The Essence of Strategy!

By: Treynor Wolfe · Posted Aug 10, 2015 at 9:51 PM · 0 Comments

Hey everyone! Treynor Wolfe here from PokeBeach’s Premium Article team. This is a fun article that should be a good read for everyone that plays any sort of strategic game, not just Pokemon. This isn’t about a particular topic in Pokemon, but it’s more of a theory article. I want to write about the topic of strategy. I will write this from a Pokemon standpoint, but what I will be writing about pertains to any game. Military applications of strategy aren’t the only ones that exist. Doing things in the most strategic way possible is something you do every day of your life. Strategy has a very broad definition, and understanding exactly what it is is often the best way to best implement it. In Pokemon, every decision you make has to do with trying to win the game and conducting a game term strategy in the process.

I will explain how strategy plays a part in your deck building process, because coming up with deck strategies is a whole process on its own. In addition to that, I will talk a bit about in-game strategy and how your decisions change the game later on. One of the best skills that the best players in this game have is to be able to “see two turns ahead.” This is actually a statement that refers to making the best strategic decision. Knowing how strategy applies to you and your game is key to making the best decisions ranging from deck choice, to decisions within your game.

I play a lot of different games, and I have been playing tabletop games and real time strategy games since I was 10 years old. I started playing Warhammer 40k when I was 12 and I started playing Pokemon when I was 17. I currently play games like X-Wing, Flames of War, Star Wars: Armada, Bolt Action, Warmachine, and Pokemon TCG. I will do my best not to refer to those games and if I do, I will explain things in the best way possible. But I am going to keep this as Pokemon TCG related as possible.

Understanding what you’re doing when you make decisions in a game is key to making the right ones every time. Understanding what kind of deck you’re playing also gives you a deeper understanding of how to play it and what is essential to the strategies of other decks. This also gives you a good understanding of what kind of decks fit your style of play. I know slower, more methodical players, and I know a lot of players that will play very fast decks.

The season may be over for a lot of you if you do not have a Worlds invite, but it’s still a good time to subscribe to the Premium Article Program! A lot of our writers are reflecting on Nationals and are writing about their preparation for Worlds and it is a good time to see how some of the best in the game are preparing for Worlds.

Definition of Strategy

Very simply, strategy has always been about maximizing your opponent’s losses while minimizing your own. Losses can be defined in Pokemon as Prize cards, cards remaining in your opponent’s deck, Energy attachments, and time to wait to evolve your Pokemon. Attacking these will slow your opponent’s deck strategy down, or will cause them to “miss a beat.” I’ll go more into that later.

We strategically make decisions to fit that definition more than we think. Time management is probably the best example of strategy when it applies to us every day. Building your schedule in the best way possible to maximize the value of your time is the same as minimizing your lost time during the day. Have you ever put your bread in the toaster and had the toaster run while you got your eggs out of your fridge? Instead of putting the bread in the toaster and waiting for the toast to come out, you went about doing another task while that one was getting done. So your time spent to cook your breakfast was done efficiently and quickly, cutting your lost time, and maximizing your time spent on doing things that were going to make your end goal, which is making your breakfast, possible. Business is another good example of this. You invest money into things that give you your money back, plus a profit. You avoid losing money on things that won’t return you this profit.

We make these decisions in Pokemon too. Have you ever attached to a Benched Pokemon to prepare it for later? Have you ever seen a loss in advance? If your Pokemon is going to be KO’d regardless of what you do to protect it, such as benching it, is it worth putting more Energy on?

Pokemon differs a bit from games like Magic. In Magic, I can get out lands, and those lands don’t get attacked during every game I play. If I attach Energy to Pokemon, my “lands” get knocked out with my Pokemon. You invest resources into your Pokemon to attack your opponent’s Pokemon and the Energy attached to them. Your investments attack your opponent’s investments. Every game does this, just in a different way. In games such as Warmachine, I have a certain amount of points I can spend on units. I start the game with all of my units, but they get destroyed by my opponent’s units. A common thing we use to determine if a unit did its job is if it “got its points worth.” As in, did that unit destroy as many points as it cost? Did your Pokemon earn as many Prize cards as it gave up when it got KO’d? Are you in a worse state than you started in when you lost the Pokemon?

