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🃏 Pokémon🌐 English

How Do You Build a Pokémon Deck? The 60-Card Rules and What Goes In Them

Exactly 60 cards, no more than 4 sharing a name, at least one Basic Pokémon — and 2,917 cards to choose from.

Rules quoted from the official rulebook and tournament handbook. Card counts taken on 3 August 2026.

How many cards are in a Pokémon deck, and what has to be in them?

A Pokémon deck is exactly 60 cards — not 59, not 61 — and it may hold no more than 4 cards sharing a name, with Basic Energy the only exception. It must contain at least one Basic Pokémon, or the game cannot start.

For the rest, the official rulebook gives numbers rather than opinions: 12 to 15 Energy and 20 to 25 Trainer cards, which leaves roughly 20 to 28 Pokémon. In the Standard pool that means choosing from 2,450 Pokémon, 444 Trainer cards and 23 Energy cards.

Deck rules quoted from the Play! Pokémon tournament handbook and the official rulebook; card counts taken from our own copy of the English card files on 3 August 2026.

Building a Pokémon deck at a glance

Pokémon deck building in short

  • Sixty cards, counted. A deck check counts them. A deck of 59 or 61 is not legal in any Constructed format.
  • Four of a name, not four of a card. Different artwork, different expansion and different card numbers do not create a new name. Basic Energy is exempt and has no limit.
  • One Basic Pokémon minimum. Without one you cannot put a Pokémon into play at setup, and you have to reveal your hand and redraw until you can.
  • The rulebook gives real numbers. 12 to 15 Energy, 20 to 25 Trainer cards, one or two Energy types at most. Those are printed guidance, not folklore.
  • Attack costs decide the Energy count. Of 3,653 attacks printed on Standard-legal cards, 70.3% cost two Energy or less, which is why a deck does not need to be half Energy.
  • Evolution costs deck space. A Stage 2 attacker needs its Basic and its Stage 1 in the deck too — three cards deep before it attacks once.
  • The pool depends on the format. Every rule here is identical in Standard, Expanded and Unlimited; only the list of cards you may choose from changes.

Exactly 60 cards, and why the number is not negotiable

Almost every other decision in deck building is a matter of taste. This one is not, and it is the rule most often broken by accident.

The rule as tournaments enforce it

Under Constructed Tournament Formats the handbook lists three deck construction rules that apply in Standard, Expanded and Unlimited alike: “The deck must contain exactly 60 cards.” · “Decks may not contain more than 4 copies of a single card, as defined by the card’s English language translation, except for Basic Energy cards.” · “Matches are played for 6 Prize cards.”
Play! Pokémon — TCG Tournament Handbook §4 (revised 21 May 2026)

The rule as the rulebook explains it

The official rulebook is blunter about the edge cases: “One of the most important rules is that your deck must be exactly 60 cards; it can’t be any more or less, even 59 or 61 cards! Also, except for Basic Energy, you can only have 4 cards with the same name in your deck.”
The Pokémon Company — Pokémon Trading Card Game Rulebook, Deck Building

Why the six Prize cards matter to deck size

Six of your sixty cards are set aside face down before the first turn, and you will not see them until you Knock Out an opposing Pokémon. Another seven are your opening hand. So a sixty-card deck is really a fifty-three-card deck you can plan around, with six cards hidden from you and one card drawn each turn.

That is the reason a single copy of anything is unreliable. One card in sixty may sit in the Prize cards all game, and no amount of drawing will reach it.

The sixty and the four are the same in every format. What changes is which cards you are allowed to pick from, and that is settled before you count anything.

Back to the summary

What the legal card pool actually contains

Before choosing sixty cards it helps to know what the shelf holds. Counting the Standard-legal pool ourselves, the three card types are nothing like even in number.
The Standard-legal pool by card type
Card typeCards availableWhat it does in a deck
Pokémon2,450The cards that attack, take damage and are Knocked Out. Every deck needs them.
Trainer444Cards you play from your hand for an effect — searching, drawing, healing, moving Energy.
Energy23What you attach to power attacks. Basic Energy is the one card type with no copy limit.

