Info | By: [member]Seth1789110[/member] | Last Update: 2/25/2012 | Target Audience: Beginner | Word Count: 11,289
The Art of Deckbuilding
In collaboration with Celebi23, Futachimaru, Riskbreakers, and HenryP, I've also decided to join into this article "crusade", in an attempt to try and help educate players on the site. Many new and/or inexperienced players have unfortunate misconceptions about the game. I'm not sure if you'd call it defiance or stubbornness, but some people truly believe certain things about this game or about internal components of this game, of decks, or of cards themselves that just isn't true, and for lack of better phrasing, is plain wrong.
In any case, we've all divvied up some articles (dates and the topic can be seen here). As it's apparent, this article of mine will be about Deckbuilding. In it, I'll cover some tips, tricks, and general rules you should follow, with some of my own advice and experiments mixed in.
Personally, I view deckbuilding as consisting mainly of two tiers: Consistency and Playability. There are other smaller things I'll touch on, but these are the two that I want to cover the most, as most people (including myself at times) encounter problems with these two "pillars" of deckbuilding. Let's start with Consistency.
According to Dictionary.com, Consistency is defined as: steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc. This is obviously true for Pokemon as well, though it's more specific. Simply put, consistency is the idea that something should always do that same thing, always. In Pokemon, consistency has to be the most important part of deckbuilding. The best decks that are always winning do so for a single reason: they're consistent. Let's look a little deeper into it, for now.
The idea of consistency in Pokemon is simple. Each deck has a certain strategy or powerful combo that makes it work, right? And you want to be able to achieve that strategy or pull off that combo (or begin the combo, if it's an infinite one) each and every game, right? So, in order to achieve that goal, you'd need to build a deck that can consistently do that, and, therefore, have consistency. How do you go about doing that? Well, it's very simple.
In a Pokemon deck, you can only have sixty cards. No more, no less. To the untrained eye, this seems like a lot. There is plenty of space for Pokemon, Energy, and Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums (t/s/s). As you start choosing your Pokemon, you'll notice that they take up, in some decks, as little as 25% of your deck, to as much as, in some cases, 50% of your deck, or anywhere in between. Already, so much of your deck is gone! Well, next you'll need to fit in the appropriate amount of energy, which will run you from a little as 15% all the way up to an additional 25%. Now, you must fill in the remaining space with Trainers, Supporters, and, sometimes, Stadium cards. Why does a Pokemon deck usually work out like this, with so much of the deck being allotted to a certain area?
In this article, I'll be using Magnezone/Eelektrik/Zekrom (referred to as Eelzone) as our example deck. I chose this one because it's fairly standard throughout many lists (little room for variation), and incredibly consistent (called by some the BDIF, but we'll get into that later). Let's start with, of course, just the Pokemon.
~~Pokemon~~
Eelzone is a newer deck in the Pokemon TCG, created not long ago, after we received the Noble Victories expansion. The main attackers in the deck are Magnezone and Zekrom, with Eelektrik being a support Pokemon, rounding out the deck. This is one of the few decks that utilizes all the stages of Pokemon (basics, Stage 1s, and Stage 2s). Seeing as it does, you'll need to have plenty of basic Pokemon in the deck, as well as any Stage 1s necessary, and of course, the Stage 2. What would lines of those look like? If Magnezone is your main attacker, you're going to want plenty of copies of it to sustain you throughout the game, in case they are knocked out, or, as I'll touch on, prized (which they will/could be, naturally). If Eelektrik is your support Pokemon, you're also going to want plenty of copies. The same case goes for Zekrom. So the trick is to run the maximum amount in the deck, right?
4-4-4 Magnezone
4-4 Eelektrik
4 Zekrom
(A quick note for those that don't know. When Pokemon evolution lines are written out, they are written out in a horizontal format. So when I write 4-4-4, I really am just writing a simplified version of 4 Magnemite, 4 Magneton, 4 Magnezone. The basic always comes first, followed by the Stage 1, and then the Stage 2. Always starting the lowest form of the evolution chain, and naming the highest form of the chain.)
Like this? Wrong. While running 4 copies of a card does increase your chance of getting and using it, it isn't always necessarily a good thing. In Pokemon, there are a certain group of cards (almost always Trainers, Supporters or Stadiums) that are classified as Recovery cards, and do just as you'd think: recover cards. Some of them are specifically geared towards energy or Pokemon, but the "best" kinds of recovery can recover a combination of both basic energy (recovering special energy is very limited) and Pokemon, as that provides the most versatility for whatever given situation you're in. Naturally, thanks to the ability to recover Pokemon, the lines of Pokemon can actually be trimmed down. Let's see what it looks like now:
4-3-3 Magnezone
4-3 Eelektrik
3 Zekrom
You'll notice that I've dropped the Magneton and Magnezone counts both by one (changing our list from 4-4-4 to 4-3-3), as well as dropping both a single Eelektrik and a Zekrom. Why did I do this? Well, out of the gate, Magnezone has 140 HP. That's plenty of HP to begin with, and as such, it is a difficult hurdle for some decks to dish out in attack power to consistently knock out Magnezones. This concept isn't unique to Magnezone, however. Many Stage 2 Pokemon have high HP, partly to signify that since they are the final stage in an evolution line, they are the strongest, and the toughest. The idea of having less of the Stage 2 part of an evolution line is therefore common, in that a combination of the ability to recover the cards if they are knocked out and the fact that they are generally more durable.
Getting back to Eelzone, there's even more we can do to the evolution line. You'll notice in lists you see across the internet that there are less of a Stage 1 than of it's final form. How can that be? You need the Stage 1 to evolve into the Stage 2, so why have less? Well, that fact can be credited to a single card: Rare Candy. Rare Candy has been in every format since the card was introduced in the set EX Sandstorm, all the way back in 2003 (September 17th, to be exact). That means that next year, Rare Candy will have its 10th anniversary. This doesn't seem like a big deal for just a single card, but the sheer importance of Rare Candy is really a testament to how Stage 2s can be used at all (yes, in other formats, I'm sure there were ways to get Stage 2 Pokemon out without Rare Candy, like using Spiritomb, for example, but that does not detract from it's overall importance). History lesson aside, what makes Rare Candy so important?
