Quick Links
Building a new deck in any trading card game is an excellent way to flex your creativity in a hobby that usually focuses on collecting and competing. InPokemon TCG Pocket, building a deck is simple, but the small deck size means that you’ve got additional restrictions to keep in mind while building a new deck.
Working on a deck in Pokemon TCG Pocket is as streamlined as the battles, but if you’re feeling antsy about doing this from scratch, these tips and tricks offer you a head start to give you an advantage on your PvP experience.
Deck Restrictions
The first part to consider when building a deck is the limitations. What cards can you use? How many copies are allowed? What is the minimum and maximum deck size? All of these vary by game and format.
In Pokemon TCG Pocket, your deck size is limited toexactly 20 cards. There’s no way to add additional cards, and you cannot play a deck with fewer.
Unlike the standard Pokemon TCG,you can only include two copies of cards that share the same namein your deck, so you can’t have all three Eevee prints to evolve into four different Eeveelutions.
Theex is included as part of a Pokemon’s name, so you could have two Marowak and two Marowak ex in the same deck. But since both evolve from Cubone, you can only use two of the four Marowak cards.
All cards available in Pokemon TCG Pocket are legalto play in battles, and it will remain that way unless The Pokemon Company introduces a banned list or set rotation.
Finally,your deck must contain at least one Basic Pokemon. You need to set a Basic Pokemon in your active position at the start of each game, so having one in your deck is a requirement.
Where To Find Your Decks
Your decks can be accessed fromeither the My Cards menu, on the bottom left of your home screen,or from the Battle menu, on the bottom right of the home screen.
From either menu,look for the Decks icon. On the My Cards menu, this appears at the very top of the screen, while on the Battle menu, it appears at the bottom of the screen, immediately above the menu bar.
Once you open the Decks menu,select My Decks to view the decks you already ownor create a new deck.
What To Include In Your Deck
Every new deck will be unique, but there are some guidelines to help you build a cohesive deck.
Pokemon
Every deck needs a minimum of one Basic Pokemon, but most decks should include several additional Pokemon.
Pick an ace Pokemonto build the deck around, and if it isn’t a Basic Pokemon, make sure you haveat least one copy of each previous stagein order to be able to evolve it.
You should have at least as many copies of the lower stages as you have fully evolved stages.
You’ll also want somesupport Pokemon to do damage or stallwhile you set up your ace or to offer important abilities.
Pidgeot works well in most decksbecause its Drive Off ability allows you toBench your opponent’s Active Pokemon once per turn, allowing you to remove a threat or force them to choose a weaker Pokemon for you to KO.
If deck space is too tight to allow for the full Pidgeot line, the Supporter card Sabrina has the same effect.
Pokemon with low cost, high-damage attacks are also good. Look forBasic Pokemon that can deal 40 damage with one Colorless Energyto deliver an attack or two while you’re setting up, allowing you to evolve andpower-up your ace Pokemon to close out the game.
Trainer Cards
You can play any number of Item cards each turn, but only one Supporter. These cards can accelerate your deck and increase consistency by finding you the Pokemon you need.
Poke Ball and Professor’s Research are must-have cardsin every deck. Poke Ball will fetch a random Basic Pokemon from your deck, and Professor’s Research will draw two cards. Both effects help you to find the cards you need sooner.
Always play Poke Ball before Professor’s Research to thin the deck and increase your odds of getting other cards that you need.
Other Trainer cards have amore direct impact on battles. Giovanni, for example, adds ten damage to attacks made on the same turn you play it, as long as that attack deals at least ten damage. X-Speed fits into must decks because it lowers the cost of Retreating an Active Pokemon, which is vital since Switch hasn’t been ported into the game.
Most other Trainer cards are specific to the needs of your deck: Brock and Misty are excellent Supporters for Fighting and Water decks, respectively, but do nothing for a Fire deck. Look for Supporters that work well with the deck you’re building.
