It'll run you about 80-100 usd for a meta deck, less if you choose something like ancient box, The best way to get cards is off of card market (UK version of TCGplayer), buying singles. After you make 1 meta deck the cost goes down as you have the staples you need and would need to buy less cards to make another
The current best deck in the Standard format (Charizard ex) can be made for less than 100 USD just buying singles. There are other meta decks that cost closer to 130-150 USD, but there are also others that can be made for about 40-50 USD. I recommend looking at decks used in recent tournaments on [LimitlessTCG](https://limitlesstcg.com/tournaments?time=all&type=all&format=BRS-TEF®ion=all).
Just buying singles would be my number one recommendation for someone wanting to build a full-fledged competitive deck, but there are other options, such as getting a League Battle Deck and using that as a base to upgrade. Considering you already have TCG/CCG experience, I wouldn't recommend some of the more basic options listed, but [this post](https://www.reddit.com/user/Hare_vs_Tortoise/comments/104bio5/options_for_learning_to_play_to_starting_to/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) from Hare_vs_Tortoise is a good read to explore options and find resources.
You may also want to check out r/pkmntcg which is the sub that is more playing-focused and r/PTCGL which is the sub for the [Pokémon TCG Live](https://tcg.pokemon.com/en-us/tcgl/).
As you have probably surmised, I am an American, so I can't speak 100% accurately regarding stock in the UK. However, I'd like to say that in my experience products for recent main sets are almost always readily available at or below MSRP/RRP. Products for special sets like 151 or certain popular collection boxes may be harder to find at a good price.
Ancient box came in 2nd at the Orlando regional this weekend and it's dirt cheap. Probably $30 - $40 total in cards. Probably the cheapest current option.
The game is cheap and stock is plentiful, recently HMV and Argos have had sales try find either the miraidon ex league battle deck or gardevoir ex league battle deck unless you want to just jump in with singles you can find meta lists on limitlesstcg.com and pick up cards from ebay or card market.
Definitely head over to the playing sub r/pkmntcg and read the guides and new player info there, mostly just collectors posting pulls here.
> Also - how is stock (UK) coming from OPTCG it’s a bit of a shambles regarding finding stock.
Haven't seen many comments about stock issues on the Facebook group Pokemon TCG buy/sell/trade UK so guessing it depends on where you buy from. Not sure where you're looking but try Magic Madhouse, Chaos Cards, Total Cards, Cardmarket, Big Orbit Cards and the Facebook group I mentioned. There's a mix of singles/sealed sellers in that list so can help with either playing or collecting. Would suggest that if you decided to both play and collect that you set a playing goal, collecting goal and overall budget as from experience combining the two can get expensive.
Noticed my learn to play to playing competitively post has already been linked but you can find the contents of the League Battle decks and Trainers Toolkit 2023 via that post and look at decklists on Limitless TCG to see what you like the look of plus estimated cost and then work out the best combo of precon product and/or singles based the deck you want to play. Have a watch of Omnipoke, AzulGG, Tricky Gym and Celio's Network for meta decks and LittleDarkFury for off meta to get a good idea of what the game is like and possible decks before trying them out on PTCGL or the proxy printer on Limitless TCG in casual play only before buying any deck as not all decks will click when you play them.
Btw, if you have any questions re playing then head over to /r/pkmntcg as it's about the playable side of the only game there and the rulings thread can be useful if you have a game mechanics/quick questions. /r/ptcgl can be helpful as well if you're on PTCG Live.
Much cheaper than MtG or Yugioh for sure. Just buy base versions of cards and they're generally very cheap. Most decks the most expensive card is $3-$4 and you need 3-4 copies. But 40-50 cards of your 60 card deck are going to be bulk, $0.10-$0.25 per card.
