Pokemon Related Content

How to Build a Pokemon Deck

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Building a Pokemon TCG deck on your own is no easy task. With so many cards available to use, it’s your job to pick out 60 cards that would work together to create a winning strategy. But, how do you choose? In this article I will discuss some basic guidelines that can help you unleash the full potential of your deck.

Focus
A deck should ALWAYS have a focus! How are you going to beat the opponent? Are you going to wall them out until they draw out, are you going to deck them out, shut them off from using items, or are you going to win the prize battle? This needs to be decided up front and then go towards that one goal.

Consistency
If you really want a Tier 1 deck that can hold it’s own against any and all match ups and make it to a higher level tournament someday, then you need an absolutely consistent deck. Look at a list of all the major Pokemon TCG Master and Senior division championships that have been won since the start of Pokemon TCG and look at the decks that were used.
To improve the consistency of your deck, play it a couple times. While you do this you can also create a log of your plays. This would be keeping track of how many loses you had because you couldn’t find a certain card and how many times you drew into a dead hand because you didn’t have any draw support. If you had a great startup but found yourself low on energies mid-game then you should add some more energies, ways to search them from the deck, or ways to get them from the discard pile (depending on your situation). If you find yourself getting stuck with bad hands and no way to get out of them try adding a Pokemon, trainer, or supporter that can help you recycle your hand. Keeping track of why you are losing is the best way to fix it. If there is any one part of this article that you take with you and you forget everything else, remember that an amazing deck has to be absolutely consistent over everything else.

Cover Your Weakness
Make sure you understand what your deck is weak against (Pokemon type, play styles). And then adjust your deck a accordingly based on how big of a problem they are/how often you think you will run into them. That way when someone thinks they have the upper advantage against you just by looking at your start, you can throw them off their strategy mid-game. Understand what your weaknesses are and plan ahead to counter them as best as you can.

Energy Acceleration
Being able to attach more than one energy per turn is probably the second strongest core strategy other than draw power. Being able to go through your energies faster then one per turn not only allows an already quick deck to become turn 2 killer, but it also helps you have a backup attacker ready. If your deck doesn’t have any ways of adding energy acceleration to it then don’t worry, but if there is a way then it will probably be worth the card space to include it.

Pokemon

All the Pokemon in my Grass Deck

Start by finding a Pokemon that you like. If it is a Stage 1 or Stage 2 Pokemon, try to put two or three in the deck, and four of the Basic Pokemon. After the favourite Pokemon has been picked, try to find other Pokemon of the same type (Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, etc.), to compliment the main Pokemon. If you want, you can have multiple different types of Pokemon in the deck, but for a new player, it’s best to limit it to one or two types. Just make sure you don’t have more than four of any one card. You may think that you should have 20+ Pokemon cards in a deck to make sure that you have Pokemon available for every scenario, but this is actually going to hurt you in the long run. Most decks run around 12ish Pokemon cards. The reason for this is because you never want to be stuck with a dead hand (a hand where you have a bunch of cards that you can’t play). Once you have your Pokemon chosen, it’s time to move onto Energy.

Energy


Energy is needed to power the Pokemon’s abilities. Try to match the symbols on the Pokemon in the deck. The average amount being about 8-12 energies per deck. If the deck has Pokemon of two different types, make sure to include Energy of both types. You can have as many copies of Basic Energy cards as you like. Special Energy are also an option. They can be more versatile, but a deck can only have four of any kind of Special Energy. It’s also important to note that very few competitive level decks ever have more than two types of energies, with most of them only having one type. Having more than two types of energies in your deck threatens your ability to find the energies you need for the right Pokemon. Another thing to consider is most decks run 6-15 Pokemon, meaning that trainers are definitely the important bulk of of the deck.

