is playing in any given area.

Joke types- These usually consists of Electric and Fighting-based decks. LOL!!! (Just kidding!)


That's all I know of and I hope that helps!!!

[Dunjohn]

I know about the rarities and all; it's just what to call the various foil types that was confounding me. Cheers for that though!

Hey, back on the Wizards Board, in the Magic section, they had a special thread where each and every bit of slang associated with the game was encyclopaedified in one handy, moderated thread. We should start one.

Which reminds me, what do you call a player who prefers not to use established archetypes at tournaments? Is it still "Maverick", or is it "Rogue", like in Magic?

[)v(ajin_ipg21]

ANYONE kept any of the OLD threads? Thre were a few on thedojo & I think also @ WizPog?

I don't no about re-creating it BUT it would ALSO be a GREAT reference!!!

ANYONE have any of these PREVIOUS posts???

[SD PokeMom]

A lot of things are in the 'legendary posts' forum on WizPoG...and since it's still read-only, it should be available for view...

'mom

[Tails]

Which reminds me, what do you call a player who prefers not to use established archetypes at tournaments? Is it still "Maverick", or is it "Rogue", like in Magic?

I've never heard them called Mav's before... I've heard Rogue, but not too often...

Used to use Trick, referring to Trick Decks, but I think Rogue's the new standard...

[Tyranitar666]

Yeah, the term is rogue decks. Very common termonology by alot of players. I have never heard the term mavericks before either.

[BPM]

Heh. I like the term "Maverick". But that's also probably due the fact I like Megaman games...
(Death to all humans! Robot freedom!)
:P

[Kyogre]

I think "Flippy" its a Poke-only slang word. You know, refering to cards that rely on major coin flips.

That and "BBP", well that can only be in Poke I guess.

[IndigoMaster]

mise

sorta stolen from mtg though...

[NoPoke]

Its always bugged me.... Why are they called Holos...there doesn't seem to be anything holographic about the foil.

Someone enlighten me please.

Also what is 'mise'

[MonkeyMan]

NoPoke if you wanna know what MISE is click on the link below

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=sideboard/askpros/0503

Check May 13 ;\

[Red5bv06]

Heh. I like the term "Maverick". But that's also probably due the fact I like Megaman games...
(Death to all humans! Robot freedom!)
:P

Or Top Gun
:)

[Ultramew]

Lol @ the hidden 'death to all humans' message! ^_^

[Prof|l0ne]

Well... there's also all the abbreviations, you know...

DCE = Double Colorless Energy
CPU Search = Base Set's Computer Search
GoW = Gust of Wind
promote = to take a Pokémon out of the Bench in the Active spot
bench hitter/bench hitting = A Pokémon or a move that severely weakens your Bench.
combo = A combination of cards that have synergy while used together (as in CPU Search and Oak, or Sneasel and Ecogym).
(mostly Italian only) [any card name here]-ing, or to [any card name here] = to use that card, especially to gain an advantage or to hinder an opponent (as in, "Are you copycat'ing?" "Just let me Volounteer this out of my discards" "I only need to Oracle and then you're dead").
dead = Pokémon do not die! Otherwise, a slang synonym of "Knocked Out"
TMP = Team Multiplayer (a format of play)
Open = Old jargon for the Unlimited format
broken = Any card or combination of cards whose unbalancement leads to a player easily winning a game with no chance to keep him from doing so. Also see 'combo', 'Sneasel', 'Ecogym' (while in the same set as Sneasel), 'Slowking', 'Rocket's Zapdos', and others.
Archetype = (in its most general sense) a well-estabilished deck that's widely recognized; usually a deck capable of winning consistently and/or with a strong phylosophy beneath it.
BBP = Big Basic Pokémon (a Basic Pokémon able to hold his own with low or none extra assistance)
Haymaker = One of the first archetypes, it used big Basic Pokémon to deal damage without sacrificing speed. See (Magic) 'aggro', 'beatdown'; (Pokémon) BBP.
Wigglytuff, The Wave, Wiggly = (Wigglytuff only) a Pokémon; (all words) also an archetype using Jungle's Wigglytuff card to deal massive damage in a very short time. See Sneasel, broken, archetype.
Slowking, Purple Haze = A deck abusing Neo: Genesis' Slowking's Pokémon Power. Also see archetype, broken.
Sneasel = A Pokémon. Also the name of an extremely unbalanced card in the Neo: Genesis set, which managed to win games without a chance to stop it. See broken.
InSaNiTy = THE way to play in Unlimited; also a deck, an archetype, a style of play and a style of life.
Professor, Prof = me. Also anybody who was actually registered as part of WotC's Professor Program (including me). Also anybody that will be registered in Nintendo's Professor Program.
Europeans = people like me. Also people who don't get the Pokémon products as swiftly as the U.S. does.
NOA = Nintendo of America.
PUI = Pokémon U.S.A., Inc. (seldom used)
TPC = The Pokémon Company. Also see PUI
WotC = Wizards of the Coast. We'll miss you.

