How to Build Your First Pokémon TCG Deck

So, you've played a few games of Pokémon TCG.

Maybe you've started with a ready made deck. Maybe you've borrowed one from a friend. Or perhaps you've been collecting Pokémon cards for years and suddenly found yourself staring at a pile of cards thinking:

"Could I actually build a deck with these?"

The answer is yes.

And this is where the Pokémon Trading Card Game can become even more addictive.

Building your own deck means choosing your favourite Pokémon, creating a strategy around them and putting together 60 cards that all work towards the same goal.

At first, deck building can seem a little intimidating. You might have hundreds of cards and absolutely no idea where to begin.

The temptation, of course, is to pick your 60 favourite Pokémon and call it a day.

We've all thought about it.

Unfortunately, a deck containing Charizard, Pikachu, Mewtwo, Snorlax and twenty other completely unrelated Pokémon might look amazing, but it probably won't work particularly well.

A good Pokémon TCG deck is less about filling it with powerful cards and more about making sure the cards work together.

Let's look at how to build your first Pokémon deck.

How Many Cards Are in a Pokémon TCG Deck?

A standard Pokémon Trading Card Game deck contains exactly 60 cards.

Your deck will usually be made up of three main types of cards:

• Pokémon

• Trainer cards

• Energy cards

Most cards are limited to a maximum of four copies with the same name in a deck, although Basic Energy cards are treated differently.

That means you can't simply fill your deck with sixty copies of your favourite card.

Probably for the best.

Step 1: Choose Your Main Pokémon

The easiest place to start is by choosing the Pokémon you want your deck to be built around.

This is often called your main attacker or the centre of your deck's strategy.

Maybe you have a Pokémon with a powerful attack.

Perhaps you've pulled a card you really like and want to find a way to make it work.

Or maybe you've simply decided:

"I don't care if it's the strongest card in the world. I'm building a deck around my favourite Pokémon."

That's perfectly fine too.

Pokémon TCG should be fun.

Once you've chosen your main Pokémon, start asking yourself a few questions:

• How much Energy does its attack need?

• What type of Energy does it use?

• Does it evolve?

• How quickly can I get it into play?

• What other cards could help it?

The answers to those questions will start shaping the rest of your deck.

Step 2: Build Around a Simple Strategy

One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is trying to do too many things at once.

A good first deck should usually have a simple plan.

For example:

"Get my main Pokémon into play quickly, attach Energy and start attacking."

That's a perfectly good strategy.

You don't need a complicated combination involving twelve different Pokémon and a plan that only works if you draw exactly the right seven cards.

In fact, those kinds of decks can be incredibly frustrating.

A simple strategy is easier to build, easier to play and much easier to improve.

Think of your deck like a sports team.

You wouldn't want eleven players all doing completely different jobs without any idea what the rest of the team was doing.

Your Pokémon cards, Trainer cards and Energy should all be working towards the same game plan.

Step 3: Choose Your Pokémon

Now that you've chosen your main Pokémon, you need to decide what other Pokémon belong in the deck.

A beginner deck doesn't need dozens of different Pokémon.

In fact, having too many different Pokémon can make your deck less consistent.

Imagine needing one particular Pokémon to make your strategy work.

If you only have one copy in your 60 card deck, you could spend half the game waiting for it to appear.

That's why players often include multiple copies of important cards.

Your deck will usually include:

Your Main Attacker

The Pokémon your strategy is built around.

Supporting Pokémon

These might help you draw cards, search your deck, provide useful Abilities or support your main attacker in other ways.

Backup Attackers

Sometimes your main Pokémon might not be the best choice in every situation.

A backup attacker can give you another option when needed.

When you're building your first deck, try to keep things simple.

You don't need every Pokémon you own.

You need the Pokémon that actually help your strategy.

Step 4: Don't Underestimate Trainer Cards

This is where many new players make the same discovery.

You build your first deck.

It contains thirty Pokémon.

Twenty five Energy cards.

Five Trainer cards.

You shuffle it up, play a few games and suddenly realise you can't find anything you need.

Your main Pokémon is somewhere in the deck.

The Energy you need is somewhere else.

And you're sitting there drawing one card per turn, hoping the next card magically solves everything.

This is where Trainer cards become incredibly important.

Trainer cards help your deck do what it's supposed to do.

They can help you:

• Draw more cards.

• Search for Pokémon.

• Find Energy.

• Switch Pokémon.

• Recover useful cards.