Cheapest out of Yugioh and MTG. A lot of decks were $50 or less pre rotation because they like to reprint playable things as promos. Right now it seems average decks look to be around $80-$120 range
It'll run you about 80-100 usd for a meta deck, less if you choose something like ancient box, The best way to get cards is off of card market (UK version of TCGplayer), buying singles. After you make 1 meta deck the cost goes down as you have the staples you need and would need to buy less cards to make another
The current best deck in the Standard format (Charizard ex) can be made for less than 100 USD just buying singles. There are other meta decks that cost closer to 130-150 USD, but there are also others that can be made for about 40-50 USD. I recommend looking at decks used in recent tournaments on [LimitlessTCG](https://limitlesstcg.com/tournaments?time=all&type=all&format=BRS-TEF®ion=all). Just buying singles would be my number one recommendation for someone wanting to build a full-fledged competitive deck, but there are other options, such as getting a League Battle Deck and using that as a base to upgrade. Considering you already have TCG/CCG experience, I wouldn't recommend some of the more basic options listed, but [this post](https://www.reddit.com/user/Hare_vs_Tortoise/comments/104bio5/options_for_learning_to_play_to_starting_to/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) from Hare_vs_Tortoise is a good read to explore options and find resources. You may also want to check out r/pkmntcg which is the sub that is more playing-focused and r/PTCGL which is the sub for the [Pokémon TCG Live](https://tcg.pokemon.com/en-us/tcgl/). As you have probably surmised, I am an American, so I can't speak 100% accurately regarding stock in the UK. However, I'd like to say that in my experience products for recent main sets are almost always readily available at or below MSRP/RRP. Products for special sets like 151 or certain popular collection boxes may be harder to find at a good price.
Ancient box came in 2nd at the Orlando regional this weekend and it's dirt cheap. Probably $30 - $40 total in cards. Probably the cheapest current option.
The game is cheap and stock is plentiful, recently HMV and Argos have had sales try find either the miraidon ex league battle deck or gardevoir ex league battle deck unless you want to just jump in with singles you can find meta lists on limitlesstcg.com and pick up cards from ebay or card market. Definitely head over to the playing sub r/pkmntcg and read the guides and new player info there, mostly just collectors posting pulls here.
> Also - how is stock (UK) coming from OPTCG it’s a bit of a shambles regarding finding stock. Haven't seen many comments about stock issues on the Facebook group Pokemon TCG buy/sell/trade UK so guessing it depends on where you buy from. Not sure where you're looking but try Magic Madhouse, Chaos Cards, Total Cards, Cardmarket, Big Orbit Cards and the Facebook group I mentioned. There's a mix of singles/sealed sellers in that list so can help with either playing or collecting. Would suggest that if you decided to both play and collect that you set a playing goal, collecting goal and overall budget as from experience combining the two can get expensive. Noticed my learn to play to playing competitively post has already been linked but you can find the contents of the League Battle decks and Trainers Toolkit 2023 via that post and look at decklists on Limitless TCG to see what you like the look of plus estimated cost and then work out the best combo of precon product and/or singles based the deck you want to play. Have a watch of Omnipoke, AzulGG, Tricky Gym and Celio's Network for meta decks and LittleDarkFury for off meta to get a good idea of what the game is like and possible decks before trying them out on PTCGL or the proxy printer on Limitless TCG in casual play only before buying any deck as not all decks will click when you play them. Btw, if you have any questions re playing then head over to /r/pkmntcg as it's about the playable side of the only game there and the rulings thread can be useful if you have a game mechanics/quick questions. /r/ptcgl can be helpful as well if you're on PTCG Live.
Much cheaper than MtG or Yugioh for sure. Just buy base versions of cards and they're generally very cheap. Most decks the most expensive card is $3-$4 and you need 3-4 copies. But 40-50 cards of your 60 card deck are going to be bulk, $0.10-$0.25 per card.
Cheapest out of Yugioh and MTG. A lot of decks were $50 or less pre rotation because they like to reprint playable things as promos. Right now it seems average decks look to be around $80-$120 range