Go on the Attack with Arceus!

No matter where you look in the Pokémon TCG: Platinum—Arceus expansion, you’ll find amazing new Pokémon in many forms. At first glance, Arceus and the Arceus-specific cards contained within this expansion—nine Basic Pokémon and three Pokémon LV.X, as well as a Stadium card and a Supporter card—can make your options seem a bit overwhelming! Don’t worry, though, because with a little planning, you’ll be able to make an Arceus-exclusive deck that will get you on your way to winning more matches than ever before.

Learning the Basics

Typically, a maximum of four of any card is allowed in your deck. But Arceus is the first Pokémon where there is no restriction on how many you can include. This newfound freedom leads to two tough questions: first, will you include too many Basic Arceus cards? And second, should you limit the number of Arceus in your deck to allow room for extra Energy? A good place to start is with two of each type of Arceus. This gives a total of 18 Pokémon in your deck so far.

The power of an Arceus deck lies in its flexibility, and In order to take advantage of any Defending Pokémon’s Weakness, having an Arceus of every type is important! Capping the total Basic Pokémon count at 18 gives you plenty of room to add Energy, which is crucial.

There are three extraordinary Arceus LV.X in the expansion, and the Arceus LV.X that will suit you best features the Omniscient Poké-Body (94/99). This Poké-Body allows the Active Pokémon to use attacks from any of the Arceus you have in play. Be sure to include a couple of this Arceus LV.X in your deck.

Get Energized
As mentioned earlier, a complete and properly stocked Arceus deck requires a lot of Energy. Nearly every Arceus attack requires at least 1 Energy that matches its own type. A good base for your deck’s Energy requirements would be two basic Energy cards for each of the eight kinds of Energy (remember that one of the Arceus is a Colorless-type Pokémon). You may also want to add four Rainbow Energy (Platinum, 121/127) to this mix; this will act as a safety net in situations where you don’t draw the correct Energy that you really need. Additionally—due to the fact that many of the Arceus attacks require extra Colorless Energy—three Upper Energy (Platinum—Rising Rivals, 102/111) cards will help you go on the offensive early and often.

Give Yourself a Hand
Getting all these Pokémon and Energy cards in their proper places can be quite a challenge! You can help yourself out by including cards in your deck that exist to do just that. The Platinum—Arceus expansion has two cards specifically designed to aid Arceus-led decks. The Beginning Door Trainer card (82/99) will let you search your deck for an Arceus and add it to your hand, and the Ultimate Zone Stadium card (91/99) allows you to move Energy from a Benched Pokémon to an Active Arceus as often as you want. These cards add the oil to your deck’s engine, so make sure you include four Beginning Door cards and two Ultimate Zone cards to guarantee silky-smooth operation!

At this stage of your deck construction, you should feel free to pad your deck with a few other cards that will help with card movement between your deck and your hand. Roseanne’s Research (Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders, 125/132) is likely to be your best bet here. This card lets you pull two cards from your deck in any combination of Basic Pokémon and basic Energy cards—precisely what you’ll need to keep your game going in the right direction. Remember that the card limit still exists for all cards other than Arceus, so add no more than the maximum four Roseanne’s Research cards.

There you have it—20 Arceus cards, 16 basic Energy cards, seven Special Energy cards, four Beginning Door cards, two Ultimate Zone cards, and four Roseanne’s Research cards, giving you a total of 53 cards. This leaves some wiggle room to use as you see fit. You might want to consider a Premier Ball (Diamond & Pearl—Stormfront, 91/100) or two to help get your Pokémon LV.X cards into play. You could also add a couple of Energy Search cards (Diamond & Pearl—Majestic Dawn, 90/100) for even more Energy-collecting opportunities.

Ultimately, as long as you have each of the Basic Arceus in your deck and a good number of Energy cards to support them, you’re well on your way toward a potent, flexible deck.