Just a quick note before we continue. Rare Candy has recently received an errata (a change in the cards effect). The errata is as follows (simplified) : You can't play Rare Candy on your first turn (your starting turn), you can only use Rare Candy to evolve a basic into a Stage 2 (no longer usable on Stage 1s), and you also cannot play Rare Candy to evolve a basic Pokemon that you had just laid down on your bench that same turn. What this means is that you must wait one turn before evolving said Pokemon into its respective Stage 2.
Now that rulings are out of the way, let's analyze just what makes this card so essential to Stage 2s. Normally, a Stage 2 would need to be manually evolved through it's basic and Stage 1 pre-evolutions. That takes a total of three turns (one for dropping the basic, the second for evolving into the Stage 1, and the third and final for evolving into the Stage 2). This of course provides two turns of vulnerability to your Stage 2, as it can be knocked out before you even have a chance to swing with it. Rare Candy lets you skip a turn of evolving, jumping from the basic immediately to the Stage 2. What this means is that in this format, Stage 2s are just as fast as Stage 1s, but often times swing for more damage, and can take more hits (in most cases). This card is essential, in that it provides more opportunities to evolve into the actual Stage 2, but also allows for a smaller Pokemon line. So, utilizing Rare Candy, our newly revised and finished Pokemon portion of the deck looks like this:
4-2-3 Magnezone
4-3 Eelektrik
3 Zekrom
As you can see, we cut the Magneton line down to two, as opposed to three. This still allows you to get out multiple Magnezone in matchups that prevent the use of Rare Candy (against decks that put up an effective, lasting Trainer lock), but is "faster" in that is more reliant on Rare Candy. Also, the idea is that you should, in those matchups that prevent the use of Rare Candy, be able to (theoretically) evolve a Magnemite into Magnezone using Rare Candy, then the rest of your Magnezones can be evolved manually, through the use of Magneton. That way, you should still, in theory, be able to take advantage of all three of your Magnezone. This is all in theory, and while it does happen often, do not expect that to happen 100% of the time.
I'll also cover this next point quickly. You'll notice we slimmed down the evolution lines of the Pokemon (barring Zekrom, which we only dropped by one copy), except for the basics. Even though we have recovery, it is the standard, and the standard is to have as many copies as you can of essential cards for the combo (in this case, the Pokemon). This is because some of the basic Pokemon can be knocked out before they evolve, and having more copies of the basic than the higher evolution means that you won't have to waste a recovery card on trying to get back a basic just to evolve into the evolution. Running more copies allows you to not have to necessarily waste a recovery "slot" (one of your options you can choose when recovering things from the discard), and instead focus on recycling more of the evolution instead. It's also a form of consistency, in that you have a higher chance of having a basic in your opening hand (which you obviously need at the start of the game), and that you can still get out, for example, two Magnezones in the case that you prized two Magnemites. Kapeesh?
Now, most decks usually opt to run optional techs or even "starter" Pokemon. I'll cover both of those next.
Starter Pokemon:
In the Pokemon TCG, there is often times a class of Pokemon that are known as starter Pokemon. These Pokemon are unique, in that they are poor attackers, but they provide some sort of unique power, ability, attack, or any combination of these that allow them to help set up more powerful evolutions. They are extremely useful in the early game (the first few turns), but lose usefulness as the game goes on. That's not to say they aren't useful at all, but they are clearly included in decks for their ability to improve your consistency and early game. Let's look at the most popular "starter" Pokemon. I'll also share my opinion on the best one, as well as which is the best for this deck.
1)Cleffa: Cleffa is one of a collection of baby Pokemon released over the course of the Heartgold Soulsilver 4-set expansion block. The babies all share many things in common: all of them have free retreat, no weakness, no resistance, 30 HP, and a Poke-body that prevents them from taking damage as long as they are asleep. All of them have a single attack (that is a "free" attack, meaning it doesn't require any energy) which puts them to sleep after using it (which explains the Poke-body, of course). Where the baby Pokemon differ is in the attack. Some of them do damage (Tyrogue and Elekid), others disrupt the opponent in some way (Igglybuff, Magby, Smoochum, Mime Jr.), and others help you set up (Pichu and, arguably the best baby, Cleffa). Cleffa is unique in that it is the spiritual successor of its Neo Genesis copy. Cleffa is a Professor Oak's New Theory in an attack, with the possibility of not giving up a free prize. Cleffa is the "best" baby Pokemon, in that it offers the most consistency. It allows you to play out your hand, and then shuffle what's left of it at the end of your turn and get a fresh six cards, possibly setting you up further. Cleffa is used as a 1-of (I'll explain this later) in almost every deck in the format, simply because it can pull you out of a bad hand that would otherwise cripple your chances of victory.
2)Pichu: Pichu is the only other baby Pokemon that has an attack that assists you as opposed to disrupting your opponent. While Cleffa works because it allows you to shuffle away potentially bad hands for potentially good hands, Pichu's attack is much more "guaranteed". With Cleffa, you may shuffle a bad hand away into another bad hand (while this happens occasionally, that shouldn't deter you from running at least a copy of it, because it's positives outweigh the negatives by a TON). With Pichu's Playground, you get to search your deck for as many basic Pokemon you'd like and place them down on the bench. The downside of this is that your opponent also gets to do the same thing (if it's their first turn, they cannot evolve them, though if it's any turn after the first turn of the game (for both players), your opponent can evolve them immediately, so be wary of this if using it for a mid- or late-game basic snatcher), though the trade-off is actually worth it. With Pichu's Playground, you can still grab all the basic Pokemon you'll need to set-up, but still free your Supporter slot for the turn, allowing you to play a consistency Supporter instead, or even simply just keep a really good hand you have. The only reason Cleffa is played more than Pichu is that Cleffa doesn't allow your opponent to set up as well. That aside, Pichu is still a viable option in many decks that just want to ensure that FTC (First-Turn-Collector, basically meaning that the player gets a large bench by the end of their first turn) as many times as they can.
