Building Good Decks Cheap

For us "frugal" POKeMON TCG players... Some cards and combos that don't cost too much. First, we start with plain ol' cheap cards. Then, we move on to cheap, good deck cores.

The REAL Cheap deals (Mostly commons):

Staryu/Starmie: They're both common! Sure, they aren't too great, but Star Freeze usually helps deal some extra damage.

Potion: Always worthwhile, always cheap!

Bill: The King of Commons! Doubles one of your draws!

Energy Removal: Hey, you don't know how annoying this card is until you use it.

Diglett: Thirty damage? Quite the deal!

Jigglypuff: If you play Psychic, he'll serve as protection against your weakness. Plus, his Lulaby is a good stall as you power up Kadabra! And, fi you get more mony, you can upgrade to Wigglytuff, who's a worthy addition!

Cheap one-two punches (Basics and their first level evolves):

Machop/Machoke: Machop's a good deal as it is, but Machoke's worth his uncommon!

Bulbasaur/Ivysaur: Not many people use them. Pick them up cheap, if you like Grass. Bulb's Leech is great!

Abra/Kadabra: Alakazam's not really worth buying, but Kadabra's Super Psy is!

Rattata/Raticate: Nobody like rats, so these cards are dirt cheap!

Meowth/Persian: Meowth can be good, as can Persian! And, being Normal-Type, you can get them cheap!

Venonat/Venomoth: Like Rattata/Raticate, nobody really likes them. That means low, low, prices!

Moderate Purchases (Umcommons worthy of being noted):

Growlithe/Arcanine: If you want fire, this's the most worthy purchse of your hard-earned dollar.

Professor Oak: Well, if ya happen to meet someone who doesn't realize the power of The Most Glorious of Uncommons, trade for this card right away! It'll serve you well!

Now, on to the cheapster strategy!

The main thing to remember about cheap decks is: "Expensive, huge cards do not mean huge victories". Sure, Charizard's very strong. But, is he strong enough that you're willing to spend thirty bucks for him? Is there no hope for us people who don't want to spend oodles of cash on cards? I'm telling you, there IS hope. For me, that came with the "Blackout" deck.

The "Blackout" deck is on of the most playable preconstructed decks, in my opinion. With only a few modifications (costing me a dollar), I've gone 8-3 against opponents who've spent amost much more on cards. And, when I'm willing to spend more cash, I've got several things I can do to seriously increase my power. Here's what I've done:

Took out three Onix's, and a fighting energy, and stuck in a Sandshrew, two Starmies, and a water energy. Now, I got rid of sluggish, near-useless cards, and added cards that are reasonable in both price and power. And, I've got plenty of things I can do to it, based on what I want to add. This makes up my first cheap core:

Discard to the Core (Blue Core, add second color):

Energy Removal - They're cheap, and they aggravate in groups.

Potions - Common, and good.

Staryu/Starmie - Common, Star freeze will serve you well, as long as you've got luck.

Poliwag/Poliwhirl - Good by themselves, and it's upgradable (see below).

Upgrades:

Super Energy Removal - Good! Put two to three, if possible

Poliwrath - Ooh! More energy discard!

Dratini/Dragonair - Sure, it's expensive, but I'll bet that they'l jump even more when Dragonite come out.

Professor Oak - Rapidly increaing in price, as many players are getting smart.

Looks pretty good to me. Lots of Energy Discard! Woo!

Now, I'm not the biggest fan of Green, but it has it's good points. Leech Life and Mega Drain are two of them. ^_^ Here's a reasonable creature-core:

Jungle Core Drain

Bulbasaur/Ivysaur - Bulb's a good Basic, and Ivy's a worthy upgrade

Caterpie/Metapod/Butterfree - Butterfree might cost a little, but it's worth it.

Paras - He wont' cost you much because people don't like his looks.

Koffing - Another cheap-cuz-he's-ugly.

Potions - In case you can't drain as fast as you get hurt.

Upgrades

Venonat/Venomoth - If you pair this deck with Psychic, you'll be pounding Fighting and Psychic decks even more than usual.

Exeggcute/Exeggcutor - MAX Barrage is as good as you'll let it be! ^_^

Well, it's pretty good, and it's cheap!

That'll get your started. If you've got a cheap deck that you'd like to share, mail me at gomf@angelfire.com! And remember, you don't need expensive cards to win!

The creature on the POKeMON page are from the game POKeMON, and they are creatured by Nintendo, Creatures, and/or Game Freak, and are their property. The layout of the GOMF site, as well as much of the content, is made by me Tim Reilly/Moogle/GOMF and is copyright 1997,1998,1999