Should You Go First or Second? (Pokemon TCG)

The biggest question in the Pokemon TCG is, Should you go First or Second?

Each has its ups and downs. But depending on the deck. This choice could decide who will win. This simple guide will help you decide whether to go first or second in the Pokemon TCG.

Contents

• Case For Going First

• Case For Going Second

• What To Choose In Top Decks

Going First is the more common choice for the average player. It does fit better for most decks and has a few clear advantages.

Case For Going First

First Energy Attachment - Energy cards are essential to winning in any game. There are ways to speed up energy attachments from 1 per turn. It is still a clear advantage to start ahead in energy cards.

First Evolution - Most Decks depend on evolution. If so, you must place the basic card first and try to evolve quickly.

Reaching a Benchmark - If you need to hit a benchmark. Then going first is a good option. For instance, in the Lost Zone Box deck, you can quickly establish Lost Mine and Star Requiem access by prioritising card placement in the Lost Zone. These attacks are crucial to the deck's strategy

Fewer players decide to go second. However, there is still a good case for going second in numerous circumstances.

Case For Going Second

First Attack - This is very important. You can't attack when you go first. Many decks don't need to evolve because they rely on basic cards. So attacking first makes more sense.

Use Support Cards - You can't use support cards if you go first. However, going second will allow you to use support cards. This works well with attacking first. You can use these support cards to draw necessary cards early to attack and set up later plays.

Deciding whether to go first or second depends on the deck. Some decks work better when going first, and some when going second. Gardevoir ex, Charizard ex, Miraidon ex, Roaring Moon ex, Mew Vmax, Lost Zone Giratina Vstar, and Chien-Pao ex are the best decks. Below are whether you should go first or second for each deck choice.

Should You Go First or Second in Top Decks

Roaring Moon ex

For the Roaring Moon ex deck, the second is the best choice. You don't need to evolve the Roaring Moon. So you can afford to get the card out later. If you draw the right hand you could accelerate energy by placing it in the discard pile and attaching it to Roaring Moon through Dark Patch or Professor Sada’s Vitality. So you can attack super early.

Gardevoir ex

For Gardevoir ex it is better to go first. This deck is powerful. However, it takes a long time to set up. So placing cards and setting your hand up is more important. This deck also relies on you evolving Ralts into Kirlia and into Gardevoir ex.

Charizard ex

The Charizard ex-deck will tend to prefer going first. Attacking on the first turn isn't an option. So it's better to get your cards down first so you can start building up your bench. To evolve into Charizard ex and Pidgeot ex by finding Charmander and Pidgey.

Miraidon ex

The Miraidon ex deck should always go second if possible. This deck aims to attack on turn 1. So you have to go second. It does this by taking advantage of up to 18 Electric energy cards in its deck with the support card Electric Generator. This card searches for 2 Electric energy cards in the top 5 cards of the deck. Allowing you to power up your attackers quickly.

Mew Vmax

The strategy for this deck is to go first. However, you can still go second. Your goal is to go first to bench as many Mew V and Genesect V cards as possible and get the first energy attachment on a Mew V. Then as early as possible use Boost Shake to find a Mew Vmax to evolve your Mew V.

Lost Zone (Giratina Vstar)

This deck should always go first. The Lost Zone strategy relies on getting as many cards in the Lost Zone as soon as possible. So that you can take advantage of Cramorant’s Lost Provisions, Sabley’s Lost Mine, and Giratina’s Star Requiem. Also, this is an evolution deck so it’s even more handy to go first.

Chien-Pao ex

In the Chien-Pao ex deck, it is ideal to go first. To evolve Frigibax into Baxcalibur as early as possible. You also want important cards like Chien-Pao, Frigibax, and Bidoof quickly.

Thank You for reading Going First vs. Second in the Pokemon TCG. This is a commonly asked question that is incredibly important in every game you play. For more Pokemon TCG check out some of our other articles.

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