3)Manaphy: Manaphy isn't a baby Pokemon, but it IS considered a set-up Pokemon. Manaphy really received its "claim-to-fame" at the 2011 Nationals (the first tournament that was HGSS-on). Nationals was baby crazy, and with all those babies running around (some decks even ran three copies of the same baby, like Cleffa), there was also plenty of Tyrogue (does exactly enough damage to knock out a fellow baby). This resulted in plenty of donks (I'll cover this later), or, in other words, first turn wins. Yes, starting something like Cleffa at Nationals (as your only basic) could be the difference between victory and defeat, because all your opponent had to do was play the Collector and grab Tyrogue, retreat, and hit you for game. It was truly an awful spectacle. Manaphy was different, in that Manaphy had 60HP, and was therefore clearly out of Tyrogue's hitbox (well, with multiple Pluspowers/Junk Arms it could be donked, but this was highly unlikely). Manaphy required an energy for the attack, and nailed you one less card with its shuffle draw attack (five, as opposed to Cleffa's six), but for Nationals, it was great to resist the Tyrogue swarm. Fast forward to now. Baby Pokemon are ran as 1-of's, and Tyrogue is virtually nonexistent (often times I put it into my lists, and as I go back to find room for other cards, it's usually one of the first cards to go). Electric (the type Manaphy is weak to) is currently running rampant, and is the BDIF (best deck in format). What that means is that an Electric Pokemon only needs to do 30 damage to knock out both a Manaphy and a Cleffa. If that's the case, why would I want to waste an energy to get one less card, when I can use my energy attachment for the turn on one of my main attackers, get a sixth card, AND possibly sleep through the next turn, avoiding damage and that potential knock out? Yes, Manaphy's time has come and gone. It fulfilled a crucial niche at Nationals (Pooka ran it in his deck, and he managed to take second place in the entire tournament), but Nationals is obviously a long time ago (we're over halfway to our next Nationals, can you believe it?). I strongly recommend AGAINST this card. It isn't a good substitute for Cleffa at all. However, if you don't own any Cleffa, and for some reason, you can't obtain a single Cleffa even through dire means, AND you have a Manaphy, you can run this card, at least, until you get a Cleffa.
4)Basic searchers like Stantler, Minun, Elgyem and others: These Pokemon all share one thing in common: they search out basic Pokemon, like Pichu, but for an energy cost. I won't cover them much at all, because they aren't run (though Elgyem is seeing a tiny bit of play, only because of it's evolved form Beheeyem, in which case Elgyem offers a great consistency boost to the deck). The idea of searching out basic Pokemon through an attack works with Pichu, but that's because Pichu's attack doesn't use up an energy, and it can possibly be immune from damage. If you want to run a basic Pokemon searching attacker, run Pichu. These all pale in comparison. They really do. Don't run these. I mean it.
5)Smeargle: Smeargle is an odd starter. It saw some great initial play thanks to Unown Q (which gave it free retreat, allowing it to be a decent starter, as well as a great "send up after KO Pokemon"), but dipped to almost nothing once the HGSS-on rotation hit. You could still run Smeargle, but you'd have to waste an energy attachment for the turn to retreat it, play Switch to get it out of the active spot, or simply leave it active as fodder in hopes your opponent didn't have a Reversal/Catcher. Now, with the recent release of Skyarrow Bridge, Smeargle is starting to see small amounts of play again, as another 1-of. Skyarrow Bridge gives it free retreat, allowing you to start with it and not have to waste an energy/Switch to retreat it. Smeargle is appealing in that he can potentially let you use two different supporters per turn. His Poke-power "Portrait" looks into your opponent's hand, and, if they have a usable supporter, allows you to play it. This can be great, because it can possibly let you steal something like a Pokemon Collector, or allow you to copy a shuffle/draw supporter, and then possibly play your own supporter from that. Smeargle's downsides are also pretty apparent. When you use Portrait, you HAVE to take a supporter. That means that if they have something like a Judge or an N, and you have a great hand, you have to choose it and potentially disrupt yourself. You also cannot take "dud" supporters. What that means is you cannot take something like a Twins or Black Belt if you are tied/have less prizes than your opponent(and therefore cannot activate the effect). Smeargle is an interesting starter, but isn't necessarily the best in every deck. It works better in all-basic Pokemon decks (where Skyarrow Bridge/Switch will be in much heavier numbers) better than it does in evolution decks.
So, now that I've covered what the starters are, which is the best for this deck? Well, to determine that, you have to look at the role the starter will play and how it can benefit the deck. There are obviously a few things you'll need to take into account.
For starters, you'll notice that Magnezone is self-sufficient (and has the best current draw engine in the game). What this means is that the first initial turns are scary, but once you have at least one Magnezone up (not necessarily attacking, just on the board), you are in a much, much better position, board and game wise. Magnezone draws like crazy, and can help continuously set up other Magnezones to keep up that draw all game. What this means is that the starter for this deck needs to be there just to give that little nudge early game, but not be a hindrance later in the game. You'll also want to factor in the “come-from-behind” ability of the deck, and of your specific build. Do you want your deck to be geared towards initially sacrificing a prize to activate cards like Twins or N (to disrupt your opponent better) and always stay behind on prizes until the end where you can take the lead? Or, more commonly for this deck, do you want to try the hyper-aggressive route, and try to get up and running as fast as possible, providing a swarm of attackers throughout the entire game?
The latter strategy is much more common with this deck. Eelzone is the hardest hitting deck in the format, and, with that in mind, you want to be able to present that power and consistency as soon as possible, in an attempt to establish and hopefully maintain board control, eventually claiming victory in the match. The problem with Eelzone is in the “dark zone”, or those first few turns before you can get out a Magnezone. It really is a scary few turns (or maybe just one, who knows!) before you get out that Magnezone, because you don't really have much damage output, aside from Zekrom (which even then isn't much initially) to fend off early game enemy attackers. So your starter needs to be something that gives that consistency boost to try and ensure that early game Magnezone.
It shouldn't come as a surprise that Cleffa is that starter. Cleffa works really well in this deck, as you can play through your opening hand, play a supporter (if it's a shuffle/draw supporter you can play through that hand as well), then, finally, shuffle away the rest and get a fresh hand. Then, on your next turn, you should be able to grab a Magnezone (utilizing the new hand as well as any shuffle/draw/search supporters you'll find). Cleffa is also small and compact, and should only take up a single slot, to be used for those early game situations where you really need a new hand. Cleffa also provides free retreat to a field that should, ideally, have no less than a two retreat cost elsewhere, which is also an obvious plus.