Counted from our own copy of the English card files on 3 August 2026, across the 2,917 cards that carry a Standard-legal regulation mark. Bar shading in each column is sized against the largest value in that column.

The Energy number looks wrong until you think about it

Only 23 Energy cards are Standard legal, against 2,450 Pokémon. That is not a shortage — the basic Energy of each type is one card that gets reprinted, so there are very few distinct Energy cards even though you will play a dozen or more of them.

It is also why Basic Energy is exempt from the four-copy rule. If it were not, a deck could not hold enough of it to function.

The mix of what is available shifts every time an expansion arrives, which is why it is worth knowing which pool you are building from before you start.

Back to the summary

Why your deck needs at least one Basic Pokémon

This is the only content requirement in the rules. Everything else about what goes in the deck is left to you; this one is not, because without it the game literally cannot begin.

The requirement

The rulebook states it as part of deck building: “Finally, your deck must have at least one Basic Pokémon in it.” It is not a tournament rule layered on top of the game — it is a rule of the game, so it holds in every format and at every table.
The Pokémon Company — Pokémon Trading Card Game Rulebook, Deck Building

What happens if you draw none

Setup makes the consequence concrete: “If you don’t have any Basic Pokémon, what do you do? First, reveal your hand to your opponent and shuffle your hand back into your deck. Then, draw 7 more cards. If you still don’t have any Basic Pokémon, repeat.” Each redraw lets your opponent draw an extra card, so a deck thin on Basic Pokémon loses ground before the first turn.
The Pokémon Company — Pokémon Trading Card Game Rulebook, Setup
Standard-legal Pokémon by evolution stage, and what each stage costs you in deck space
StageCards availableWhat it means when you build
Basic1,356Can be played straight from your hand. A deck with none of these cannot start.
Stage 1814Played on top of the Basic Pokémon it evolves from, so both cards must be in the deck.
Stage 2278Needs the Basic and the Stage 1 beneath it — three cards to reach one attacker.

Counted across the Standard-legal Pokémon cards on 3 August 2026. A Pokémon can carry other labels as well as its stage, so these three do not add up to the full Pokémon total. Bar shading in each column is sized against the largest value in that column.

One printed evolution line, at the three stages the table counts.
Basic Charmander Stage 1 Charmeleon Stage 2 Charizard

One Basic Pokémon is the legal minimum, not a workable one

The rules ask for one. A deck built with one would spend most games shuffling and redrawing. The rulebook’s own advice points the other way: “Collect your favorite Pokémon so you can have 4 copies of them in your deck to make sure you draw them as much as possible.”

The same paragraph adds the evolution warning: “if that Pokémon evolves, try to get 4 of each Pokémon in its Evolution chain as well.” A Stage 2 line built that way is twelve of your sixty cards before you have added a single Trainer.

You can tell a card’s stage at a glance — it is printed in the top-left corner along with what it evolves from.

Back to the summary

How much Energy should a Pokémon deck run?

This is the question beginners ask most, and unusually it has a published answer rather than a debated one. The rulebook prints a range, and the cards themselves explain why that range works.

The rulebook’s own figures

Under starting guidelines the rulebook says: “Pick one or two Energy types at most. Remember, most Pokémon can use any Energy for attacks, so they can go in nearly any deck! To make sure you have enough Energy cards, try between 12 and 15 in your 60-card deck.” It follows that with “Around 20 to 25 Trainer cards is a good start.”
The Pokémon Company — Pokémon Trading Card Game Rulebook, Deck Building

Why one attachment per turn caps what you need

The turn structure limits how fast Energy can ever be spent: you may “attach an Energy card from your hand to one of your Pokémon (once per turn)”. However many Energy cards sit in your deck, you can only place one per turn, so past a certain point extra copies do nothing but crowd out cards that would.
The Pokémon Company — Pokémon Trading Card Game Rulebook, Turn Actions
  • 0 Energy to use 9 attacks · 0.2%
    9
  • 1 Energy to use 1,463 attacks · 40.0%
    1,463
  • 2 Energy to use 1,097 attacks · 30.0%
    1,097
  • 3 Energy to use 914 attacks · 25.0%
    914
  • 4 Energy to use 146 attacks · 4.0%
    146
  • 5 Energy to use 24 attacks · 0.7%
    24

Every attack printed on a Standard-legal card, grouped by how much Energy it costs. Counted at the level of attacks rather than cards, because one card can print two attacks. 3,653 attacks in total, counted on 3 August 2026.

