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Notice

This guide has yet to be updated for the rotation effective 5 April 2024. Some of the information contained below may be out of date for the F Regulation Mark onward Standard format.

 A Basic Guide to Deck Building in the Standard Format

BRS-TWM*


Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • Limits - What You Can and Can’t Put Into Your Deck
    • Identifying Fake Cards
  • Getting to Know the Cards
  • Crafting Your Deck*
    • Deck Strategy*
    • Deck Structure*
    • The Main Attacker*
    • Secondary Attackers*
    • Draw Cards*
    • Pokémon Search*
    • Gusting and Repulsion*
    • Energy and Acceleration*
    • Consistency and Setup*
    • Switching and Prize Denial*
    • Recovery and Rebound*
    • Disruption*
    • Damage Control*
  • Testing
    • Proxies - What They Are and How to Use Them
  • Deck Building Shortcuts
    • A Deck Stencil
    • Net Decking
      • Meta Decks
      • Budget Decks
  • Buying Cards for Your Deck
  • Appendix I: Set Symbols and Abbreviations
  • Appendix II: Noteworthy Cards in the Standard Format
  • Appendix III: 2025 Card Legality Status (BRS-CRZ)
  • Appendix IV: Some Deck Math
  • Appendix V: Pre-release Deck Building

*The parts of this deck building guide marked with an asterisk (*) have yet to be updated for the post-rotation Standard format.


A special thanks to my Patreon supporters.

JustInBasil's Pokémon TCG Resources · Preserved archive (2026) · original site