Pichu can also work well in this deck, as it allows you to play a different supporter and still set up all of your basic Pokemon. Pichu will not be in this specific list, as I don't like the thought of having more liabilities than necessary, but I have seen it in lists and I have seen them do very well. Running Pichu would not be a bad decision at all, it is merely a playstyle choice. Now that we're devoting a slot to Cleffa, we can finally finish out our Pokemon line:
4-2-3 Magnezone
4-3 Eelektrik
3 Zekrom
1 Cleffa
Time to move on to the Energy!
~~Energy~~
To win the game (in the typical fashion), you've got to knock out your opponent's Pokemon faster than he can knock out yours. That means your Pokemon have to attack theirs. In order to do that, you need Energy to power up your Pokemon's attacks. Energy is one of the most basic principles of the game, and is necessary in every deck. Energy is also unique, in that you can only play one a turn, which is called an attachment. You only get one (tell 'em, Spidey!), so you've really got to make it count. Entire games can be lost based on Energy “drops” (where you attach your Energy). That being said, you've got two choices when it comes to Energy. Special Energy, and Basic Energy. What's the difference between the two? Basic Energy can be recovered through various methods. Special Energy cannot. There isn't any Special Energy in this deck, but I'll still explain them as a whole regardless.
1)Special Energy: Here is a common example of Special Energy (one that is used often/across different decks). As you can see, it does something different than provide just energy. That specific one provides two units of Colorless energy. This means that attacks that would normally take two turns to use can be used in a single turn. This is obviously useful, as it increases the speed of your deck. There are a wide range of effects that Special Energy have. Some of them act as every kind of energy (still only unit, but extremely versatile), while others will return entire Pokemon to their respective owner's hands once they are knocked out. Special Energy suffer another drawback, however. Unlike Basic Energy, you are once again restricted to only being able to run four copies of the card, so as to balance them out. Doing so means that you've got to be smart about where you use them and how you place them, or fear losing them. Seeing as Special Energy aren't in the deck, I'll move right on to Basic Energy.
2)Basic Energy: There is a different kind of Basic Energy for each type (except for Colorless, which can use any kind of Energy it wants), and there is no limit to the amount of Basic Energy you can run in each deck, making it currently one of a very, very select few cards to have this rule (the other being the Arceus set of cards). This deck is entirely Electric (Lightning, if you want to get technical), which means that you only need Electric Energy. Figuring out just the right amount of Energy to run in a deck involves figuring out certain matchups, some guesstimation, and some testing. For this specific deck, the number is fairly standard, and ranges anywhere from 13-15. Decks that use big attackers or lots of energy obviously require higher amounts of energy. This means that your energy counts should be towards the mid-range teens. 15 is, generally, the peak (though a few decks hit 16) for the amount of Energy you should run (both Special and Basic are counted in that), while I’ve seen as low as eight in other decks. It really ranges with each deck. For this deck, the number we’ll choose will be the fairly standard 14 energy. That provides plenty of energy to knock out bigger Pokemon with Magnezone, but since we are taking a more aggressive Zekrom approach, we won’t need that extra 15th energy. Our new list looks like this:
4-2-3 Magnezone
4-3 Eelektrik
3 Zekrom
1 Cleffa
= 20 Pokemon
13 Lightning Energy
= 13 Energy
We’re up to 33 spots in our deck, which means we’ve got 26 spots left to fill exclusively with Trainers, Supporters and Stadiums. Let’s explore those next.
~~Trainers, Supporters, and Stadiums~~
When you have a car, you'll notice that it drives smoothly, and without error. You need something to control the vehicle, which is the steering wheel. You need something to fuel your car, which is the gas in the gas tank. Most importantly of all, you need the engine to actually run your car. Pokemon decks are no different. The “steering wheel” of a Pokemon deck is, obviously, the Pokemon. The “fuel” of your deck is the energy, which allows your Pokemon to attack. The “engine”, or the most crucial part of the deck, is the Trainers, Supporters and Stadiums.
Trainers, Supporters and Stadiums, or, as abbreviated in decklists, T/S/S, are a series of cards that exist exclusively to set-up your deck. These cards “create” the consistency of your deck. Without these cards, Pokemon would literally devolve into a game of drawing, possibly evolving, and attaching energy. It would become one of the worst, slowest, and stalest games ever created. Thanks to T/S/S however, Pokemon turns into a game of skill, longevity, and, occasionally, speed. In order for your deck to run smoothly, you need to have a fair number of these cards. When building a list, make sure to devote as much space as necessary for them. Often times, what I'll do myself, is write a list STARTING with the T/S/S, and I'll write down a massive number of them, including random cards that assist in weird areas or are oddball trainers that occasionally work with the deck. Then, as I finish off the rest of the list (the Pokemon and energy), I'll be able to trim the T/S/S down to only what's essential, streamlining them and getting rid of all the gunk.
I'll start with Supporters, as they're the most important of the bunch. Supporters have a wide range of effects, but they almost always assist your set-up in one way or another. Some search out Pokemon (one of the best does just that), while others force a shuffle/draw (sometimes for both players), and the occasional few even disrupt. Despite the wide range of affects they bring to the table, Supporters all share one thing in common: you can only play one of them a turn. This keeps them balanced, as being able to play as many as you wanted would mean you could, in theory, draw through your entire deck. In my opinion, there are three kinds of Supporters: Shuffle/Draw (they'll be classified together for the sake of time), Recovery, and Search. I'll cover them all quickly.
1)Shuffle/Draw: These are the most common types of Supporters. They are used to cycle through your deck, hopefully pulling out the cards you need. They are often run in excess in comparison to the other kinds of Supporters, as they provide the largest opportunity for obtaining the cards you want, though they aren't specific in what they find. While used to escape a bad hand, they can provide you an even worse hand. With Shuffle/Draw Supporters, there are four sub-castes: Burn, Recycle, Draw and Disrupt.
a)Burn: These are Supporters that “burn” through your cards or deck. They often provide the highest access to cards, but at the cost of discarding cards that could possibly help you later in the game. These are the high-risk high-reward Supporters. Supporters like Sage's Training, Engineer's Adjustments, and Professor Juniper are all prime examples of Burn Supporters. They allow you to draw through your deck in large numbers, but discard resources in the process. These Supporters fit the aggressive mindset of decks. They are geared more towards making the deck fast and overpowering your opponent early, so that those resources you lost early won't matter. These work faster than you may like, so when using these in excess, always be watchful that you don't draw too much, or you could possibly deck yourself and lose.
