Retro Pokemon Formats

Ideas & Suggestions
1

Hello,

Thanks for providing a good way to play old formats. One improvement I think youncould make is by aligning your formats on tcgone with how old formats are played in real life. Here is a blog gaining popularity, revisiting and discussing them: https://jklaczpokemon.wordpress.com

Gen 1 is comprised of (in most playable ):

Base - Jungle
Base - Fossil
Rocket - Neo (Rocket-On)
E-Card Only

All of which are quite playable. I witnessed many people playing these formats more specifically than ever at the latest TCG Regionals tournaments in Memphis and St Louis.

At the moment on tcgone, when you click gen1 you get matched with people with other sets. This is problematic when it gets to >30 users.

I think as pokemon is bigger than ever now - it is the largest card game, and old card prices reaching higher prices and harder to find. Your website tcgone is the best way to keep these old formats most accessible. Especially as The Pokemon Company International does not and will probably not recognise old WOTC cards.

Again, thanks for providing this good free site. Hopefully you can promote on reddit .

2

Hi @reallifepoke, thanks for your interest

We currently have following formats:

Classic (Base-Rocket),
Gen 1 (Base-Rocket-Gym)
Rocket-on
E-Card

So we are missing:

Base-Jungle
Base-Fossil

I feel like we have too many formats already. We should probably do a poll about this.

Also, what about GYM sets? The list of formats you mentioned doesn’t seem to include any of them.

3

Sorry to bump this, but I am new to this site and sort of agree with the OP about basing the formats offered on those that actually took place. The list I have compiled below should be accurate and contain the majority of the played formats based on the card pool offered by this site (I understand some cards and expansions have not been implemented yet):

Classic (Base Set, Jungle, Fossil, Base Set 2, WBSP #1-10)

Generation 1 (Base Set, Jungle, Fossil, Base Set 2, Vending Machine, Team Rocket, Gym Heroes, Gym Challenge, WBSP #1-20) Even though the Vending Machine series were not released outside Japan, they would fit best here.

Rocket-On/'01-'02 Modified (Team Rocket, Gym Heroes, Gym Challenge, Neo Genesis, Neo Discovery, Neo Revelation, Neo Destiny, Southern Island, Legendary Collection, WBSP #1-49) Ancient Mew & Birthday Pikachu are not legal. Sneasel (Neo Genesis) is banned.

Base-Neo (Base Set, Jungle, Fossil, Base Set 2, Vending Machine, Team Rocket, Gym Heroes, Gym Challenge, Neo Genesis, Neo Discovery, Neo Revelation, Neo Destiny, Southern Island, Legendary Collection, WBSP #1-49) Ancient Mew & Birthday Pikachu are not legal.

Neo-On/'02-'03 Modified (Neo Genesis, Neo Discovery, Neo Revelation, Neo Destiny, Southern Island, Legendary Collection, Expedition Base Set, Aquapolis, Skyridge, Best of Game, WBSP #21-53) Ancient Mew & Birthday Pikachu are not legal. Sneasel (Neo Genesis) & Slowking (Neo Genesis) are banned.

Generation 2/Wizards of the Coast Era (Base Set, Jungle, Fossil, Base Set 2, Vending Machine, Team Rocket, Gym Heroes, Gym Challenge, Neo Genesis, Neo Discovery, Neo Revelation, Neo Destiny, Southern Island, Legendary Collection, Expedition Base Set, Aquapolis, Skyridge, Best of Game, WBSP #1-53) Ancient Mew & Birthday Pikachu are not legal.

E-On/'03-'04 Modified (Expedition Base Set, Aquapolis, Skyridge, EX Ruby & Sapphire, EX Sandstorm, EX Dragon, EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua, EX Hidden Legends, POP Series 1, EX Trainer Kit, NBSP #1-25)

RS-On /'04-'05 Modified (EX Ruby & Sapphire, EX Sandstorm, EX Dragon, EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua, EX Hidden Legends, POP Series 1, EX Trainer Kit, EX FireRed & LeafGreen, EX Team Rocket Returns, EX Deoxys, EX Emerald, NBSP #1-25)

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4

Thanks for the reply, but I couldn’t understand whether your compilation of formats were meant to serve as reference to existing state of TCG ONE, or as a suggestion to change the formats in TCG ONE to those of your suggestions?

5

This website uses a subset of formats that are either the same or close to these. I was saying that to improve historical accuracy and potentially draw more players looking for specific formats, you should change what you currently have to match these formats as closely as possible.

