Computer Search: There’s a list!

Jumping right into it, here’s a breakdown of the Pokecube and some info as well:

Cube Information

• Total Cards: 366
• Players Supported: 6
• Format: Draft (4 packs of 12, 1 pack of 13*), Sealed, Rotisserie
• Draft Decks: 50 Cards, 5 Prizes, Sealed Decks: 40 Cards, 4 Prizes
• Rules: Singleton, No ex/EX Pokemon, No ACE SPEC Trainers

So that’s everything in a nutshell.  The PC is based around Travvy the Renewer’s idea of drafting Pokemon lines (i.e. I’m going to draft Blastoise) and building decks from that.  Each Energy type has 1-2 main lines as well as a set of Basics and Eeveelutions to help fill out decks and synergize with specific archtypes.  The rest of the Cube is filled with powerful Trainers spanning from Base Set to XY and will continue to update as sets are released.

4/12, 1/13

The draft style is made with the intention of drafting the entire Cube among 6 players, although you can always draft with less.  I keep the 6 most recently added Trainers in ‘flex slots’ and seed 1 of them into the last pack for each player.  You don’t need to do this, of course, but I find it useful in quickly judging how well newer cards are doing.  For Sealed format, simply shuffle up the Cube and deal 90 cards to each player.

50/5, 40/4

Normal Pokemon games are played with 60 cards and decks and 6 prizes, however, this proves to be difficult to replicate in limited play.  These numbers currently hit the sweet spot for creating consistently strong decks while managing to end games before decking (Losing due to not being able to draw a card) occurs.

Singleton

A Cube wouldn’t be very interesting if all you did was throw in multiples copies of all of the most powerful cards.  Instead, we add in no more than one of each which makes deck building and discovering synergy that much more fun.  Since Pokemon require other specific cards to evolve, this is solved by adding in several different copies of each Pokemon (Like 6 different Pikachu).  The caveat to this is that reprint under different names (Gust of Wind/Pokemon Catcher) are allowed because they’re technically different cards.  Plus, they’re usually obscenely good and multiple decks will want to draft them.

No ex/EX or ACE SPEC

This is one of those rules that’s up the air right now.  The idea is that ex/EX Pokemon become very centralizing, making decks that manage to open them in drafts much stronger than those that don’t.  Pokemon is already an extremely luck based game and I’m not looking to further that.  Also, in games where you only have 5 or 4 prizes, knocking out an ex/EX can end a game prematurely.

ACE SPEC cards are a bit different in that they create restrictions I don’t necessarily enjoy.  People Cube because they want to be able to play all of the best cards and not being able to play one card because you have another in your deck is counter-intuitive to that.

Cube List

Right now you can check out a text version of the list here.  Feel free to comment on what you like or dislike, I’m always up for new ideas.  My next goal will be to set up a visual spoiler since pictures are way more fun to look at than words.  For now, enjoy and happy Cubing!

Professor’s Letter: An Introduction

If you’re reading this, then I’m going to guess that you’re either a fan of Pokemon, Cubing or card games in general. (If not, then welcome! Enjoy your stay.)  This blog is an effort to provide information about my playgroup’s Pokemon TCG Cube that I manage.  I know there’s a lot of strange words in that sentence, so some introductions are in order.

What’s a Cube?

A Cube is the best format you could imagine for playing your favorite TCGs.  Imagine if you threw all of your favorite cards from a game (Like Magic or Pokemon) into a box.  That’s kind of what a Cube is: A self-built set or collection of cards that you use to create decks with.

Why Pokemon?

While I do already have a MTG Cube built (You can view it here!), I’m also a big fan of Pokemon.  I play VGC competitively and have even messed around in TCG tournaments a few times.  The thing is, I love having every card at my disposal, so rotating formats just aren’t for me.  I want to use all of my favorites and see how powerful older cards synergize with newer puzzle pieces.  This Cube is an outlet for that.

What’s next?

If you’ve gotten this far, then I’m sure you want to see the list!  It’s currently updated through X&Y and has undergone quite a few changes.  I check new sets regularly for updates and occasionally dig through forgotten sets for old gems.  As of now, an older version of the list is compiled here in a Google Doc.  Over the next week or so, I’ll be updating the list to its current form as well as adding a visual spoiler for ease of access.  Following that will be blogs about specific Pokemon lines or deck archtypes and anything else that I may feel like writing about. Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you all soon!