The Nature of Deckbuilding - A Collaborative Article Part I

[MrMeches]

The Nature of Deckbuilding - Collaborative Article

By Vanderbilt_grad, DarkStar20, jjkkl, and Regis_Neo

Here is a collaboration of multiple writers, each of them containing a particular facet they feel are important to the world of Pokémon TCG. Each one, focusing on a different topic, have come together to provide a guide and multi-tiered article on the nature of deckbuilding in the competitive format.

Building a Competitive Deck
A succinct summary of deckbuilding in a competitive format
By Vanderbilt_grad

Step 0 – Avoid common mistakes

• Unlike many other card games Pokémon theme decks (aka. Starter decks) are not built in such a way that they can really be used in competitions most of the time. In general starter decks have too many kinds of Pokémon, too much energy, and not enough Supporters. The evolution lines are usually inconsistent as well (4-2-1 in the starter vs. something like 4-2-4 in a competitive deck with Rare Candy). If you want to use a starter deck as a base to build on you are going to have to do a fair amount of work.
• Know the rules. Read the rulebook that comes with the starter decks. Basic rules like understanding that you can only have 4 cards with the same name in your deck are super important.
• Good decks have three attributes. They are fast, consistent, and have either raw power or a winning strategy. Don’t put things into your deck that will slow it down, reduce its consistency, or that don’t fit your strategy.

Step 1 – Pick your Pokémon

• The first step in building a deck is to decide what your strategy is and who you want to be your main attacker. This main attacker is the Pokémon that should be active most of the time when you play. There is no one way to do this. Some decks are built around a person’s favourite Pokémon, for instance my son likes Machamp and has a deck with him. Other folks try to pick Pokémon that look powerful or seem to be doing well in competitive events, like Gengar is doing as of this writing. A few decks are built around a central tactic and the person tries to find the best Pokémon who can do what they want, for instance a person wanting to spread damage around might choose between Abomasnow, Gallade 4, Magmortar, Palkia G, or a number of other Pokémon.

• More is better – your deck should have 3 or 4 of your main attacker. This one way to make your deck more consistent.
• Be wary of Pokémon that need 4 or more energy to attack. Getting that many energy on one Pokémon usually takes too long. Similarly a Pokémon who can attack for 1 energy is usually very fast.
• If your Pokémon has to discard energy with his main attack your deck will need some way to attach more than one energy each turn or a secondary Pokémon who can attack for 0 or 1 energy.
• 70+ damage is a good thing to shoot for since you will be able to knock out nearly all opposing Pokémon in one or two attacks.
• Not all Pokémon are equal. Look at basic information on the card like HP, damage done, any Powers or Bodies, etc. and try to find cards that are above average in some way, then try them out.
• If you are running SP Pokémon make sure that you save room for important SP Trainers like Cyrus' Conspiracy and Energy Gain.

• The next step is to determine if your deck is a setup deck or a speed deck.

• Speed decks want to start with the basic form of their main attacker, evolve him as quickly as possible, and attack from the get-go. Most speed decks tend to use basic or stage 1 Pokémon as main attackers since they are easier to get out or stage 2 Pokémon that can attack with just 1 energy attachment. Most speed decks will need to run special Trainers that speed things up like Poke Drawer +, Poke Radar, and such.
• Many setup decks may do best to start with a “Starter Pokémon,” this is usually a basic Pokémon who has attacks that help you get things you need. For example Sableye from Stormfront let’s you get Supporters from your deck and use them as an attack. Most setup decks take a bit longer to get going than speed decks and may require that you have time to attach energy or get several things built before attacking. They typically rely on stage 2 Pokémon as main attackers or have stage 1 Pokémon that need more than 2 energy for their main attack. Since you want to start with your starter you need to run at least 3 of them most of the time.
• An alternative to a “Starter Pokémon” is a secondary attacker. Some decks with Stage 2 main attackers will run another Pokémon, usually one that’s easier to set up and takes less energy to attack with, and try to be aggressive with this Pokémon early game while they set up their main guy on the bench. For example some Magnezone decks have used Blissey or Abomasnow for this.

