So, you've downloaded Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, opened some packs, and learned how to battle. Now, it's time to try building your own deck! This guide will go over a few best practices and give you the tools you need to start building. At the end, we'll also cover some advanced topics for experienced players to remember as you develop your deck-building skills.
A Pokémon Pocket deck is made up of 20 cards, which are divided into Pokémon and Trainer cards. So far, there are two types of trainer cards: Items and Supporters. You can play as many Item cards as you want each turn, but Supporters are limited to one per turn. The maximum number of copies per card is two. For consistency, you'll generally want two of any card in your deck, but there are situations when you'll have just one of a particular card.
How to build a deck
Start with two Pokeball and two Professor's Research
These are the trainers that nearly every deck wants. Pokeball is currently the only trainer that directly grabs Pokémon from the deck. Professor's Research is the best generic Supporter in the game and is crucial for quickly drawing into the cards you need.
Choose your Pokémon
To start, stick to 2 Pokémon lines. A Pokémon line refers to an evolution line of Pokémon with its basics and later evolutions. Some Pokémon lines only include a basic Pokémon, while others can evolve up to Stage 1 or Stage 2.
Choose energy-efficient attackers and keep your lines to one energy type. For example, if you're building a Water-type deck, you might end up with something like this:
2x Psyduck
2x Golduck
2x Froakie
2x Frogadier
2x Greninja
When building a Fighting-type deck, you might choose to make your Pokémon lines like this:
2x Sandshrew
2x Sandslash
2x Cubone
2x Marowak EX
It should be noted here that Marowak EX and Marowak are two different cards and you can have up to 2 of each of them, even though they both evolve from Cubone. You might want to try something like this:
2x Sandshrew
2x Sandslash
2x Cubone
2x Marowak EX
1x Marowak
Also, note that Pokémon that attack for Colorless energy can use any type of energy, so you can splash them into decks with other types. Here are a couple of examples of how you could do that:
2x Mienfoo
2x Mienshao
2x Staryu
2x Starmie EX
1x Starmie
Or
2x Farfetch'd
2x Bulbasaur
2x Ivysaur
2x Venusaur
Sometimes, you'll want to add an extra basic attacker like Farfetch'd, Kangaskhan, or Snorlax. In general, sticking to two lines and one type helps keep your deck consistent, but be sure to check out the advanced section for exceptions and further discussion.
Fill your deck out with plenty of Trainers
X-Speed, Red Card, and Potion are all good Item Cards. Giovanni and Sabrina are powerful Supporters who can go into any deck. The type-specific Supporters Erika, Misty, Koga, Blaine, Lt. Surge, and Brock can all be helpful with their intended type. In particular, Misty and Erika are powerful in Water and Grass decks and should go in most decks with those types.
How many of each card type should I have?
Most decks will have the following:
Pokémon
6-10
Trainers
10-14
Here is an example of a popular deck that is consistent and powerful:
When is X-Speed unnecessary?
At least until more powerful item cards are released, X-Speed is a strong trainer card that helps you to swap out your active Pokémon more easily, allowing you to dodge opposing KOs and attack more efficiently. It should be a consideration for every deck. However, we currently have four Pokémon with free retreats: Starmie, Starmie EX, Electrode, and Dodrio. Additionally, the Fossil item cards can be discarded from the active without paying a retreat cost. If you're building a deck around any of these, you can consider getting a little greedy and cutting to one or zero copies of X-Speed.
When is Giovanni unnecessary?
Almost every deck wants to have at least one copy of Giovanni. He allows you to take KOs when your opponent might not expect it, and reaching for a one-hit KO instead of a 2 hit KO is often the difference between a win and a loss. Most of the evolving basic Pokémon are between 50 and 70 HP. Being able to KO an opposing Starmie with one attack from your Farfetch'd with Giovanni's help can completely change a game's complexion. Likewise, being able to KO an opposing 60 HP Ralts with your Mewtwo EX’s Psychic Sphere rather than allowing it to evolve or escape to the bench can end a game before your opponent can even get going. I would think long and hard when building a deck without at least one Giovanni, but there are exceptions. A Charizard EX/Moltres EX deck is designed to hit so hard that you may be able to get by without Gio. Similarly, the math with a Starmie EX/Greninja deck often shows that you don't need the extra 10 damage. I still tend to pack a single copy in those decks, though.
Why play two copies of a card instead of just one?
With 20 card decks, you can dramatically boost your chances of seeing a card by including two copies of it. It's the simple math of consistency.
If you play two copies of Professor's Research, you have a 44.7% chance to see one in your opening hand of 5 cards. If you're running just one copy, that plummets to just 25%. If you're new to Pokémon Pocket or card games, I recommend sticking to two of each card to start. The only card you might want to bump down to one is cards you're only looking to draw late in the game.
Advanced Concepts
Fewer basics
Unlike in the TCG, there is no mulligan if you don't have a basic in your opening hand—you will always have at least one basic. Because the game forces your opening hand to contain a Basic Pokémon, some players have been finding clever ways to take advantage of this guarantee. There are a few ways people are leveraging this.
First, it is popular to play just two large, fast, attacking Pokémon, typically two Articuno EX or two Zapdos EX, leaving the rest of the deck free for powerful trainers.
Another approach is to play these same attackers alongside Kabutops, Aerodactyl, or Omastar. Since the fossils they evolve from don't count as Basic Pokémon, you're still guaranteed to start a Zapdos or Articuno.
The other ongoing experiment is to actually play a single Basic of your support Pokémon lines with two copies of the evolutions. The rationale is that between the opening hand bonus and Pokeball, the basics are the easier piece to find, but you'll need to draw into the evolutions.
3+ Pokemon lines
I stated above that sticking to two evolution lines is best. However, there are some clear reasons you might want to stray from this.
You might want a backup plan. It's all fine and good to rely on your Mewtwo/Gardevoir plan, but throwing in a couple of Farfetch'd or a Kangaskhan can cover some bad draws. I usually like to have at least one additional Pokémon other than Mewtwo EX and Gardevoir when I play that deck, and I often go with 10 Pokémon.
Some decks have smaller lines and can easily fit more Pokémon. A good example is a Pikachu EX deck. Because your primary attacker is a big basic, you can easily fit both a 2/2 Electrode line and a 2/2 Zebstrika line and still only be at 10 Pokémon. Decks that rely on Basics and Stage 1s are more flexible in this way.
Multi-color
Because of how the energy system works (maybe we'll get a change in the future), it's not particularly advisable to try to play multiple types in the same deck. You can have games where you won't get the energy type you need to attack, something decks that stick to one color of energy requirement don't have to worry about.
But, of course, there are exceptions. Dragonite is a Dragon-type Pokémon that requires both Lightning and Grass energy to attack. It's not an especially powerful deck at the moment, but you can give it a go alongside Frosmoth, Zebstrika, Greninja, Bruxish, or Pidgeot.
A more promising way to combine types is by combining powerful attackers alongside support Pokémon that you don't intend to attack with and don't even have the correct energy available to attack. Pokémon that are powerful enough to attempt this include Greninja, Victreebel, Hypno, and Weezing. It's only a matter of time before someone refines the perfect list that uses one of these lines only for its ability alongside a different color attacker.
If you have any questions about deck-building, leave them in the comments, and I'll answer them! Also, let me know what deck you're going to try to build first!