BinderLoot

Building your first Pokémon deck

Choose one attacker, support it, and check the sixty cards against the deck rules.

7 min read

After this guide you can

  • Build a legal 60-card list.
  • Say the limits for Basic Pokémon, copies of a name, ACE SPEC and Radiant cards.

The rules you must meet

60
cards, exactly
4
copies of a name at most
1+
Basic Pokémon in the deck
1
ACE SPEC card in the whole deck

  • A deck has exactly 60 cards and at least one Basic Pokémon.

    Rulebook: Deck Building, p. 22

  • A deck holds at most 4 cards with the same name, except Basic Energy.

    Rulebook: Deck Building, p. 22; What does and doesn’t count for a Pokémon’s name?, p. 21

  • A deck holds at most one ACE SPEC card in total.

    Rulebook: Appendix 3: ACE SPEC Cards, p. 25

  • A deck holds at most one Radiant Pokémon.

    Rulebook: Appendix 8: Radiant Pokémon, p. 28

Worked example: a Charizard ex deck

  • Charmander, Basic, 60 HPCharmanderPokemon — Basic
  • Charmeleon, Stage1, 90 HPCharmeleonPokemon — Stage1
  • Charizard ex, Stage2, 330 HPCharizard exPokemon — Stage2

Charmander, Obsidian Flames, illustrated by DOM. Charmeleon, Obsidian Flames, illustrated by Ryota Murayama. Charizard ex, Obsidian Flames, illustrated by 5ban Graphics. Card images from TCGdex. Pokémon is a trademark of Nintendo, Creatures and GAME FREAK. BinderLoot is unofficial and is not endorsed by them.

  1. 1Choose the attacker: Charizard ex. Add its Evolution line: 4 Charmander, 3 Charmeleon and 3 Charizard ex.
  2. 2Add other Pokémon that support the plan, 22 Pokémon in all, with no more than four of one name.
  3. 3Add 25 Trainer cards. One of them can be an ACE SPEC card, and no more than one.
  4. 4Add 13 Basic Fire Energy. Basic Energy has no copy limit.
  5. 522 + 25 + 13 = 60 cards exactly, with Basic Pokémon in it, so the deck is legal.

Starting numbers from the rulebook

Advice, not a rule

12-15
Energy cards to start with
20-25
Trainer cards to start with

The rulebook suggests one or two Energy types at most, 12 to 15 Energy cards and about 20 to 25 Trainer cards. The rest of the deck is Pokémon.

A deck with ways to attach extra Energy needs fewer Energy cards. Copy a tested list for your attacker, then change it after you play.

Your turn: check a list

Your list holds 4 Charmander, 3 Charmeleon, 3 Charizard ex, 12 other Pokémon, 25 Trainer cards and 14 Basic Fire Energy.

1 / 2Is the deck legal?
2 / 2You add a Charmander from another set, the fifth with that name. Is that legal?

Check yourself

1 / 3Can a deck hold two different ACE SPEC cards?
2 / 3Can a deck hold two Radiant Pokémon?
3 / 3A deck of 60 cards holds Stage 1 Pokémon, Trainers and Energy, and no Basic Pokémon. Is it legal?
Next guideChoosing a Pokémon formatStandard and Expanded use different card pools and the same deck rules.

Sources