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.
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