 Neopets TCG: Plushietastic!
by neopian_queen_liana
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When I construct tournament decks, I build to win. When I put together theme decks,
I build for fun! Like the Neopets website, the Neopets trading card game has plenty
of options for building something around a certain set of items, people, places
or themes. Whether you’re interested in books or faeries, Aishas or Gadgadsbogen,
Neggs, Petpets, Maraqua, or even the nefarious creatures of Neopets, you can usually
build a deck to accommodate your interests. That’s what makes theme deck building
fun!
This time I’ve built a Plushie themed deck. Plushietastic may look cute and
cuddly, but it can sneak up on your opponent when they least expect it! Here’s
the card list for Plushietastic:
Basic Neopets:
2 Blue Cybunny
2 Red Cybunny
3 Yellow Mynci
3 Yellow Gelert
Experienced Neopets:
3 Cybunny Collector
3 Mynci Tourist
3 Gelert Prince
Villains:
3 Potgatkerchi
Something Has Happened:
3 Cleansing Flames
3 Tiki Party
Equipment:
3 Faerie Slingshot
Items:
3 Illusen’s Charm
3 Moon Charm
3 Shadow Breeze
3 Rainbow Paint Brush
2 Chomby Plushie
2 Gelert Plushie
2 Island Acara Plushie
2 Jeran Plushie
2 Kacheek Plushie
3 King Skarl Plushie
2 Moehog Plushie
2 Mynci Plushie
2 Shoyru Plushie
2 Sloth Plushie
Total Cards: 54
Bankable: 36
This deck, while adorable, can be a little complicated to play. The first thing
you want to do is set up the board so that there are no uncontested arenas.
Ideally, you’d like a Gelert in strength, a Mynci in agility, and a Cybunny
in magic. However, this isn’t always possible. If your opponent leaves agility
empty, skip the Mynci and set up a second Cybunny in intelligence. Or if they
have pets in all arenas but magic, put your Cybunny in intelligence instead
of magic. This deck was built to be versatile in this aspect because of the
low bank value of most of the cards. Because of this, it may take your opponent
less time to get to 21, so blocking uncontested contests is important.
Potgatkerchi has been included to take care of the fourth arena in case your
opponent decides to move. This card’s strength is equal to the total strength
of all Neopets in play (both yours and your opponents) that aren’t in this Villain’s
arena. Figure out each of its stats in the same way. This card is very useful
because it can function well in any arena!
You want to concentrate on getting your Cybunny Collector into play next. When
you bank a Doll or Plushie with this card, it allows you to draw a card. This
will give you a card advantage throughout the game. If you’re banking a Plushie,
always bank it with the Cybunny Collector. You need to keep a handful of cards
to choose from to make this deck work. If you have to draw or bank a non-Plushie
Item, use a different Neopet! This deck is dependent on card draw! Use your
Rainbow Paint Brushes to get the Cybunny Collector, Gelert Prince, and Mynci
Tourist into play. Now onto the Plushies!
Plushies make up a large part of this deck. 21 of 54 cards are Plushies! The
most important of these is the King Skarl Plushie. If you have it, bank it!
While it’s in your bank, each of your Neopets gets a +1 to all stats for each
Plushie in your bank with a different name (excluding King Skarl Plushies)!
Considering there are nine different Plushies (not including the King Skarl
Plushie), this stat bonus can be substantial. Because the effects are stacking,
if you bank two or three King Skarl Plushies as well as a few different Plushies,
that stat increase becomes enormous!
It may also help to get a Mynci Plushie or Gelert Plushie or two into your
bank. The Mynci Plushie, while in your bank, gives a +1 to your Mynci! The Gelert
Plushie does the same for your Gelert. Not to mention each of these helps out
with the stat bonus from the King Skarl Plushie, making these the most useful
of the species Plushies.
Another benefit of all of these Plushies is the fact that they have nice stat
bonuses when played in contests. The lowest gives a +2 stat increase in two
arenas and the best gives a +4 to a specific arena! This is why the Faerie Slingshots
are in here. Attach a Faerie Slingshot, and whenever you play an Item in a contest
in ANY arena, you get an automatic +3 stat bonus from the Faerie Slingshot.
If you have two Slingshots attached, that becomes a +6! Get three of these attached
and you have a powerhouse!
Finally we come to our Something Has Happened cards, Tiki Party and Cleansing
Flames. Both of these cards are to combat this deck’s greatest drawback, which
is the low bank point value of the Plushies. Tiki Party allows you to pick an
arena where your opponent has a Neopet, untap your Neopets in the arena, and
start a second contest! This gives you a couple extra chances to bank, which
is great when you have to have to win more contests than your opponent to get
to 21 first.
Cleansing Flames was added for the same reason. You choose any number of cards
in your bank and discard them. Then you can bank the same number of cards from
your hand! This card is also the reason we have 9 bank 4 cards in the deck.
You could look like you’re very much falling behind your opponent, but with
this card and a couple bank fours, you could come up from behind and hit them
with an unexpected blow!
This deck has a couple of possible disadvantages, but when played correctly,
they won’t be a problem, and you’ll have a blast creeping up on your opponent!
If you like a longer, more strategic game, or just an incredibly cute deck,
this is an excellent option for you! Keep building decks and remember this is
all about having fun!
Author's Note: Thanks to Scott for being my deck guinea pig, my guild for
the encouragement, Derek for keeping me excited about the game, Snowflake for
giving me a chance, and the almighty Borovan for granting me the interviews!
You’ve all helped me to write again!
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