Read the bars before you decide the number

70.3% of Standard-legal attacks cost two Energy or less. That is the reason twelve to fifteen Energy is enough for most decks: you are usually paying for a two-Energy attack, not a five-Energy one, and you can only attach one per turn anyway.

If you build around the small number of expensive attacks at the right of the chart, the arithmetic changes and the rulebook’s range stops applying. That is a deliberate trade — those attacks hit harder precisely because they are slow.

The cost of an attack is printed as a row of coloured circles beside its name, and matching them to your Energy is a matter of reading the symbols rather than the text.

Back to the summary

Trainer cards, and the limits that decide how many you play

Trainer cards are where the rulebook’s 20 to 25 recommendation goes, and they are not interchangeable. Each kind has its own limit on how often you may use it, which matters more than the raw count.

How many you may play in one turn

The rulebook separates them clearly: “you can play as many Item and Pokémon Tool cards as you like. Supporter cards are played like Item cards, but you can play only one Supporter card each turn.” It adds a rule that catches new players out: “The player who goes first cannot play a Supporter card on their first turn.”
The Pokémon Company — Pokémon Trading Card Game Rulebook, Trainer cards

Stadium cards sit on the table, not in your hand

Stadium cards have their own behaviour: “A Stadium stays in play when you play it. Only one Stadium can be in play at a time — if a new one comes into play, discard the old one.” The card affects both players, so a Stadium you play can help your opponent as much as you.
The Pokémon Company — Pokémon Trading Card Game Rulebook, Trainer cards
Standard-legal Trainer cards by kind, and how often each may be used
Kind of Trainer cardCards availableHow often you may play it
Item131As many per turn as you like
Supporter214One per turn, and none on the first turn if you go first
Pokémon Tool52Attached to a Pokémon and stays there
Stadium47One in play at a time, for both players
ACE SPEC33Marked cards with their own deck limit printed on them

Counted on 3 August 2026. A card can carry more than one of these labels, so the rows are not mutually exclusive. Bar shading in each column is sized against the largest value in that column.

The one-per-turn limit is what sets the ratio

You will play at most one Supporter per turn however many you own, so a deck stuffed with Supporters wastes the extras. Item cards have no such cap, which is why a Trainer count in the twenties is usually mostly Items with a smaller Supporter core.

Each kind is named on the card itself in the top-left corner, next to the card’s own label — the same place every other printed mark on a Pokémon card can be read.

Back to the summary

The four-copy rule, and the traps hidden inside it

The rule sounds simple until you meet a card that shares a name with something you already have, or one that does not share a name when you assumed it did.

The limit is the name, and versions do not reset it

The rulebook gives its own worked example: “When you are building a deck, you can have only 4 copies of a card with the same name in it, except for Basic Energy cards. If your deck has 1 each of Gengar, Gengar LV.43, Gengar LV.44, and Gengar LV.X, you can’t put any more cards named Gengar in your deck!” Different artwork, different expansions and different card numbers all count as the same name.
The Pokémon Company — Pokémon Trading Card Game Rulebook

A word in front of the name makes it a different name

The trap runs the other way too: “a word before a Pokémon’s name is part of the Pokémon’s name: Meowth, Alolan Meowth, and Rocket’s Meowth have different names.” Those are three separate names, so four of each is legal — twelve cards that all say Meowth somewhere on them.
The Pokémon Company — Pokémon Trading Card Game Rulebook

