So, you’ve watched all of the anime and have played every video game, grinded your way through their DLCs, caught them all, and you think you’re ready for the TCG (Trading Card Game)? You’re in luck! Today, we’ll be going over the inner-workings of building a Pokemon deck and some tips from someone who actually plays the game! Although trying anything new is intimidating, trust me when I say that Pokémon is one of the most inclusive environments to be in. It’s okay to not know anything when playing for the first time. People are generally excited to meet new players and help guide them to becoming an active member of our community!
Is it Expensive?
Of course, “blinging out” your deck can get pricey, with the rarest art of Giritina V (a popular Pokemon in today’s meta) being over $250; however, you can purchase the 2023 Pokémon TCG Worlds winning deck for as little as $40. For those who still find that number to be high, it’s important to keep in mind that a large number of cards that are used to build a deck can be staples to be used in other decks you’d be interested in building. Not only this, but Play! Pokemon also has a large scene for tournaments on a local level, where you are given free exclusive packs of cards and potential prize winnings to purchase more cards! Though there is a financial barrier of entry, if you play your cards right, you can be rather self-sufficient or even turn a profit as a Pokémon Master.
What Deck Should I Build?
When figuring out this question, there’s a few important things to remember.
- Cards may not be in standard format for much longer.
- Certain cards may not fit in today’s meta.
Recently, Pokemon finally announced that they will be rotating all “E Block” cards on April 5th. If you are unfamiliar by this phrase, Pokemon cards are released in sets and the “set number” indicated in the bottom left corner of the card, as shown here:
One exception to this rule is that Pokemon will often reprint cards in newer sets. When this happens, historic cards originally indicating they are rotated are now available to play in standard formats. Great examples of this are Ultra Ball, Professor’s Research, and Nest Ball, which have become staples in almost every decklist in today’s format.
A good rule of thumb as well is that all “V Max” cards will be rotated, so it may not be a great time to pick up these cards if you plan to play in the standard format in the near future. Though standard format is the most common way to play the TCG, there are other formats that allow you to use cards that have been rotated too, so not all hope is lost for those of you who’ve collected cards that may have already rotated.
In today’s meta we’re currently seeing Charizard ex, Gardevoir ex, Lost Box Giritina, and Roaring Moon having popular turnouts in recent Regional tournaments. These decks and a few others have made large impacts on today’s meta, affecting the decisions in the decks players choose to play and the specific cards they put in them. It will take experience playing against these decks to figure out what the most competitive deck there is to play. If everyone knew this, we would all be playing the same deck!
The information above was collected from PokeStats.live and was sourced from the 2024 Day 1 Dortmund Regional Tournament.
To help make these decisions, I recommend using tools such as Limitless TCG to see which decks are winning tournaments and what decks they’ve succeeded playing against. While it is important to know your potential matchups, the most important thing about this game, or any hobby, is to have fun! If you like a certain Pokemon, you should play it! What is important is to figure out what your deck is trying to accomplish and making sure your deck is able to achieve that consistently.
Basic Concepts
Now that you've figured out what type of deck you will be building (somewhat), here are a few questions you'll need to be able to solve:
What type of draw engine will you be using?
There are several options of cards you can use to get through our deck. Although 60 cards does not seem like much in comparison to games like Magic that use 100, you won't be having much fun if you're going to completely reliant on the top deck card every turn. Though many strong decks rely on using several supporter cards to get through there deck, there are great options of Pokémon that can help achieve this. Here are some examples:
This is one of the most popular engines as it allows you to draw through your deck quickly and have additional benefits when reaching certain amounts in the "Lost Zone". Comfey (SWSH11) is the main staple of this engine that are often paired with Cramorant (SWSH11) and Sableye (SWSH11) as attackers. Lost Box Engines will usually have a limited amount of supporters, but will almost always include 4 copies of Colress's Experiment.
Kirlia (SWSH12) provides an extremely quick way to explore your deck and find exactly what you need to find victories. Kirlia is often paired with Gardevoir and Gardevoir ex to allow the transition from drawing cards to attacking to be seamless. This decklist has found a great amount of success, taking a stronghold in todays meta and winning the 2024 Knocksville Regional Tournemnt.
Which Supporters Should I use?
There is a great amount of Supporter cards you can use in your deck. Unless if you have a reliable way to draw cards reliably every turn, it's a good idea to make sure you include a few of these:
1. Professor's Research
This card is a savior in times where you draw into an handfull of energy and feel hopeless. While this card suffers the draw back of discarding important cards, sometimes having a fresh hand can save you from a doomed game.
2. Iono
Iono, much like Professor's Research is a great card to have in hand when you need a fresh hand; however, Iono has the added benefit to potentially put your opponent in a tough spot later in the game.
3. Boss's Orders
Boss's Orders might be the most common card that is used in every deck in every format. It is often the card you'll want to have in your hand to ensure a win. Because you can only use one Supporter Card per turn, some players will lower their counts of Boss's Orders and will opt to using Counter Catchers depending on it's expected effectiveness.
What Search Cards Will You Use?
Once you've solved how you will reliably draw cards, you still won't have a way to guarantee you'll find the cards you need. To help solve this, we play item cards! Item cards are extremely useful to help build consistency within a deck. Choosing which items and their counts will back or break your consistency. Below are a few items that are often seen in today's format:
- Battle VIP
- Nest Ball
- Ultra Ball
- Super Rod
- Earthen Vessel
Conclusion
There are many neiche cards you will want to play depending on what deck you choose to play. While it will be helpful to do research online, I strongly encourage asking and interacting with your local Pokémon community. This will not only give you the resources to building stronger decks and becoming a better player, it could potentially lead to you making lifelong friends as well. After all, isn't that the true spirit of the game?