What is a "staple card"?

Staple cards are excellent and versatile cards that are incorporated in many different decks. They are virtually mandatory in almost all decks. The only true staple cards tend to be Supporters and Item cards; Pokemon and Stadiums are often specific to a subset of deck archetypes. Some staple cards have been reprinted many times and are fairly cheap. Others may have been printed only once and slowly increase in price over time.

To find staple cards for the current format, Trainer Hill's Card Analysis page is a useful resource.

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