I've seen many decks in my life. Some were good, most were bad. But making a bad deck before doesn't mean you have to again. I'm just going to give some tips on making good decks, might make all the Deck Mechanics jobs easier ! ! ! Tip #1 Getting the right ratio- This is probably the biggest problem I've seen of all my card shuffl'n career. I've seen decks with 20 basics, and only 15 or so energy. Also Trainers are often under or overstocked. Getting the right ratio is CRUCIAL. You want probably anywhere from 3 to 5 or 6 energy for each of you Basic Pokémon. This is just a basic number. You might want less for Fighting, or more for Fire or Water's Water Gun type attacks. Energy is a big problem, but right up there is the Pokémon ratios! You usually want about 10 Basics in most every deck. This ups the odds for getting atleast 1 Basic. Also don't put too many in!!! 20 Basics is the absolute MOST you want to put in. If you have that many, and will the void with energy, you'll still only have 2 energy for each! Also make sure you have enough energy for each color. Mono decks require less energy (20-25 is usually what you see). But for bi-color decks, 25 to 30 (30 if using something like fire and water) is a good bet. As far as evolutions go, they are not so vital to get right, but nevertheless important. The evolutionary chains are important, especially when using Stage 2s. The standard Stage 2 ratios are 3-2-1, 4-2-1, 4-3-2, 4-4-2, 4-4-3. I usually us 3-2-1 because a card is saved (I usually can't fit in everything I want), or 4-3-2 for 2 Stage 2s. I don't like using more than 2 Stage 2s, much less 4. If you do have 3 or 4, back 'em up with some Breeders. Stage 1 chains are less choosable. I like to have 1 more basic for each stage 1 I've got in there. 2-1, 3-2, 3-1, 4-2, 4-3. I sometimes include 4-2 when using Gyarados (durn Karps), but usually you won't need it. 4-1 is not seen much, unless the stage 1 is just thrown in there for fun and the basics were already there. As far as trainers go, be careful not to sacrifice too much too fit in what you want. When constructing a deck, I do trainers last. I still think trainers determine pretty much whether you win or lose, but do them last, or you'll end up messing up your energy or Pokémon. When doing Trainers, put in the most important first (Bills, Oaks, Strategy cards, etc.). Then put in cards that are the most useful (Pokémon Centers, ERs, GOW, etc.). Tip #2 About the second worse problem I see is using bad (rather "less useful") cards. Ok, here's a short list of lesser useful cards: Gastly/Haunter Basic set - This guys are crap Lass - Could be used good in a low Trainer deck, but otherwise crap Snorlax - Its Power is okay, but not much else Goldeen/Seaking - Someone tell me a good use for these Clefairy Doll - Why waste space in your deck when a Chansey could fit in there? I know that some of these could be useful, but not usually andusing them otherwise is a waste os space. If you are using these cards, think your deck over again, you might want to change it. Tip #3 Use common sense! This goes for everything including Pokémon! If a card ain't working for you (even if you are told it's the best), do something about it! What's it gonna hurt if you do some games without it for a couple of times, just to test it's actual usefulnes. Don't listen to everyone. Even deck mechanics like me. If you don't think something is wrong, try it out for yourself. Try this card or do without this one. That is the only way to get your deck better. If you start to lose more often after a change, something is wrong. If you are doing much better, stuck with that change until you start to have trouble againn. There's a couple of simple tips to remeber when making and changing your deck. It'll help you out alot!! OoOoOoOoOoOoO Jeremy Woods _-_-_-_-_-_-_ jsw321@hotmail.com Ľ ˝ Ľ ˝ Ľ ˝ Ľ ˝ ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com