The Road to 60

By Andy Hartpence

One newcomer's quest to build a respectable custom deck.

Like many rookies to the Pokémon Trading Card Game, I started my career as a Pokémon Trainer by playing with preconstructed theme decks. These decks gave me a great introduction to the game, but after a while I found myself eager to try custom strategies and to fill my hand with more of my own personal favorite Pokémon.

Soon, I was digging through my collection of loose cards in an attempt to find 60 cards that would work well together and maybe even earn a victory or two. I wasn't sure where to start, so I kept it simple and based my deck around one of my favorite attacks, Beautifly's Giga Drain, and one of my favorite Pokémon, Chikorita (Diamond & Pearl—Mysterious Treasures, 77/123).  Combining the two names, I proudly entitled my first deck "Gigarita Chikofly." It's not the most powerful deck in the world, but I had a lot of fun putting it together.

Since I knew I wanted to include Beautifly (Diamond & Pearl, 19/130) in my deck, it was a no-brainer to include its Basic and Stage 1 forms, Wurmple (Diamond & Pearl, 104/130) and Silcoon (Diamond & Pearl, 63/130). Similarly, I completed Chikorita's evolution line by including Bayleef (Diamond & Pearl—Mysterious Treasures, 41/123) and Meganium (Diamond & Pearl—Mysterious Treasures, 13/123). Using the examples my theme decks had taught me, I included more Basic Pokémon than Stage 1 and Stage 2 Pokémon. A good breakdown for a typical evolution line is:

4 Basic Pokémon (such as Wurmple)
2 Stage 1 Pokémon (Such as Silcoon)
1–2 Stage 2 Pokémon (Such as Beautifly)

All of the Pokémon listed so far have Weakness to Fire-type Pokémon, so I protected myself by tossing in some Water-type Pokémon, which have an advantage over Fire. I included Shellder (Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders, 105/132) and Cloyster (Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders, 47/132), and also the complete Empoleon LV. X (Diamond & Pearl, 120/122) evolution line. I was banking on Empoleon LV. X's huge HP and attack power to scare away any Fire-types that might appear throughout the battle.

For good measure, I included another personal favorite, Shellos East Sea (Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders, 106/132) and its Stage 1 evolution Gastrodon East Sea (Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders, 8/132). I balanced these Pokémon with some Trainer cards and took the deck out for a test spin. I shook my opponent's hand and felt my heart pitter-patter as I prepared myself for the sweet taste of victory. I couldn't wait to feel how rewarding it would be to win with a custom deck that I created myself.


After losing by a landslide, I realized that I'd have to wait to savor the taste of victory.

I never seemed to have the right evolution cards for the Pokémon in my hand, and my prized Beautifly never even got into play! I based my entire deck around Beautifly's Giga Drain attack, and it was never put to use. Kindly, my opponent studied my deck after the match and pointed out that I had way too many evolution lines and not enough Trainer Cards. Humbled, I went back to the drawing board.

I knew that Beautifly and Chikorita weren't going anywhere, because without them, my brilliant moniker "Gigarita Chikofly" would no longer make sense. Instead, I focused on fewer Pokémon and tried to find ways to access the evolution cards I needed from my deck.

I completely removed the Empoleon evolution line, along with a few other random Pokémon I had included. My first addition to the deck was Corsola (Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders, 84/132), whose Rally attack allows you to search your deck for up to 3 different types of Basic Pokémon and put them onto your Bench. Next, I added a few  Roseanne's Research (Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders, 125/132) Trainer cards, which allow you to search your deck for up to 2 Basic Pokémon and/or basic  Energy cards. I still needed to find a way to track down Stage 1 and Stage 2 Pokémon, so I included as many Bebe's Search (Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders, 119/132) Trainer cards that I could find (you can't have more than 4 of the same card in your deck). Bebe's Search allows you to search for any Pokémon in your deck, which is an extremely powerful ability.

I beefed up the search power of my deck even more by tossing in a couple Smeargle (Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders, 66/132), which is one of my favorites thanks to its awesome low-Energy attacks. For no Energy at all, Color Pick allows you to search your deck for up to 3 basic Energy cards and put them into your hand. Its Trace attack allows you to copy any attack of an opponent's Benched Pokémon without copying the Energy cost. It takes a successful coin flip to pay off, but it's worth the risk in most cases.

Finally, I included 3 PlusPower (Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders, 121/132) Trainer cards to take Beautifly's Giga Drain attack to the next level. Giga Drain reads, "After your attack, remove from Beautifly the number of damage counters equal to the damage you did to the Defending Pokémon." Since Giga Drain inflicts 50 damage right off the bat, adding PlusPower to the attack can make quite an impact, especially when you consider the healing potential.

With my newly constructed "Gigarita Chikofly" deck ready to rock, I challenged my friend to another match. Was I greeted by the sound of glorious applause after a hard-fought victory?

No, I lost again.

But the silver lining was that my Beautifly finally saw some decent action and overall it was a much more competitive match. I proved that I could overcome a shortcoming in my deck by making some minor adjustments, and it was fun to do.
Even though I lost, I learned a lot and am now ready to start experimenting again. I need to create a deck with more drawing power, and I could definitely use more Poké-Powers and Poké-Bodies to improve my deck's overall performance. I still have a long way to go on the Road to 60.

You can check out the complete "Gigarita Chikofly" decklist below. I don't necessarily recommend it, but I do recommend trying to build your own custom deck based on your favorite Pokémon. Once you get started, you'll discover an entire universe of strategies to explore.

As an extra bonus, you can even make up a goofy name for your own deck!

The Gigarita Chikofly Definitive Decklist*

4— Wurmple (Diamond & Pearl, 104/130)
3— Silcoon (Diamond & Pearl, 63/130)
3— Beautifly (Diamond & Pearl, 19/130)
4— Chikorita (Diamond & Pearl—Mysterious Treasures, 77/123)
2— Bayleef (Diamond & Pearl—Mysterious Treasures, 41/123)
1— Meganium (Diamond & Pearl—Mysterious Treasures, 13/123)
3— Shellder (Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders, 105/132)
2— Cloyster (Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders, 47/132)
2— Corsola (Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders, 84/132)
2— Smeargle (Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders, 66/132)
3— Roseanne's Research (Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders, 125/132)
3— Bebe's Search (Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders, 119/132)
3— PlusPower (Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders, 121/132)
1— Poké Ball (Diamond & Pearl, 110/130)
17—Grass Energy
7—Water Energy

*Use at your own risk.