How to Build a Pokemon TCG Deck: The Basics

[@donovang6911]

Thanks for the clean language. Then I can share this with my nephew

[@gyrosean]

Enjoy, and good luck on the collecting

[@sinfulxsociety]

Boo

[@rinzenmcpe4831]

@@sinfulxsociety stop it you bot

[@hcnhonor3239]

@@sinfulxsociety lol boo this man, booooo

[@ro3843]

Omg yes.

[@sirhetmanpirate]

Hi from Melbourne AUS! Just bought my first decks today. My 7y.o. nephew introduced me - played 10 minutes with him and have been itching to go to the store and get my own cards. This was extremely helpful to me so thanks!

[@lolcoffin]

Switched from being comp yugioh player for years to Pokemon just recently, watched your whole video and genuinely learned a lot and will be picking up some of these cards for myself! Sub earned for sure 👍🏼

[@gyrosean]

Thanks! And glad this was helpful, from what I understand Yu-Gi-Oh can get pretty complex in terms of card interactions, so fingers crossed the simplicity of Pokemon will be easy for you to pick up

[@tylerisadumb]

Lol funny enough I'm in the opposite camp. I collected Pokémon cards in elementary and middle school but have since wanted to get into Yugioh lol

[@brycebeagle3647]

Same for me just quit this week and starting pokemon

[@veryfitting]

I just got back into collection after 20 years away from it and I never actually played the game so this has helped. Thanks 👍

[@justanothergamer7918]

I find a very fun and easy way to make a deck is to buy a pre made deck and modify it to your liking. I got a team plasma deck and modified it a little bit to make it fun.

[@jarredwise]

My backyard is in ruins and I have no where to host bbqs now but my Pokémon skills have never been better

[@Lunalately]

Great video. I just started building my own decks Been playing the pre made decks, straight up to get a hang of the games general rules. This was a big help, keep it up!

[@gyrosean]

Thanks!

[@user-gu1ed1kb8x]

I used to play all the time when I was a kid, but I stopped a while back. Finally decided to get back into it and can't believe there are pokemon with more than 200 health that also can do 200+ damage.

[@FERRYYY010]

Great and simple explanation! Keep up the great work. Excited for the new video's in the series. The explaining and thought process you explained is much clearer than most videos you'll see online about deck-building.

[@lucky115_5]

Thanks a lot for the tutorial! Before I had no idea what to put in my deck besides pokemon and energy

[@memetube8167]

You forgot about winning if you are out of basic pokemon on the play area. Don't know if that was mentioned yet

[@gyrosean]

I think you're right, forgot about the bench out mechanic

[@hardcorenacho1020]

Surprised he talked about running out of cards rather then running out of benched pokemon since I only had 1 game out of 100 where the deck ran out

[@gyrosean]

@@hardcorenacho1020 I think when I recorded this, Mill/Control was a very popular deck, so it was on my mind a lot. lol

[@emircarpetgaming]

just started playing again (online only) at the ripe old age of 27 so needed a refresher as its been like 20 years lol. this video helped me a lot as i didnt realise i was diluting my pokemon pool when all i wanted was to get my alakazam VMAX and mewtwo/mew tagteam. thanks, gonna go check the rest of the series out now

[@ashedistler2052]

I'm a new Pokémon TCG player and I recently found your podcast, Metapod (which is absolutely fantastic, I listen to it religiously during my commute) and both you and Jake have been such amazing resources. I enjoy your easy-to-understand discussions about the meta, even for a new player like me, and I'm convinced you guys are good luck. The same day I listened to an episode where you discussed the Leon card, I pulled his full art version from Target when I grabbed a pack on a whim. I also really appreciate that you guys don't shy away from difficult topics, such as misogyny in the Pokémon community. It makes me feel welcomed as a female player.