Italian people have quite a slang for Pokémon, but I'm sorry I really can't manage to translate it! :'(

- Prof|l0ne
also known as TheTa, TheThinker and a Thousand other Names

[Tails]

There's not too many to my knowledge, as far as Poké goes, but there's also "Bombs," which are cards that win the game most any time they're played. Most of these are broken in Poké, but still...


There's also the "Staples," which are usually included in every serious deck, "Lines..."

[Dunjohn]

Yeah, the term is rogue decks. Very common termonology by alot of players. I have never heard the term mavericks before either.

I know that, in Magic, the term is Rogue, but I'd always heard Pokemon users online say "Maverick". Wasn't there a group of posters on the old boards calling themselves the "Maverick Hunters"? Apparently, they were Mavericks who deliberately hunted down the biggest archetype-user in their local areas and tried to beat them. Or, so went the claim.

That's a nifty list, prof :) I'd never heard "promote" before, I always say "put out". But, I never really understood the idea behind InSaNiTy and, if you don't mind me saying, your explanation doesn't enlighten me. As I understand it, it's made up mainly of tech cards. That right?

*scours list again*

Tech: A card that should be automatically considered in or against certain strategies.

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

Good Lord, someone remembers my old "Maverick Hunter Corps."

The idea wasn't to beat the largest archtype in the area, but to make new deck types. Although I guess that kind of goes hand in hand.

I still carry the name and the idea, but I disbanded the team... I think about two years ago, simply because it was hard to try and keep everything going. Still like the concept though.

Heh. I like the term "Maverick". But that's also probably due the fact I like Megaman games...
(Death to all humans! Robot freedom!)
:P

....Does this mean I have to try and kill you now? ;)

Anyway, putting all these definitions into a .txt file seems like a good idea. Hm.

[Prof|l0ne]

My explanation of InSaNiTy was, you know, quite ironic. :D
That is, InSaNiTy's a bit zen-like: you really don't know how it feels to play InSaNe until you actually do.
On the techincal side: InSaNiTy is a deck that is mainly composed of TecH Trainer cards (up to 46 in one of its versions!). The real InSaNiTy uses some mathematical formulas to calculate the effectiveness of the TecHs it uses; other InSaNe-like decks out there don't use the formulas. Almost all decks in Unlimited, however, follow many of InSaNiTy's principles (especially having more Trainers than everything else).

You can read all about it @ http://www.ipgeek21.com/articles/reference/lurili/insanityproject.html

[Big Daddy Snorlax]

Prof|l0ne,

I don't think this looks like a post that was meant to stand on its own. Was this supposed to be a reply to something?

BDS

[Prof|l0ne]

Whoops :'( It was supposed to be a reply to the Pokémon TCG lingo topic :'(.
/me stupid didn't check :'(

- l0ne

[)v(ajin_ipg21]

NO PROBLEM, with this new board we CAN CORRECT this kind of thing

*honored my site was cited BUT i am only a safeguard of POKEMON theories of days gone-by*

[Prof|l0ne]

Ooooooh. Thank you thousand :D
- l0ne

[mossy2k4]

Insanity is a deck that was basically a modern version of Haymaker, but was killed when Neo Genesis came out. In fact, the deck had enormous diffaculties dealing with trapper, FTKO, and trainer disruption/heavy chaos gym and lass decks. In my opinion it stopped being good as soon as heroes hit the shelves, which is when it expanded past 30ish trainers. Lurili used poor analogies and formulas that were misleading because although cards like Bill made sense mathmatically (2 for 1), the deck space was unneeded. The deck simply lossed to a first turn lass/choas gym. You'd often find your hand full of unneeded tech cards-- most of which got discarded from an oak or CPU search, leading to poor card advantage. Even more often, the card you need is prized.

You can buy into lurili's theories all you want, but I can't remember any tournaments that his deck won.. and I know plenty that good decks have. Playtesting reveals what's good and what's not.

More terms...

Suicune: Best fattie ever printed.
Random: Someone who is terrible at the game / Unknown player.

[PokePop]

It scares me how often I agree with mossy...

[Silver Chaos]

They are not Reverse Holo, they are Parrall Holo, Reverse Holo's are the cards with the sparkly junk and little orbs and swirls in the stat area, not in the picture. Big Diffrence I know lol

[KingOfDemons]

What about the term "El Juapo"?

[St0neh]

A couple of decks of the past, I'll quote from the pokécon, sadly their deck dictionary is unrecoverable, not even with the wayback machine. :\


- Deck: Occult Powers
- Description: A deck based around Trainer Disruption. Use Fossil Psyduck to headache the first couple of turns. After that, evolve to Dark Vileplume, and clean with Sneasel.

