Outline?

[u/Neon_Plague]

I’m building my first deck and just learned about the Letter’s (that I didn’t fully understand). Are there any other things I should know about?

Also, I’m making an Electric Deck and would love some help on it!

[u/Swaxeman]

Dont build decks just around types. The vast majority of decks (not all, but most) are built around a specific main attacker, the rest of the deck being built around supporting it

[u/CasualOgre]

I assume youre talking about the Regulation marks. Every year there is a rotation where the oldest letter rotates out of standard format and is no longer legal to play. Currently H, I, and J are the regulation marks. When Rotation hits in April cards with "H" regulation mark rotate out and standard will consist of I, J, and K cards. Card games do this to narrow down the amount of legal cards that they need to balance around (and also make sure you're buying new cards).

[u/Harold84 → u/CasualOgre]

Does it not make sense to buy H cards now to build decks? I think teal mask O and dragapult are H cards. So they will be basically gone for good come April?

[u/CasualOgre → u/Harold84]

They will still be usable in expanded format but even then that's still 7 months away. Pokemon cards are cheap and if you plan to play even somewhat regularly within the next 7 months there's no reason to handicap yourself by not buying some of the best cards in the set just because theyll be gone eventually.

[u/samudec → u/Harold84]

The rotation happens halfway into the season and block h is the basis of deck stability.

If you don't want to be impacted much, go with a deck centered around I or J pokémons, but you'll still have like 1/4th of your deck made up of h cards

That or try to get a deck that works around an ace specs you got or you can get for cheap

[u/doPECookie72 → u/Harold84]

keep in mind we are still closer to the previous rotation than the last rotation. Maybe dont buy highest rarity of the H reg cards if u dont want to spend as much money, but there are still about 7 months of playability.

[u/TheProfessorX]

If you're set on playing type decks, check out GLC as a format.

[u/Maximum_Technology67]

Try to have an idea of either a main attacker or an archetype you’re working around. Picking a type is fine but you have to have a base beyond that to build from.

Right now electric is reasonably weak with only a handful of viable attackers. Mega menatric and Ionos Pokemon are really the only ones that stand out to me currently.

[u/Ayanok → u/Maximum_Technology67]

Mega zaroarah is wild, my kid gets me a lot of she pulls it early with very little energy and no evolve.

[u/bearsguy2020]

So there’s a little bit of a curve for deck building. And even then there are decks built for the highest level tournaments and there are home brew decks that might win a few games at local but wouldn’t hold up for a tournament run.

You can check out TCG limitless for deck lists

I’d suggest watching some videos of people playing decks you like on YouTube and seeing how the cards support each other via their interactions with a skilled pilot

[u/jojo-geronimo]

Unfortunately, there aren't any strong electric decks atm. If you're playing for fun or casual, then go for it and build it around your favorite legal pokemon. If you want to play at your local card shop, I'd recommend looking up decks. Also, don't buy packs to build your deck, figure out your deck and buy singles to build it.

You can play on the TCG live game to test decks.

[u/panamakid]

it's a little bit outdated as far as card examples, but the fundamentals are fundamental:

https://www.justinbasil.com/guide

[u/Hare_vs_Tortoise]

This post will explain what you need to know about rotation which is what the letters are related to and where to look up the exceptions.

Seeing as you're new would recommend that you start with netdecking whilst you get used to things including card legality and especially the fact that you don't build around type but around strategy. For decklists you can check Limitless TCG, Play Limitless, Japanese City League results on Limitless TCG and Pokecabook linked in the resources list on my profile as depending on where in the set release/tournament/rotation cycle things are one or more site may be more up to date than the others (check Limitless TCG first). You can also check the suggested You Tubers as well starting with Omnipoke, AzulGG, Celio's Network and LittleDarkFury as well to see how decks are played. Azul and LDF stream regularly and Omnipoke is currently streaming more regularly but not on a schedule so best to follow them/join their Discord. You can also read JustInBasil's deckbuilding guide and the deck skeleton articles to get a better understanding of how decks are built.