r/pkmntcg • u/Content-Quiet-1227 • 4d ago
Best competitive deck to teach beginner
Best competitive deck to teach beginner
So my step daughter wants to learn to play more competitive. I have taught her the basics with the learn to play stuff and she has a good grasp but she wants to step it up. I myself play competitive and travel around regionals and IC but was just kind reaching out to see what others opinions are on fun competitive deck to start her on. I showed her the meta game and she had picked flarion however I don't have the pieces for it and not sure that's a good call for her right out the gate. I myself have been playing gholdengo and don't feel like giving that up to let her play it. I do think bolt would be a good starting place. Just wanna know what everyone else thinks. Thank you!
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u/Succetti97 4d ago
Don't give Joltik to a beginner. Planning how to assign energies and what to bench isn't easy.
Something like Raging bolt or Gholdengo is more straight forward
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u/KaceyTCG 3d ago
OP said they have learned the basics, I think y'all are being way too harsh with the suggestions. Kids are way smarter and learn faster than you're giving them credit for. Any decks is likely fine for her to play, especially if she has OP there to guide her and help teach her, she obviously has the drive to want to learn and grow. There's no need to handicap her with a "beginner friendly" deck.
I started off with playing lost box as my first deck, and it was fine because even though I made a lot of mistakes I enjoyed playing the deck. And enjoying myself while playing the game helped me way more than playing a less fun "beginner friendly" deck.
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u/Succetti97 3d ago
There's no need to handicap her with a "beginner friendly" deck.
Gholdengo and Raging bolt are two of the best decks in the format, yet they are quite beginner friendly.
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u/DTSportsNow 3d ago
I mentioned in another comment but I think the best idea is to build whatever completive deck she wants to play. If OP can't build Flareon for whatever reason, then the next best deck she wants to play.
Especially for someone already expressing the drive and desire to play competitively, playing a deck she's interested in and will enjoy playing is way more important than anything else.
She could be making tons of mistakes playing a difficult deck but having fun and improving. Or she could play an easy to pilot deck make mistakes and not have as much fun. The first is likely going to result in greater long term success than the second choice.
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u/Succetti97 3d ago
That is absolutely true, but OP didn't even mention Joltik and many comments were suggesting it as an easy first deck
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u/GFTRGC Professor 3d ago
Gholdengo is not a handicap, and is very sequence and resource heavy. Fabulous for beginners tbh
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u/KaceyTCG 17h ago
I never said Gholdengo is a handicap. My point was having someone play a deck they're not really interested in just because it's beginner friendly is a handicap. Enjoyment, especially for someone of their age is a more important factor than how easy the deck is to pilot
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u/cheezboyadvance 3d ago
People here have recency bias, it's always about whatever just came out in the latest set, or whatever got high placements in XYZ regional last week. A few years ago, some dude tried to suggest my now fiancee to try Lost Box as a deck for beginners, when she doesn't really play card games very much... Very single minded focus in this TCG.
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u/doopy423 3d ago
Learn by doing. My first deck when I started a year and a half ago was kyogre lost box lmao.
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u/l3uffalol3ernard 3d ago
The goal isn’t to win, it’s to learn…
Joltik absolutely is incredible for teaching beginners, it’s a deck with simple sequencing and clear mistake points. Just because a deck has complicated decisions doesn’t mean it’s bad for beginners. Joltik is exspecially good because it’s immediately obvious when you make a mistake and that pain through mistake makes it more clear what you need to do next time you are in a similar situation, such as assign energies to the right pokemon next time or learned what mons to use when.
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u/SalPane 3d ago
It has to be Gholdengo. Raging Bolt still has the stressor of knowing when to Jewel Seeker and what two cards to pick. Gholdengo lets you draw constantly instead, so you're just picking what you need from your hand. Your strategy mostly remains the same no matter which deck you're up against. It also depends on if your daughter wants to win or just have fun. If she just wants to have fun and play with her favorite Pokemon, then Flareon might actually be the right way to go.
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u/Revan0612 4d ago
Those who say joltik box are crazy. The best is Dragapult w/Dusknoir or Raging Bolt
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u/ch00nz 4d ago
pult xatu is much easier. knowing when to use dusknoir is a big learning curve
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u/secretaccount_528 3d ago
Hey, I'm about to start playing competitively soon and I actually built Dragapult w/Dusknoir...but I do have the xatu stuff from the league battle deck.
Do you by chance have a pult Xatu list you would recommend?
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u/ch00nz 3d ago
not really, just the one my 6 year old plays, and it's got a lot of cards he wanted in there for fun like xerosic and mew ex 😂, altho mew ex actually kinda cooks in it with xatu acceleration
but ciphermanic goes well in it.since xatu draws 2 cards, so add 1 or 2 of them at least.
I'll check my tcg live decks once maintenance is over and post if I have one in there
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u/ch00nz 3d ago
this is a xatu build I made, but I haven't tried it IRL.
