Played through the Pokemon TCG videogame again through the Virtual Console. I think the game itself stood the test of time fairly well. Obviously I have some complaints, the major one on the videogame front being an unskippable tutorial. My biggest problem is with the card game itself though, as it relies way too heavily on luck. You'd understand frustration after being paralyzed by a Lickitung six turns in a row, unable to do anything at all. It makes me appreciate Magic the Gathering all the more.
It's still fun to play with the old cards though. The best deck is easily a Rain Dance deck. You get most of the pieces at the start, meaning you don't have to grind for the key pieces like you would a Psychic deck or a Haymaker deck. You get the main part of a tier 1 deck right from the start, that being Blastoise. Obviously you still have to gather the other cards, your additional copies of the Squirtle line, your Dewgong/Gyarados (preference being Gyarados), Articuno, Lapras, Kangaskhan, Breeders, Bills, Oaks, Computer Searches, and your 1-2 copies of stuff like SER, Item Finder, and Gust of Wind. However the deck is very powerful. You dump your hand using Blastoise, then refill it with Oak and repeat. The deck is especially strong since Electric type decks are easily the weakest type of deck. You can easily win with the help of your non-weak to electric cards, Gyarados, Articuno, and Kangaskhan. The deck is also even more powerful once you beat the game and get the Legendary Articuno, which is a perfect fit for the deck.
The second best deck is probably the mono-Grass deck, since you can choose to start out with Venusaur. You get the Venusaur line, Pinsir, and Scyther. You can then add on the Beedrill line, maybe even the Venomoth line. Then you fill up the rest with Colorless Pokemon, particularly Wigglytuff.
Psychic would normally be the second best deck type, but you have to search for key pieces. Once you get them though the deck is very powerful. Alakazam and Gengar are both amazing and have powerful evolutionary lines (at least if you use all the Fossil era Ghastly and Haunter). You then have some of the best Basic Pokemon in the game with Mr. Mime, Jynx, and Promo Mewtwo.
Fire type decks are left a bit short. Sure Charizard is powerful, but it is too energy intensive to really work well. Instead the deck is better off using cards like Ninetales and Rapidash, both of which are excellent Pokemon. It has some good basics with Magmar and Moltres too.
Fighting types are left with basically Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan. Aerodactyl is also fine, although hard to work with.
Electric has nothing good besides Electabuzz. The only reason to use Electric is as part of Haymaker.
Best colorless Pokemon are Chansey, Farfetch'd, Dragonite, Wigglytuff, Clefable, Kangaskhan, Lickitung, Dodrio. Use them to fill out your deck or to defeat Psychic Pokemon. Kangaskhan, Chansey, and Wigglytuff in particular are cards that should easily find a place in your deck since they're just so good.
Aug 20, 2015
by
trachy
Got a dream trade. Traded away literally $15 in bulk rares for a copy of Hangarback Walker. Excellent trade not just because I need Hangarback for my UR Ensoul, Abzan Aggro, and Mardu Aristocrats deck but also because it is a good investment for the future. Hangarback is going to be huge. It's already set up as a card that will see play in almost every Standard deck. But is also has eternal potential. Affinity can easily slot it in. And it even is a good fit for Vintage Workshop since it works so well with Ravager and Forgemaster.
Aug 20, 2015
by
trachy
My thoughts on the AM hacked account leaks:
I'm disgusted by anybody taking delight in this revelation. It does not matter that cheaters are being exposed, that is not the sort of information that should be so easily put out into public view. Cheating on a spouse without their knowledge or consent is obviously morally and ethically wrong as it is a breaking of what should be one of the most important trust pacts between two humans that can possibly exist. Yet it is not something that should be made common knowledge, at least not without the consent of the party being cheated on. I doubt that these betrayed spouses enjoy having this sort of dirty laundry aired in public, as it is incredibly embarrassing to both them and the rest of their family to have their friends and neighbors be fully aware of this sort of infidelity. It should be up to the person who was being cheated on to make the decision whether to privately work out the relationship with the adulterer, or to air this information out in public. Hackers should not make these decisions for them.
Aug 20, 2015
by
trachy