[@gyrosean]

Thank you so much for these kind words! And a warm welcome to the Pokemon comminuty ☺️

[@WilbertBeltman]

Clear video! I was interested to learn the card game, but I had no idea people usually have 3 or 4 of the same card, I would find a deck with one of each more fun (apart from energy's ofcourse)

[@jt1625]

This is the best information for pokemon

[@TridentFishing]

iv been play for 2 days and this was perfect, thanks man, iv learned most of the basics and this helps for long term for ideas....me and my 8 year old are learning together so thanks... Whats so cracy is i still remember in the 7th grade when pokemon came out and thinking , yeah ill prob never play that,,,lol 25 years later im building a deck

[@gyrosean]

So glad the video is helpful! And same for me, playing when it came out, and here I am again 20+ years later

[@doobie_rockz]

I’m in the same boat with my step son. Crazy!!

[@eternallwatchestoomanyvids3428]

Thanks so much! I have collected cards for 5 years but now im finally starting to learn!

[@gyrosean]

Good luck!

[@rustygorilla1545]

I recently started a group that battels and this really helped me out with the idea and basic i need to know thanks so much

[@gyrosean]

No problem, and have fun!

[@aliciabennett1616]

This is really helpful I made my own deck with your advice

[@warrior5742]

Thank you for all the advice your so underrated keep going your amazing

[@pizzaslice1702]

Great video! I will stick to my noob skills for now and play theme decks while I figure this out.

[@gyrosean]

I believe in you! 🙌

[@razer1158]

Theme decks are a great place to start, especially for Pokémon TCG online battling. I began with the Vivid Voltage Charizard theme deck and I’m interested to see what you started off with as well!

[@CJ-wj5ol]

No slur, clear point, God I am thankful I can share this with my little cousin

[@mousearts7079]

I thought at first that this would be a bad guide for me because I don’t have many good cards but you put a great tutorial on what to do not necessarily requiring those cards

[@gyrosean]

Thanks! Ya, my goal was take just a guide to build any deck, even if it's not "the best" deck, because all good decks share the same principles

[@mousearts7079]

gyrosean also this isn’t necessarily the deck but I can’t find anywhere that talks about evolution, and I’m wondering if there’s any point in using an evolved Pokémon if you don’t have e prevolve. Could you help at all?

[@gyrosean]

Mouse Arts generally speaking, there's no reason to have a stage 1 or stage 2 evolution if you don't play the basic. There are exceptions for special decks like mad party, but those are not common

[@mousearts7079]

gyrosean ok thank you for responding!

[@grantelmore6936]

@@mousearts7079 you could run the basic with the level 2 as long as you had rare candy to play. It allows you to skip the level 1

[@aarontbrooks]

getting back into the card game for the first time since i used to play back in the first and second gen of pokémon. your videos definitely help! especially with how it’s changed and played today! thanks so much! subscribed!

[@gyrosean]

Thanks! And welcome back ☺️

[@BlastOffBobby]

Congratulations on 1k! Very well deserved!

[@aceadewaleedits]

This was soooo good! Thanks for being so clear and using an example build. !

[@gyrosean]

Glad it was helpful ☺️

[@YakFam]

dang, about time. This helped a LOT! I was the guy that only knew theme decks lol thanks for the video! subbed!

[@Pnegu]

Nah bro, I only used theme decks too!

[@ziljin]

How many cards do you need to start deck building. I just started. I have the relentless flame theme deck. I'm guessing I need a lot of cards to be able to win matches in other modes?

[@Pnegu]

You only need 60 (And at least 1 Pokemon), but some cards are banned at this current time

[@ziljin]

@@Pnegu yes of course. But won't other players have much stronger decks because they have a huge card collection from playing the game for years?

[@Pnegu]

No, most cards have been banned so that they could make room for the new Sword and Shield sets, so the playing field is more balanced.

[@seldomsane5278]

Great vid mate. Learned a lot :)

[@abubro333]

Thank you so much for making this video! I just recently got into collecting tcg cards to try something new - and this video helped me understand the deck creating process much better!