 

 

 

Trainer Cards

     
When picking Trainer cards, try for a good mix of Items and Supporters. Here’s why: during a player’s turn, only one Supporter can be player, but multiple Items can be played. Stadiums behave differently; they sit between two players and affect both players whereas most cards only affect one player. Again, there can only be a maximum of four copies of any Trainer card in your deck. Trainers are a unique concept for a card. They have an incredible amount of uses, but don’t really do anything special by themselves. There are disruption trainers that aim at throwing off your opponent (detaching energies, making them do less damage, higher retreat cost, forcing a switch, etc.). There are draw trainers that help you build a better hand, or even completely scrap it for a newer/fresher hand. Hand play-ability is everything. Energy trainers help you find energies from the deck, attach extra energies in a turn, or get them back from the discard pile. Phase trainers focus on allowing you to switch your active Pokemon or force the opponent to switch. Tools are trainers that can be attached to your Pokemon to give them a needed boost or extra effect. Pokemon trainers help you find Pokemon from the deck or get them back from the discard. Supporters are a special type of trainer card that can do any of the above things I mentioned, but you can only use one per turn. The reason this becomes important is that most supporters have better abilities than normal trainers, but some of them have the same effect. Ultimately you should remember that the Supporters’ main focus is for greater draw.

Cute But Deadly

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Eeveelutions are adorable, but they can also pack a punch! Learn how to have fun and be competitive with these cute little guy.

 

 

Eeveelutions
As a girl, I might be a little biased to playing a deck with Eeveelutions, but it has always been my goal to make an Eevee deck. In this article, I’m going to describe the different Team Plasma Eeveelutions and why some are played and the others are not. It is my belief that Eevees can be put in any deck.

 

 

Eevees

Energy Evolution Eevee
This Eevee’s Ability allows you to attach a basic energy from your hand. Then you may search your deck for the Eeveelution of the same type and evolve your Eevee. This card was what convinced me to build my first Eevee deck. The only way for Eevees to work is hitting hard and hitting fast. This Ability allowed Leafeon to evolve first turn and quickly use Energy Crush. This Eevee however doesn’t help Flareon. You’re attaching Double Colourless Energies (DCEs) most of the time which doesn’t allow you to use the Ability. Most Flareon decks don’t even run Fire energies. That’s why you may see the other Signs of Evolution Eevee in those decks.

 

Signs of Evolution Eevee
At 60 HP, this Eevee has 10 more HP than its Energy Evolution counterpart. Not only is it a little more resilient, but its first attack can be used to seek out Eeveelutions from your deck. This is what you’ll see in Flareon decks, so they can quickly obtain a Flareon to evolve their next turn. It still is unfortunate to waste a turn like that, but sometimes it may be your only option. This Eevee can also be useful in a straight Eevee deck, especially if you aren’t exactly sure what your opponent is running yet.
Let’s say your opponent starts with a Jirachi and nothing else. That Pokemon can be played in any deck, so you may not know what Eevee to evolve to. With Signs of Evolution, you can pick three different Eeveelutions from your deck to keep in hand until you decide which will be the best to beat your opponent’s deck.

 

Eeveelutions

Leafeon
I’m going to talk about them in the order they appear in the Plasma Freeze set, so let’s talk about Leafeon. With a base of 100 HP, this Stage 1 may seem a little low on HP to be playable. Training Center helps an Eevee deck out tremendously with an extra 30 HP going a long way. The main reason Leafeon has been so playable is its first attack, Energy Crush. Its cost is one colorless energy, allowing it to fit into any deck. What makes Leafeon unique from other Pokemon like Mewtwo or Yveltal is the fact that energy on all your opponents’ Pokemon power up this attack. This way, you don’t need to Lysandre the Pokemon with all the energy to do all the damage.
Another upside to Leafeon is its resistance to water. Minus 20 may not seem significance, but when you’re facing Seismitoad that little extra cushion really helps.
If you are playing an Eevee-centered deck, Leafeon is still a great addition.

 

Flareon.
Even though his first attack Vengeance only requires two Colorless Energy, this in no way means he can fit in any deck. If you plan to play Flareon, the entire deck must be built around it. This attack does more damage for all your Pokemon in the discard, so don’t be afraid to Professor Juniper that hand away! Now 10 more damage per Pokemon may not seem like much, but most Flareon decks are running over 20 Pokemon, allowing for an easy OHKO (One Hit Knock Out) on powerful EXs.

