How To Play The Pokmon Trading Card Game
The basic flow of play in the Pokémon TCG is relatively simple to grasp, but it involves a few steps youll need to learn before your first battle.
How do you start the Pokémon TCG?
At the beginning of a game, players can flip a coin to see who plays first. Then the decks are shuffled, players draw a hand of seven cards and the top six cards are set aside as prize cards you add one of these to your hand each time one you defeat an opponents Pokémon, and claim victory if you pick up all six before your rival.
Both players can place one basic Pokémon card facedown as their active Pokémon, plus up to five more basic Pokémon on their bench. If you don’t have any basic Pokémon cards in your hand after drawing your initial hand of seven cards, reveal your hand to your opponent and draw seven more hands. You can repeat this as many times as you want until you have at least one basic Pokémon – but your opponent gets to draw one extra card for every time you do.
How do turns work in the Pokémon TCG?
When each turn begins, the active player draws a card from the top of their deck if you run out of cards in your deck and can’t draw on your next turn, you lose.
During each turns second phase, you can do any and all of the following:
Attacking in the Pokémon TCG
After youve done the above, your active Pokémon can attack the opponent. The Pokémon can perform one attack listed on its card as long as the correct amount and type of energy is attached to the card.
How To Win The Pokmon Trading Card Game
Like many other competitive trading card games, the Pokémon TCG can be won in a variety of ways:
- The most common path to victory is to knock out six of your opponents Pokémon and collect prize cards. Every time you defeat a Pokémon controlled by your rival, you claim one of the six prize cards you set aside at the start of the game and add it to your hand. When you pick up your sixth and final card, you win!
- If you defeat an opponents active Pokémon and they have no available Pokémon on their bench to replace it, you can also claim victory.
- If your opponent runs out of cards in their deck, and therefore cant draw a card at the beginning of their turn, you win. This is whats known as decking your opponent.
Best Buy Customers Often Prefer The Following Products When Searching For Pokemon Tcg Sets
Pokemon TCG is a collectible card game that uses fictional creatures called “Pokémon” that have special powers. The Pokémon Trading Card Game was developed by Media Factory in Japan in 1996 and was first introduced to the United States in 1998 by Wizards of the Coast. Here are some great Pokemon TCG sets on the market today.
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Xy Generations Elite Trainer Boxes
Best Pokemon Anniversary Set
Back to the XY series, and to the Generations set that was released to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Pokemon.
Unlike most sets, it wasnt possible to buy booster boxes for Generations. Instead, booster packs were included as part of an Elite Trainer Box or Collector Boxes which featured a particular Pokemon.
The 83 card set, also included an additional subset of 32 cards called the Radiant Collection.
In my opinion, the combination of popular Gen 1 Pokemon, beautifully designed full art cards and more limited acquisition of booster packs , make Generations a sleeping giant in terms of value.
Best Cards in XY Generations to Collect
Which Pokmon Card Expansions & Sets Are Worth The Most Money
The Pokémon Trading Card Game is filled with card sets and expansions, and monetary values have spiked since their initial releases years ago.
The Pokémon Trading Card Game has been releasing card sets since 1996 in Japan when the first edition of Pokémon cards was released for fans to collect. Since then, the industry has continued creating and releasing new sets and expansions, bringing the total number of Pokémon sets to 74 in America and 68 in Japan. Throughout the years, the Pokémon franchise has only been growing larger and more influential with more Pokémon species, games, manga, shows, and movies. This influence has brought elevated value to merchandise considered like select rare Pokémon card sets and collections.
There are a few variables that determine the value of Pokémon card expansions and sets, though there have been some exceptions throughout the years. A set or expansion’s age, rarity, Professional Sports Authority grading, and demand have all been known to affect the appraisal value of various collections.
While the monetary worth of these Pokémon TCG sets and expansions is subject to change with the market and demand, these are the Pokémon collections that currently have the highest monetary value.
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Thoughts On Pokemon Card Set Symbols
Good info. This helped me narrow down that a misprint card I have is fake. But it worries me that all my cards have always come from booster packs. So a lot of my cards could be fake. Damn shady comic book stores.
If the cards came from real booster packs then the cards should be genuine unless it was a fake pack of Pokemon cards Ive never seen that before. Ive just seen reprints of high dollar cards sold online . All the cards Ive collected have come from booster packs I dont buy individual cards because Im not that serious about collecting/playing specific cards. I make due with what I get from the packs.