The handbook decides ties by the English name

For tournaments the wording is precise about which name counts: decks “may not contain more than 4 copies of a single card, as defined by the card’s English language translation”. A card printed in another language is judged by what its English printing is called, not by the words on the card in front of you.
Play! Pokémon — TCG Tournament Handbook §4 (revised 21 May 2026)
What you are holding Counts as one name Counts as separate names
The same card from two expansions Yes — four total between them No
The same card with different artwork Yes — artwork is not part of the name No
A card and its evolved or upgraded form Yes when the printed name is identical No when the printed name differs
Meowth and Alolan Meowth No Yes — four of each is legal
A card printed in another language Yes — judged by its English name No
Basic Energy Exempt — no limit at all Exempt
When in doubt, read the name line and nothing else. If two cards would print the same words there in English, they share the four-card allowance.
The rulebook’s own example, as printed cards — three different names.
Meowth up to 4 Alolan Meowth up to 4 Rocket's Meowth up to 4

The rule that catches out multi-part cards

Some cards are made of several pieces that are played together. The rulebook explains that all pieces share one name, “Therefore, you can only have four total cards named Mewtwo V-UNION in your deck, not four of each individual piece.” It adds a restriction no other card has: “All four copies of a Pokémon V-UNION in your deck must be part of the same set and illustrated by the same artist.”

Names, printings and illustrators are exactly the kind of detail that a page-by-page card catalogue settles quickly — and the same details are what make it possible to check whether a card is genuine.

Back to the summary

A 60-card skeleton built only from published numbers

Putting the two figures from the rulebook side by side leaves one gap, and simple subtraction fills it. Nothing below is our opinion about what a deck should look like.
The 60 cards, split by the rulebook’s own starting guidance
Card typeCardsWhere the number comes from
Energy12 – 15Stated in the rulebook: “try between 12 and 15 in your 60-card deck”.
Trainer20 – 25Stated in the rulebook: “Around 20 to 25 Trainer cards is a good start”.
Pokémon20 – 28Whatever the other two leave. 60 − 25 − 15 = 20 at the low end, 60 − 20 − 12 = 28 at the high end.

The Pokémon row is arithmetic, not advice: the rulebook states the other two ranges and a deck must total sixty.

1
Step 1 — Choose one or two Energy types
The rulebook’s first instruction, and the one that keeps a deck consistent. Most Pokémon can attack with Colorless Energy, so a narrow Energy line rules out far less than it looks.
2
Step 2 — Pick the Pokémon you want to attack with
Then count the whole evolution line, not just the attacker. A Stage 2 needs its Basic and Stage 1 in the deck as well.
3
Step 3 — Fill 20 to 25 slots with Trainer cards
Weighted towards Item cards, because Supporters are limited to one per turn and the extras sit in your hand.
4
Step 4 — Add 12 to 15 Energy
Matching the types you chose in step 1. You may attach only one per turn, which is what keeps this number low.
5
Step 5 — Count to exactly 60 and fix the difference
If you are over, cut the single copies first — a lone card is the one most likely to sit unseen in the Prize cards all game.

Treat the skeleton as a starting point the rulebook endorses

The rulebook itself frames these as beginner guidance rather than law, and says so: “Every deck is different and will fit your personality and personal strategy. Over time you’ll find the numbers of Pokémon, Trainer, and Energy cards you like the best.”

What does not move is the sixty and the four. Those come from the tournament rules, not from taste.

Back to the summary

Checks to run before you take a Pokémon deck anywhere

Three of these are legality checks a judge would make. The rest are the ones that stop a legal deck from playing badly.
1
Check 1 — Count the cards, then count them again
Sixty exactly. Sleeve them and count in piles of ten; miscounts happen when you count while shuffling.
2
Check 2 — Sort by name and look for a fifth
Lay the deck out by name. Any pile of five or more is illegal unless it is Basic Energy.
3
Check 3 — Confirm every card is legal where you are playing
Read the regulation mark on each card against the format the event is running, and check the published banned list for the two formats that have one.
4
Check 4 — Make sure you can start
Count the Basic Pokémon. One is legal; a handful is what actually lets you open the game without redrawing.
5
Check 5 — Draw seven a few times
Shuffle and deal an opening hand five or six times. If you are regularly opening with no Basic Pokémon or no way to attach Energy, the deck list is telling you something the rules cannot.