Pokemon, and other TCGs, differ from other games, because you have to build your investments. They don’t start on the table, ready to go. You have to attach Energy to attack. Usually, the more Energy you put on, the more powerful the attack. A typical trend that I see in Pokemon is that you either have fast decks with expendable attackers that take very little Energy to attack, or you have slower decks that take more Energy to attack, but has ways to get more Energy into play. The slower decks tend to have more longevity and an easier recovery, but the faster decks tend to have ways to deal massive amounts of damage for very little investment, but lose those Pokemon quicker.

I will talk about this a bit more in the next section, which is overall deck strategy. I will also cover a little bit of deck selection.

In summary, questions you should be asking yourself when you make decisions in Pokemon are:

Is this the right Pokemon to employ against my opponent?
Is it worth attaching Energy to this Pokemon?
How am I going to deal with the loss of this Pokemon? Do I have any backup attackers?
What is going to maximize my chances of evolving my Pokemon next turn if something goes wrong with the one Basic Pokemon I have out?
Am I recognizing what will cripple my opponent the most?

Now lets go into the two different types of decks we see in Pokemon and my tips on playing the game. But first, make sure you are a Premium member! By subscribing you get access to top-notch articles covering everything that you need. If you have any questions for us you can hit me and the other writers up in the Subscriber’s Secret Hideout. We can help you out with your deck or just talk strategy together. I can’t wait to help you out!

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Deck Strategy

In my opinion, we have two different types of decks: Static and Reactive decks. These decks have differing long-term strategies, and from my experience in this game, every deck has followed one of these two classifications. Some Static decks can have more Reactive elements in them and vice versa, but for the most part, all decks are primarily one or the other. Understanding the trend of your deck and the weaknesses and advantages of it is important to making the correct deck choice and making your own deck.

These decks vary in how they handle the early, mid, and late game. With most Reactive decks, they don’t change their strategy no matter what part of the game you’re in. These are naming conventions I came up on my own to best describe my views on how decks are classified. It’s a simple way I classify decks in my head to make their strategies clearer to me.

One thing I do want to mention is the definition of a board or game state. The simplest way I can describe this is “who looks like they’re going to win?” Who will get hurt more by a late game [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”name”]? Who requires less resources to keep attacking? This can be quantified in many ways, and usually it’s up to someone’s interpretation of what they see on the table. If a static deck such as [card name=”Virizion-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”9″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Genesect-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”11″ c=”name”] has Emerald Slashed two or three times, and has about seven Energy in play with multiple Genesect-EX powered up, that’s pretty intimidating, and that is also a good board state, since the Genesect-EX player when KO’d and has plenty of other attackers available.

Reactive decks tend to construct weaker board states since they’re so fast. Most of these decks only have single Energy attackers, but are easier to KO. They sacrifice HP for speed and damage. [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”] is a good example of this since it uses [card name=”Hawlucha” set=”Furious Fists” no=”63″ c=”name”] to hit for a ton of damage for a single Energy against a Pokemon-EX. But if Hawlucha keeps getting KO’d, you have to keep attaching more and more Energy to other Hawlucha, and that can cause you to “miss a beat.” I’ll go more in depth on this later.

Neither deck is necessarily more consistent than another. A large part of consistency is how simple your strategy is. The more simple the strategy, the more consistent your deck. There’s cards that you can include that make your strategy work quicker, but consistency is relative to the deck you’re playing. Making your deck more consistent is another topic. This article is for you have a better understanding of deck strategy and decisions you make in a game.

