Want Semi-Competitive Decks for Home Games

[TheVenocWarlord]

Hello all, I'm new to the site and all, as you guys can tell. I do like playing Pokemon, mainly the video games. It's been 10-15 years since I have last played with the cards, but I have always thought about getting back into them. (I'm an avid board gamer, but I'd still like to have some Pokemon decks to play with.)

So, rather than trying to get completely involved in the CCG again, I want to get some decks of my favorite Pokemon to just play at home. I don't care if they cards are "out of rotation" or what not. I'd just like them to be semi-competitive (so they are interesting to play) and balanced against each other, so I can can just grab a couple of decks and play against a friend.

Thanks for any input guys! First in the list is who I want most in the deck, add the second if you're able. Some guys may be have to moved around due to their dual types, I don't know. I am willing to make mixed type decks, too, if need be. So, here are the guys I want decks for:

Fire: Torchic/Charmander
Grass: Chikorita/Nicada
Water: Buizel/Spheal
Electric: Shinx/Blitzle/Tynamo (Whichever of the last two fit better.)
Fighting: Riolu/Trapinch
Poison: Venipede/Ralts(with both final evolutions)/Litwick(not sure which deck he would be best for)
Dark: Poochyena/Purrloin
Steel: Aaron/Bronzor/Beldum
Dragon: Dratini/Gible
Normal: (Which can be mixed and matched above as needed.) Ditto (for fun factor alone), PIdove, Hoothoot, PIdgey, Zigzagoon, skitty, meowth, Smeargle, Eevee

Thanks for any help you can give me guys! :)

 

[Renpuu]

Well if you want them to be competitive, they need to stick within rotations, since rotations happen in the Pokemon TCG.
Best bet is to just grab some starter decks and then throw in more supporters and trainers in them, at least they become fun but not super expensive !

 

[donavannj]

Renpuu, they don't mean semi-competitive in that sense. They mean competitive against each of the other decks.

The easiest way is to buy a bunch of theme decks from a specific era and then face those against each other, but even for the cheapest of those that's still around $10 per deck. Though most of the theme decks all the Pokemon you list are in are spread across all eras. If you want the decks to play against each other well, you'll have to find cards from the last 5 or 6 years (most of these cards won't come in theme decks), since most cards from the 8 years before that are too weak to play against cards from the last 4 years, and that's going to be considerably more time-consuming and expensive (mostly because of shipping and handling charges) to find all of them than it is to just buy 5 or 6 theme decks from the last 4 sets. You'll likely need to buy the theme decks to get enough of the energy cards you need anyway (since I doubt you have many energy cards to begin with - most people who never actually played typically will have maybe 3 of each type of Basic Energy).

 

[Starlight Sprite]

As for your favorite Pokemon, the Tynamo and Gible lines are both featured in competitive deck archtypes. I would suggest looking on eBay for singles, as many vendors, both online and stores tend to upcharge. Ray/ Eels is a fun combo that uses Eelectrik to power up Rayquaza EX. Eels can be found in a Noble Victories them deck (I forget the name but it has Escavalier on the box), while you're better off looking for a deal on Rayquaza, but I believe it's Dragons Exalted.

Garchomp / Altaria is a less played but still solid deck once you set up. Garchomp can do a whopping 60 damage for just one Energy (Altarias on the bench bost his damage by 20 each, so two of them makes this 100 damage), and for two energy can do 100 but you need to discard the top 2 cards of your deck. This deck can be a lot of fun but is expensive to assemble.

 

[TheVenocWarlord]

Renpuu, they don't mean semi-competitive in that sense. They mean competitive against each of the other decks.

Yep. That's what I'm looking for.

The easiest way is to buy a bunch of theme decks from a specific era and then face those against each other, but even for the cheapest of those that's still around $10 per deck. Though most of the theme decks all the Pokemon you list are in are spread across all eras. If you want the decks to play against each other well, you'll have to find cards from the last 5 or 6 years (most of these cards won't come in theme decks), since most cards from the 8 years before that are too weak to play against cards from the last 4 years, and that's going to be considerably more time-consuming and expensive (mostly because of shipping and handling charges) to find all of them than it is to just buy 5 or 6 theme decks from the last 4 sets. You'll likely need to buy the theme decks to get enough of the energy cards you need anyway (since I doubt you have many energy cards to begin with - most people who never actually played typically will have maybe 3 of each type of Basic Energy).

Oh, I have tons and tons of Pokemon cards at home, and thus lots of energy. I just have no clue what would make balanced decks against each other, so I came here for help. I think the last pack I bought was the Sandstorm, aka the second set in the series for R/S, even though I never played with them.

 

[donavannj]

Yep. That's what I'm looking for.



Oh, I have tons and tons of Pokemon cards at home, and thus lots of energy. I just have no clue what would make balanced decks against each other, so I came here for help. I think the last pack I bought was the Sandstorm, aka the second set in the series for R/S, even though I never played with them.

A lot of the newer 'mons you want will be too strong compared to most of the cards you have if all you have are cards from the first 4-5 years, even just the Basic Pokémon forms. There was quite a bit of "Power Creep" in the Pokémon Trading Card Game over the last decade.

 

[TheVenocWarlord]

A lot of the newer 'mons you want will be too strong compared to most of the cards you have if all you have are cards from the first 4-5 years, even just the Basic Pokémon forms. There was quite a bit of "Power Creep" in the Pokémon Trading Card Game over the last decade.

Ahh, the dreaded Power Creep. I should have figured, since they allow cards to go out of rotation. But they make a lot of cards, so it's understandable.