Matthew Its hard for me to say without seeing the symbol. Cards from 1999 can be valuable especially if its a Pikachu Trainer No. 1, 2, or 3 these were given out at the winners of the Pokemon World Championships they fetch 10s of thousands of dollars! But those cards have a Poke Ball symbol and that doesnt sound like the media symbol you describe. It could be a Snap Pikachu Trainer card, that set has a camera symbol, its in Japanese so not sure if thats it. The Snap cards are from 1999 release of the Snap 64 Nintendo game. Players could take snapshots in the game and compete to get their snapshot printed on real Pokemon card with credit to the player that snapped it. Id have to see a picture of the card to tell you more.
Sword & Shield Series Champions Path Elite Trainer Box
Best Pokemon Set for Hunting Modern Charizards
Although one of the most modern Pokemon sets on our list, Champions Path rightly takes its place.
Lets cut to the chase, this is a fiercely sought-after set. Pre-orders went mad, and it was very hard to get hold of an Elite Trainer Box. In fact, most online retailer limited purchasing to one-per-customer, as people were snapping them up so quickly to resell on eBay for an inflated price.
So, why the hype and hysteria?! You guessed it, its our man Charizard!
Champions Path features two wildly attractive secret rare Charizards, and the ETB even comes with a stunning Charizard promo.
Firstly, weve got the Charizard VMAX secret rainbow rare, and then we have an iconic black and red Charizard V card which is also a secret rare. Two bloody secret rare Charizards! No wonder collectors could barely contain themselves!
Most online retailers remain sold out, so if youre looking to acquire a Champions Path Elite Trainer Box, or Collectors Box, your best bet is eBay.
Best Cards in Champions Path to Collect
Best Booster Box for Early Rainbow Rare Artworks
Next up we have an iconic set from the Sun & Moon era Burning Shadows.
The previously released Sun & Moon Base Set and Rising Guardians made waves with the introduction of secret rainbow rare cards, a design never seen before on a Pokemon card. However Burning Shadows was the set everyone was waiting for when news dropped of a secret rare rainbow Charizard!
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What Are Pokmon Expansion And Booster Packs My Kid Is Asking For Them
An expansion is a new set of cards released within a certain generation or series. Each expansion release includes about 100-200 new cards. There is no way to purchase an entire expansion all at once. Instead, you purchase them in booster packs, which are sets of 10 cards that you can use to add to your current collectionusually these are themed within a specific expansion, meaning that the cards inside can be any of the cards that were released within that expansion set. Current expansions include Sword Shield Rebel Clash and Sword & Shield Darkness Ablaze. A new expansion, Sword & Shield Vivid Voltage is set to come out in November 2020. Older expansion packs that your kid might still be after include ones from previous generations like Sun & Moon, XY, Black & White, Diamond & Pearl or the EX series.
The Latest Pokemon Cards
Uncover all the latest Japanese Pokemon cards! Shop today to ramp up your arsenal with the most powerful Pokemon in the Pokeverse. You can stay up-to-date with the game’s latest worlds, like the newest Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield. Check out our pre-order packs, as well as packs that you can buy right now to complete your collection.
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Shining Fates Elite Trainer Boxes
Best Modern Pokemon Set for Diversity of Artwork
The modern set everyone had been waiting for. Shining Fates hit the shelves in early 2021 with great anticipation. Seen as the follow on from the hugely successful Hidden Fates set, the diversity of artwork, popular Pokemon and chase cards make it a fun set to open. Combine that with an incredible looking Charizard VMAX full art card, and theres plenty of value to gain if lady luck is on your side. Retail demand remains through the roof though, and this set sold out quickly. Whether youre buying to crack open packs or keep sealed for a rainy day, your best bet is probably Bay.
Best Cards in Shining Fates to Collect
If youre a fan of Japanese cards, you will love the new Eevee Heroes set. With a focus on Eevee-lutions, in both full art V and VMAX cards, there are some incredible looking artworks to pull from this set. I particularly like what theyve done with these VMAX boxes you get 8 booster packs and a special VMAX booster than contains one VMAX card and 3 holographic energy cards. Its something a bit different to what weve seen from recent Elite Trainer Boxes, and in my opinion, really fun to open!
Best Cards in Eevee Heroes to Collect
How Many Cards Do You Need To Play Pokmon Tcg
Each player has a deck of exactly 60 cards, consisting of Pokémon cards, energy cards, item cards and trainer cards.
Apart from energy cards, you cant have more than four cards in your deck with the same name.
When you’re first learning how to play the Pokémon TCG, it might be best to pick up one of the pre-built decks available for the trading card game. Once you know the basics, you can learn how to build a Pokémon TCG deck to include all your favourite Pokémon and customise your play style.