- Deck: Sic Powers
- Description: Lass/Cleffa turn 1. Turn 3 you want Vileplume. Use murkrow's mean look combined with B mankey's taunt for massive locks and prizes. R Zapdos acts as a cleaner. D Gloom is a savior." as quoted by Bomiester.

- Deck: Energizer Bunny
- Description: A big change from the previous versions of the Energizer Bunny. The deck now focuses on Chansey, as a tank. With Golden Nuts and Steel Energies, Chansey is able to deal 70 damage and 60 recoil, 60 damage and 40 recoil, etc.

- Deck: Mankey Madness
- Description: A Trap Variant that manipulates what your opponent will draw. Use Mankey's "Peek", and if they have a vital card coming up, use a shuffling trainer (RSA, Lass, Trap etc.), to make them shuffle a card into their deck (which will lessen the chances of them drawing that vital card next turn).

- Deck: Lock
- Description: Basically render your opponent useless of doing practically anything. Chaos Gym and Lass to stop Trainers, with usually Status Effect Pokemon and Cleaners to end the game.

- Deck: Hunter
- Description: In-play Hand and Bench maniupulation. Cards like "Erika's Perfume" to set basics on the bench, Bench Hitters (Brock's Golbat, Dark Raichu) to take useless benched Pokemon down, and "Gust" Pokemon (Ninetales, Erika's Victreebell) for added disruption.

- Deck: Sponge
- Description: Load up a turn 2 MP Mewtwo and start hitting away with fast, cheap Pokemon. Trainers add a huge amount of Support while you're hitting away.

- Deck: Potpourri
- Description: A 3 Colored deck to take advantage of the opponent's Weakness. There are several Variants as to which colors to use, preferably to fit the player's metagame.

- Deck: Cleaner
- Description: Before his deck, Arcanine was useless. The "Cleaner" uses preemptive status Hitters (Oddish [Rocket], Lickitung, etc.) do deal annoyance effects. After 2-3 prizes have been taken, load up Arcanine and "Clean up" either your opponent's Bench, or your prizes.

- Deck: InSaNiTy
- Description: A deck using a low amount of Pokemon. Quite some time ago, People used 14-17 Pokemon in their decks, but InSaNiTy originally used 8, hence making it "insane". Use cheap, fast, and big hitting Pokemon with Disruptive trainers "adding" to your offensive attack. Current projects under the hands of "lurili" (Richard Caldera) (Current version uses 5 Basics, 47 Trainers, 8 Energy).

- Deck: Eye of the Tiger
- Description: The first great Sabrina's Venomoth deck. Use Sabrina's Venomoth to deal Confusion, then bring in Big Hitters such as MP Mewtwo and Chansey to clean up.

- Deck: Swords Dancer
- Description: Back when Jungle was first released, Haymaker was the dominant archetype, and this deck was designed to stop it. The original combo was: Mr. Mime + Scyther. Deal 30 with Scyther, then Retreat and Meditate for 40, taking out any 70 HP Pokemon. Current projects under the hands of "1tym".

- Deck: Misty FTK
- Description: A special type of "FirstTurnKill" deck based around Misty. Pokemon like Misty's Staryu and Misty's Poliwag deal 20 first, add 4 PlusPowers, then 4 Misty making the total amount of damage: 140. Misty FTK decks are today's most viable FTK decks around.

- Deck: Paradox
- Description: The new Paradox doesn't use Murkrow anymore, but it has a new destructive look. The basic strategy is to deny Trainers and Evolutions, then use Big Hitters to clean up.

- Deck: Dark Headache
- Description: Start with Psyduck [Fossil], Headache. Next turn, Energy Remove the energy they played and Headache. By turn 3, Psyduck should have 2 Psychic on him, drop a 3rd energy, and evolve to Dark Golduck. Then, Energy Remove the energy they played last turn, and Lass. Now you're ready to commence beatdown with Dark Golduck while they're literally helpless. IMO, more effective than the Dark Vile combo because you throw in the Energy denial theme and they can't play Trainers or Attack.

- Deck: Disable
- Description: Disabler is basically a Disruption-type deck. It focuses on early game Trainer Disruption, and a main Pokemon (which can range from status effect, bench damage, status lock, etc.). There are MANY different variants using different types of Pokemon (Koga's Weezing, Tentacruel, etc.)

- Deck: Insane Moltres Stall
- Description: The Insane Moltres stall was created by none other than tedv. Many people thought Alakazam was the only viable "Stall" Pokémon. The basis of an Insane Motlres Stall is to Wildfire your opponent's deck away, while disrupting his hand/trainers.


Playing pokemon since the day it's released pays off ^^.

[sneaselsrevenge]

An in depth encyclopedia of Poke-terms can be found here: http://www.pokegym.net/showthread.php?t=2616