Given the many changes the card game has undergone since its release, players both new and returning may need a refresher of the rules. Luckily,Pokemon Trading Card Gamebegins with an extensive tutorial, after which players must make the seemingly difficult decision of which Starter Deck to receive.
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Which Starter Deck is Best in Pokemon Trading Card Game?
In a presentation similar tochoosing a starter Pokemonin the mainlinePokemongames,Pokemon Trading Card Game’s Professor Mason will offer the player a selection of three Starter Decks before sending them off on their adventure: Charmander & Friends, Squirtle & Friends, or Bulbasaur & Friends. Though type advantages and weaknesses do play a part in the card game,the cards in the Squirtle & Friends deck outclasses anything in the other two by far.
Blastoise’s Pokemon Power: Rain Dance
The crown jewel of this deck is Squirtle’s final evolution, Blastoise. While all three of the Kanto starters in the game possess strong Pokemon Powers that allow players to manipulate energy, only Rain Dance allows for strong energy acceleration: being able to rapidly bring energy cards into play. Normally, players can only attach one energy card per turn, but with a Blastoise in play, players can attach as much Water Energy as they want to any of their Water Pokemon. Rain Dance decks were wildly popular and oppressive in the tabletop version ofPokemon Trading Card Gameuntilcards began to rotate out of the Standard Format. With this explosive advantage, Pokemon with high attack costs (including Blastoise itself) are able to set up much more quickly and efficiently.
To further improve their Squirtle & Friends deck, players can add cards such as Pokemon Breeder that can allow Squirtle to evolve directly into Blastoise by the player’s second turn. Powerful Water Pokemon such as Gyarados and Articuno can also be added to take advantage of the strong power of Rain Dance. Players can also make the deck more reliable by acquiring and adding more Blastoise cards from the “Evolution” booster packs. Booster packs can be earned by winningduels at the various Pokemon Clubswithin the game.
Hearty Haymakers
The Squirtle & Friends deck also features two “haymaker” Pokemon: Hitmonchan and Lapras. Similar to Rain Dance, Haymaker decks were wildly popular archetype in theearly format of the tabletop TCG. These decks featured several Pokemon with high HP and low-cost attacks, such as Hitmonchan’s Jab. These Pokemon are able to take a lot of damage while whittling down their opponent’s HP, allowing players to more easily set up their more fragile cards on the Bench and slowing the rate at which their opponent takes Prize Cards.
These “haymakers” can be inserted into many decks without much additional investment; low attack costs allow the player to run fewer of the necessary Energy types. However, a card like Lapras takes advantage of the already-present Water Energy in the deck. Furthermore, Its Water Gun attack benefits from Rain Dance by increasing damage based on the amount of Energy attached, and its Confuse Ray can further stall and damage opponents as it defends with 80HP, a massive amount for a Basic Pokemon in this format.
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Easily Inflicted Status Effects
The Squirtle & Friends deck also has the added benefit of several Basic Pokemon with status-inflicting attacks. Arguably the best of the three starter Pokemon cards, Squirtle itself is able to use Bubble to inflict 10 damage and a coin flip’s chance toinflict Paralysis on the opposing Pokemonfor a single Water Energy. In comparison, Charmander’s Scratch deals only 10 damage with no added effect and Bulbasaur’s Leech Seed requires two Grass Energy before it can be used.
Similar to Squirtle, Abra is another Pokemon found in the Squirtle & Friends deck that has the change to inflict Paralysis for the cost of one Energy. The Gastly found in the deck does not deal damage, but it can also inflict a status condition for the cost of one Psychic Energy, flipping a coin tocause an opposing Pokemon to fall Asleep. These status conditions can allow the player more time to set up while simultaneously hindering their opponent’s progress.
Acquiring the Starter Decks Later in the Game
If players chose one of the other two Starter Decks at the beginning, it isn’t too late to get the Squirtle & Friends deck. Using the Auto Deck Machine located in the right-most room of Dr. Mason’s Laboratory, players are able to assemble a new deck based on any deck list they’ve previously earned.
Unfortunately, players will need to own all the necessary cards before the machine will assemble a deck, but with a limited amount of cards existing in the game, grinding out duels to earn Booster Packs would not be a lengthy endeavor. With the amount of early game power the deck provides, acquiring the Squirtle & Friends deck is well worth the effort.
Pokemon Trading Card Gameis available now onNintendo Switch Online + Expansion.
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