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Tom's Bunker
Introduction

     Greetings to all the great Pokemon trainers out there!  I want to give you a few bits of advice on deck-building before I start dissecting all these decks.  That way you will know how I think and can follow my fixes a little more easily.

1.      Reduce the tech to focus the deck: 

     I have noticed that many players try to have a card in their deck to solve any problem – this sometimes adds 10-12 cards to their deck, “just in case they face a ……deck”.  Guys, this really hurts your deck in the long run.  The chances are that you won’t face that particular hated deck type but once in a tournament, and even if you do, your “tech” might not come up at the right time.  Better to run a tight, quality deck that has a clear theme than to run a deck which “can beat anyone, given the right draw”.  Trust me.

2.      Use the 20-20-20 rule:

     When I began playing Magic in 1995, a friend told me about the 20-20-20 rule, and I have used it ever since as the starting point for my deck building.    It means that you start a deck off with 20 energy, 20 Pokemon, and 20 trainers.  Then, you playtest it out with your friends, and then you modify it based on those battles.  This will really help you focus your decks.

3.      Try new things, but don’t forget what works:

     It is really cool to build a deck with new Pokemon in it.  I mean, ones that you haven’t used before, but ADD a few of them to decks that already work instead of trying to make a whole new deck with several new themes at one time.  That is really hard to do, since you are trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t, and you can’t do that if you aren’t able to isolate the problems. 

4.      Talk to Trainers who you respect:

     You need to figure out how the successful trainers in your part of the world became successful – do this by watching them battle, battling them, and talking to them.  Overcome your shyness and ask them to look at your deck – chances are that they would be honored to help you, and then you can hear their comments on your deck – why they think it is strong, or what they would change. 

     That’s it for now.  I got around 100 e-mails my first day, and love reading your mail.  I promise that I will read it all.  My plan is to submit 2-4 deck fixes a week to the bunker – deck fixes which we can all learn from.  I will write some of you back a personal “deck fix” if I think that it will help just you, or not to embarrass a beginning trainer who made a few “rookie mistakes”.  We all do that, so don’t worry.   Best of luck to you all and rock on!


Pojo.com is here to provide guidance to all Pokemon trainers out there.  Whether it's the Gameboy Game, N64 or the Trading Card Game, PoJo.com provides all the wisdom you desire. 

If you have cool game tips, a killer deck, or breaking news ... send them to us.  We'll post it on the site ... and give you all the credit.  

 

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