• Now you should see if your main attacker needs help or not. Some Pokémon work just fine by themselves while others need support of one sort or another or just combo well with another Pokémon. For example:

• Ho-oh

  Togekiss

• Ho-Oh is a basic Pokémon so he is easy to get out as a main attacker ... but his attack takes 4 or more energy! He needs help getting that energy on, so he benefits by having a partner that allows you to get energy on him quickly. Togekiss can attach lots of energy quickly so he makes a great partner for Ho-oh.

• Tyranitar

• Tyranitar spreads damage around really well. Omastar de-evolves your opponents bench Pokémon. If you de-evolve a Pokémon to a basic or stage 1 form that has less HP than the damage you have already done they are knocked out. These two cards complement each other.

• Infernape 4 lv. X

  Luxray GL lv. X

• Infernape 4 lv. X is a great attacker but takes x2 damage from Water Pokémon. He works really well with Luxray GL lv. X as most Water types are weak to lightning and Luxray’s power let’s you choose your target for maximum disruption.

• Beedrill

  Azelf

• Beedrill is super fast but you need to keep your bench full with other Beedrills to maximize his damage done and that doesn’t leave you much room for other things. Beedrill works best alone as an attack along with a few support Pokémon that increases consistency like Claydol and Azelf.

• Claydol

• Special Note: a huge number of decks run the Great Encounters Claydol or other Pokémon like it. Claydol lets you draw cards nearly every turn and makes nearly every deck faster and more consistent as a result. Typically you will see 2 Baltoys and 2 Claydols in many decks.

Step 2 – Trainers and Energy

• Cyrus’ Conspiracy

  Energy Gain

• Most competitive decks will run anywhere from 20 to 30 odd Trainers with the average probably being in the mid to high 20’s. They will have a heavy mix of Supporters & Trainers that search stuff out (Roseanne’s Research, Bebe’s Search, Cyrus’ Conspiracy, Luxury Ball, etc.) and usually Supporters that draw cards (Felicity’s Drawing, Professor Oak’s Visit )or refresh your entire hand (Looker’s Investigation, Professor Rowan). It’s important to run 1 or 2 cards that can get things out of your discard pile (Night Maintenance) and 1 or 2 that move the active Pokémon (Warp Point, Switch) in all decks. Most decks will run 1 to 3 Stadium cards (if nothing else these get rid of your opponents Stadiums that might hurt you). Decks with stage 2 Pokémon will need the Rare Candy Trainer, the Broken Time-Space Stadium, or both to keep up with faster decks using just stage 1s or basics.
• Energy in competitive decks varies a lot. 13 to 15 is typical in many decks but some decks may run as few as 8 or as many as 22 depending on their needs. Decks with Togekiss need more energy for example, while other decks use attackers like Beedrill that only need 1 energy to do their thing all game long. You will need to run enough basic energy to power up your main attacker 4-5 times. Many decks also use special energy like call energy to help them set up faster.

That is Part I of a Series Pokegymers!! Stay Tuned for additional Parts coming soon!! Mgmt.

[afstandopleren]

Gallade 4 doesn't spread. It only spreads when damage is already on a Benched Pokemon which should suggest it to be combo'd with something, making it not really fit in with the other suggested spreaders. Maybe you should put Gallade 4 LV.X there instead or remove it.

[DarkStar20]

I think that's what he meant, Gallade 4 X I mean. I tried running that deck with Bronzong and pain amp at one
point, but it didn't work as well as I would have liked. But with poketurns and a deck that uses mostly powers, it was
pretty affective when it worked! I think the concept of the Gallade 4 line being a spread type pokemon is a solid
concept though.

