Intro to the Format

    I've been playing the Pokémon TCG for a long time. Over the years I've accumulated mountains of cards from Base all the way up to modern sets. Exponentially getting more and more colored cardboard as new sets dropped. However, this casual approach never supplied me with the right cards to make truly viable decks, resulting in funky kitchen table unlimited games being the bulk of my experience. Cube formats intrigued me, but I wanted to keep a level of customization and freedom for players to be able to keep their decks for multiple games and maintain them over time so they could create a deck that really suited their playstyle. 

    There were a few issues though.

Burning Energy anyone?

    Powercreep is a terrible thing. Yes it's needed to keep sets fresh and keep players coming back for more, but it also meant dropping old cards so as to not have to make complex bans or errata. Instead of playing with the newer (and in my opinion, lamer) cards, I decided to ignore a decades worth of new Pokémon and go back to Generation 1-3 (later including Diamond and Pearl/Platinum era sets). To spice things up and keep me and my friends excited for newer sets, I decided to excuse most Trainer and Energy cards from the restriction, so cards like Burning Energy and Path to the Peak can coexist with older cards like Infernape DP and Medicham ex. 

    A few sweeping errata were made as well, but I'll save that for another post. Hopefully my format inspires you, reader, to go and make the Pokémon Trading Card Game your own so you can have even more fun with a great game.