How Do Pokemon Cards Work

Pokmon Trading Card Game

Pokémon Trading Card Game

The Pokémon Trading Card Game , abbreviated to PTCG or Pokémon TCG, is a collectible card game based on the Pokémon franchise by Nintendo. It was first published in October 1996 by Media Factory in Japan. In the US, it was initially published by Wizards of the Coast Nintendo eventually transferred the rights to The Pokémon Company which has published the game since June 2003. In 2016, it was the year’s top-selling toy in the strategic card game subclass. In 2017, it had an 82% share of Europe’s strategic card game market. As of March 2021, the game has sold over 34.1 billion cards worldwide.

Where To Buy Vintage Pokmon Cards

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If youre looking for a hidden gem that isnt Amazon, Im sorry to disappoint! Its the go-to place for beginner collectors.

That isnt to say that once you get involved in the online Pokémon community, you wont find private sellers who have access to some wonderfully rare cards. You absolutely will.

But you can start with Amazon, especially if youre just dipping your toes in the water.

My favorite Pokémon card sellers on Amazon are:

What Is The Best Legendary Pokemon Card

The thing with these Legendary Pokemon cards is that they can no longer be played in the standard version of the game. As a result, none of the cards hold that much power. However, if you are playing around the kitchen table with your friends and they agree that you can use them, then these cards can be awesome.

We want to walk you through some of our favorites.

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How Do Legendary Pokemon Cards Work

The reason why legendary Pokemon cards never made their way outside of the sets listed above is due to the unique way in which they work. It would have been incredibly tough to fit them into the rest of the game. Like most unique Pokemon card types, they were eventually discontinued from the game.

The interesting thing about legendary Pokemon cards is that they are not just one card, but two cards. Because they are so powerful, you will actually need both parts of the card before you can place them onto your bench. However, you will be able to play both cards at the same time. If you only have one half of the card, it is not playable in the game.

Of course, since it is rare that you are able to play the Pokemon , they tend to have incredibly powerful attacks that can turn the tide of the game. For example, some of these legendary cards can do upwards of 1000 damage just from four energy cards!

If you have a legendary Pokemon, you can play them at any point in the game EXCEPT during your first draw.

Your legendary Pokemon will not be impacted by most of the attacks your opponent dishes out as long as the Pokemon is on the bench i.e. your Legendary Pokemon cannot be targeted by attacks that target all basic Pokemon, even though they are classed as basic Pokemon.

The Original Pokmon Base Set

Where it all began, the original English base set collection was release in 1999 and consists of 102 cards. 16 of which are holos.

Now at this point its worth mentioning 1st Edition and Shadowless cards. These are considerably more valuable.

1st Edition is pretty self-explanatory they are the first ever print-run of the cards.

Shadowless cards, you guess it, dont have a shadow!

Specifically, youre looking to see if theres a shadow around the rectangle box containing the Pokémon illustration.

But there are also some other clues like a lighter HP font at the top of the card and the date including 99 at the bottom.

Now to throw something else in the mix, its also worth pointing out that graded cards are more valuable too if the grading is good of course.

The top two graders are PSA and Beckett.

PSA tend to get the majority of the Pokémon grading market and are most commonly use by collectors.

However, because its generally harder to achieve GEM MINT 10 status from Beckett, if you do, your cards will be worth more.

At this stage though, all of this is very hypothetical for a beginner collector.

GEM MINT 10 Base Set Cards go for hundreds of dollars on eBay, and if theyre 1st Edition or Shadowless, were talking thousands sometimes tens of thousands!

For example a 1st Edition Base Set GEM MINT 10 Charizard can expect to sell for upwards of $50,000. Maybe even in the $60k-70k range.

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Sealed Pokmon Booster Packs

Next up, you also have the option of buying sealed Pokémon booster packs.

However, do this with caution.

Savvy sellers weigh their boosters, with heavier packs having a greater chance of pulling a holo card.

Whether you agree with the ethics of this approach, its business at the end of the day, and sellers want to make sure theyre not relinquishing top cards.

What youll often find on Amazon are booster packs listed as heavy.

Although they dont guarantee a holo card, I guess youre upping your chances of pulling one. Naturally, though, youll pay a premium.

It then turns into a game of Roulette. Do you want to drop $100+ on a booster and pray its a Charizard?

Ive learned the hard way a couple of times buying boosters, so dont really recommend it for beginners.