Static Decks

I will try to keep my examples relevant to this format so that our newer readers can understand them easily. For those of you who have played in previous formats, some examples of this kind of deck are:

The Truth ([card name=”Vileplume” set=”Undaunted” no=”24″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Reuniclus” set=”Dragons Exalted” no=”126″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Zekrom” set=”Next Destinies” no=”50″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Reshiram” set=”Next Destinies” no=”21″ c=”name”] / Donphan Prime)
Vilegar ([card name=”Vileplume” set=”Undaunted” no=”24″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Gengar” set=”Stormfront” no=”18″ c=”name”])
Mewtwo/Eels ([card name=”Eelektrik” set=”Noble Victories” no=”40″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Mewtwo-EX” set=”Next Destinies” no=”54″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Zekrom” set=”Next Destinies” no=”50″ c=”name”])
[card name=”Gardevoir” set=”Secret Wonders” no=”7″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Gallade” set=”POP Series 7″ no=”2″ c=”name”]
[card name=”Typhlosion” set=”HeartGold and SoulSilver Black Star Promos” no=”HGSS09″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Reshiram” set=”Next Destinies” no=”21″ c=”name”]
[card name=”Vileplume” set=”Undaunted” no=”24″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Accelgor” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”11″ c=”name”]

These are decks that are usually slow, but not all of them are. They also generally execute a game plan, and their reactions to what the opponent does is typically in regards to what can disrupt getting their strategy going. The best examples of these decks are decks that involve Stage 2 support Pokemon, such as [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”16″ c=”name”]. The offensive power from this particular is very limited until it gets a Blastoise going. Its entire early game plan is simply getting set up with a Blastoise.

[cardimg name=”Vileplume” set=”Undaunted” no=”24″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”]

These decks tend to have a higher damage ceiling, and usually have a more robust board state. They rely less on what you have in your hand at a given time after they get set up. They have more on-field effects than a Reactive deck. These decks, since they are slower, can be swept up by reactive decks. I’d say most decks in Pokemon are this type of deck.

Stage 2 Pokemon aren’t the only ones that fit this description. Any deck that requires any sort of setup fits this description. These decks tend to have a different early game strategy than a late game one. In some cases, these decks, once set up, win the game very easily.

Another thing I want to mention here, is the difference between Pokemon-EX and Stage 2 attackers. Stage 2s have a benefit in that they are only worth one Prize and usually have have an Ability that make it worth setting up. Consider [card name=”Empoleon” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”29″ c=”name”] and its attack. That’s a lot of damage for very little Energy, and the only setup it needs is getting it set up, which can be problematic. Its Ability is good as well, allowing you to draw a ridiculous amount of cards. This deck is hurt less by late game [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”name”] as well, since you usually have multiple Diving Draw Abilities that you can use at a time.

I call these types of decks “Static decks” since their game plan doesn’t change based on what your opponent is playing. You will always need to use [card name=”Virizion-EX” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”9″ c=”name”]’s Emerald Slash, or you will always need to get a [card name=”Primal Groudon-EX” set=”Primal Clash” no=”86″ c=”name”] out. There are some exceptions, of course. Generally speaking though, your strategy doesn’t change in the early game.

Static decks tend not to burn through their deck quickly and usually slow down going through their deck after they get set up. These decks tend to conserve cards, because they do not need to move as fast as Reactive decks.

Things will be a bit clearer once I explain the other deck type, and that is a Reactive deck. Another thing to note is that the speed of the game has changed since past formats. Cards like [card name=”Broken Time-Space” set=”Platinum” no=”104″ c=”name”] allowed decks to set up at ridiculous speeds and made a lot of Static decks act like Reactive decks, such as MegaJudge ([card name=”Yanmega” set=”Triumphant” no=”98″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Magnezone” set=”Triumphant” no=”96″ c=”name”]). These decks are usually classified based on the format they are in. Some formats are slower than others, such as the HGSS–BW format. Back then, the decks that played powerful Stage 1s such as Yanmega were the speedy and Reactive decks. Now they would be considered slow when compared to the EXs we currently have.