6

OK, For starters we can look at the first two formats:

  1. I will change current Classic format, which used to have BS, JU, FO, TR, WBSP (1-18) on TCG ONE to your suggestion below. Are you sure that WBSP card list (1-10) is true? Where did you get this information?
  1. I will change GEN 1 format which is already very similar to the suggestion but with 2 differences: I have WBSP (1-28) and you have (1-20) listed. Also, I have Southern Islands in GEN 1, but you don’t. Could you explain these differences?
7

It has to do with the release and legality dates. For example, if we are saying that our Classic format is going to be defined as Base, Jungle, Fossil, and Base Set 2, only the promos that were released and legal in that same time frame should be legal along side of them. It wouldn’t make sense to include promos numbered after those because they weren’t released yet, and should only be included in a format that allows later expansions. Therefore if we are dropping Team Rocket from that group, the promos from that era should be dropped as well.

The same logic applies for the promos for Gen 1. The later release dates and the fact that Wizards of the Coast specifically chose to rotate promos #1-20 for their Neo-On format lends credence to the fact that these promos comprise the Gen 1 era.

As for the Southern Island set, it was released right before the Neo expansions in Japan and right in the middle of the Neo expansions outside of Japan. Considering the fact that it also contains Gen 2 Pokemon, I don’t think it should belong with Gen 1 at all. It essentially served to launch Gen 2 in Japan.

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8

also on tcg one there is no Neo - on format in career mode.
i believe the format exists in quickplay mode but not for normal career games. not sure why this is.

9

@Mannyfresh I disagree about the Southern Islands, Japanese players played with Southern Islands in Base-Gym for seven whole months (July 1999) before Neo Genesis was released (February 2000)…it belongs in both Base-Gym and Rocket-On in the same way that the Gym Series belongs in both. Gym Challenge release date was only 1 month before Southern Islands (June 1999). Mostly Gen 1 Pokemon in Southern Islands and there isn’t anything game breaking that would mess up the format if they were included (the format is already a hot mess as it stands with the Trap combo). It would liven up the Prop 15/3 format as well with more variety

@admin please add Southern Islands back into Base-Gym as it was before mannyfresh had it removed.

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10

based necroposter

11

I wouldn’t mind seeing the Southern Island cards added to Base Gym. More cards to use never hurts.

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12

I was thinking of working on a retro format, that was base-gym, but with a banned or restricted list. Ie restrict energy removal and super energy removal, and see where things go. I play MTG and we have done this something like this. I enjoy EX, but It might also be interesting to try to make a better and more fun format out of the most nostalgic cards.

13

A format of this nature already exists in Japan for the Base-Neo format. It’s called the Hall of Fame format, and uses an eight point deck building system to restrict the cards you named and many others, creating a nostalgic format with a broad card pool that enables decks built around cards from across first and second generation (excluding e-card). For example, Super Energy Removal is worth 5 points, Energy Removal and Computer Search are each worth 2 points, and Blastoise is also worth 2 points, so if your Rain Dance deck runs two Blastoise, you won’t be able to abuse Super Energy Removal. The Hall of Fame lists are moderated by the Japanese player base and are updated on a yearly basis.

A classical format that’s currently popular on TCGONE is Prop 15/3, a Base-Gym format where you’re limited to 15 trainers and up to 3 copies of each card (Pokémon, Trainer, and Special Energy alike). It was an actual format that existed… for one tournament… under Wizards of the Coast. There’s no pre-programmed “Prop 15/3” option for Quickplay, but at least fifteen players play this format using Base-Gym Quickplay. It’s not perfect, but it’s more consistent than you’d expect it to be, and the matchups are close.

14

I just thought of something. You know how the current plan for filling out the retro formats in PTCGONE has so far been to keep progressing through the Diamond and Pearl era? I actually wonder if it wouldn’t be better to add Undaunted through Call of Legends first. That way, TCGONE could complete the HGSS block format (which is currently only comprised of HGSS and Unleashed) and Knock Out two Worlds formats… in only two sets! Then they could circle back around to filling out 2009 and 2010 worlds (and the DPPt block format).
Of course, this still wouldn’t change the fact that the scarcity of resident programmers places a limit on how quickly TCGONE can debug the formats before being able to justify moving on to the next project. I just thought it was something to consider. Let me know if this topic deserves its own thread.
Hope you’re doing well, Admin. Thanks for committing some of your precious time to debug the formats TCGONE users already enjoy. Let me know if anyone else deserves a shoutout as well.

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15

Aligning the old formats on tcgone with how they are played in real life is definitely a great idea, and it’s important to ensure that players can easily find matches with others who are playing the same format. We will take your suggestions into consideration as we continue to make improvements to the website. The blog you provided also seems like a great resource for revisiting and discussing old formats, so we will definitely check it out. We appreciate your support and feedback, and we’re committed to providing the best experience for Pokemon TCG players on our website.

16

I made a post here about possibly adding or supporting different user-made formats, if anyone wants to comment there.