What Are Some Legendary Pokemon Cards

As these Pokemon were released in a Heart Gold and Soul Silver set, the main legend cards are closely tied to the legendary Pokemon from those two games e.g. Ho-Oh and Luiga.

The rest of the Legend cards that were released were dual Legendary legendary cards, similar to the recent Tag Team Pokemon cards. This included:

• Entei and Raikou
• Palkia Dialga

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Is There A Holo /reverse Holo Version Of Every Card

Common-rarity cards only exist in standard and reverse-holo versions*.

Some rare-rarity cards only exist in reverse-holo and holo versions, others only exist in standard and reverse-holo.

Full art, EX, GX, V, VMAX, etc. cards are all holo cards*.

Beyond that, there is no rhyme or reason to which cards exist in which versions*.4

Stage One Pokmon Cards

Stage One Pokémon cards are evolved Pokémon that often have a few edges over their previous evolutions. These improvements can include more attacks, stronger attacks, more HP, a smaller retreat cost, a useful ability, and more! At any time during your turn, before you attack, if you have the evolved Pokémon in your hand you can place it on top of the basic to evolve. So, why wouldn’t every deck want to run as many Stage One Cards as they can?

The problem with evolution cards is a rule that’s been there since the beginning of the game: Pokémon cannot evolve on the first turn they are played. This means if you get four Charmander out on your first turn, you have to wait another turn to evolve any of them. Some cards let you get around this restriction, but they tend to be situational and not fit for every deck. Even if you’ve waited a turn, it’s harder to get certain cards in your hand at certain times. Basic Pokémon cards are easy to put into play, but the higher up you try to go to evolve your Pokémon, the more support you have to put in your deck to make it easier to do. This doesn’t mean Stage Ones are bad cards, many are amazing, but them being slower cards to get into play is something a player should consider when deckbuilding.

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The New Decks Make This No Fun

I really enjoy playing the Pokémon TCG. Its a game with a lot of thoughtful strategy and is balanced in such a way that for the most part, smart play can help you come back from being behind and can also even out new players with veterans so that there isnt a horrible barrier to entry. The app is also totally free to play and offers a lot of variation so that you can endlessly play. But I started getting really irritated with this game within the last 6 months or so. They released two new decks, the Mach Strike and Imperial Command decks. These decks are so overpowered compared to all the decks released. Its very easy to do essentially one-hit kill damage within three, if not two turns. Occasionally you can come back to win if you get really lucky and if you quite literally play your cards right. But good luck getting to that point, because half of the people I play with use this deck to just grind. They quit out immediately if things start going south, and it drives me up the wall. I love playing a game that goes for a solid 10 minutes and provides a good challenge between two equally matched players, and this has become so few and far between because everyone just uses the same two decks because theyre the best, and no one actually wants a challenge. I wish Pokémon would change these decks or get rid of them entirely, because theyve ruined the fun and balance of the game.

What Does What The 3 Types Of Pokmon Tcg Cards:

So, perhaps you want to jump into the TCG? But wait, there’s one thing you 100% absolutely positively need: cards! There are several types of Pokémon cards, with each having its own abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Some can be played right away, others once a turn, and some need several turns to charge up for awesome effects.

The Pokémon Trading Card Game can be split into three different card types:

• Pokémon cards, which are the individual Pokémon species you use to battle with.
• Trainer cards, which are the tools and utility cards you use to help your deck work and flow.
• Energy cards, which power up your Pokémon cards’ attacks.

Starting with Pokémon cards, let’s now take an in-depth look at these three card types and what they do.

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Rarity: Is Your Collection All That Special

In terms of rarity, base-set cards are where the money is for most collectors, and these cards are the most traded ones in the hobby. Set cards are any card you can pull from a pack bought from the store, says Pratte. The base set comprises the original 102 cards printed in 1999 and includes classic Pokemon like Pikachu, Blastoise, Charizard and Venusaur.

A complete first-edition base set in mint condition sold for $100,000 in December 2017. If you have a base-set card in your card collection, there are a few visual indicators of its worth.