• Disrupt your opponent.

• Get your strategy moving more quickly.

A well built Pokémon deck usually contains a significant number of Trainer cards.

This might seem strange when you're first starting out.

After all, surely a Pokémon card game should mostly contain Pokémon?

But the Trainer cards are often what make your Pokémon deck reliable.

Step 5: Add the Right Amount of Energy

Energy cards are essential because your Pokémon usually need Energy to attack.

But that doesn't mean you should automatically fill half your deck with Energy.

A common beginner mistake is adding far too much.

The thinking makes sense:

"My Pokémon need Energy, so more Energy must be better."

Unfortunately, if your deck contains too much Energy, you'll spend a lot of time drawing Energy when you really need Pokémon or Trainer cards.

The right number depends on your deck and how much Energy your Pokémon require.

Some decks need plenty of Energy.

Others can get away with much less because they have cards that search for or accelerate Energy.

When building your first deck, think about:

• What Energy types your Pokémon need.

• How much Energy their attacks require.

• How quickly you need to power them up.

Try to keep your Energy choices focused.

A deck using five completely different Energy types might look exciting, but it can become very difficult to consistently draw the Energy you need.

For a first deck, keeping your Energy requirements simple usually makes life much easier.

A Good Starting Point for Your First Pokémon Deck

There isn't one perfect formula for every Pokémon TCG deck.

Different strategies need different numbers of Pokémon, Trainers and Energy.

However, for a simple beginner deck, you might start with something roughly like:

• 15–20 Pokémon

• 25–35 Trainer cards

• 10–20 Energy cards

Think of this as a starting point rather than a strict rule.

Once you begin playing, you'll quickly discover what your deck needs more or less of.

Perhaps you're constantly struggling to find your main Pokémon.

You might need more search cards.

Maybe you're drawing too much Energy.

You could reduce the number of Energy cards.

Deck building is a process.

Very few players build the perfect deck on their first attempt.

Step 6: Make Your Deck Consistent

Consistency is one of the most important parts of building a Pokémon TCG deck.

That simply means making sure your deck can do what it's supposed to do as often as possible.

Let's say your strategy depends on getting a particular Pokémon into play.

You generally don't want to rely on drawing one single copy somewhere in your 60-card deck.

Including multiple copies of important cards can make your strategy much more reliable.

Trainer cards can also help you search for the cards you need.

The goal is to avoid games where you're thinking:

"I know exactly what I need to do... I just can't draw anything that lets me do it."

Although that will still happen occasionally.

That's card games.

But a well built deck gives you a much better chance of getting your strategy working consistently.

Step 7: Think About Your Opening Hand

At the beginning of a game, you'll only have a small number of cards to work with.

So ask yourself:

What do I want my ideal starting hand to look like?

You probably want:

• A Basic Pokémon that can start the game.

• A way to get more Pokémon into play.

• Trainer cards that help you set up.

• Access to Energy.

If your deck regularly struggles to get a Pokémon into play at the start of the game, that's something you'll want to fix.

There's nothing quite like shuffling your deck, drawing your opening hand and discovering absolutely no Basic Pokémon.

You shuffle again.

Still no Basic Pokémon.

You shuffle again.

At that point, your deck is trying to tell you something.

Step 8: Play Your Deck and Make Changes

This is possibly the most important part of deck building.

Play your deck.

You won't really know whether it works until you sit down and use it.

After a few games, you'll start noticing patterns.

Maybe you constantly run out of cards in your hand.

Maybe you can't find your main Pokémon quickly enough.

Perhaps one card sounded amazing when you added it to the deck but never seems useful when you're actually playing.

That's completely normal.

Take notes.

Ask yourself:

• Which cards do I always want to draw?

• Which cards sit in my hand unused?

• What problems am I having during games?

• Is there a card that could solve those problems?

Then make changes and try again.

Some of the best parts of Pokémon TCG happen between games, when you're looking through your deck and thinking:

"Right... this card is definitely coming out."

You Don't Need the Most Expensive Cards

It's easy to look at competitive Pokémon TCG decks and assume you need the rarest and most expensive cards to build something enjoyable.

You don't.

For playing casually with friends and learning the game, you can build plenty of fun decks without chasing the most expensive cards available.

Start with a strategy you enjoy.

Build around Pokémon you like.

Learn how the cards work together.

As you become more experienced, you'll naturally start understanding which cards make a deck more competitive and why.

There's no rush.