Reactive Decks

Examples of these decks from past formats are:

Luxchomp ([card name=”Luxray GL LV.X” set=”Rising Rivals” no=”109″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Garchomp C LV.X” set=”Supreme Victors” no=”145″ c=”name”])
[card name=”Yanmega” set=”Triumphant” no=”98″ c=”name”] / Donphan Prime / [card name=”Zoroark” set=”Black and White Black Star Promos” no=”BW09″ c=”name”]
[card name=”Gyarados” set=”Stormfront” no=”19″ c=”name”]
ZPST ([card name=”Zekrom” set=”Next Destinies” no=”50″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Pachirisu” set=”Call of Legends” no=”18″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Shaymin” set=”Unleashed” no=”8″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Tornadus” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”89″ c=”name”])
CMT ([card name=”Celebi” set=”Triumphant” no=”92″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Mewtwo-EX” set=”Next Destinies” no=”54″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Tornadus” set=”Emerging Powers” no=”89″ c=”name”])
[card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”63″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Mewtwo-EX” set=”Next Destinies” no=”54″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Tornadus-EX” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”90″ c=”name”]

The reason why these decks are called “Reactive Decks” is because they tend to have very fluid and dynamic strategies. They tend to react to your opponent, as opposed to having a game plan that is the same every game. These decks are almost always incredibly fast moving and tend to be able to do damage early in the game. Players who pilot these decks need to know how to win quickly and to sweep Static decks off their feet early in the game. This requires some knowledge of what your opponent is playing, and what your opponent is trying to achieve, so that you can destroy it quickly before it becomes a huge problem for you later on.

[cardimg name=”Joltik” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”26″ align=”left” height=”250″ c=”none”]

These decks tend to consist of single Energy attackers that do damage. Most Fighting decks are like this, with cards like [card name=”Strong Energy” set=”Furious Fists” no=”104″ c=”name”], [card name=”Muscle Band” set=”XY” no=”121″ c=”name”], and [card name=”Fighting Stadium” set=”Furious Fists” no=”90″ c=”name”], you can easily rack up damage even with only one Energy on your Pokemon! An example I touched earlier is [card name=”Landorus-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”89″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Crobat” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”33″ c=”name”]. This deck usually only plays around nine Energy cards, and it has a lot of Pokemon that attack for one Energy, allowing you to attack on the first turn, and you do a lot of damage with all the damage buffs. The Crobat line is there to place damage where you need it, allowing you to focus your damage.

Night March is one of my favorite decks that is Reactive, and it fits the mold well. Night March plays a lot of expendable attackers that do a lot of damage. It requires a minimal setup, just discard your Night Marchers until you can hit for high numbers. This deck can even hit for 180 on the first turn! This strategy of quick damage is usually too much for your opponent’s slower Static deck to handle.

These decks tend to get head starts, taking maybe one or two Prizes before your opponent can even attack back. They don’t allow your opponent time to evolve, since these decks tend to play a full count of [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”109″ c=”name”] and two [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”]. They also sometimes play [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name”], [card name=”Acro Bike” set=”Primal Clash” no=”122″ c=”name”], or [card name=”Trainers’ Mail” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”92″ c=”name”] to help them go through their deck quickly and thin it for maximum efficiency, allowing them to sweep players off their feet quickly and consistently.

These decks have to be very good at putting damage in the right place early. If your opponent has a lone [card name=”Phantump” set=”XY” no=”54″ c=”name”] on the Bench, you surely don’t want that to become a [card name=”Trevenant” set=”XY” no=”55″ c=”name”]. Using Lysandre early and Knocking that Out buys you an extra turn to use Items!