[@Cleopatress]

thanks that made sense! and i have all these cards (except the Dedenne GX) so i was able to build along with you and get a feel for how to apply the info to other decks

[@JazzyGrant]

Love the GT shirt! I bought one when Matt sold those a few years back too!

[@gyrosean]

Yoooo! KZbinr swag is what it's all about lol

[@takeawaygamer7135]

Thanks for this video really informative and easy to understand, as someone who switched from yugioh to pokemon recently I had no idea where to begin when it came to deck building but now I have a much better understanding so I'm giving you a sub too dude keep up the good work

[@gyrosean]

Thanks!

[@lordsquiddy]

This was a very detailed tutorial/explanation.👍

[@abbygiles8072]

This really helps a lot I remember playing with my boyfriend but we stopped and I’m trying to get back into it! I used to run a gardevoir/Sylveon gx deck with the Mudkip lineup I forgot why I did that but thanks again this helps

[@gyrosean]

Glad you enjoyed it, and welcome back to the game!

[@hegstertcg8943]

100K VIEWS HOLY! Huge milestone brother good stuff

[@gyrosean]

Absolutely wild

[@shayo-j3i]

Great video. Well explained!

[@carolynmonro8]

Great video! Very informative and easy to follow, thanks!

[@captainsnowball674]

Thanks dude, this was helpful

[@manga3040]

38 year old dad and my son, who is soon to be 7, just got into pokemon so this is awesome!

[@alexkb98]

Hey, just recently got back into playing with a friend who’s new. Really helpful and I’m sending him here too!

[@gyrosean]

Thanks! And welcome back!

[@mewmewpowergirl1625]

Naruto become the hokage don't give up on Sasuke

[@Mashmatics]

Whew I was here before 1k nice to see you grow congrats

[@gyrosean]

Appreciate it!

[@kozyy1073]

This dude makes good content, you deserve more subscribers this really helped me as a beginner in the pokemon tcg

[@philcass1750]

Great video for a beginner like myself. Thanks a lot my dude :)

[@isaihasalazar792]

Thanks you for this man I needed it ☺️

[@alexjezowski]

4:42 There was a Wailord GX deck that was OP at a sun and moon prerelease, cant remember what set though.

[@nelsonhunter9091]

Thank you for teaching me this 😁😁😁

[@bigmclargehuge4767]

Thank you; this was super helpful!

[@sivartwinscollectionmore6914]

You have a face for radio… I’m just kidding I started listening to the podcast about a week ago started from the first video, had to come check out the channel! I’ve been a couple decks but I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right, what better way than to start from the basic!

[@charlienilsen9250]

omg it makes me so sad to see a amazing youtuber not get the clout :(

[@Aquazeem]

These are so dang helpful! My first deck I've physically built is Milotic/Welder since I've done pretty good with it online, I'm just trying to figure out if I should stick to just that one deck or try to make a second one once darkness ablaze drops. I've been trying to avoid splurging on the fancy Vmaxes/Tag teams to save money, but I have a good feeling that crobat V is probably an inevitable investment from what I hear lol. Really enjoying these vids, keep up the great work!

[@gyrosean]

Ya, I think that some cards will just be good in so many decks for so long that it's worth it, and crobat is one of them. But if you want a cheap contender, I might look at stonjourner vmax. It'll hit weakness where it matters, and is tanky enough to hold it's own. It only loses diancie prism, and I can almost guarantee that fighting is getting more support in future sets

[@seraphine7389]

this channel is amazing, thanks!

[@JaimeJimenezPR]

Loved the video! Thanks a lot! 🙌

[@gibbycoyle5464]

I’m currently trying to build a good mill deck myself right now so I would find it very helpful for a mill deck video in the future

[@gyrosean]

I'll add it to the list!

[@tsukishi9628]

I am just getting into pokemon tcg, and im trying to get into Magic: the gathering, and I am wodering, what is a mill deck?