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What Are You Supposed To Do With Pokmon Cards
Younger kids tend to just collect and trade the cards. As they learn to read, they may also want to play the trading card game. The point of collecting the cards is to build a powerful deck of 60 that will help you win battles against other trainers. But your kid might just be interested in collecting the cards he likes best or deems most valuable. Each pack of cards is different, so if your kid doesnt have any cards , you may want to get him started with a theme deck: a pack of 60 cards that comes in a small cardboard box or metal tin. Theme decks also come with a coin and cardboard markers that can be used in gameplay when deciding which player goes first or when counting damage, but you can also use die instead. Cards also come in booster packs of 10, in tins or blister packs.
New cards are released every time a new season of the TV show comes outyour kid might refer to this as a new generation or series. The new series usually coincides with the latest video game titles. Right now, the trading card game is in its eighth generation, so all of the newer collections of cards will say Sword & Shield on the box.
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How Does Evolution Work In The Pokmon Tcg
The Pokémon Trading Card Game has a lot of similar traits to the Pokémon video games. One of the biggest similarities is that you can evolve your basic Pokémon to powerful Stage 1 and Stage 2 Pokémon, letting you use more powerful attacks and abilities to knock out your opponents Pokémon.
Evolution is done in stages, and you are unable to skip or jump any stages unless otherwise stated on a card in play – meaning evolution must follow the pattern of basic, Stage 1 and Stage 2, and a single Pokémon can only be evolved once per turn. The exception are GX and EX Pokémon, which may be played straight away and do not require evolution.
To evolve a Pokémon, all you have to do is place the evolved form on top of your active Pokémon or a Pokémon on your bench. This cures any current special conditions, but any attached energy and damage stays put. Once a Pokémon has been evolved, you cant use a previous stages attacks or abilities – only the current evolution.
Evolution can happen in the bench section of your play area, so you can make stronger Pokémon in preparation for your current one being knocked out – and its strongly recommended you do so.
Is There A Pokmon Card Game App
As well as the physical Pokémon Trading Card Game, you can play the Pokémon card game digitally using the Pokémon TCG Online app. Pokémon TCG Online is a free-to-play app available for PC and mobile devices on iOS and Android that lets you play the Pokémon Trading Card Game against AI opponents or friends.
The Pokémon card game app comes with four decks for free. You can add Pokémon cards by scanning codes included with booster packs and decks, and trade cards online just as you would in person. You can also unlock free packs by playing games using the app.
A tutorial mode makes the Pokémon card game app a good way to learn how to play the Pokémon TCG, while the app’s deck builder can make figuring out how to build a Pokémon TCG deck with your cards easy.
The Pokémon Company is also working on cross-play ability between mobile and PC users via a new Pokémon Trading Card Game Live client. This will not only add cross-play, but new functions like the card ‘table’ being in portrait mode on phones – which makes battling that much simpler!
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Booster Packs And Booster Boxes
The Pokemon TCG is a trading card game, meaning players collect cards to build unique decks and play against each other. The primary way players collect these cards is through booster packs.
A booster pack contains 10 random cards, similar to a pack of baseball cards. Each card has a rarity, ranging from common to super rare . The standard distribution of cards in a booster pack is 6 common cards, 3 uncommon card, and 1 rare card.
Booster packs are released in sets. New sets are released roughly four times a year, each with a unique name like Sun and Moon Team Up. Each set contains a fixed number of new cards, usually around 200.
When you buy a booster pack, it will indicate the set that it is from. As you can see in the picture above, the booster packs are from the set Sun and Moon Team Up. If you bought 10 packs of Team Up, you would end up with 10 rare cards, 30 uncommon cards, and 60 common cards. While you can buy booster packs individually, they are also commonly sold in a booster box of 36 packs.
One of the best reasons to buy booster boxes is to get a better distribution of cards. Imagine there are 220 cards in a set. In that set, there is somewhere around 70 rare cards, 70 uncommon cards, and 80 common cards. When you buy a single pack, you will get a random rare card, 3 random uncommon cards, and 6 random common cards.
Variations Between English And Japanese Editions
- The Japanese variations of the cards did not have a numbering system till the release of Pokémon VS, and the number featured on the cards before that represents the Pokémons Pokédex number.
- The English numbering is based on an alphabetical sorting, with descending rarity, a sorting that would stay the same till the release of Black & White. The Japanese order is based on type, and ascending rarity, and stayed this way until the release of e-Card 2.
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