Reactive decks generally want to take out the opposition’s Energy and their most threatening Pokemon. You should recognize what on the table can do the most damage to you in the long run, and you want to eliminate that from the table. If you know what your opponent is playing, you want to KO the Pokemon that, if your opponent has no other backup attackers, will prevent them from attacking you during the next turn. Let me explain an example of this:

If your opponent is playing a Metal deck ([card name=”Dialga-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”62″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Aegislash-EX” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”65″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Bronzong” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”61″ c=”name”]), their deck consists of Pokemon with high Energy costs, and they use Bronzong to offset that high Energy cost by using Metal Links. This also gives them amazing recovery from KOs. Let’s say they don’t have any Bronzongs out, and there’s a Dialga-EX on the Bench with four Energy and that is the only Pokemon that is able to attack you. No other Pokemon in play has any Energy and you know that your opponent has no Pokemon that attack for one Energy, except for [card name=”Cobalion-EX” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”93″ c=”name”], which only does 30 damage. That Dialga-EX should be your prime target, since a KO of that Pokemon ensures that you won’t be attacked for the next turn or two. This gives you a lot of breathing room and space to get ahead.

[cardimg name=”Bronzong” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”61″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”]

This seems like a concept that a lot of you already understand, but I feel I should still explain it, because it surprises me that some players aren’t aware of these things and make poor decisions because of it. In the situation above, I’ve seen players play a [card name=”Colress” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”118″ c=”name”] instead of a [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”]. Reactive decks tend not to need to be “more set up” as they can get an attacker going immediately. The only reason why you would need to set up more is if it is necessary to avoid “missing a beat.”

“Missing a beat” is usually called “whiffing.” It is when you are unable to hit whatever you needed. For example, you need to hit another Energy to attack, but you don’t draw it off that [card name=”Professor Juniper” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”98″ c=”name”], so your momentum stalls. You don’t attack. You pass the initiative to your opponent. Unfortunately, this is something that can happen to these fast decks. They fail to get another [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”name”], or [card name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ c=”name”] to evolve their [card name=”Pikachu” set=”XY” no=”42″ c=”name”]. The reason why these decks tend to play these cards that make them burn through their deck quickly is so that they can prevent this. They thin their deck out early so that later the chances of them “whiffing” is a lot lower.

Robust board states are important so you can prevent “whiffing.” That’s why Static decks, once set up, rarely miss. Let’s talk about the Metal deck I mentioned earlier. They play [card name=”Keldeo-EX” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”49″ c=”name”] with [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”name”] usually. This eliminates the need to hit [card name=”Switch” set=”Expedition” no=”157″ c=”name”] off of a Supporter if something gets stuck Active and can’t retreat. Like I said earlier, they also play [card name=”Bronzong” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”61″ c=”name”], thus allowing them to get Pokemon going without an Energy attachment from your hand.

[cardimg name=”Raichu” set=”XY” no=”43″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”]

Reactive decks tend to need constant set up as the game goes on, because their low HP and expendable Pokemon get KO’d constantly, and you don’t set up anything usually to make this process easier. Sure, some [card name=”Yveltal-EX” set=”XY” no=”79″ c=”name”] / [card name=”Darkrai-EX” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”63″ c=”name”] decks play Keldeo-EX, but for the most part, when your Pokemon gets KO’d, you need to dig to set up another attacker. There’s games where you have time to put multiple Double Colorless Energy into play before your Pokemon get KO’d, but overall, you need to play cards constantly to keep your attack going. These decks, since they take Prizes so early, also get hurt by [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”name”]. An N is a momentum killer, and the new Ace Trainer card isn’t going to be as devastating, but N has always been the bane of these decks.

These types of decks are my favorite to play. Night March was such a fun deck for me to play at States. I’ve always been this kind of player. Most of the examples I mentioned above, I’ve played during the respective formats. Speedy, flexible, and maneuverable is usually the name of my game. I’ve made exceptions, sure. We’ve all played a multitude of different decks in our Pokemon careers, but I’ve always had the most fun and enjoyed decks that played over 30-40 cards in the first three turns.

In-Game Decisions

Now that we know about the trends Pokemon decks tend to take, we can start analyzing decisions that you make in a game, and how they can influence how your game goes. I will go over concepts that I feel are important and what will help you win more games!

