The Start of a Decked-Out Adventure

Earlier, I had mentioned in a post regarding being expectant of the Pokémon TCG that I was actually awaiting a physical deck, but I wasn't able to get it then because of some problems that weren't mine to begin with. Today, I finally got the physical deck I was promised, by way of an outing for them at a place I know well around my locale. In a way, I had surmised that this could happen, and it did; it affirmed my decision to write up the Pokémon Go event rollup the other day, so that I could write about this today.

This starter deck (evident from the wording on the box) has all the cards needed to start playing - 60 of them - as well as the damage counters necessary to keep track of damage to Pokémon as they are affected. It doesn't have a coin, but this can easily be made up. Any player, budding or blooming alike, should have no trouble breaking out the deck and start playing right away, especially as it includes a single-sheet "quick start guide" to playing, for those new to the game or who just need something to review. Needless to say, the cards are of the localized variant.

"Start playing" was also definitely something that I did the very same day, also as expected the other day, though it was against a more experienced player with a constructed deck, a deck that had been adjusted. Thanks to playing the TCGO, I already knew most of what I can and needed to do in order to play, though I kept the quick start guide handy just for review... until someone took it to take a look at it mid-way through my match, and when I wanted to retrieve it, it had gone missing. Further, as it was my first time playing with a physical deck outside the confines of the TCGO, the automated "checks and balances" were missing, and it might have affected my gameplay. Predictably, I lost the match, and hope for a second practice match practically vanished over the course of the day.

Even with that, there were some bits of ingenuity that I discovered while playing. Because the locale is often full of people playing board or card games, they have tools I don't have, like plenty of dice to advance progress of certain games, and these can be used in the TCG match as well. Polyhedral dice could be used to keep track of damage to Pokémon, instead of my included counters. In lieu of a coin, a die could be used to call for an odd or even number, with similar effect. I've yet to discover any related to the actual physical game, but I will probably do soon enough.

It could be said that I've had a bit of a rough start to my physical TCG progress, and this somewhat confirms that I really am "not ready for prime time" despite experience with the TCGO. It was probably a good thing that I was kept away from that tournament, given this case. But now that I have a gateway to a physical start, I may be able to make headway very soon to become familiar with the game as it's intended to be played: a physical, hands-on adventure with Pokémon on a deck of cards.

One year ago: Solidarity Making
Two years ago: Reunions!