b)Recycle: While Burn Supporters are geared more towards being aggressive and overwhelming your opponents, Recycle Supporters are generally more conservative, meant to make a deck last longer. While being conservative may be detrimental to a deck early game (it by no means is at all, but given a particular matchup it might be), it is definitely more beneficial in the later stages of the game. Conservative mindsets, and the subsequent Supporters that suit them are often times steadily consistent throughout the entire game. They involve simply shuffling your hand back into your deck and drawing X amount of cards. Sometimes there is a standard limit which they allow the player to draw back (as in Professor Oak's New Theory's case), while at other times they vary based on the state of the game or even the opponent's hand size (N and Copycat). These Supporters keep the resources you have and present possible new ones to use, but they can also fill your hand with clutter, which puts you in a position that could cost you the game(ask anyone and they probably have a story about drawing into the worst hand they've ever seen with one of these). After all, you can't sprint an entire marathon, but if you set a pace for yourself and keep it, you'll be able to last much longer through the distance.
c)Draw: These Supporters are much simpler than either their environmentally disastrous or friendly cousins. They simply draw. They aren't used much at all because you only get one Supporter a turn and these generally present a low return. Burn and Recycle Supporters present you with plenty of cards as opposed to just taking them right off the top. While Engineer's Adjustments simply draws from the top, it discards energy, which can be useful in certain decks, given their strategy, which is why it sees play in the decks it does. Bill, Cheerleader's Cheer, Bianca, and Cheren are examples of plain Draw Supporters. These Supporters almost see no play at all (well, Bill USED to be “the man”, but lots of things have changed since then), except for Cheren, which is seen in the occasional deck, as a late-game consistency crutch. If you choose to run any of these, make sure it's Cheren.
d)Disrupt: This is the final kind of Shuffle/Draw Supporter. These work to assist you in drawing cards like the others, but they do it in a much more limited manner, as they work to harm your opponent as well. In our current format the number of these Supporters is small, but it's increasing slowly, giving lock-type decks more options to work with. Team Rocket's Trickery is pretty basic, as it draws two cards and allows you to randomly choose a card from your opponent's hand and discard it. This is decent, but it doesn't help as much as you'd think, because you draw very little, and could discard a useless card from your opponent's hand, possibly helping him more than hurting him. N, and possibly the most popular disruption Supporter, Judge, are your only other options when it comes to this kind of Supporter. Judge saw insane amounts of play in Yanmega-based decks, and in previous formats with Sableye and even as far back as Gardevoir/Gallade (ah, the good old days). Since the release of N, and, consequently, the rise of “Big Electric” as the dominant meta deck, Yanmega's play has fallen steeply, and with it, Judge. Judge still sees occasional play, but N outclasses it. N sees plenty of use, as an early-game PONT (Professor Oak's New Theory), and as a late-game Disrupt Supporter. Out of these three, however, N is really the only one that sees play. Judge is, in my opinion, very underrated at the moment, and could make some comebacks in a few decks.
2)Search: Oddly, Search Supporters fluctuate in the amount that they are played. In some formats the majority of Supporters played are Search Supporters, while other formats only display the minority. However, one thing is consistent between every generation of Search Supporters: there is always one that searches out Basic Pokemon. From Holon Mentor, to Roseanne's Research, and finally, to our current incarnation of the quintessential Basic searcher, Pokemon Collector. There are other cards that search for different things ( some search exclusively for energy), but in this format, there are really only two of them that deserve any mention at all, as they are the only ones that really see play.
a)Pokemon Collector: Pokemon Collector has been an immediate staple since the day it was released, over three formats ago. There isn't much I can do to cover this that you don't already know, or that's terribly specific or secret about it. Pokemon Collector searches for three basic Pokemon, and puts them into your hand. That's it. Running this card is a must in high counts, as it allows for a greater chance of starting with it in your opening hand. Starting with Pokemon Collector in your opening hand is always, always a good thing. It allows you to grab the basics you need to get going. It prevents you from getting “benched” (losing when your active is the only Pokemon on the field and is knocked out). It's crucial. There's not much more I can say. You've gotta run this card. No exceptions.
b)Twins: Twins is a relatively new search Supporter, using a new mechanic to Pokemon. Twins (and fellow Supporter of the same set Black Belt) offers a very powerful ability. You search your deck for two cards, and put them into your hand. That's right. Any two cards. Pokemon, Energy, T/S/S, whatever. Anything goes with Twins. The only downside to this otherwise broken Supporter? You've got to be losing. That's right, in order to use Twins, your opponent has to have taken more prizes than you. This is what makes Twins so useful to certain decks. Previously, slower decks would be plagued by getting overrun without any form of assistance. Now, slower decks don't mind going down on prizes early. They'll shrug off that simple prize loss or two, because that means they have access to Twins, which helps them set up much faster. Twins also combos very nicely with baby Pokemon, as they are naturally very weak, so having them get knocked out isn't a problem at all, if you run Twins. Twins is almost staple across decks, as it's versatility and pure, unrestricted search ability is just too good to pass up. Twins doesn't fit the aggressive mindset of players, but for those that like to play out slower, more set-up based decks, Twins is your best friend.
3)Recovery: This is the last class of Supporters. They don't search or draw or anything like that. Instead, they take cards from the discard pile and send them to the deck. Currently, there are only two Supporters in our format that work as Recovery Supporters, which isn't as uncommon as you'd think. Generally, most formats have very few of these kinds of Supporters, and that's intentional. Having one primary Recovery Supporter means people aren't always having to choose between Supporters that all do the same thing. Recovery Supporters also aren't as crucial as you think, and aren't run in many decks at all (that's not to say they aren't usable, it's just that the space would be better filled with something else often times). This concept isn't exclusive to these kinds of Supporters either; it's fairly standard throughout all of Pokemon Supporter-dom. You don't have multiple kinds of Supporters that search out basic Pokemon (unless one of them is being cycled out of the format), you don't have multiple different kinds of cards that all have constant, set effects (like in PONT's case). While many cards do similar things, they all have individual and unique limitations set on them, which is what presents variety, but still allows them to accomplish their goal. In this format, these supporters are Fisherman and Flower Shop Lady. I'll cover each of these briefly.