Deck Thinning

This is a strategy I feel like most of us know, but I cannot stress the importance of this, and I do not want anyone to miss this strategy. Deck thinning is removing cards from your deck that you don’t need or won’t want to draw later. Imagine you get hit with a late game [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”name”] when you’re ahead, and you draw a bunch of cards that you really don’t need. Part of being a good player is recognizing what you won’t need or will need later in the game.

Being able to properly assess the field and your hand is key to knowing what you should discard. It’s really gonna hurt you later if you dump your one copy of a card. Look at your hand when you [card name=”Ultra Ball” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”102″ c=”name”], and consider what you don’t need in the matchup. This is generally more important later in the game when N is a bigger threat, or in future formats, Ace Trainer. Later in the game, you’re set up, you have attackers, and you do not want to whiff cards you may need later. If you see plays that your opponent can perform to stall your momentum, such as using [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”] on a Pokemon on the Bench with a high Retreat Cost and no Energy, you probably shouldn’t discard your [card name=”Switch” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”135″ c=”name”]! But let’s say that you have two Prize cards left, and you have a Stadium in play that is yours. You can probably Ultra Ball away other copies of that Stadium card, because it’s so late in the game, they really won’t matter.

[cardimg name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ align=”left” height=”250″ c=”none”]

I talk about the hazards of this so much, because it will really burn you if you don’t do this the right way. Keep in mind how many Energy you have left, counts of cards, your one-of tech cards, etc. Cards that you want to get rid of with Ultra Ball, [card name=”Battle Compressor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”92″ c=”name”], and [card name=”Professor Juniper” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”98″ c=”name”] are cards that you know won’t benefit you later. If you have one or two Prize cards left, you probably won’t get much benefit from N being in your deck. Supporter thinning is something that was more important in the past, but I feel like it’s still useful in some decks now. We generally build decks to have more Supporters than are really necessary. I think one of the worst things you can have happen is if you play a Professor Juniper and draw a bunch of other Supporters. I typically discard Supporter cards early, especially with [card name=”VS Seeker” set=”Supreme Victors” no=”140″ c=”name”] being in format. When I play a Supporter, I want to draw one draw supporter, and the rest of my cards be Items, Energy, and Pokemon. This makes my hand optimal for [card name=”Shaymin-EX” set=”Roaring Skies” no=”77″ c=”name”] as an added bonus.

Deck thinning is incredibly important for Reactive decks, since they cannot miss an attack. After you have your [card name=”Blastoise” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”31″ c=”name”] or [card name=”Bronzong” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”61″ c=”name”] set up, do you really need to keep all your [card name=”Squirtle” set=”Boundaries Crossed” no=”29″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Bronzor” set=”Phantom Forces” no=”60″ c=”name”]? I know they can be KO’d and you can lose that valuable resource, but recognize how late in the game it is and if that’s really feasible for your opponent to pull off.

Resource Conservation

Something I touched on a little in the last section is conserving your resources. Check your discard pile, search your deck, and count your cards. These are important strategies to ensure that you don’t make a mistake in discarding your last Energy or any other card that you may need later. Be careful playing that [card name=”Professor Juniper” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”98″ c=”name”] if you have all four of your [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”name”] in your hand. Think about whether you can win the game without those resources. Sometimes it’s better to draw, pass and wait for another Supporter.

The flip-side to this is that you can manage your opponent’s resources. Take advantage of being able to check their discard pile. You can make an educated guess as to how many of each card your opponent plays. Use this to your advantage. If you think your opponent has no [card name=”Switch” set=”EX Delta Species” no=”102″ c=”name”] or [card name=”Float Stone” set=”Plasma Freeze” no=”99″ c=”name”] left, then [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”] their Pokemon with a high Retreat Cost and you may just win the game! A lot of players don’t check discard piles as much as they should. If it’s a best-of-three game, take note in your head how many of each card they play and you can use this to your advantage in the next game.

Risk Management

In Pokemon, we always take risks and make decisions based on the chance of your opponent “whiffing” or misplaying. One thing you always have to consider is that what you attack with is most likely going to get hit for damage next turn. It may even be KO’d. Consider the risks and chances whenever you make your move.

