Theme Decks

[Starlight Sprite]

Yeah.... they've been around since Base Set. They suck in general, but they're good for helping new players learn the game by giving a preconstructed deck with a little strategy. If you keep them together, they can also be fun to pit against each other (this is even easier to do on TCGO).

Do you ever buy / use theme decks? I'll usually pick them up for purposes of my collection, and to play against people in the theme format on TCGO. If I find one that I really like I might begin to modify it into a semi competitive deck. My first deck back in the day was a Brushfire deck that I modded into an all Fire deck. I was foolish enough to have my Charizard in it and not use card sleeves, ruining its condition, but the deck performed okay against my friends. None of us really knew what we were doing though (it was 1999).

 

[Wobbu]

The only thing I have against theme decks is that the rare cards are not holo. The best thing about them is that they come with a coin. The only reason why I buy them is just to add to my collection since I don't play competitively. I have bought a few theme decks over the years, one from ex Dragon, a couple from ex Power Keepers, and one that features Heatran. I can't remember the names of any of them, however.

 

[Renpuu]

Theme decks can be fun for getting back into the game with. When I got back into Pokemon TCG me and my friend bought starter decks and just played with them. Once we liked the game, I started competitive play.

They can be nice if they have some form of a competitive card(s) in them which are good for tournament play but most of the time they are aimed at newer players from all ages to see what the game is like. Also I guess they are not bad if you need more energy >_> !

 

[Starlight Sprite]

Every now and then there will be a theme deck that throws in a must-have card too, just like the promo tins. The new Solar Strike deck for Plasma Blast includes an oh-so-useful Deluge Blastoise (non holo though). If you need more for a Keldeo deck or something, it's probably better to buy the theme deck than go through booster after booster. I'm not too picky about holographic cards most of the time, so I found this a viable option for building another deck.

In general, I find theme decks have the same problems no matter what said they're from:

- Too much energy. An old school theme deck can have as many as 28 energy cards, or nearly half the deck! That usually gives you way more than you'll ever need, and you won't be able to find the cards you need when you need them.

- Too many evolution lines. Often times the lines will be stranded at stage 1, with very limited attack power. Similarly, there won't be enough of the key Pokemon to ensure they come out every game.

- Not enough Trainers. When I first learned the game I overlooked Trainers, and I thought they'd just be nice to have when I picked them up. In reality, they are the engine of your deck. While theme decks often do include a few, sometimes really nice ones like Juniper and Catcter, there aren't enough to help you move through your deck, forcing you to rely on lucky draws.

 

[Wobbu]

Too much energy.

You can never have too many energy cards :P

Too many evolution lines. Often times the lines will be stranded at stage 1, with very limited attack power.

Yes, I've always hated how theme decks missed half of the evolutions. They'll have about 15 Pokémon capable of evolving, and only three or four will actually reach their final stage.

Not enough Trainers.

That's where your strategy plays in. You could easily find other Trainer cards from boosters and swap them into your deck. I don't think any of these decks are supposed to be used for competitive play, but rather as a tutorial for beginning players.