Tips for making a solid pokemon deck

You probably won’t believe me when I say this, but I love playing Pokémon the trading card game. It’s something I started during the time… I think it was either right before or right after the pandemic. It was one of my first endeavors to try and build more in person friendships after a… mildly traumatic situation with a former friend.

Building Pokemon decks is easy for me now. I have about thirteen to seventeen decks together. Do I use them all? From time to time. Are they all winners? Not exactly. But deck building always involves lots of trial and error, which is a trait of any TCG game out there. And sometimes, the process can be a bit longer and harder than you want it to be. (This doesn’t even factor in competitive play and the rapidly changing format.)

That being said, Pokemon decks are fun to play. And in order to play pokemon, you need a deck. And while I may not be an expert on deck-building, I do know enough to make a competent deck.

So, buckle up! It’s time for Scribbles to utilize their favorite blog mechanic! It’s time for a fucking list!

• You should never feel any pressure to make a competitive deck. If there is a Pokémon card with a mechanic that you enjoy, make a deck around that card!
• If you’re not sure how to start making a deck around the pokemon you’ve chosen, there is no shame in looking up how other folks make their decks. Sites like limitlesstcg.com or pokemoncard.io have decklists made by other “trainers.” Limitless decklists usually have decks that are/were decks that have seen tournament play. While pokemoncard.io has more for fun decklists made by people who may not have used them in tournaments, but they have lists that work for them.
• If you are starting from scratch, there are a few standard things to keep in mind when it comes to structuring.
  • Decks need to have a total of sixty cards.
  • Unless it’s basic energy, you can have up to four copies of any card in your deck. And unless the card directs you to only have one copy, most of the time it’s a good idea to go for the max.
  • (Opinion) It’s always a good idea to have at least ten basic in your deck. Basic Pokemon are the cards that don’t need to be evolved to be put into play. And the fewer you have in a deck, the less easy it will be to get your strategy into play.
  • You want to have enough support cards in your deck that help your roster of pokemon do the things you need them to do.
    • Supporters like Iono and Judge help you shuffle bad hands back into your deck. Arven lets you grab a tool and an item. There are a lot of others too that do various things. (Note: You can only use one Supporter per turn.) Draw Support is always a good thing.
    • Item cards like any of the Pokeballs or Buddy Buddy Poffin help you get Pokemon out of your deck and onto your bench. Energy Retrievals and Super Rods are great ways to recycle energy (and pokemon.)
    • Tools and stadiums can also be good for decks that need extra buffers and boosts. Depending on the deck of course. It’s always good to pair your pokemon with tools and stadiums that benefit them. Like don’t use a stadium that helps poison decks, in a deck that doesn’t utilize the poison mechanic.
  • Make sure you know what Pokemon work well with the pokemon/energy typing you use. JustInBasil has a good list of essential cards for deckbuilding. Even though it’s for the current format, it still has great cards you can use to build solid decks that are fun. In fact, that’s another website where there are decklists and lots of good tips and tricks. So, check it out.
• If you use an online decklist, don’t sweat it if you don’t have every card on the list. You don’t need them all. You just need enough to be able to execute the main purpose of the deck.
• Test out your deck as many times as you can. It’ll be a great way to get a good feel for your new deck, and it’ll also give you a chance to edit your list to your satisfaction! Plus! It can be so much fun.
• You don’t need to play competitively to enjoy the game. Just find yourself other people who love to play the game and interact with them. I have a group of dudes in my town that like to play recreationally (though we also go to tournaments.)

These are just a few bullet points! The game of pokemon is something I have been involved with for a few years, and I love the process of making (and playing) decks. I have made fifteen to eighteen decks that I use almost regularly when I play pokemon. You’ve probably seen my lists I posted earlier this last year. Meowscarada, Zeraora, Lost Box, and Chein-Pao come to mind.

My first deck was a chaotic deck that centered around Gardevoir V, which included a healing mechanic, and a Dragapult (not the ex) pokemon card that had the (coin-flip) potential to prevent attacks and damage. And I got the cards to make that deck by purchasing a structure deck, and opening packs to find psychic cards I liked!

I know that I have a few pokemon players that read this blog! What are some decks you like to play? I’d love to hear about them and see some decklists!