Are you the parent of a child who’s recently become obsessed with catching ‘em all?
Or perhaps a lapsed fan, lured back to the Pokemon Trading Card Game after years away, to find a bewildering range of products – not to mention a whole host of new Pokemon types and card rarities?
Maybe you’re already familiar with the game, but need to know where to start with collecting or more competitive play?
Well, here’s where we come in – take our hand and let us guide you, as we cast our expert eyes over the best Pokemon Card Packs to buy and collect!
1. Pokemon: My First Battle Decks – Perfect For Young First Time Players
So where do you turn if your young one wants to play Pokemon, but the current Battle Decks are a little bit too intimidating or complicated for them to learn (and don’t worry – we’ll get to Battle Decks)?
Well, there’s the perfect product for that!
The My First Battle decks are designed to get even the youngest players up and running with the Pokemon Trading Card Game in no time.
Each pack contains a 17 card deck – much smaller than the usual 60 card deck you’ll find in the standard theme or starter decks.
There are two types of My First Battle deck – you can choose either Pikachu & Bulbasaur or Charmander & Squirtle packs; there’s not really a ‘best’ choice of these, as it’s purely down to the player’s preference of Pokemon characters.
Also included are play mats – one for each player – with a really useful, visual guide as to where everything is placed, along with a rules summary to help players out over the course of the game.
A coin – to use for certain card effects and to determine the starting player – is also in each box, along with damage counters and Prize tokens.
Usually, in a game of Pokemon, cards drawn face down from your deck are used as Prizes as players make progress; however, with only 17 cards in each of these decks, it makes sense that each card is used, allowing players to get to know their options as they learn the abilities, strengths and weaknesses of each card.
One thing you need to be cautious of with these cards is that they are not compatible with all other Pokemon cards that you buy.
Their card back is entirely different to the one found on standard Pokemon cards – which are standardised to allow any card to be used when deck building (take a look at our Pokemon card back design guide for more details).
That said, these cards are basic and you probably wouldn’t want to use them once you’d learned the ropes – moving on from here to standard cards would be the best idea, with the Pokemon Battle Academy (which I cover in the second entry on this list) being a good next step.
These My First Battle cards aren’t of interest for collectors and don’t suit long term play, but they’re an invaluable tool if you want to get a young fan involved in the game without immediately overwhelming them!
2. Pokemon Battle Academy – The Best Set For New Players
Once you know the basics – or you’re more confident that you can take on the standard game concepts and cards – the absolute best way to continue playing is with the Pokemon Battle Academy.
This has the look and feel of a self contained board game; it even has a board, rather than a paper play mat, on which you can play the Pokemon TCG!
Inside, along with the board, you’ll find three different Pokemon decks – each featuring a different Pokemon as its ‘main’ character.
So you’ll find Cinderace, Pikachu and Eevee decks here; all full, 60 card decks with cards that are completely compatible with all other Pokemon cards too – so if there are any that you particularly like and want to continue playing with outside of the Battle Academy, you certainly can.
Each deck has its own tutorial guide and, much like the simpler play mats in the My First Battle set, the board in the Battle Academy set is helpfully marked with rules reminders and highlighted areas, so you know where to place your different card types during play.
You’ll want to start with Cinderace vs Pikachu; the Eevee deck is a little more complex to use, but it’s there for when you’re ready to give it a shot!
Also in the Battle Academy box are damage tokens, deck boxes to store the cards in and a coin, to use for certain in-game effects and to determine the starting player.
It’s a great value set, especially as the contents can be used once you’ve started to collect more Pokemon TCG cards too.
There’s also no reason why you can’t continue to use the board as a sturdy play mat in future games either, making it a pretty handy accessory to have!
3. Pokemon 151 – The Best Set For Older Players or Parents
If you’re an old school player and you’re familiar with the original 151 Pokemon from the very first video games – which, not that I want to make you feel old, first emerged in the late 90s – then the Pokemon Scarlet & Violet: 151 set will be for you.
In fact, if you’re a parent of a younger Pokemon fan who’s already familiar with either the video game or the anime from your youth, then 151 will also be a great set for you to check out alongside your child (or children!).
It’s also full of great cards to collect and – with it being a recent release – there’s plenty here that’ll be competitive if you want to play with new people at, say, a Pokemon club near you.
As with all sets, we’d highly recommend that you start with a Battle Deck (previously known as Theme Decks) in order to get yourself the basis of a 60 card deck that you can also use to learn (or re-learn!) the game.
You can check out what we’d recommend in our best Pokemon Theme Decks guide.
Once you’re comfortable with modifying your deck, the best and most cost effective way to build up a collection is with an Elite Trainer Box, which gives you all of the premium accessories you need – including damage dice, plastic condition markers, a small number of energy cards of each type and themed card sleeves – along with a set guide book, 9 booster packs and even a promo card.
Though of course this is entirely subjective, in my opinion the Pokemon 151 sleeves are the most visually appealing of any of the most recent sets – and the Mew promo card in the Elite Trainer Box is excellent too.
The nostalgia of this set featuring the original 151 Pokemon has also drawn the attention of collectors too – making some cards from this set incredibly valuable.
Our most valuable cards in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet 151 guide will give you a bit more insight – so you’ll know if you find something really special!
If you’re taking your first steps into collecting – and getting hold of booster packs, without being familiar with the types of cards you may find – I’d highly recommend checking out our own guide to Pokemon Card Rarities.