Getting Psa Graded Pokemon Cards

So now weve learned a little about PSA Graded Pokemon Cards, you might be considering sending some of your own cards off for grading, more information about this can be found at

Alternatively you can take the guesswork out of it and keep an eye on our site, we will be getting new batches of PSA graded Pokemon Cards in every couple of months and theyll always be Ultra Rare, Secret Rare or Rainbow Rare cards plus that way you get to just simply buy a card at the level you want without paying for grading, shipping and waiting for months to get the card back only to find it comes in at a lower grade than you’d hoped 🙂 A couple of our latest and greatest graded cards can be found below, be sure to check them out!

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Legal Deck Of Pokmon Cards

You can buy a ready-made deck or build your own. If you buy one it will already conform to the rules, but if you do it yourself, you must make sure your deck fulfills the following requirements:

• Your deck must contain 60 cards exactly no more, no less.
• You can include as many basic energy cards as you want.
• With the exception of basic energy cards, you must NOT have more than four of each card or more than four of one Pokémon . This four-card limit also applies to special energy cards and Trainers/Supporters/Stadiums.
• Foreign cards are fun to trade and collect but you can’t include them in your playing deck.

Personal Tip: To balance out your deck, try to have at least 20 energies and a good set of 15-20 Pokémon, basic and evolved. By the way, if you buy a pre-constructed deck, it should come with a play mat. These help you learn how to set up the game when you are first learning.

The Pokémon Playing Stadium

Any Other Pokmon Sets A Beginner Should Consider Collecting

Wizards of the Coast, who produced the early Pokémon card sets, had a collection of promotional cards called the Wizards Black Star Promos. These would be used at special events, films, tournaments, etc.

In total there are 53 cards, containing a nice mixture of card designs and illustrations. Again, its quite a fun set for a beginner to collect, and may even bring back memories of your first Pokémon movie!

After Fossil and before Team Rocket, we also saw the introduction of 130 card Base Set 2.

It wasnt particularly popular at the time though, and was probably a bit too similar to the original Base Set, considering it was only released a year later.

With that being said, some collectors like to go for the full sweep of vintage Pokémon cards. Ill leave that up to you though!

At this stage, I also want to mention some other popular vintage sets like Gym Heroes, Neo Genesis, Legendary Collection and the e-Card Series. All of which are great options as your collection builds.

However, as a starting point, I think the four sets mentioned above are perfect for beginners.

Theres also one last set Id like to mention Evolutions from the XY Series. This is the 20th anniversary set released in 2016.

If you want a nostalgic throwback, without the price tag, this is the set for you.

It only contains the first generation of Pokémon, but mixes in some modern full-art card designs, a reverse holographic in each booster, and even five secret rares!

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How Do Status Conditions Work In The Pokmon Tcg

As in the Pokémon video games, the Pokémon Trading Card Game has a number of special conditions that can be inflicted on Pokémon, giving their opponent an extra advantage in a battle.

The special conditions are Asleep, Burned, Confused, Paralyzed and Poisoned, and are indicated by turning the Pokémon card counterclockwise , upside-down or clockwise , or putting a special token on it . Multiple special conditions can affect the same Pokémon – in the case of effects indicated by turning the card, the most recent condition is the only one applied.

Asleep

If a Pokémon is asleep, it cant attack or retreat. The card is rotated 90 degrees counerclockwise to show its status condition. At the end of their turn, the player flips a coin – on a head, the Pokémon wakes up and is no longer asleep.

Paralyzed

When a Pokémon is paralyzed, it can’t attack or retreat on the player’s next turn. The card is rotated 90 degrees clockwise to show its status condition. At the end of the player’s next turn, paralyzed is automatically cured.

Burned

The Pokémon card receives a burned token to show its status condition. A burned Pokémon receives two damage counters at the end of each turn. After suffering this damage, the player flips a coin. On a heads, Burned is cured.

Confused

Poisoned

A poisoned Pokémon suffers one damage counter at the end of each turn.

Special conditions can also be cured by evolving a Pokémon or retreating it to the bench, which cures all special conditions.

How To Get Legendary Pokemon Cards

While they have long since been removed from the Pokemon Trading Card Game, many people love the idea of legendary Pokemon cards. So, on this page, we figured we would talk a little bit about how to get your hands on them.

So, how do you get legendary Pokemon cards? Well, these Pokemon cards were only included in the HeartGold and SoulSilver expansion packs that came out back in 2010. This means the only way to buy them nowadays is either as singles or by purchasing a booster pack that they appear in.

Lets tell you a little bit more about how to source these cards and how to tell whether a Pokemon card is legendary.

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