a)Fisherman: Fisherman is your go-to card for energy recovery, and your primary form of recovery in decks that lock trainers, but still need energy. Playing it grabs four basic energy from your discard and puts them into your hand. Simple as that. This card works well with decks that have “dump” energy acceleration (cards like Feraligatr and Emboar fall into this category, where they can drop as many energy as they'd like onto the field, provided they have the energy in their hand), as most other forms of acceleration take the energy from the discard anyways. The “dump” acceleration strategy is currently underplayed, as it's looked at as inferior. This isn't necessarily true, though many (including myself) believe it to be the case. That's not to say the cards are outclassed, but when stacked against a different kind of acceleration for the same deck, they often
lose out.
b)Flower Shop Lady: This is the only other form of Supporter recovery in the format. Like Fisherman, it grabs basic energy from the discard. Instead of putting them into your hand, however, it shuffles them into the deck. It also only grabs three basic energy, instead of four. What makes Flower Shop Lady different is that it also recovers Pokemon. With Flower Shop Lady, you choose three Pokemon (it isn't limited to basic, it can be ANY kind of Pokemon, be it basic, Stage1, or even Stage2), as well as three basic energy. You take these and shuffle them back into the deck. This card is great because it recovers the Pokemon, which, apparently, are needed to win games. Flower Shop Lady is run pretty much exclusively in Trainer-Lock decks(as there's a different kind of recovery for Trainer-Using decks), if even that. It's not a bad card, it's just not often run. Still, it's not a bad card to consider, and an easy one to cut from lists.
Now that I've covered all the different kinds of Supporters, we should look at just what's usable for this kind of deck. Remember, Eelzone only works by getting energy into the discard pile, and recycling them onto the field to attack with. Eelzone also has Magnezone, which is the most consistent, built-in engine a deck can have. This means that whatever Supporters you choose must fit either (or both) of these ideas.
It should come as no surprise that N fits well into this deck. N provides stable draw early-game, and, combined with Magnezone, offers even better draw late-game, as well as disrupting the opponent more and more as the game goes on. N is pretty much only included because the downside of drawing less cards depending on the amount of prizes you've taken is negated thanks to Magnezone's ability to refill your hand right back up to full strength. Magnezone (and Zekrom) both have bulky HP stats as well, and are much more difficult to knock out when you're constantly being disrupted into increasingly smaller hands.
The other Supporter is a little harder to pin down. Seeing as the deck has Magnezone, you don't need as many Supporters as other decks, which is nice, as you can devote more room for Trainers, Pokemon, or even Energy. That being said, the Supporters you DO choose need to be just perfect for the job. N works as a solid form of draw when combined with Magnezone, so your other Supporter must be something that works to discard. Engineer's Adjustments would be considered overkill in this deck from a draw perspective, as you already have N and the prospect of multiple Magnezones drawing you plenty of cards every turn. Sage's Training, however, DOES work well for this deck. Sage's Training looks at the top five cards of your deck, and lets you choose two of them. Those two go to your hand, while the other three go to the discard. This works very well with this deck, as you immediately can narrow down your choices of cards you need to keep. “Dead-Draw” cards (I'll explain this later), like Pokemon Collector (after you've got a full bench/field or enough basics to safely sustain yourself), and Energy can immediately be discarded, as you either don't need them at all, or need them in the discard for your strategy to work. This means that Sage's Training works extremely well to filter out the useless cards you won't need, and can potentially grab you the exact cards you need for a certain situation. Sure, you'll find situations where you're saying to yourself “Why can't I keep all of these?”, but that's only natural, and no card is perfect. Regardless, Sage's Training works very well with the deck, and therefore deserves to take the second and final Supporter slot for the deck.
This doesn't need much of a mention, but I'll note it quickly. Pokemon Collector must be in this deck, at four copies. Eelzone totes itself as being the best deck in format, which is a tough title to keep. It keeps it because it's consistent, and consistency starts out on the first turn. Making sure you maximize your chance of starting with Pokemon Collector is crucial, so I've included four copies into the list.
Now that I've covered the different kinds of Supporters, explained them, and finally narrowed down our choices to our top two Supporters for this deck, we've gotta put them into the list. Thanks to Magnezone, we don't need too many Supporters, but running too few can also be detrimental to the deck's consistency. So, since we're only running two, it's acceptable to just max 'em out and call it a day. Doing that, our new deck looks like this so far:
4-2-3 Magnezone
4-3 Eelektrik
3 Zekrom
1 Cleffa
= 20 Pokemon
13 Lightning Energy
= 13 Energy
4 Pokemon Collector
3 Sage's Training
4 N
=13
We've still got to fill up the rest of the deck, and, for that, we use Trainers. Stadiums aren’t very common at all, and there aren’t any current Stadiums that work with the deck, so I won’t even bother covering them. Trainers, on the other hand, are so versatile and come in every variety you can think of that it's difficult to classify them all. To me, I believe each Trainer falls into one of four categories: Disruption, Recovery, Search, Other. I'll cover them all quickly.
1)Disruption: These are the Trainers that you employ to disrupt your opponent's set up in some way. Cards like Crushing Hammer, Lost Remover and even the infamous Pokemon Catcher all fall into this category. These don't do anything to really assist you directly (though Pokemon Catcher can help you knock out a crucial Pokemon of your opponent's). Instead, they work to slow down your opponent, giving you a fighting chance to take the lead, or, if you already have it, secure it.
(Small Note: Even though I barely covered it, I'd like to mention here that Pokemon Catcher is tied with Rare Candy in terms of the influence it has placed over the game. Entire legions of Pokemon with unique abilities, strategies or potential are completely unusable thanks to this card. The bench, a place that was previously impervious to almost all forms of damage and disruption, is now as dangerous a place as the active spot, thanks to this card. The only thing your opponent needs to do to snag a Pokemon on your bench and pull it to the active spot is literally just play this card. No flip, no Level-Up, nothing like that at all. It's an important card, and one that you should ALWAYS be mindful of. Always.)
