Farewell Friends — My Entire Collection

The Gym Series

 

This is a collection of decks I created with a specific deck structure between them intended to create a new and fun special format of play. The main framework for this deck structure includes a 3-2 Mega Pokémon line at the forefront. This Pokémon/Mega Pokémon EX represents the primary frontrunner.

From there, the Pokémon base is filled out with a 2-2 Stage 1 line—and a 3-3 Stage 1 line. These two Stage 1 Pokémon lines are intended to provide some special flare and flavor to the play format, enabling players to be more creative with their deck structures, and make use of fun cards that might otherwise just sit around in their collection and go to waste. Evolution Pokémon are also very interactive, and interactivity is a big fun factor when it comes to any trading card game.

Taking basic game dynamics into play, I had made it a priority that the higher consistency 3-3 line would want to be a Stage 1 Pokémon that could attack on a single energy. This I felt was a must for the deck, as it helps to increase the initial momentum of the game at the start, and help to secure the momentum of the game during the follow-ups later.

 

In the original development, I had sought to balance the Pokémon base out from here with a mandatory 3 copies of a standard Basic Pokémon. This would provide extra diversity to each deck, and add more creative flare. Further enabling players to make use of creative cards, while helping to create a grind in the Prize exchange, by expanding upon the volume of single Prize Pokémon between sides.

 

The Supporter base for this deck structure consists of two primary Supporters—both provided in full volume—with some synergy between one another. Synergy is a term that describes complimentary effects that boost the proficiency of one another—or check and balance some inconsistency or drawback somewhere.

This provides the foundation to the flow of the cards, and is topped off with 2 copies of any Full Art Supporter. This Full Art Supporter adds some creative flare to the deck, and makes a great selection for technical supporters and their unique benefits (as a compliment to the secured flow of the cards—between the initial 8 copies of draw-effect Supporters).

 

To further the fun of momentum in the game pace with these decks, and set them apart from the bland pace that typical theme decks can take, I fixed a mandatory 4 Trainers' Mail into the core of the deck structure standard. These would effectively compliment the general flow of the cards, by effectively providing an extension on every Trainer card in the deck, and thus boosting the fun factor of momentum in the game pace (as these decks are considerably simple by design—and benefit greatly from simple access to their most core-essential pieces).

 

I later adapted upon this further, by changing the core deck structure to split the presence of Trainers' Mail between Acro Bike. This would effectively increase the momentum of the game pace (and card access extension) further. As although the range of Acro Bike isn't as wide—its access potential is unlimited. Covering cards like Energy and Pokémon (in addition to Trainers), and thus hoping to effectively increase the momentum of the flow of the cards here overall.

 

The final components of this special format deck structure would consist of 3 to 4 Pokémon resourcing Item cards (Great Ball, Ultra Ball, Level Ball); 3 to 4 Stadium cards; and then 3 to 4 Pokémon Tool cards. This would polish off the rough edges in the flow of the cards—and help to ensure that each deck in this special format would be fast and fun.

The volume of these components in-specific however is intended to be somewhat adaptable, and can be balanced in any way a person likes between Item, Stadium, and Pokémon Tool (so long as there is at least 3 copies of each and any given card provided). This adaptability only extends to these pieces, and any empty spots cannot be added to the Supporter Base (only the Energy base—or the Pokémon base—and best recommended to be appropriated fully between these three types).

 

This is very important, and shouldn't be adapted upon, as it was intended to teach players the important of consistency, and provide a graphic example so that players could get a feel for exactly how the consistency factors plays its role in the potency of the deck structure.

 

For this Pokémon Gym series of decks here, I strived to use a different combination of Supporters, a different Full Art Supporter for each deck, and a different Ace Spec card for each deck for the fun of diversity it provides. This isn't exactly apart of the format standard, but was moreso a personal challenge I committed myself to in order to help make the decks and unique and creative as I could. I also tried to do the same thing for Pokémon Tool cards, but later found that there would have to be some redundancy between these cards to keep the competitive edge between the decks within fair proportions.

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Pewter City Gym

 

Due to the sheer absence of Rock-type Pokémon in recent series, I had to adapt upon the Pokémon base a bit here. Replacing the 2-2 line and integrating the Basic Pokémon slot into a 2-4 split between Solrock and Lunaton, with a technical addition from Aerodactyl. Had to further break conventions here by including the Colorless-type Aerodactyl over the {Ancient Scream} Fighting-type one (which was the original place holder—but just lacks the offensive power needed to compete with the others).