[@BeerHuntor]

@@tsukishi9628 mill deck is a deck designed to make your opponent run out of cards so they lose based on having no cards in their deck at the start of a turn.. Abilities such as discarding x of your opponents cards from their deck etc is what causes this..

[@noahmuniz4711]

Hey ur video was very helpful so thank u for this

[@BobbyDerLaser]

Very Good Video, thanks and greetings from Germany😊👍🏻

[@Cringyningy]

4 gold metal saucers and 4 gold quick balls and 2 other gold trainers? How did you get all those? Wow

[@gyrosean]

The key is making poor financial decisions lol.

[@Cringyningy]

Wow lol

[@ArmaST7]

@@gyrosean Not if you KZbin about the cards AND know where to get them cheaper then ebay. lol really not as much as you'd think, I own a card shop.

[@rudy951]

@@ArmaST7 That's actually awesome. I have been thinking to myself how cool it would be to have my own card shop. but I have no clue on how to start one and how to not make it an instant flop or running it on 'life support'. Do you have some advice for someone with interest in the business?

[@kellyd1910]

My wife and i are looking to get into this.I played pokemon competitively but never the tcg.We both have the online client and we've been playing online for two weeks.We even bought some online codes for decks and booster packs.

[@erickadammen1508]

Ive been collecting since 1st edition but ive been dying to learn to play. This helped me a lot. I didn't know anything. I wanna try to make a deck with the new darkness ablaze when it comes out. Thanks! Looking forward to more videos.

[@gyrosean]

Awesome, and welcome to the world of playing the game!

[@timr6098]

Nice congrats on 1k 🎉😀🎉

[@gyrosean]

Thanks!

[@LetsPlayPokemon]

Hey Sean, I wonder if you have anything thoughts on how deck building in Pokemon compares with other TCGs. It feels like the core set of staples in Pokemon is very small, and it really limits creativity in deck building. Things like Metal Saucer and Welder are a step in the right direction. I'd like to see more unique archetype support and more unique basics (one-prizers specifically) to add some variety. Look at the Butterfree line from Rebel Clash. As much as I hate playing against it, the rapid evolution abilities and the Panic Poison attack make for a viable strategy to build a deck around. Or Spiritomb! That's a really unique mechanic that made a bunch of other niche cards relevant. I'd love to see more of that in the game, especially considering how many unique Pokemon there are now.

[@gyrosean]

I really might look into this, not an expert at other cards games tbh, just now learning Dragonball Super. Might need to bring in others who could speak to those differences a bit better, but I do think you might be right especially since Pokemon has a smaller Standard format than many other card games

[@LetsPlayPokemon]

​@@gyrosean Your point about the smaller Standard Format is well taken. The rotation takes a lot of interesting cards out of the format constantly. I think the game would benefit from more reprints if anything else. Like, I'd love to see more of the various Pokeballs in the format, allowing for some diversity in search options. Maybe we'll get some post Darkness Ablaze.

[@andres201292]

Thanks for this! I'm a new player in the pokemon tcg online, I don't have many new cards yet and I don't dare to step on standard until I get some cards like the ones you show in the video, but I had no idea how to build a good deck, the game has a good tutorial to teach you how to play but there is nothing when it comes to building decks. I can't buy official cards to speed things up either, cause I'm poor :_: , but little by little I hope I can build something decent :P

[@gyrosean]

For online, I’d reco buying just the codes for the battle league decks. Not too expensive and gets you more than halfway to a top tier deck

[@andres201292]

@@gyrosean oh cool, I didn't know that they sold the codes, where can I buy them?

[@gyrosean]

@@andres201292 places like ptcgostore.com

[@andres201292]

@@gyrosean Thank you very much! I bought 5 darkness ablaze packs to test and they gave me additional packs ^^

[@gyrosean]

@@andres201292 that’s awesome!

[@vlady2193]

so I've built a thousand decks before to see how others build decks. I've been playing for 9 years and this is very trustworthy. Please listen to him he knows what he's doing. I'm saying this because some people scam others by saying terrible tips and claiming they're good.