2)Recovery: Like Supporters, Trainers also have a Recovery class. These Trainers pale in comparison in the amount or thing that they can recover, but since they are Trainers, you can play as many of them as you'd like, and, therefore, possibly recover more than you would with a single Supporter. Common examples of this are Energy Retrieval (which works to recover only Energy from the discard, placing two Basic Energy into your hand), Revive (which takes a basic Pokemon and places it onto your bench), and Super Rod (which takes any combination of up to three Basic Energy and Pokemon, and shuffles them into your deck). All of these have seen varied amounts of play (with Super Rod currently seeing plenty of play), though they only recover Pokemon and Energy. For the longest time, there was no way to recover any Trainers that you played, meaning that once you used it, it was gone for good. This all changed with the release of Junk Arm.
a)Junk Arm: Junk Arm (very similar to Item Finder from back in the day) is arguably the best card in the entire format. Junk Arm's versatility is infinite. Junk Arm discards two cards from your hand (pretty useful in this deck, eh?), and allows you to choose a separate Trainer card (excluding any other Junk Arm) and put it into your hand. Yes, that means you can reuse ANY Trainer card in your discard pile. Junk Arm finds it's spot in 98% of all decks that use Trainers in four slots. The other 2%? Those are decks that either don't run Junk Arm (for some blasphemous reason), or run Junk Arm but in a lesser count, usually around two or three. That's just a testament to Junk Arm's sheer influence: the decks that don't run four of the card usually try to fit in at least a few. It's just too good to pass up. Discarding Junk Arms often times can lose players the game, which shows, once more, just how powerful Junk Arm is.
b)Super Rod: Super Rod is the other form of played Trainer recovery. Like Night Maintenance multiple formats ago, Super Rod allows you to take a combination of three Energy and Pokemon. Unlike Flower Shop Lady, which forces you to take three of each if you have them in your discard, Super Rod lets you choose which three you want to take. Be it three energy, three Pokemon, or any combination of the two. It's pretty solid, because, like every other Trainer, you can use it multiple times thanks to the magic of Junk Arm. Running one of this card is almost standard, because it's just that small amount of recovery that most decks need.
3)Search is the next caste of Trainers, and it's definitely the most popular of all of the castes. There are so many different kinds of search cards in this format that I won't even come close to covering them all. Some exclusively search for Energy. Some search for, if you're lucky, Supporters. The bulk of them search for Pokemon. The ones that search for Pokemon break down even further than that. Some exclusively search for basics. Some search for Pokemon with low HP. Some search for big retreat. Others search for anything, given you put something back.
a)Pokemon Communication: This is the most popular, most used, and arguably best Trainer search in the format. You can get any Pokemon you want, as long as you put one back. This card is also played heavily enough that I don't feel I need to explain it in to much detail. Basically, this card turns any Pokemon you may draw through any means into any Pokemon of your choosing. You should always run three copies of the card, in any deck that requires any kind of evolution card, because it's just too good to pass up.
b)Heavy Ball: While not nearly as popular, versatile, or awesome as Pokemon Communication, Heavy Ball DOES deserve some mention as a solid Trainer search for the Eelzone deck. Heavy Ball searches for Pokemon with three retreat or higher. What that means is that this card can search for any Magnezones you may need, as well as a Zekrom EX if you decide to run it. Please note, however, that these are the only cards that Heavy Ball can search. Heavy Ball cannot function as a replacement to Communication on its own. Pokemon Communication can search out ANY Pokemon in your deck. ANY. Basic, Stage1, and Stage2 alike. This card is very limited in the cards it searches for. Anyone who thinks that Heavy Ball functions as a singular replacement for Communication on its really should re-read the card. Running a single copy of Heavy Ball may not be such a bad idea, if you've got the room, but running it without Communication is suicide.
4)There are plenty of other Trainers that are used that don't fit into either of these two categories. Healing cards, Tools, Switch, PlusPower and Defender are just a few examples. Out of all of those random Trainers, there's really only one, and occasionally two, that are used.
a)Switch: This card has existed since Base Set. Even when Switch wasn't played, variants of Switch that saw play (Warp Point and Warp Energy) always existed. Switch gets around one of the fundamental rules of the game: one retreat per turn. With Switch, you can move a Pokemon safely out of the active spot, but still maintain your retreat ability for the turn. It's especially helpful when switching Pokemon with retreat costs that are otherwise un-retreatable. Switch is now a staple, run in everything except Trainer-Lock decks.
b)PlusPower: PlusPower has often seen dips and rises in play. PlusPower is a card that has existed simply to give attacks that little nudge they need to score the OHKO (One-Hit-Knock-Out). Most of the time, it hasn't explicitly mattered enough to be run, as a deck was fast or strong enough to knock anything out anyways. However, this particular format is ALL about OHKOs, with 130 being the “magic” number to hit (this is changing thanks to the ridiculously HP of EX Pokemon, but still). PlusPower allowed many Pokemon to hit that exact number, and any other number they may have been just short of. PlusPower is run in most decks now, as it can crucially turn the tide of battle right when it's needed the most. The hit box of the format may be changing, but that doesn't mean that PlusPower is going anywhere. In fact, this format may yield a need for PlusPower now more than ever.
In order to cover and weigh in on each and every Trainer, I'd need an entire article dedicated solely to that task. I may have touched very, very briefly on it, but I believe I've covered the most important of the Trainers, or, at least, the ones most important to the deck. In order to figure out which Trainers to put into a deck (and in how many copies), you've got to figure out what's essential, and what's not. For this deck, we've got plenty of evolution cards, as well as a Stage2. This means, right off the bat, that we need Pokemon Communication and Rare Candy. In order to ensure a Magnezone as fast as possible, we should max out the lines of these cards.
4-2-3 Magnezone
4-3 Eelektrik
3 Zekrom
1 Cleffa
= 20 Pokemon
13 Lightning Energy
= 13 Energy
3 Sage's Training
4 N
4 Pokemon Collector
4 Rare Candy
4 Communication
= 19 Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums
We're currently at a solid 52 cards in our deck, which means we're drawing closer to completing the deck. Let's take a look at some of the Trainers we've previously covered. Junk Arm, Switch, Pokemon Catcher, PlusPower, Heavy Ball, Super Rod, Defender; the list goes on and on. Which work particularly well with this deck? Well, there are a lot of Pokemon with large retreat costs in this deck, so Switch seems like it would work. Having Energy in the discard means you can attach them to your benched Pokemon through Eelektrik. Having something on the bench to attach to and Switch to the active spot is always a solid strategy, so I'd say Switch is pretty crucial to the deck's strategy. Adding two of them wouldn't be a bad idea, and is probably the best option. However, space in a decklist is very cramped, so occasionally we have to less than an ideal amount of a card. I use one Switch here.