Vaporeon
With a base HP of 110, Vaporeon has the highest HP of all the Eeveelutions, but that doesn’t mean it’s the most powerful. The first attack Refreshing Rain heals damage from all your Pokemon for one Colorless Energy. The second attack packs a little more punch, doing 80 against EXs. It may not seem like a lot when most EXs are around 180 HP, but with some Deoxys on the bench and a Silver Bangle, it can easily OHKO Fighting EXs. That’s the only time I ever found Vaporeon even remotely useful. The Energy cost is also one Water and one Colorless, so without Colress Machine it takes two turns to power up. Eevees are too low on HP to allow them to sit for two turns without attacking. They rely on quick OHKOs.

Glaceon
This Eeveelution only has 90 HP and takes one Water and two Colorless to hit for 60. Not only does it look majestic, its Ability gives all Team Plasma Pokemon two less retreat cost. This allows you to easily switch between Eevees or even promote a Deoxys to stall a turn.
Now let’s talk about the attack. Three energies may seem daunting, but paired with Colress Machine and Thundurus EX, you can attack for up to 130 with Deoxys and Bangle, which sadly still isn’t enough to OHKO strong EXs. This usually means leaving Glaceon to die in the active, unless you are lucky enough to keep the opponent Asleep.

Jolteon
With a base HP of 90 and a weakness to Fighting, Jolteon never seemed very viable to me. It takes two turns to use its second attack, which only does 40 damage. The only reason I could see it played would be to combat Dark, but even 80 damage isn’t anywhere close to reaching the OHKO. And even though the attack doesn’t allow the Defending Pokemon to attack next turn, most Dark decks are running Darkrai which gives them free retreat anyway. Jolteon is easily knocked out and doesn’t pack enough punch to prove worthy of a spot in an Eevee deck, even a Plasma-based one.
Pin Missile has helped win games by giving a quick Jirachi knockout early on, but I still wouldn’t recommend it if you’re going for a top tier deck. But if you’re looking to have some fun, pair it with the Victory Star Victini and just try for the Pin Missile.

Espeon
Espeon is one of my favorites of the Eevees which made me very disappointed in this card. It’s on the lower end with 90 HP, with only one retreat cost, but I hardly ever pay attention to their retreat cost since I’m always assuming if I promote it, it’s being knocked out before I’ll have the chance to retreat. Espeon’s attacks only require one energy a piece, helping it out. The thing I love about Psy Alert is its one of those attacks that you use to draw cards, and it also does 20 damage.
Its real attack, Shadow Ball, does 40 damage to any of your opponent’s Pokemon. Unfortunately, I don’t think this Espeon is worth playing in a competitive deck. If you just want to have fun, build a deck and play away. There just aren’t enough Meta decks right now that would take a heavy hit from Espeon to make it worth playing.

Umbreon
I wanted to put Umbreon in an Eevee list, but it just wasn’t possible. You only have four Eevees to evolve, so unless you’re planning on playing Revive to bring them back, there’s not a lot of room for Eevees that only sit the bench. Umbreon has 100 HP and its Ability gives all your Team Plasma Pokemon 20 more HP. This Ability is stackable, much like Deoxys, so with four on the bench, you could be adding 80 more HP to your Pokemon. Sadly, this still doesn’t fit well in an Eevee deck and I wouldn’t consider Umbreon’s attack very viable. For a Dark and two Colorless you’re only hitting for 70 – It’s definitely not meant to be an attacker.

 

Whether you’re building a deck for competition or just to have a good time, Eevees can be used to great and fun effect. I would love to hear about other Eevee decks that have been put together. Eevees will always be dear to my heart and I will play them until I win or die trying.

 

Who I Am and How To Play Pokemon

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My name is Karen Fullowka. I was first exposed to Pokemon TCG 17 years ago. Back then all I did was collect the cards. It wasn’t until my husband taught me, that I learned to actually play the card game in 2009,when we had a card store of our own. I learned to play World of Warcraft, Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Vampire: The Eternal Struggle. Over the years I only kept playing Pokemon because I found it to be a fun game with enough challenge in the deck building and execution to keep my interest.

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