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Budget Deck; Article #1

10.14.05  

OK, first things first:

Jay Moldenhauer-Salazar rocks.  (If you don’t know who or what I’m talking about, check out these links: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/authorarchive&author=JayMoldenhauer-Salazar (list of all his articles) and http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/jm108 (the most recent example I could find of what this column is going to establish)

Second: 

Many of you are aware of the fact that I am an avid gamer.  If you name a gaming system or game in general, its very likely I’ve played it at least once, if not owned the system or game at one time or another.  One system I have kept up with other than Pokémon has been Magic: the Gathering.  Specifically Limited M:tG, but I’ve still been playing.  On the Wizards main site for Magic, there is an article every week on building a deck on a budget.  Jay is the one who writes this article, along with a few other Featured Articles throughout the year.  This format, shown in the second link above, is what this article is about. 

Pokémon has long been a game of building the best deck possible without any regard for finance.  I mean, look at the most popular decks today.  Many are running anywhere from 10-15 rares/holos/EXs and a lot of hard to get Supporters.  Has anyone EVER thought of running a budget Pokémon deck?  I know I have, and have done so on occasion.  But I’ve never taken this format to the competitive level. 

Enter Jay Moldenhauer-Salazar.  I asked him about a week ago if I could use the format for building a budget deck.  To my surprise, I got a response from him is less than 24 hours stating that the formalities weren’t even necessary and that I could use the format on this site.  I was estatic and couldn’t wait to get the news to you all.  So here’s essentially what I’ll be doing along with some other stuff in the next few weeks: 

The plan for this Budget Constructed Exercise will be to take a preconstructed deck from either Emerald or Unseen Forces and turn it into a quality Modified deck, able to compete on at leas the City Championship level.  Once the deck is built through about a month of playtesting, my plan is to use the deck at a local tournament, most likely a CC, and see how it fares.  Here’s how the process will look after I get done with the preliminary stages: 

1. Start with a preconstructed deck, unedited, and play it.
2. Don't make changes until playing the deck in at least five games.
3. Change no more than five to seven cards at a time. (only rule edited)
4. Build a respectable deck that's fun to play.
5. Build an affordable deck.

(added “to seven” in rule 3.  Otherwise, all rules are compliments of Jay Moldenhauer-Salazar)

While I’m still trying to locate a CC close to me, I still have one thing to get out of the way.

What pre-con am I going to use?

The choice may seem easy, but its really not.  I’ve got to take into account what kind of playing style I want to go with, what types I’m looking for in a pre-con, Trainers that come with the deck initially, Energy ratio, etc.  It’s a little overwhelming, especially this close to finals.  I have a good idea of what deck I’d like to use, but I have a better idea than that.

You, the readers, get to pick which pre-constructed deck I’m going to make into a tournament level deck for the upcoming CCs.

I’ll list the four decks that are up for choosing, and then you can vote on the poll that will be up shortly.  Here they are:

Deck #1: Hydrobloom (Grass and Water deck)
Rares: Milotic (EM), Sceptile (Rare, EM), Glalie (EM)

Deck #2: Wildfire (Fire and Lightning deck)
Rares: Manectric (Rare and Holo, both EM), Blaziken (Rare, EM)

Deck #3: Golden Sky (Fire and Fighting deck)
Rares: Ho-oh (UF), Typhlosion (Rare, UF), Chansey (UF)

Deck #4: Silver Ocean (Psychic and Grass deck)
Rares: Lugia (UF), Meganium (Rare, UF), Stantler (UF)

The list is below Please Vote Below.

Until then!

Cardz out.