Some of the most enjoyable games are played with decks built around a favourite Pokémon rather than the latest tournament winning strategy.

Should You Copy an Existing Pokémon TCG Deck?

Absolutely.

There's nothing wrong with looking at existing deck lists to learn how experienced players build decks.

In fact, it's one of the best ways to understand deck construction.

Look at successful decks and ask:

• Why are there so many Trainer cards?

• Why are there multiple copies of certain Pokémon?

• How does the deck find its main attacker?

• How does it get Energy into play?

• What happens if the main strategy doesn't work?

You don't have to copy a deck exactly.

You can use it as inspiration.

Then gradually make changes to suit your own collection and playing style.

A Simple Example of Building a Pokémon Deck

Let's imagine you've chosen your favourite Pokémon as your main attacker.

You look at its attack and discover that it needs two Energy cards.

That's your starting point.

Next, you decide:

How do I get this Pokémon into play quickly?

You add multiple copies of the Pokémon and cards that can help you find it.

Then you ask:

How do I get the Energy I need?

You add the appropriate Energy cards and Trainers that can help you find or attach them.

Then you think about what happens if your main Pokémon is Knocked Out.

You add another attacker or a way to prepare a replacement on your Bench.

Suddenly, you're not just adding random cards anymore.

You're building a strategy.

That's the key difference.

Every card should ideally have a reason for being in your deck.

Common Pokémon TCG Deck Building Mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes when building their first deck.

Here are a few of the most common.

Adding Too Many Different Pokémon

Just because a Pokémon is powerful doesn't mean it belongs in your deck.

Try to choose Pokémon that support your main strategy.

Using Too Much Energy

More Energy isn't always better.

Too much can mean you draw Energy when you really need useful Trainer cards.

Not Using Enough Trainer Cards

Trainer cards are what help your deck work consistently.

Don't overlook them.

Trying to Use Too Many Energy Types

A deck using several different types of Energy can struggle to draw the right Energy at the right time.

Keeping things simple is often a good idea for beginners.

Building a Deck but Never Changing It

Your first version probably won't be perfect.

And that's fine.

Play it, learn from it and make changes.

The Best Way to Build Your First Pokémon TCG Deck

If you're completely new to deck building, don't put too much pressure on yourself.

Start with something simple.

Choose a Pokémon you like.

Build a strategy around it.

Add cards that help that strategy.

Play a few games.

Then improve it.

That's really what Pokémon TCG deck building is all about.

You'll probably change your deck dozens of times.

You'll remove cards, add new ones and occasionally put a card back in that you confidently removed three games earlier.

You'll discover combinations you hadn't thought of.

You'll find cards you absolutely love.

And you'll probably have at least one game where everything works perfectly and you think:

"Yes. This is exactly how I planned it."

Even if it wasn't.

Ready to Build Your First Pokémon TCG Deck?

Building your own Pokémon deck is one of the best ways to get more involved in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

It gives you the chance to experiment, develop your own strategies and play the game your way.

Start simple.

Don't worry about making mistakes.

And remember that your deck doesn't have to be finished forever.

In fact, the best decks rarely are.

They're always changing.

And that's part of the fun.

Frequently Asked Questions About Building a Pokémon TCG Deck

How many cards are in a Pokémon TCG deck?

A standard Pokémon TCG deck contains 60 cards.

How many copies of the same card can you have in a Pokémon deck?

In most cases, you can include up to four cards with the same name in your deck. Basic Energy cards are an exception.

How many Pokémon should I put in my deck?

There is no single perfect number, but many decks use around 15 to 20 Pokémon. The right amount depends on your strategy.

How many Energy cards should I use?

This depends on your Pokémon and strategy. A beginner deck might use somewhere around 10 to 20 Energy cards, although competitive decks can use significantly different amounts.

Do Pokémon TCG decks need Trainer cards?

Yes. Trainer cards are an important part of most Pokémon TCG decks and help you draw cards, search your deck and make your strategy more consistent.

Can I build a Pokémon deck around my favourite Pokémon?

Absolutely. Building around your favourite Pokémon is one of the most enjoyable ways to start deck building. Just try to choose supporting cards that help your main Pokémon and overall strategy.

Can I use any Pokémon cards in my deck?

For casual games, you and your opponent can agree on what cards to use. Official tournaments use specific formats and card legality rules, so always check the current format rules before entering an event.

The most important thing to remember is to have fun, enjoy browsing for your next deck addition, planning your game and then playing your attacks, you'll be a pro in no time!