We generally want to send Pokemon Active that will take the least amount of damage, or have no chance of being KO’d. We also want these Pokemon to get KO’s of their own. This principle is what makes [card name=”Suicune” set=”Plasma Blast” no=”20″ c=”name”] and [card name=”Donphan” set=”Plasma Storm” no=”72″ c=”name”] so powerful. They do damage with very little chance of getting attacked back. Your opponent often needs to hit [card name=”Silent Lab” set=”Primal Clash” no=”140″ c=”name”] or [card name=”Lysandre” set=”Flashfire” no=”90″ c=”name”] respectively to deal damage to these Pokemon. These are general examples, but I hope you understand what I’m saying.

If you send a Pokemon Active and attack with it knowing you’re gonna get KO’d next turn, you should have an idea what you’re going to do before you attack with that Pokemon. There’s times where you can plainly see that your Pokemon is going to be KO’d next turn, and there’s times where your opponent has to hit a string of cards to make that KO happen. Things to consider when thinking about your opponents’ chances of drawing what they need are:

[cardimg name=”Mewtwo-EX” set=”Next Destinies” no=”54″ align=”right” height=”250″ c=”none”]

How fast can they draw through their deck?
How many cards do they need to draw?
Have they been playing Supporters consistently?
How many of each card that they need to hit is in play already or in the discard pile?
How much of their deck is left?

Risk management is something all good Pokemon players calculate when they play. People can sometimes draw everything they need all the time. We play this game assuming they don’t and we make decisions based on how simple it is for them to draw what they need. We also assume the worst when we make decisions and we create backup plans.

This principle also applies to us as players. What are the chances of us hitting a string of cards that we need? Do we have some of those pieces in our hand already? This is the biggest question you need to ask yourself when you decide to use [card name=”N” set=”Noble Victories” no=”92″ c=”name”] or [card name=”Professor Juniper” set=”Dark Explorers” no=”98″ c=”name”] when you need to draw these cards. Professor Juniper will cut resources, but you’re more likely to draw the card you need because you don’t shuffle in those other cards that you don’t need.

Your Opponent’s Turn

When your opponent is taking his or her turn, are you watching their every move? One thing I do a lot of is when my opponent plays a card, I think about how that card affects me. I think about how I am going to deal with things my opponents play. Thinking during your opponent’s turn ensures your turn will go quick and smoothly. It will also prevent you from making misplays. Being constantly engaged in the game helps you keep your head in the game and to block out distractions.

Conclusion

Pokemon is a strategic game and knowing what is key to making the best decisions will win us games. When you make a decision, the most important thing is asking yourself, what is gonna happen to me next if I do this? Where will I be two turns later? What do I want to attack? These are all questions I hope that you can ask yourself and answer after reading this article.

This is something that I hope is beneficial for all of you. These are lessons I’ve learned from all of my years playing games. You can apply the non-specific examples I gave to any game. In Warmachine, positioning is key, since that game uses a tape measure to measure distances for movement and attacking. If I put this guy here, what is in range to kill him next turn? If I send up this [card name=”Mewtwo-EX” set=”Next Destinies” no=”54″ c=”name”] with 10 Energy, and my opponent has a Benched Mewtwo-EX, what is the chance of him getting a [card name=”Double Colorless Energy” set=”Next Destinies” no=”92″ c=”name”] and KO’ing my Mewtwo-EX? What am I going to do if he does that?

Strategy is a very important part of Pokemon, and the players that are the best at Pokemon can translate that success into other games. The reason for that is because the best players have strategic concepts down very well. Have you ever wonder how some players can pick up a deck and be very good at playing it in less than two games? Understanding strategy is key to being able to do this yourself, and to excel in every strategy game you play.

Make sure you guys check out the Subscribers Hideout, and be sure you leave comments and questions for me, or even give me some situations you’ve been in when playing Pokemon. I’ll answer to the best of my ability and let you know every angle I think about in the situation. Feel free to pick my brain!

See you all in Boston!

~Treynor

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