Deck 1 : Petpets and Villains

Welcome to a new feature on the site where we give you some tips and strategies on how to build decks for the Neopets TCG. The first deck has been built by Adam, and it has a lot of Petpets in it, and a lot of Villains in it, hence the name Petpets and Villains. It's won 18 games in a row, so he must be doing something right.

The aim of this deck is to stop your opponent from banking in the arenas that he or she excels in, and at the same time slow down the game enough so that after a while your Neopets have SO many Petpets that their stats are astronomical! The deck centres around the card-drawing ability of the Kacheek Shepherd and the arena-blocking power of the Shadow Usul.

With the Shepherd in play, every single time you (or an opponent) attaches a Petpet to a Neopet you get to draw a card. Now if you have two Shepherds in play, that means two cards every time. Picking up such a large amount of cards gives you the following advantages :

• You never have to draw when you win a contest, you can just bank instead.
• You can keep the Shadow Usul coming into play every single round!
• You keep picking up cards like Jhudora's Evil Eye and Pant Devil Attacks, which do not cost anything to play, but can really annoy your opponent!

Anyway, before we continue let's look at how the deck is built.

Deck Strategy

With this deck you are aiming to get your Experienced Neopets (the Shepherd and the Gladiator) out as soon as possible. The Rainbow Paint Brush will help you do this (bank it and you can search through your deck to find an Experienced Neopet!) In fact, in the first couple of turns if you do not have any Experienced Neopets in your hand, I suggest you keeping drawing (and not banking) until you find them.

You only need one Grarrl in play, and he should be in the Strength arena. If in the first couple of turns you draw a second Grarrl, you should try and replace it with a Kacheek as soon as possible! Keep your Kacheeks in the Magic and Agility arenas, and try and block off the Intelligence Arena with villains as much as possible.

The most powerful weapon in your arsenal is, in my opinion, the greatest villain in the whole base set - the Shadow Usul. Although she makes you discard a card when you play her, she jumps back into your hand when defeated. Due to the fact that your Shepherds are drawing so many cards, this should not be a problem! Even if your opponent can defeat the Shadow Usul, just keep playing her round after round and your opponent will not be able to bank, and they will eventually have to leave the arena in frustration!

With the Shadow Usul blocking your opponent at every move, the Grarrl Gladiator dominating the Strength arena, and with your Petpet-boosted Shepherds dominating the centre of the board, your opponent should not be able to bank a single item!

Other Cards of Note

Thingy - this is a quick 2-point bank item that allows you to search your deck to find a Petpet and put it in your hand. This is really handy for pulling a Kadoatie out mid-game.

Petpetnip - although in reality this 4-point item should be banked, it is very helpful if your opponent decides to stop you with a villain. With two Kadoaties and Petpetnip you have at least a +12 bonus which will help you win even the toughest contest.

Spyder - this nasty little Petpet has the ability to scare its enemies on the roll of a 6, causing them not to untap in the next round. With the Shadow Usul in play you can expect your opponent to be doubling up Neopets against you in the other arenas, making the Spyder doubly effective! Remember, the point of this deck is to slow your opponent down while you build up enough momentum to win - and the Spyder certainly helps.

The Darkest Faerie - any Neopet who loses against this evil faerie is banished to the discard pile. People are so scared to challenge her that they usually don't even bother picking up the dice. Use her early on to lock down an arena that you are weak in. You can always break out the Petpetnip and beat her later on!

Well, hope you found that interesting :) More decks coming soon!