How to build a pokemon deck DP-On Style (Basic)

A lot of people have had trouble building decks in the various leagues i go to. I work through this lecture at many of my leagues and decided to help my fellow Londoners by posting this here:

Creating a new deck is one of the most challenging parts of this trading card game. A deck must have exactly 60 cards, and only four of each card except for basic energy cards. Call energy is not a basic energy card, so you may only have four of that card in a deck. Also, even if you have two different cards, if the same Pokemon is on the cards it still counts toward your four. (For example, four Flygon EX and four Flygon Secret Wonders are not allowed as the total number of Flygon cards must equal four.)

Most decks have up to two different Pokemon types (and sometimes some colorless Pokemon). Sticking with one or two types is better for now, unless you're a pokemaster. You should have around 20 energy cards in your deck if your starting to build deck. If you have one type of energy in your deck, about 16 energy cards should do; with two types of energies in your deck 8 of each; 7 of each will also do if you have a tight space. Count call as ure starter. Most decks have about 20-25 trainer cards (take 20 on average). Trainer cards should be added according to your Pokemon or your personality. For low-HP Basic Pokemon use Snowpoint temple and For easy retreating use warp point and Switches. An offense kind-of-player should use super scoop ups and disruption.

Now, add about 20 Pokemon total. You should have a lot of Basic Pokemon, usually around 10. So that means adding in high amounts of evolution, as that improves your chances of drawing them (Consistency)

So i'am going to give out a basic empoleon list for article's sake. I built an empoleon deck becuase spread decks are my personal play style

Pokemon - 20

4 Piplup Dp - He's the start of our evolution chain and 4 our here so we can swarm with empoleons
3 Prinplup Dp - Notice how theres only 3. 3 are here so i can add in 4 rare candy for speed.
4 Empoleon - 2 dp - 2 md. First off, hes our big daddy, hes a monster pokemon that has 130 hp, which means its hard to ko and is versatile as it only requires 1 water energy to use its first attack.

3 Phione (evolution wish) - Our Starter, she combos well with the call energy (if starting second, search for a prinplup and the call for a piplup and a bronzong). It gives u a chance to get a decent setup but the price is a prize sacrifice.

3 Bronzong MD - Our secondary attacker and compliments empoleon's and prinplups attacks. He is beast with 90 hp and helps stall of for a while whilst setting up another empoleon.
3 Bronzor MD - Simply to evolve, but can be used to sleepstall if in a bit of trouble.

Trainers - 20

4 Roseannes - Used to get basic pokemon and to get the energy type you need.
4 Bebes Search - Used get evolution pokemon and to keep your hand size at a minimul
4 Team Galactics Mars - Our Draw Card, and our key disruption card
2 Team Galactics wager - Used to compliment team galactics mars and is our secondary back up draw power
3 Rare Candy - Simply to enhance speed
2 Warp point - After picking off there bench use warp point to allow easy ko's or force them into bringing out there high retreat cost pokemon
1 Night Maintanence - to grab pokemon and energy from the discard and to increase you deck size late game.

Energy - 20

10 Water - For Consistency and Ure 4 empoleons will need 8 of these to attack.
6 Psychic - To Attach to bronzong to use his second attack, we have a fewer amount of these because bronzong is our secondary attacker
4 Call Energy - to load onto brozong our help grab basics.


This Is list is just a simple list and can be customised to adjust to you play area, your style, and to your preference. It Helps to get an overall startergy so you can understand what to do each game. The Purpose is to start spreading early on and keep ure asualt up until later game when ko's become easier and Surf together Is more apropriate. As bronzong says, amplification for all and can get multiple kos. The stratergy Can change to adjust to certain battles.

Now, go ahead and make some changes. Take out and add cards that you think will do better (customizing the deck to your personality), and soon you'll have your ultimate deck!

Dont Hesitate to contact me for deck help.

Thanks For Reading

That's setting a deck to a ratio. I advise against this, because decks work in different ways, and the most popular decks work differently. If you are going to create your own deck, maybe to counter some of the most popular decks, use cards that counter them.

For example, when everyone was using the blastoise/lugia/holon electrode deck, I used a paras/parasect (frlg) rayquaza star, holon castform, roselia (HL). The idea was, I drew out their big hitters or shut their powers down with Roselia's poison flick, (an attack like gust of wind with added poison) and built up rayquaza star to wipe out Lugia and blastoise ex. I made sure the thing couldn't retreat with energy removal 2, and played battle frontier to shut down pidgeot. Worked amicably against most decks.

Emz wrote:That's setting a deck to a ratio. I advise against this, because decks work in different ways, and the most popular decks work differently. If you are going to create your own deck, maybe to counter some of the most popular decks, use cards that counter them.

For example, when everyone was using the blastoise/lugia/holon electrode deck, I used a paras/parasect (frlg) rayquaza star, holon castform, roselia (HL). The idea was, I drew out their big hitters or shut their powers down with Roselia's poison flick, (an attack like gust of wind with added poison) and built up rayquaza star to wipe out Lugia and blastoise ex. I made sure the thing couldn't retreat with energy removal 2, and played battle frontier to shut down pidgeot. Worked amicably against most decks.

not at all am i aiming to set a ratio, i was just giving people an example on how to structure a basic deck. Of course things can be built differently, i was not trying to counter a metagame by posting this, i just used an example

but...that's a really poor way to start. If you get into a habit of using a ratio, you won't take the time to substitute say, pokemon for trainers. My advice to any new deckbuilder would be to look at other people's decks, and try the cards for themselves.

Emz wrote:but...that's a really poor way to start. If you get into a habit of using a ratio, you won't take the time to substitute say, pokemon for trainers. My advice to any new deckbuilder would be to look at other people's decks, and try the cards for themselves.

I understand where your coming from, and this was a deck based around a typical starter deck but better. Its much better than starting with a theme deck which some people at our legue seem to play. We all need to work as a team to be the best we can be. Im not saying that some people are bad players, im saying the quality of some decks has never been good. every deck needs work and the way people can get started is by including high amounts of pokemon to evolve into.

Basically, If everyone played the same deck (like the current situation in USA) then we would have a metagame in which Advanced players will thrive of counters. Fortunately that has not happened in this coutry and i hope it doesn't. people tend to live of that sense of achievement when a deck they have designed has been completed. I live of that feeling and thats what pushes me on to help other people. I like to see creativity. In america a deck named GG has made new players seem to good to be true. Our legue has so many creative decks with so much synergy between the cards that we have a name for it. In the words of ben ward "Oh no, you james and adeo are coming down, i wish pokemon would reprint dual type pokemon to counter the deck's you guys play - we dont know what to expect so eveyones on red alert."

If everyone enhanced there decks, we would see new faces. Take Nathan for example - I modified his deck into a lucario magmortar deck and he actually wins games.he had the basic stratergy outlined and we worked together to make that possible. I think we need to run a deck garage this week or the next just to make players decks better in which they can grow and learn upon.

Luke

Sounds like a good idea.

finally something you two agree on.

Emz really does have something against giving newbies a template to work on. Took me ages to build my first deck after I came back to the game because she refused to tell me how many energy cards to put in...

Well, if a deck works with only a few pokemon and 1 energy cost attacks, like speedrill - having lots of energy will slow it down. It will decrease the possibility of drawing more cards.

my deck only has 10 energy, different decks needs different amounts of energy.

That's what I'm getting at - there's no set rules for deckbuilding, save the 4 per deck restriction excemting basic energy.