-Jason
(20)

[MrMeches]

Agreed with the spreading of Gallade 4.. however most SP style decks run Crobat which can easily place the counter and "Spread" to some include doing the extra damage to Benched Pokemon. Whereas G4 doesn't necessarily put/do the initial damage, it does "spread" when the damage is there. It may not quite fit in, but it is a deck that some have considered and thus I think the Author was tryin to include it do to popularity.

Great Read and very helpful to NEW incoming players trying to a grasp on things! Seasoned players may read it and get some intersting ideas or even some that have been forgotten!

Thanks to the Collaboration of Authors, we get some varied viewpoints!!

Keep it Up and can't wait for the other PARTS!!!

Fish

[jjkkl]

Originally Posted by MrMeches

Agreed with the spreading of Gallade 4.. however most SP style decks run Crobat which can easily place the counter and "Spread" to some include doing the extra damage to Benched Pokemon. Whereas G4 doesn't necessarily put/do the initial damage, it does "spread" when the damage is there. It may not quite fit in, but it is a deck that some have considered and thus I think the Author was tryin to include it do to popularity.

Great Read and very helpful to NEW incoming players trying to a grasp on things! Seasoned players may read it and get some intersting ideas or even some that have been forgotten!

Thanks to the Collaboration of Authors, we get some varied viewpoints!!

Keep it Up and can't wait for the other PARTS!!!

Fish

Lol it sounds like you're shamelessly advertising the entire article.

[Chompy]

Decks that I feel should be in the archtype section a LONG time ago

1) Luxape (Which I have submitted)
2) Gallade 4
3) Palkia Lock
4) Beedrill
5) Gyarados

Seriously, I think these people should have the commitment to write these articles. So people don't have to keep on posting the same old decks. In the "Deck Forum" section everyday.


*Edits*

Horray for post #400!

[DarthPika]

Originally Posted by Chompy

Decks that I feel should be in the archtype section a LONG time ago

1) Luxape (Which I have submitted)
2) Gallade 4
3) Palkia Lock
4) Beedrill
5) Gyarados

Seriously, I think these people should have the commitment to write these articles. So people don't have to keep on posting the same old decks. In the "Deck Forum" section everyday.


*Edits*

Horray for post #400!

I've got Palkia covered.

[PokePop]

Originally Posted by jjkkl

Lol it sounds like you're shamelessly advertising the entire article.

Like a good staff member should!
Members note that MrMeches didn't write it, he just posted under his name since it is from multiple members.

[thepliskin5005]

gallde four is real good but not near as good with nidogueen out but there driblim to knock nidogueen out with two hits he can do weakness on bench pokemon but i like gallade better than infernape you dont hafe to discard cards and he knock pretty much and pokemon in two hits and crowbat g helps

[Chairman Kaga]

Eager to see the continuation of this. Want to print it and hand it out to league players.

[afstandopleren]

Originally Posted by MrMeches

Agreed with the spreading of Gallade 4.. however most SP style decks run Crobat which can easily place the counter and "Spread" to some include doing the extra damage to Benched Pokemon. Whereas G4 doesn't necessarily put/do the initial damage, it does "spread" when the damage is there. It may not quite fit in, but it is a deck that some have considered and thus I think the Author was tryin to include it do to popularity.

Great Read and very helpful to NEW incoming players trying to a grasp on things! Seasoned players may read it and get some intersting ideas or even some that have been forgotten!

Thanks to the Collaboration of Authors, we get some varied viewpoints!!

Keep it Up and can't wait for the other PARTS!!!

Fish

Dropping Crobat G's is not Spreading, that's Sniping. BIG difference IMHO. If you want a good functional Gallade 4, you must have Crobat'd the whole Bench which is kinda silly, that's why the LV.X has great and obvious synergy with Chop Up.

BTW, How did you all come up with this?

