Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Old player trying to get back into the game

Reizouko

New Member
Hi Pokemon TCG people! The last time I played the game was in 2004 or so, I remember Gardevoir from EX Ruby & Sapphire was one of the last decks I played. Fast forward to 2016, for some reason the Pokemon TCG came back to my mind and now I want to get back into the game. I have several questions and would appreciate any kind of help!

1) More than 10 years have passed since I last played. How "alive" is the game? If anyone who played in the early 2000's is here, I would love to hear opinions on how the quality and quantity of the community has changed. Any opinion in general on the current state is appreciated too!

2) Back in 2004 I was a kid and couldn't afford cards, which was also the reason I quit. Now I have a job and can afford stuff. How much should I expect to spend for a competitive deck?

3) I live in Japan, so I guess I will try to get into the pokemon tcg scene here. I remember back in the days it was only allowed to use Japanese cards as long as you had a copy in the countries language (in my case German). Is this still true? Just asking in case I ever go to international tournaments (well ok, maybe I'm looking a little too far ahead...haha), since I probably won't get many non-Japanese cards here.

4) Just out of curiosity, back in the early 2000's everyone was crazy for Japanese cards, is that still true? I don't even know why, but everyone wanted them.

5) Do people really not buy booster packs? I read that buying single cards is cheaper basically everywhere.

I appreciate any kind of help. Thanks in advance!
 
1. We just had the largest US National Championships, ever. They had to turn away players.
Attendance is up everywhere.

2. Depends on the deck, but a couple of hundred dollars can get the makings of a competitive deck.
Shaymin EX is the most expensive staple.

3. Actually, now you can only use Japanese cards in Japan and you can't use non-Japanese cards inside Japan.
The only exception is the World Championship.

4. Since you can't use them now, there is not as much of a desire for them, but there are still those that want them.

5. Lots of people buy booster packs. Don't take what a subset does and extend it to the entire public.
 
This comes from someone who has played, on and off, since Base Set. Mostly out of things during the NEO block and the Diamond/Pearl era (until starting to collect from the last few sets once I started during HeartGold/SoulSilver).

To comment on question 5: if you're looking for a lot of common/uncommon cards from a set, grabbing a booster box works well. If you're looking for the rarer "chase" cards, or for specific cards from a set, buying singles generally works better.
 
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