I’d also suggest that you sleeve any foil cards that you come across, as they can sometimes be very valuable to collectors – but they are significantly less valuable if they’re marked or damaged in any way. Check out our guide to the best trading card sleeves for more assistance with those!
4. Obsidian Flames – The Best Set For Intermediate Players and Collectors
Though released before Pokemon Scarlet & Violet: 151, Obsidian Flames remains one of the most exciting, recent set releases.
It’s got some great cards that you’ll undoubtedly see in more competitive play – or even if you’re playing casually at a Pokemon Club, for example – and many of the cards in the set are still highly sought after by collectors.
Though not the first set to introduce Pokemon which go against their usual Energy type (you can find more information on this in our Pokemon Energy Types guide), it certainly used them in a big way.
So for example, Charizard is usually a Fire type Pokemon, but in Obsidian Flames it appears as a Dark-type Pokemon, thanks to it also being a ‘Tera’ Pokemon.
Tera Pokemon also can’t be hurt while on the Bench (which is to say, in play but not the currently Active Pokemon) and will often have a powerful ability – in the Charizard ex’s case, you can search your deck for up to three Fire Energy cards and then immediately attach them to any of your Pokemon, in any way you like.
This immediately powers up the Charizard ex’s devastating Burning Darkness attack, which deals a minimum of 180 HP of damage.
With 330 HP (with HP standing for Hit Points, representing the amount of health a Pokemon has before it’s Knocked Out, which happens when it reaches 0 or less HP), it’s pretty difficult to deal with this Charizard ex before it does some serious damage too.
That’s just one card of hundreds in the Obsidian Flames set, but it’s one that you will see a lot of in current decks – so it definitely makes sense to be aware of it!
5. Paradox Rift – The Best Set For Advanced Competitive Players and Collectors
So we’ve gone from the best packs to buy for absolute beginners to the absolute opposite end of the spectrum – with the Paradox Rift set.
It’s important to note – long term players and fans will be well aware of this – that the release schedule for any Trading Card Game or Collectable Card Game (which are pretty much interchangeable terms; they’re both ways to describe the same thing) can be pretty tough to keep up with.
A new set is generally released every few months; each one tends to be pretty hyped up by the publisher, as well as the player base – who are all too eager to get their hands on new cards and new mechanics.
There’s numerous reasons why Paradox Rift is the best choice right now for competitive players and collectors – but the main one is that it’s the most recent set, with the newest mechanics and keywords.
So if you’re looking to compete with players who keep up with the latest developments in the game, you’ll need to be aware of what you may come up against – as well as all of your options when it comes to the latest cards!
Paradox Rift introduces Paradox Pokemon, which are clearly denoted as ‘Ancient’ or ‘Future’ on their cards.
These Pokemon can get special bonuses when used with certain Trainer cards – which provide pretty powerful effects, but are restricted for use only with the specific ‘Ancient’ or ‘Future’ type Pokemon.
Paradox Rift also reintroduces an old type of Trainer card: Technical Machines. These are, again, really powerful cards that can only be used once, but can be attached to any Pokemon.
Many of the cards in Paradox Rift are seeing significant play in tournaments and more competitive, rather than casual, play right now.
Decks based around Roaring Moon ex – a new, Dark type Pokemon who’s also marked as ‘Ancient’ – are becoming very common.
So it helps to know that; you’re then able to either build a deck featuring this Pokemon yourself or create a deck that you intend to be effective against the attacks and abilities that Roaring Moon ex has.
Note that there are two different Paradox Rift Elite Trainer Boxes available; one based around Roaring Moon ex and the other featuring Iron Valiant ex.
This has enabled players to pick not only which Pokemon they’d prefer to start focusing on with the new cards, but also which Paradox type; Roaring Moon ex is ‘Ancient’ and Iron Valiant ex is ‘Future’.
Roaring Moon ex has emerged as the most popular of these two, but Iron Valiant ex and Future cards are also well supported in the Paradox Rift set!
How Can I Tell If My Pokemon Cards Are Genuine?
Unfortunately, if you’re not buying sealed packs or specific sets, such as the Battle Academy or My First Battle decks that we’ve mentioned above, buying Pokemon cards isn’t always as straightforward as you’d think it is.
Many new players and collectors get stung by online deals or even face to face purchases that can seem too good to be true – only to find that the cards they have are fake and unusable in game, holding no value for collecting either.
There are numerous ways to tell if your cards are genuine.
One of the easiest ‘tells’ is the actual quality of the card; many of the rarest cards have a textured feel or a specific holographic treatment that the producers of counterfeit cards can’t (or simply don’t) replicate.
Check out our guide to Reverse Holo Pokemon cards for more on different types of holographic treatment.
You’ll also often find nonsensical, over-inflated stats (such as hundreds or thousands of HP) or spelling mistakes popping up on fake cards; sometimes you’ll even see a different Pokemon in the illustration on the card, to the one that’s named at the top!
If you look at the side, top or bottom edges of a Pokemon card, you’ll also see that it’s made of two thin pieces of white card, with a black line between them.
With fake cards being so thin and cheaply made, this black line will generally not be there – so that’s another obvious thing to look out for.
Lastly, I’d advise simply buying from reputable sellers and avoiding big bundles of cards that are sold extremely cheaply, from sellers on marketplaces such as Facebook or eBay.
If they aren’t verified or don’t have strong, positive feedback from buyers, it definitely pays to be cautious.
You’ll always find original cards, even singles and bundles, from sites such as Magic Madhouse, Total Cards or even sites that provide excellent resources for collectors, like TCG Player.