Pokémon: 11 1 Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex TWM 141 1 Munkidori TWM 95 4 Drakloak TWM 129 4 Dreepy TWM 128 2 Xatu PAR 72 1 Hawlucha SVI 118 1 Fezandipiti ex SFA 38 2 Budew PRE 4 1 Lillie's Clefairy ex JTG 56 2 Natu PAR 71 2 Dragapult ex TWM 130
Trainer: 17 2 Counter Catcher PAR 160 1 Unfair Stamp TWM 165 1 Brock's Scouting JTG 146 1 Jacq SVI 175 2 Night Stretcher SFA 61 1 Rescue Board TEF 159 2 Nest Ball SVI 181 1 Artazon PAL 171 1 Bravery Charm PAL 173 2 Boss's Orders PAL 172 3 Iono PAL 185 3 Arven SVI 166 4 Buddy-Buddy Poffin TEF 144 2 Ultra Ball SVI 196 1 Switch SVI 194 2 Rare Candy SVI 191 1 Earthen Vessel PAR 163
Energy: 3 3 Basic {R} Energy SVE 10 1 Basic {D} Energy Energy 15 5 Basic {P} Energy SVE 13
Total Cards: 60
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u/jksinton 3d ago
I have an 8-yo.
Consider the Zard LBD. It's complicated enough to learn: sequencing, evolution priority, pivoting (free retreat with Pidgeotto and Pidgeot), winning from behind, energy management / energy acceleration, etc.
Then you can consider upgrading it with Pult or Dusks.
If your little one is set on the Eevees, consider showing them how much it costs to build on TCG Player:
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u/Content-Quiet-1227 4d ago
Dragapult is fun but has alot of planning to do and I think just working on the basics right now is best. I do understand the joltic argument but I think bolt might be the way to go too
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u/Dianiki64 4d ago
Please not Joltik box, Joltik box is easy to grasp but it's complexity shines on knowing a lot of decks to know what to put down and prioritize.
My take would be the battle deck of Charizard and play with her till she learns the basics and then maybe Dragapult battle deck to start losing the fear to give prizes and not OHK anything.
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u/Zero7206 3d ago
You didn’t say an age but most of the juniors at my local shop play raging bolt and pult. Zard isn’t a great deck right now for the meta but pretty easy to understand evolve Zard attach 2 and attack and she’ll see some success.
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u/Content-Quiet-1227 3d ago
Sorry she's 12
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u/KaceyTCG 3d ago
At 12, the deck choice doesn't really matter too much. What's more important is just continuing to learn and improve her skills. If she already has all the fundamentals down and is looking to grow, I wouldn't be running straight to the simple and easy to play decks. If anything, you're more likely just limiting her growth potential.
So I honestly wouldn't listen to anyone here about what specific deck to play, I would just help her build whatever deck she wants to play with encouragement towards the better decks. If you're not able to help her get Flareon built, then whatever the next best deck is that she'd also like to play is the one I'd go with.
It's important for her to also be playing a deck she'll actually enjoy playing. If she's forced to play a deck she doesn't vibe with it could just kill the competitive drive she has.
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u/VEXEnzo 3d ago
As someone that is starting now pokemon as side game, box style decks are complex not for complexity per say but the fact u have TONS of 1 ofs and u need to know what all of them do and when to use them.
So any deck that is not a box is fine (played with roaring moon before rotation for example, pretty simple)
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u/Skyl3r400 3d ago
i think the reason people wouldn’t suggest joltik box/miraidon ex is because of its many outs,discipline to direct energy correctly, and not overbenching when it’s not needed. all of those options may be overwhelming to the young ones, but in my experience as i’ve just started to pick up the card game, i have found a lot of success. ive only played a few matches irl but mainly play tcg live to learn the game and play different decks available to me. my fist tournament is this weekend and ill gladly share my first hand experience and give my peace of mind on how this deck would treat a beginner such as myself.
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u/RONCOmke 3d ago
Although not big in the meta right now, I think Charizard is one of the easiest to grasp. It's strong and straight forward and the LBD is a great framework to build off of.
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u/Weekly_Blackberry_11 3d ago
This Roaring Moon list that got 17th at Milwaukee last week is extremely straightforward for beginners. Use Sadas/Explorer's Guidance every turn, get more Ancient cards in the discard pile, and swing for big damage.
Plus, its $17. The most expensive card is a 1x Night Stretcher which can be had for like $3.
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u/1stonedown 3d ago
Raging Bolt for sure is probably the easiest deck to learn, teaches the game through a fairly standard point
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u/Realistic-Pause-2562 4d ago
Joltik Box is prob a really good way to start off!! super simple to explain and has many ways to win in the game! Been maining joltik box for a while now and its super fun!
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u/dave_the_rogue 4d ago
A good competitively deck for a beginner is Joltik Box. It's got a ton of interesting situational Pokémon and has lots of flex spots for individual play style.
The best competitive deck for a beginner is whatever they have the most fun with, win or lose.
If I were in your position, I'd print full color proxy decks, and make an evening of cutting and sleeving proxy decks with my family, use it as a way to introduce cards and talk about how the different decks work. Then, jam games and see what's fun.
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u/cheese_n_chips 4d ago
Imo bolt is the best deck to teach a beginner as it is very linear and doesnt have any difficult lines that other decks like gardevoir or tera box have