Legality is checked per card, not per deck

There is no such thing as a legal deck containing an illegal card. If one card in sixty has rotated, the deck fails, and the fix is to replace that one card rather than rebuild.

Working out whether a single card is still allowed takes a few seconds once you know what the letter on it means. And if you are choosing between two printings of the same card, the rarity does not change how it plays — only what it costs.

Back to the summary

Other Pokémon card guides

Pokémon deck building questions people actually ask

How many cards are in a Pokémon deck?

Exactly 60. The tournament handbook states that “the deck must contain exactly 60 cards”, and the rulebook adds that it “can’t be any more or less, even 59 or 61 cards”. The rule is identical in Standard, Expanded and Unlimited.

How many Energy cards should a Pokémon deck have?

The official rulebook recommends “between 12 and 15 in your 60-card deck”. The reason that is enough is the pace of the game: you may attach only one Energy per turn, and 70.3% of the attacks printed on Standard-legal cards cost two Energy or less.

How many of the same Pokémon card can you have in a deck?

Four cards sharing a name, with Basic Energy the only exception. Different artwork, a different expansion or a different card number does not create a new name, so four copies is the total across every printing you own.

Does a Pokémon deck need Basic Pokémon, and how many?

At least one, and that is a rule of the game rather than a tournament rule. In practice more is better: if your opening seven cards contain no Basic Pokémon you must reveal your hand, shuffle back and draw seven again, and your opponent draws an extra card each time you do.

How many Trainer cards should be in a Pokémon deck?

The rulebook suggests “around 20 to 25 Trainer cards” as a starting point. Weight them towards Item cards, because you may play only one Supporter per turn and none at all on the first turn if you go first.

Can you build a Pokémon deck with more than one Energy type?

Yes, but the rulebook advises against going far: “Pick one or two Energy types at most.” Every extra type means more Energy cards that are useless in the wrong hand, which is the most common reason a beginner deck stalls.

Is a 40-card Pokémon deck ever legal?

Only in Limited formats such as Sealed and Draft, where you build from packs opened at the event. Those decks are exactly 40 cards, have no limit on cards sharing a name, and are played for 4 Prize cards instead of 6. Any deck you build at home for a Constructed event is 60.

Do all the cards in a Pokémon deck have to be from the same expansion?

No. A deck may mix any cards that are legal in the format being played, whatever expansion or year they came from. The one exception is a multi-part Pokémon V-UNION, where all four pieces “must be part of the same set and illustrated by the same artist”.

Sources — the official documents these rules come from

Primary official source

First-party official sources — the body that issues the data itself, such as a government agency, a statutory register or a rights holder publishing its own records.

1
The Pokémon Company / Play! Pokémon — publisher of the official rules, tournament regulations and card database www.pokemon.com

Industry source

Second-party sources — marketplaces, trade associations, research institutes and companies that compile data about the market.

1
Pokémon TCG API — the open card data behind the counts on this page, covering HP, attacks, types, evolution stage, rarity, regulation mark and set membership pokemontcg.io
2
Pokémon TCG Data repository — the raw card and expansion files published openly for that API, which is what our counting script reads github.com

How we count

Card counts on this page — this site keeps its own copy of the openly published English card and expansion files and counts them directly; the figures above were counted on 3 August 2026 across 174 expansions

Note: Rules quoted on this page are taken word for word from the official Pokémon Trading Card Game rulebook and the Play! Pokémon tournament handbook, and the wording of those documents is the authority. Card counts are our own: we read the openly published English card files ourselves and counted 20,444 cards across 174 expansions on 3 August 2026. A count can only describe the cards those files contain, so a very new expansion may not be included yet, and tournament legality can change on a date the rights holder announces. Before a tournament, check the card itself against the official rules rather than this page. Recommended card counts on this page are the rulebook’s own starting guidance, which it presents as a suggestion rather than a rule; the sixty-card and four-copy limits are rules and are enforced.

Last updated: 3 August 2026