Pokemon Card Game for 4-year old and father?

Question

My kid was drawing his own pokemon cards in preschool, so my wife decided to go out and buy a set. I never played Pokemon (or any card game without the ace of spades) before this.

He gets the rules, but he doesn't get strategy - we play with our hands 'face up', because he won't hide them, and he's a little weak on planning ahead.

My question is, with only a cheap trainer set, is there any way to 'rig' the game so he has a BIG advantage and might actually win? By giving good cards to the kid, and bad cards to the grownup?

Also, what is the cheapest way to get a reasonable set of cards. I found out our trainer decks only have 30 cards, and I'm supposed to have 60. I'm not looking for rare cards or to collect, just to play a basic game with my kid.

Answer 1

Okay... these are not answered in order, but they are all there.

There are many ways to obtain a good set of cards. One of them is buying what is called 'theme decks'. These decks typically run anywhere from $10.99 to $14.99 and can be found at any local hobby shop or Department store (like a Target or Walmart). Within these theme decks is a playable 60 card deck that is absolutely perfect for beginners. Just open the deck and your off. Of course, for both of you to play, you need two theme decks.
The other way is to go on an auction website and find and purchase some lots or small collections of cards. Since cards get phased out in tournament play, the older are typically cheaper. The only problem with this is that you must build the decks on your own and that can get tricky. So my suggestion here is to purchase two theme decks (preferably from the same set but do not get two of the same exact decks) and you have all the supplies needed for a full game (including damage counters, coins and instructions). If you really want to get into it, after playing for a while and you are really comfortable with how the theme decks are built and played, then you can buy either used card lots (mentioned above) or boosters packs (usually around $3.29 for a 9 card pack at the same places) and change the deck up a little.

When it comes to cheap trainers, the more trainers there are, the better. Especially trainers that can heal Pokemon or draw cards. If you end up buying the theme decks, they are usually over abundant energy wise... but have some very use able trainers in them. So all you really have to do is switch a couple of the energy for some trainers.

One thing that you can do while playing with your son is remind him to make sure that he attaches an energy once every turn... either on the bench or the active Pokemon. This will greatly help in planning ahead by giving him backup when his active Pokemon is knocked out. That's all I can really say when it comes to planning ahead. Like they say, practice makes perfect. The more you play, the more you will learn.

If you find that your son really enjoys the game and wants to keep learning, there is a website put out by Nintendo. www.pokemon-tcg.com. On this website, you will be able to search some local leagues that are run year around. These leagues are generally free. During the league, your son will be able to play other kids around his age to earn even more cards. On top of that, there is usually someone always there that can help with deck strategy and how to help his game. You can also bring some of your other cards to trade with the other kids there.

I hope this helps and if you want to know anything else, feel free to let me know.

Answer 2

Personally, what i would do is go out with your son Jalen shopping and buy him his own little pack of pokemon cards. They only cost about 3-5 bucks. Then after give Jonathan his card back.

Answer 3

trainer decks are supposed to be combined into one big deck after you don't need training anymore. and you can't do that with a training deck, they are designed to be balanced out. you should probably buy a few booster packs and swap pokemon with trainer cards on your side, so he has more pokemon and therefore more attack power. if you aren't playing advanced with types and retreat cost it doesn't matter what kind of cards you switch.