[@screamforedits1645]

Man... I was excited to get my secret rare metal saucer lol. My guy got 4 of em haha 😂

[@tystubblefield9863]

Thank you!

[@brycebeagle3647]

This video helped so much now I think I can build something lol

[@LavaHawk289]

In the game Waxman is fairy, but in the FCC its steel?

[@MarshtompGames]

3:05 This now applies to Radiant Pokémon.

[@midnightmule2626]

Very helpful, thanks 😎

[@Vulcanfaux]

There is extremely little that 230 doesn't knock out. Just tag team and v max actually. Thats a 1 shot on all other gx and V that come to mind before weakness and if they have specific tools or abilities that might push their hp just above that threshold.

[@wouldkflego3168]

Nice vid dude

[@anonanon1604]

I faced this same deck the first and only game I played of standard in the online game, there was literally not a single thing in my entire deck that could do anything about any of it. So I went back to theme feeling like standard was just too pay2win for me to have any chance at winning without farming all the best cards in the game first.

[@sleasymonster2105]

So if everyone builds a deck around the best meta cards, all the decks would kinda look the same?

[@migzyt2544]

You deserve many subs

[@unknown_vibes1270]

What do you do if you don't want to do battles and just want to get them🤔

[@kenshi1985br]

Nice video!

[@TheMaskedHero]

I was building and playing games with my son. I sadly did not process that support and items were different very quickly and we were playing wildly inefficient for about a week. I would be interested in a deck tech about a mill deck, just to understand how that works when you are limited by single attack and trainer cards to make that strategy work.

[@liamengram6326]

I know it's been a while but... It's basically like building a stall deck but with some other options. You want big tanky pokemon, and/or pokemon that have moves that can force your opponent to discard. Like Houndoom whose single energy move can make the opponent discard the top 2 cards on their deck. There are also trainer cards that can force disards.

[@cmvgomj]

This is a very good video

[@gyrosean]

Thanks!

[@PokemonProable]

Love your vids especially the intro!

[@gyrosean]

Thanks!

[@markusmichler9475]

Can I use GX and VSTAR abilities Both during one match?

[@erikcajulis9944]

Hi, I've been playing PTCGO for a month now, mostly fighting versus with theme decks; But I'm finally ready to invest and start fighting in standard. Can you give advice on which boosters to pull/buy in order to get cards that are strong in the current meta? Thanks

[@rats4739]

If ur on PTCGO don’t buy packs just trade for the cards

[@44lenihan]

Question if I add victini v would it help out my pikarom since I don’t have the boltund

[@mileswhite5672]

This needs an average quantity of card list... kinda like in magic, they say for 60 cards you may need 24 mana average but maybe one more if creatures are big, Thats like 35 cards left, youll need about 20 creatures that work well together, lets say 5 mana ramps, 8 removals and graveyard manipulation to 1 or 2 cards

[@mileswhite5672]

I creturn to this comment after a few days , and ive realised pokemon is a bit more fluid play than magic, and the amount of trainer to poke to energy cards can range in every deck as per the win condition of that deck. So its a ruling of average would be unstable for this game, as in, it either wouldnt be true for an evo deck compared to a tag team deck ... however 20/20/20 may be the only average you need but it cant be used as a hard and fast rule every time. I reckon

[@samber8706]

whats the best way to get a lot of cards to start building decks? just buying single packs and hoping you get what you need?

[@gyrosean]

The cheapest and simplest way to build a deck is either buying single cards from sites like TCGPlayer, or buying battle arena decks

[@anabelperez3063]

hew man thank you so much for the info really thankful you really know your stuff when did you start playing

[@gyrosean]

Started playing in the spring of 2019, it's been a lot of fun!

[@lornauarcos8639]

Hey man weird situation. I have an old Overgrowth Deck from 1999 unopened. Anyway, all the decks I can find like this have WOCO6058 at the bottom. Mine, however, has WOCO6018. I posted mine on Ebay and it defaulted to the 6058 but that's technically incorrect. Wondering if you know if there is any difference or if there will be a problem with that. Thank you!

