DECK BUILDING TIPS - Pokemon - http://maxpages.com/pokemon3553/deck_building

Okay, so you've got your cards, and have a pretty good idea of how to play this game, do you? Think you're ready to build your very own decks? We'll see about that.

First, let's go over the basic ingredients in each deck. Each pokémon deck needs to have 60 cards in it. Deciding what to fill these 60 slots with can get a bit nutty, so we'll help you through. Every deck of yours is going to need lots of energy. Set aside 15-30 cards (25 is a good start) for energy. Make sure that most of your energy is of the same type as most of your pokémon are (i.e. if you are using many grass pokémon like bulbasaur, make sure to use the green "grass" type energy).

You're also going to want some pokémon in your deck. Again, include 15-20 (18 is decent) pokémon cards in your deck. You'll want most of these to be "Basic Pokémon" and you'll want fewer "Stage 1" or "Stage 2" Evolutions, because without their matching basic pokémon, they are useless. Again, make sure that most of your pokémon are of the same type as most of your energy (i.e if you have a lot of red, fire type energy, then you'd want to use mainly fire pokémon like charmander or magmar)

Use your remaining 17 or so cards to add in any extra copies of basic pokémon or energy cards which you want to include in your deck.( It is good to have at least 2 of a good basic pokémon (4 is maximum), because it increases your chances of drawing that card, and if it is evolving into something, your chances of getting the basic card to evolve it with increases as well.) Your last 10-15 cards will be for trainers. Trainer cards allow you to do certain special things during your turn which you would not be allowed to do otherwise. For example, the Gust of Wind trainer card allows you to switch your opponent's active pokémon with another one on his bench! You may you as many trainer cards as you'd like during your turn, before you attack. Again, you cannot have more than 4 copies of the same trainer card in your deck, it is against the rules.

An easier way to remember the Energy/Pokémon/Trainer cut is to use the basic 30-20-10 cut, something I like to call the 'ol 321.

30 - Energy Cards
20 - Pokémon Cards (Basic + Evolution)
10 - Trainer Cards

Using 321, you will always have enough energy to power your pokémon, and you will have an ample supply of pokémon for the match. At this stage, you don't want to get too advanced with too many trainer cards, so you will only want to include ten.

Final Words

From this section, we hope you have gained a better understanding of basic deckbuilding. We'd like to conclude this by going over some useful tips when you are making your decks.

Tips
- Never include more than 3 types different types of pokémon or energy in your decks (2 is the highest reccomended). It will lower the chances of you finding the right type of energy to power your pokémon, or vice versa, because many pokémon are only compatible with one type of energy.
- Always start your collection by getting a theme deck or starter set which interests you (you can get the set lists in the Set List section). This will give you many of the basic pokémon and energy cards which are needed to power this type of deck to victory.
- If your created deck doesn't fair well in play, you don't necessarily have to create another one from scrath. Improvise your current deck, and enrich it with some new, powerful cards. This is one of the best ways to learn deckbuilding.

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Page Updated Sat Sep 2, 2000 10:25pm EDT