Pokémon TCG Live is somewhat new-to-me, replacing the good ol' TCG Online. It gives you some battle decks to start off. So far, I’ve scored three consecutive victories with the Arcanine ex deck (and lost one). A fire deck that favors attacking, it’s been fun.

Fire Starter

Being focused on one type, fire, it’s relatively simple, which is great for a novice like me. All the energy is fire type; there are no other types to think about. And all the Pokémon are fire type except for one colorless evolution combo (Bidoof » Bibarel) with a special ability (Industrious Incisors); it’s there as a supporting draw engine and comes in real handy.

Draw Engine

The main draw engine consists of several Nest and Ultra Balls plus Professor’s Research. It's typical to have a hand full of good cards that you don't need in the moment, so that Professor card is used regularly to discard your hand and draw seven new cards. So I’ve been able to get the Pokémon I need at the right times, or I’ve been able to replace my entire hand with a better overall card selection.

Energy Acceleration

The Arcanine ex deck also sports very good energy acceleration; I really like that. It does this in two ways, one of which has extra benefits.

First, the Magma Stadium lets you grab an energy from your discard pile and attach it to a benched Pokémon. This is an addition to the basic attach one energy per turn. Attacks cost energy, so I always want as much per turn as I can get.

Second, a Charizard stage 2 ability, Burn Brightly, doubles your fire energy! Where one is attached, it’s now worth two. The bonus is that you can use it for not just attacks, but also to mitigate the retreat cost. And you can use it to cut in half the amount of fire energy you discard when using Arcanine’s big attack! That means it’s faster to recharge for another big attack in your next turn.

Summary

There are a few more supporting mechanics. But the simple energy speed boost and draw engine are solid; the deck overall feels balanced. I need more battles with the Arcanine ex setup against different deck types to find its weaknesses and tweak it (my one loss so far was against a Psychic deck with a strong disruption mechanic). Or the deck could spur me onto trying other strategies.

That’s what I like about TCG. There are many ways to make a battle deck with the Pokémon and tactics you find the most fun or engaging. It’s challenging, but when you find something that works, and especially when you win battles, it’s rewarding.

Lastly, my teenage son has a fun fire deck put together. He let me use it to play against him with another one of the decks he’s been building out. I had fun working through his fire deck’s setup. It has a robust draw engine and plenty of energy, but one big difference from the Arcanine ex deck is that it has only “one-prizers.” There are no big Pokémon that, when knocked out, award the opponent with two prize cards. That way, I don’t lose too quickly and have more time to work the cards.

It’s been nice getting practice with different fire decks. For now, I’ll keep playing with fire until I get enough losses. That will extinguish the flame and push me to try another fun strategy.