4-2-3 Magnezone
4-3 Eelektrik
3 Zekrom
1 Cleffa
= 20 Pokemon
13 Lightning Energy
= 13 Energy
3 Sage's Training
4 N
4 Pokemon Collector
4 Rare Candy
4 Pokemon Communication
1 Switch
= 20 Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums
We're now at 53 cards, and closing fast. With Eelzone, you've got a near infinite damage cap. Nothing's safe from Magnezone, and many things are scared of Zekrom as well. However, simply limiting all that damage output to the active spot isn't a good idea. With Pokemon Catcher, nothing is safe from the sheer power of this deck. While you may only need one of them in a game (it can be reused thanks to Junk Arm), running more than one is always smart, in case you prize one or it gets discarded before you get a chance to use it. You don't want to run too many though, as it's not essential to the deck's strategy. It's simply a way to deal with threats that could be building up on the bench. One is too little, three is too much, but two is just right, as it can still be used even if prized, but it doesn't just get in the way all the time.
4-2-3 Magnezone
4-3 Eelektrik
3 Zekrom
1 Cleffa
= 20 Pokemon
13 Lightning Energy
= 13 Energy
3 Sage's Training
4 N
4 Pokemon Collector
4 Rare Candy
4 Communication
1 Switch
2 Pokemon Catcher
= 22 Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums
With only five spots left in the deck so we've really gotta be picky here. With three Magnezone and three Zekrom you can, in theory, trade one-for-one on prizes with the opponent and still have just enough attackers to win. That is, of course, if you don't happen to prize any of them. If you prized any attackers or crucial Pokemon, the ones that you have access to become so much more important. So much so, that having them knocked out could lose you the game. To avoid this, you need a bit of recovery. Eelzone is notorious for having beefy attackers, but even they eventually succumb to constant onslaught. When that happens, you want to “fish” them out of the discard, with your handy-dandy Super Rod! Yes, this deck needs recovery, but not in the dedicated, Supporter form of Flower Shop Lady. Super Rod provides that recovery, allowing you to grab just the few crucial Pokemon that were knocked out, and, if need be, can be reused to grab even more. This flexibility combined with the possibility of drawing into what you just recovered is what makes Super Rod a great choice for the 55th slot in the deck.
4-2-3 Magnezone
4-3 Eelektrik
3 Zekrom
1 Cleffa
= 20 Pokemon
13 Lightning Energy
= 13 Energy
3 Sage's Training
4 N
4 Pokemon Collector
4 Rare Candy
4 Communication
1 Switch
2 Pokemon Catcher
1 Super Rod
= 23 Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums
Remember that “magic number” I talked about earlier? Well, whatever it happens to be, there's always a magic number for damage. And the only thing that can let you hit that is PlusPower. Yes, Magnezone can hit any magic number it wants, and then some, but always attacking exclusively with just Magnezone will often times lose you the game: you don't have enough energy for lots of sustained, energy-draining attacks. Zekrom alleviates this nicely, allowing massive damage but not permanently removing the energy once the attack is finished. Still, even Zekrom can't knock out everything (like rival dragons) without some assistance. PlusPower is just the thing to push that 120 damage into the sweet spot. PlusPower can also help when hitting something with weakness to electric. With Pluspower, doing 50 damage (100, when factoring in weakness) for a single Energy turns into 60 damage (120, when factoring in weakness), which obviously takes less resources, and, therefore, conserves more of them for later in the game. PlusPower isn't necessary though, and only deserves a single slot (in some builds). I decided not to include it.
We've only got four slots left in our deck, and plenty of Trainers to go off of. The problem with all of these is that once you use them, they're gone for the rest of the game. I've mentioned this many times before, but there is a way to recover them, and it's through Junk Arm. Junk Arm is clearly what deserves the final slots in the deck, as it can allow multiple uses of the otherwise one-time use Super Rod and PlusPower, but also allows for the reuse of a crucial Trainer when you don't have the physical card. Junk Arm also conveniently assists in discarding Lightning Energy, which are necessary for the deck's Energy acceleration to work properly. There's no question, Junk Arm's gonna round out the deck.
4-2-3 Magnezone
4-3 Eelektrik
3 Zekrom
1 Cleffa
= 20 Pokemon
13 Lightning Energy
= 13 Energy
3 Sage's Training
4 N
4 Pokemon Collector
4 Rare Candy
4 Communication
1 Switch
2 Pokemon Catcher
1 Super Rod
4 Junk Arm
= 27 Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums
With that, we finally finish the deck. This is a very specific way of going about doing this, but, often times, you will find yourself going through the same steps in a much more general pattern. To build the right deck, you really need to analyze what you want the deck to do, and focus on that goal. Make it as consistent as possible.
~~Final Tips~~
Here's a few last minute tips and tricks to pay attention to when you build:
1)1-ofs and Overteching: By nature, 1-ofs are simply what the name suggests: A card that is run as a single copy, usually to serve some specific purpose. Many cards that exist today fall into this category. The cards are good, but aren't good enough to stand up on their own, or can be used to specifically deal with a problem your deck might face. A very common example that our meta will experience is with Mewtwo. Many decks will run a single Mewtwo, specifically just to deal with a rival deck's own Mewtwo. With 1-ofs, you don't build entire decks around them, but they can fit nicely into your deck without changing too much of the deck's makeup or strategy.
By including 1-ofs into your deck, you're doing what's called teching, which is the term given to including specific cards to deal with problem matchups or scenarios. Generally, a deck will have very few specific problems that drastically affect it. By including a very small number of techs, the deck can often times lower the severity of the problem to manageable levels. However, many people will include to many techs, in an effort to take a problem and elminate it entirely. This is called Overteching, and it's generally frowned upon. You can't get rid of every problem a deck has. If a deck didn't have a single problem, it would be perfect and everyone would be playing it (which, in itself, would cause people to try and figure out techs to beat the mirror). Overteching often times ruins the consistency of a deck, which hurts you more than helps you. Sure, that problem that you struggled with before may be solved, but this new lowered consistency will present more problems, many of which would be solved by just accepting that the problem is something you'll have to deal with in-game, and that teching to bring a problem down to tolerable levels should be good enough. Leave the rest up to your deck, and, if it's consistent, you should be able to win with some skill and a bit of luck.
2)The
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