How to Build a Pokémon Deck for Tournaments

7th December 2024 EDT FEATURES

How to Build a Pokémon Deck for Tournament Play and Achieve Great Pokémon Tournament Results

If you've ever wondered how to build a Pokémon TCG deck that goes beyond being merely functional to actually being viable in tournaments, have a read through this.

Picture yourself showing up to take part in a Pokémon TCG tournament with the deck you’ve carefully put together in hand. You then take a seat at the table for your first game—only to get absolutely blown out. This happens again and again and when it’s all said and done, you see a “0” in your “W” column. Now, why might this happen?

It’s because building a Pokémon TCG deck fit for tournament play goes way beyond “putting 60 cards that happen to fit together into the same deck”. There’s so much to take into account—the deck’s tactical setup, card synergy, metagame viability, and opposing matchups, among other things.

With this in mind, here’s everything to know about how to build a Pokémon deck that’ll actually be competitive at tournaments and hold its own against any opponent.

Rotation

Before anything else, however, apart from the obvious “60 cards with no more than four copies of any card of the same name”, the most important thing to know about building a Pokémon TCG deck is the rotation. In the Pokémon TCG meta, “rotation” refers to the cards that are legal for tournament play at any given time.

To determine whether a card is part of the current rotation, look at the letter of the alphabet in its bottom-left corner. As of the current rotation, only cards marked with the letters F, G, or H are permitted in tournament play. This means that, with a few exceptions, only cards released in Star Birth [S9] or a newer set can be part of the deck. Any older cards are barred from use.

If a card does not have the letter F, G, or H in its bottom-left corner but a newer version of that card with one of those letters has since been released, that card is allowed to be used. An example of such a card is Rare Candy. Similarly, if a card has been reprinted in a set after Star Birth [S9] but doesn’t have the F, G, or H on it, that card can’t be put in the deck. An example of a card like that is Path to the Peak.

Now that we’ve explained what rotation is, let’s get into the actual building of the deck.

Basic vs. Evolution

Some decks are built around Basic Pokémon while others use Pokémon evolution. Since Basic Pokémon can be put into play right off the bat, Basic-centric decks tend to play at a faster pace than evolution decks. They also tend to be easier to set up than their evolutionary counterparts; however, once fully set up, evolution decks typically tend to pack more raw power.

In the current metagame, among the leading Basic decks are the Regidrago VSTAR, Raging Bolt ex, and Lost Zone Box decks while some of the most meta-relevant evolution decks right now are the Gardevoir ex, Charizard ex, and Dragapult ex decks.

Some decks are built around a Basic Pokémon while also using an evolved Pokémon as the main supporting piece. The most common evolved Pokémon card used for this purpose is the Dusknoir card from Night Wanderer [SV6a] as shown by, for example, the Terapagos ex/Dusknoir and Palkia VSTAR/Dusknoir decks.

Finally, although the Lugia VSTAR deck does contain evolved Pokémon, it plays exactly like a Basic deck because of Summoning Star, the Ability of the titular card from Paradigm Trigger [S12]. That’s because the Ability is used to place the Archeops card from the same set directly onto the player’s Bench; thus, despite being an evolved Pokémon, Archeops essentially functions as a Basic.

Card Synergy

The most important question to answer regarding card synergy is “what do I want my deck to do?” Each deck has its own strategy; as such, the supporting cards added to the deck can make or break the deck itself. It’s important for all supporting cards to serve the deck’s main purpose so that none of the 60 card slots are wasted.

As examples, decks which emphasize spread damage such as the Ancient Box and Gardevoir ex decks include Radiant Greninja from Battle Region [S9a] and/or Flutter Mane from Wild Force [SV5K]. The Lost Zone Box deck, as its name implies, has cards which fill up the Lost Zone such as Colress’s Experiment and Lost Vacuum from Lost Abyss [S11]. Defensive decks such as the Snorlax deck, meanwhile, feature stalling cards like Mimikyu from Snow Hazard [SV2P] and Mist Energy from Cyber Judge [SV5M].

There are also cards which are highly “splashable”—the term used for extremely versatile cards that fit well in and enhance a wide range of decks. Some of the most splashable cards in the current meta are the Dusknoir card already mentioned, Iono from Clay Burst [SV2D], Fezandipiti ex from Night Wanderer [SV6a], and perennial staples Ultra Ball, Boss’s Orders, and Nest Ball. Every deck should include a healthy number of splashable cards.

Deck Matchups

Every deck has advantageous and disadvantageous matchups against certain decks. Therefore, it’s crucial to understand what your deck struggles against and how to best counter it. It’s often helpful to slightly deviate from the “generic” build of a certain deck by including one or more cards for counterplay against tough matchups. A card which is added to a deck specifically for matchup purposes is known as a “tech”.

Some examples of techs in the current metagame include Jamming Tower from Mask of Change [SV6] in the Raging Bolt ex deck as a counter to the Gardevoir ex deck, Haxorus from Night Wanderer [SV6a] in the Regidrago VSTAR deck for counterplay against the Lugia VSTAR deck, and Rigid Band from Pokémon Card 151 [SV2a] as part of the Gholdengo ex deck to counter the Giratina VSTAR deck.

Sometimes, when a specific deck is the clear Best Deck in Format (BDIF) by a massive margin, its sheer dominance causes the creation of new deck archetypes designed to counter it. For example, at the peak of the Charizard ex deck’s dominance, the Espathra ex/Xatu deck emerged for no other reason than to counter the Charizard ex deck. Similarly, in a previous rotation, the Gengar VMAX/Houndoom deck was created almost exclusively for its advantageous matchup against the rampant Mew VMAX deck.

Metagame Viability

Of course, even if you’ve adhered to all the points we’ve mentioned, it’ll all be for nothing if your deck is one which simply isn’t good enough to hang in the current meta. At any given time, there’ll usually be around 10 to 20 deck archetypes which are metagame-relevant and have realistic chances of achieving decent tournament results.

Unfortunately, this is the only area for which all we can say is “you’ll have to do your own research”. The metagame is always in a state of flux; thus, you’ll need to find out for yourself which decks can hack it in the meta.

Now that we’ve explained everything that goes into making a seriously solid Pokémon TCG deck, why not put it all into practice yourself? The Pokémon TCG tournament scene is quite the beast—but with the right deck and strategy, it’s a beast that can absolutely be tamed.

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