[vanderbilt_grad]

jjkkl was really the one who got this started. He contacted several folks and really kept things going. A lot of what's in this part came from my contribution but jjkkl did a a TON of editing and formatting and such to make it much better. He and apparently Mr. Meches deserve the lion’s share of the credit for making this happen.

[toxictaipan]

This is great! It's just what we need!

Great read, vanderbilt_grad, and everyone else involved.

[VictorCSS]

Hmm, there used to be a spread deck in Empozong (Empoleon/Bronzong) but its rather slow compared to the current metagame. Anyway, its a simple deck to build for beginners and fun too to those who like spread decks. Some others are Abomazong, Tyranitar and many more. Hmm, Sceptile (GE)/Leafeon Lv X and Torterra complement each other too for the "huge number of energies required" section. By the way, I don't see many running Gallade 4 but quite fun to play around with it.

[Professor Sycamore]

I believe that this is a great topic. Especially for those that are looking to make a deck that is outside the norm. For those that know me, I do that ALL the time. Also, I believe that there is something that you can add to selecting a pokemon section. "Don't be afraid to look at your uncommon and common pokemon cards. You may find something that will give your deck the edge that it needs to catch your opponent off guard or give your deck that one tweak it needs to cover it's weakness" I actually have a deck in the works where the only rare pokemon in it is the draw power.

[sixquack]

"Unlike many other card games Pokémon theme decks (aka. Starter decks) are not built in such a way that they can really be used in competitions most of the time."

I have yet to find a TCG/CCG that has a starter that is competitive with a constructed deck out of the box.

This includes: Legend of the Five Rings (L5R), Lord of the Rings, Magic, VS, and Doomtown.

Most starters contain cards you will need build a constructed deck, that you just can't get from booster packs: energy, land, clan holdings, locations, unique characters, etc...

All starters contain filler cards: i.e., potions, below the curve characters, cards with no synergy to the deck, and an abundance of one type of card.

Starters generally have the basic rules for the game.

[prodigal_fanboy]

Originally Posted by sixquack

"Unlike many other card games Pokémon theme decks (aka. Starter decks) are not built in such a way that they can really be used in competitions most of the time."

I have yet to find a TCG/CCG that has a starter that is competitive with a constructed deck out of the box.

This includes: Legend of the Five Rings (L5R), Lord of the Rings, Magic, VS, and Doomtown.

Most starters contain cards you will need build a constructed deck, that you just can't get from booster packs: energy, land, clan holdings, locations, unique characters, etc...

All starters contain filler cards: i.e., potions, below the curve characters, cards with no synergy to the deck, and an abundance of one type of card.

Starters generally have the basic rules for the game.

During Onslaught-Mirrodin T2 (prior to Darksteel's release), I believe one could build a highly competitive affinity deck with nothing outside of what came in the theme deck with Broodstar in it, although Glimmervoids made the mana flow more smoothly IIRC.

[the rotom freak]

I run that same tyranitar and it is very sucessful

[neotje]

if you play galade 4 right you can spread more than anyone can think, i speak from experience the idiots who think it is not. think again.

[MrMeches]

Mods, Please Sticky! TY!

Fish

[Abaddon]

I have used tyranitar many times and it helped me a lot during the middle of a game allowing me to win. It can though sometimes take too long if you get a bad draw and not enough cards to allow you to bring it out.

[Rockmanexe]

Originally Posted by Abaddon

I have used tyranitar many times and it helped me a lot during the middle of a game allowing me to win. It can though sometimes take too long if you get a bad draw and not enough cards to allow you to bring it out.

I love that Tyranitar card. In a non-legal deck that i use, he's a very effective revenge killer. Attach a couple Scramble energies and Grind does incredible damage when the chips are down.

[Ty_Sylicus]

A great read. As a n00b, I really enjoy articles, like this one, that increase my knowledge of the game. I have a long way to go I feel!

[sonicjms]

this needs an hs-on update.

[PsychicFighter87]

what does the 4-2-4 thing mean?