[@gyrosean]

I’m definitely not an expert in these variations. But someone like smpratte might know more about it if you can reach out to him

[@Cons2911]

Wont decks have different back designs (dont know what they are called). I’m a total newbie, so, apologies in advance. Just looking for something to give my kid. Can i just buy everything or some are incompatible with others?

[@gyrosean]

Every Pokémon card outside of Japan has the exact same design for the back of the card since the creation of the game, which is good and makes it very easy to mix and match whatever cards you want to make a deck. If you want to buy things for your kid, just for fun, I would recommend starting with a theme deck, since that will be a fully built deck they can use immediately. And then you can just buy packs or other products over time and maybe pull new cards to build new decks, or improve the deck they already have.

[@Cons2911]

@@gyrosean thanks that what I was thinking, as different backs won’t make sense (I saw a video where two players have different back designs so it got me thinking if every ‘series’ is different. Good to know I can buy anything then. I’m thinking this is easier to get started compared to say magic (which I also don’t know how to play). Thank you for the reply, I’ll ask if he wants these cards

[@gyrosean]

@@Cons2911 if you want to get a particularly good deck to start, look for the league battle decks. A bit more expensive, but nothing crazy

[@Cons2911]

@@gyrosean thanks, I’m checking. Question, so I need to buy 2 of these if I want to play with my kid. You need like 60 cards if I remember

[@Cons2911]

@@gyrosean I need to do some research, I see go, champions, too many choices and i don’t know much yet

[@JoeChadburn702]

This is an EPIC DECK! in the en i was Shouting 3 Hau n t of the guy who draws 2 +2 via RPS... Or mooe Balls.

[@wouldkflego3168]

Have you thought of making a Post rotation Fire box?

[@gyrosean]

I haven't but I think that's mostly because we lose victini prism, blacephalon GX, and turtonator, which kinda makes it less of a fire box. Centiskorch is probably my fave post rotation fire deck at the moment.

[@namanagrawal7060]

Can we use these deck to play in versus

[@damiennoah]

So many gold cards😂

[@zachl2581]

so non chalant when he pulled them out too lmao he knew he was dripping

[@wesleyhollingsworth4566]

TY TY

[@petrality6419]

Thx time to go to my local shop

[@Thugn1f1cent]

What if i have like 3 normal vulpixs and 2 alolan vulpix can I play those?

[@gyrosean]

That should be fine ☺️

[@lavadouglas]

Starting out and it looks confusing hahah, gotta get those trainer cards :)

[@thechosen_purple7085]

23:34 for all the finished cards

[@lipi410]

I already know this.

[@cameronfilyaw2001]

So to clarify, you can match different expansion sets but they still have to be legal ?

[@cameronfilyaw2001]

The current legal sets is what I meant

[@screamforedits1645]

Yes!!

[@graemehall9537]

Really new to Pokemon tcg and I have a question about evolving a pokemon. say I have a basic charmander from sword and shield rebel clash, could I evolve it to a stage 1 chameleon from darkness ablaze? Also could I use a basic pokemon from say sun &moon and evolve it to a stage 1 sword & shield?

[@gyrosean]

Yep to everything you asked, with the only exception being that vmax Pokemon can only evolve from V Pokemon. But you can use whichever set versions of each stage you want to evolve, and even use different typings (like using a fairy cottenee and a psychic whimsicott).

[@graemehall9537]

@@gyrosean thanks for getting back to me 👍

[@zalchemyzender8307]

Are there any other cards I can use other than ZacianV?

[@thomaslatimer571]

Is it possible to build a deck with my favorite Pokémon?

[@gyrosean]

I would guess it's definitely possible, though it may not be the best deck depending on what your favorite Pokemon is

[@thomaslatimer571]

gyrosean thank you