The Pokemon Trading Card Game, also known as Pokemon TCG, is a collectible card game based on the Pokemon franchise by Nintendo. It was first published in the year 1996 in Japan by Media Factory. Pokemon is the abbreviated form of “pocket monsters.” Pokemon Card Game is a very easy game to learn. This game is worth playing regardless of your experience or age because this is a really fun gaming.
There are several videos with text-based summaries, which tell you how to play this game. However, let us discuss some important things that you need to know while playing the Pokemon card game.
How to Start a Pokemon Card Game?
The rules of this game are very easy to grasp, but it includes a few steps, which you should learn carefully. In the beginning, the players toss a coin to find out the person who will play first. Next, the decks are shuffled, and the players usually draw a hand of seven cards, the top six cards among them are set aside as the prize cards. The player can add one of those to his hand every time he defeats a Pokemon of his opponent, and he can claim victory if he can pick up all six cards before his opponent.
Both players can place facedown one basic Pokemon card as their active Pokemon. And add up to five cards on their bench. After drawing your initial seven cards, if you do not have any basic Pokemon cards, just reveal your hand to your opponent player and draw seven more hands. You can repeat this process till you get at least one basic Pokemon card. However, your opponent will also draw one extra hand every time you draw.
A player can have a total of six cards; however, only the active card can perform the attacking tasks during each turn. Both the benched cards and the active card can be evolved and have energy added to them. If your Pokemon is defeated, you can replace it with one card from your bench, and if you have no card left, you lose.
How Do Turns Work in The Pokemon Card Game?
When each turn starts, the player who is active draws a card from the top of their deck. If you run out of cards and can’t draw on your next turn, you will lose.
During the second phase of each turn, you can do the following things:
- Play any number of basic Pokemon.
- Attach only one energy card to a Pokemon from your hand. This can be on your bench or your active card.
- Try to evolve a Pokemon by playing stage 1 or stage 2 evolutions on top of a stage 1 or basic Pokemon.
- Play several item cards.
- Play any number of trainer cards, except the stadium and supporter cards.
- Use any number of abilities on Pokemon cards.
Attacking Procedure in Pokemon Card Game
After performing the above-mentioned steos, you can attack your opponent with your active Pokemon. The Pokemon can perform one attack that is mentioned on its card if the correct amount and energy type is attached to the card.
Damages are assigned to the active Pokemon of the opponent as damage counters.- After it receives as much damage as it has hit points, it faints. Then that defeated one must be replaced with another one from the bench, and if there is no card on the bench, then the player loses, and the player who knocked it will become the winner.
Therefore, Pokemon card game is a very interesting and enjoyable game for all, no matter what their age is.