Are you interested in understanding competitive Pokemon but don't know where to start? While it might be intimidating at first, Pokemon is best enjoyed when playing the metagame. Understanding and playing the meta will allow you to figure out what decks function the best and what your chances are to play against certain decks when joining tournaments. Some of the most fun you can have playing the game is playing it at a competitive level.

What is the Pokemon Meta?

The Pokemon metagame revolves around which decks are currently being played in standard tournament play or a card dominating the format. While this changes from set to set, the strong cards will usually stay dominant in the meta until either something makes it impossible to play, they end up rotating out, or there's something that does the same thing but way better. Knowing the meta will teach you how to adapt to changes in the format and guide you to a deck to play. For example if a deck is doing really well and beats your deck, the meta might discover new cards for your deck to adapt to the new format.

Identifying the Current Meta

Now that you have an idea of what meta is in Pokemon, you can start to use reliable sources to track it. There are tons of resources out there such as Limitless that will provide you with a resource to figure out the popularity of decks. As shown below, Limitless is a great website that will show the breakdown of decks currently played, with the number of points they've earned in tournaments and what the percentage breakdown of the format they are.

With these percentages you can see the popularity of which decks are good in the format which will allow you to choose the best decks for your playstyle. If you're going to be playing at a cup, which is more competitive, you might want to play the most popular and performing deck. If you're not great at that deck you might choose another on the list as your performance will rely way more on what you can do well with versus what is the best deck in the format.

Another great resource for meta information is Youtube! If you're interested in learning what decks are great, you can always search to find what decks are being talked about the most. A lot of Youtube channels are great at explaining how a deck works and how it performs in the format. If you're interested in that type of content you can always check out my videos on Youtube where I go over standard lists in a beginner friendly format.

If you learn by doing rather than by playing another resource you can use are play-testing discords. The Pokemon community is very welcoming when it comes to joining testing groups for competitive play. A big benefit to joining them is that you can also make new friends in the competitive space.

Evaluating Strong Cards and Decks

Once you've identified the most popular decks in the format, your next step will be to know why the decks and individual cards are powerful. The first step is looking at consistency. Does the deck and/or card reliably perform across different matches? After that, you should look at synergy. How well does the card fit in the deck? If you want cards in your discard, you might want to run Professor's Research over Iono. Another thought is versatility. Is the card great in multiple situations? Can it get you out of a situation when you're stuck? You should consider all of this when running cards. By asking yourself these questions, you'll easily be able to see what cards should be run versus others when needing to stay competitive.

Now that we've reviewed how to evaluate the meta, you should be able to find the perfect Pokemon deck to play at your local store. While you might have to take some time to study, you can always just choose a deck that is doing well in the tournament and run it blind. At the end of the day your enjoyment is way more important than playing the best deck.