 

 

Cerulean City Gym

 

I was originally going to go with M Blastoise here, but decided to take the high road instead, and try to do something more creative with M Swampert. Given the orange accents Swampert sports, I figured it would be a really stylish combination as well. The deck structure is arranged as best I could to turn [Mud Flood] into a power-move—combing Judge and Shauna as the core Supporters—whose limited range helps to provide continuous card advantage while preserving the energy base as best possible.

 

 

Vermillion City Gym

 

Options were very limited for this one, as the only Electric-type Mega Pokémon available is M Ampheros, so I took it and ran with it. The visual here attempts to craft the strongest military theme I could put together. Raichu is of course on a front line in the Pokémon base, backed up by strong Pokémon base to support [Circle Circuit]. The Supporter base here runs hard disruption, which aims to effectively support various tactical operations this deck can run.
 

 

Celedon City Gym

 

Venusaur is the classic Pokémon when it comes to Gym Leader Erika, and it can be a total powerhouse if supported right, so I saw no reason not to run with Mega Venusaur here. [Team Plasma] Leafeon then takes a lead role to compliment the disruption in this deck and add some special flavor to the Celedon city environment. The Pokémon resourcing cards here also includes a split between Evosoda and Ultra Ball, which sports some special flavor in the sense that plants love to be fed sugary solutions.

 

  

Saffron City Gym

I felt M Gallade was an amazing selection for Sabrina's lead Pokémon. So much so, I decided to keep it as the frontrunner even after M Alakazam was released and available to replace it. [Team Plasma] Espeon brings some utility to the disruption present here, while also providing to the flavor of the "criminal underground" native to the Saffron City environment. The effects between the Pokémon in this deck have a very strong synergy between theme, focused on damage counters, and enabled me to include a very creative addition of [Synchronoise] Beheeyem to complete it.

  

  

Fuchsia City Gym

This is one of the darker themed decks in the series. It paints the atmosphere of a real hostile ninja environment—loaded with killer Jellyfish, flying poison darts, and all kinds of dark Ninjitsu tricks. Didn't have enough Poison-type Pokémon to cover the standard Basic slot in this deck, so had to adapt [Reflective Barrier] Sigilyph, which turned out alright since the Jugglers from Fuchsia city gym traditionally carry Psychic-type Pokémon with them.

 

  

Cinnabar Island Gym

Approaching one of the final gyms, I decided to add a little additional challenge here against this one. The takes the form in the Supporter combo here between Judge and Professor Sycamore, which is a very strong and synergistic combo. M Blaziken takes its place here over other possible selections as it's more attuned to Blaine's style I think. The tech on Heavy Boots further makes a creative suggestion, that Blaine was once in the military before becoming a scientist (adding some unique flavor to his character).

 

  

Viridian City

 

With Giovanni being the big boss and all, I decided to adapt this deck to something special. This includes using a Legendary Pokémon as the frontrunner for the status symbol it projects. Another legendary Pokémon also finds it place here—further expanding upon the ambiance of Giovanni's boss status. The deck is intended to be a very challenging one, with a number of powerful and synergistic combos between the cards to represent the most realistic and serious battle one would face against the big boss.

 

  

Sabrina Final Battle

 

This is a neat bonus addition I made for this deck series, which projects the mysterious Sabrina as a much greater boss-like character than typically portrayed to be. It seems very realistic to me that a woman with Psychic powers such as Sabrina would be one of the most powerful people in the Pokémon world, and so this deck seeks to embody that as best possible. This includes having Mewtwo (one of the most legendary Pokémon of all time) as the front-runner for this deck. Alongside Master Ball as the Ace Spec—which holds a lot of synergy with Mega Mewtwo—and has legendarily been tied to the flavor of Saffron City/Silph Co./and the Gym Leader Sabrina [1].

  

 

Safari Zone

 

Here's a bonus deck that I almost forgot to include. This is another highlander deck for fun that I came up with in a similar style as the Halloween Highlander deck. It features an array of different Pokémon intended to recapture the environment of the Safari Zone. It also contains a number of Item cards that add to the flavor of this—alongside a group of Supporters that bring it all together.