How to Play Pokémon TCG: A Beginner’s Guide

The Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) will turn 30 this year, and I doubt there is anyone who has not ever heard about it or wanted to play it at least once in their life. Pokémon are such cute and daring creatures that they can easily captivate everyone's imagination. Watching their stories unfolding on the screen or collecting them in video games is amazing and I am pretty sure all of us wanted to shout “I choose you!” at least once in our life.

However, playing the TCG is a whole different experience that may seems scary considering how long this game has been around. In reality, Pokémon TCG is actually a very nice mixture of gaming and collecting that can accommodate any casual Players as well as the more competitive ones. Obviously, if you are from Pallet Town, you also know that getting started in this game is also pretty easy. For everyone else, that wanted to know more about how to play Pokémon TCG, this guide is definitely for you.

What Is the Pokémon TCG?

At its core, the Pokémon TCG is a collectible strategy game where the Players build a deck of cards and then battle against each other. The cards you can use in your decks include Pokémon, Energy, and Trainer cards and they can be obtained randomly by opening Booster Packs or by purchasing ready-made Pokémon decks and collectible items. Being a TCG means however that some cards are rarer than others thus more difficult to be pulled from the packs. New expansions featuring several new cards are also released periodically throughout the year leading to older sets becoming obsolete every few years.

Pro tip: What is an Era in Pokémon TCG? Players usually use the term “era” to refer to a multi-year period based on a specific Nintendo console game generation, that is also characterised by similar game mechanics in the TCG.

Pokémon cards explained for beginners

As you may have noticed, Pokémon cards represent the same creatures that populate the anime and video game world created by Satoshi Tajiri. Together with a name, each Pokémon card shows a few stats including type, HP, attacks, weakness, resistance, and retreat cost. Some cards may also have an ability listed together with the Pokémon attacks and some very special Pokémon may have additional text if they are worth more prizes when they are knocked out (see later).

In addition to the above, each Pokémon can be classified as a Basic Pokémon or an Evolution. The first type can be played immediately. Evolution Pokémon must be placed on top of the Pokémon detailed on the card, and they tend to be stronger than their basic counterpart although some very powerful Pokémon are also classified as Basic.  

Pro-tip: What is the Pokémon Type and why it matters? In the TCG, each Pokémon belongs to a certain Type and knowing how types work plays an important role in achieving victory. First and foremost, each of 10 different Types of Pokémon represents a different gameplay strategy. Choosing a type that matches the Player playing style is usually the best approach for beginners as it helps to enjoy the game more. In addition, each type can be more or less efficient in dealing damage to a different type and this is reflected in its strength and weaknesses bonus.

Which starter Pokémon will you chose?

In order to play Pokémon TCG you need a bit more than just a cute Starter Pokémon. Every Player in fact needs to build a deck of exactly 60 cards with the only limitation that you cannot have more than 4 cards with the same name unless they are basic energies. An effective deck should include Pokémon, Energy and Trainer cards usually in 2:1:2 ratio although this is really dependent on your deck strategy.

Players can start from scratch, building their deck from the cards they have or copying an existing deck list. Alternatively, they can also directly use ready-made decks that are commercially available in various formats (i.e, Pokémon Battle Decks). These last ones are usually a budget friendly approach and they can be a good entry product for those who never played a TCG before.

Pro-tip: How to make an effective deck from scratch. Start by picking one or two Pokémon you really like as your main attacker. Once these picked, fill the rest of the deck with other Pokémon and Trainer cards that complement and support those Pokémon. Passive abilities that trigger from the bench are pretty handy, together with those that heal or boost your Pokémon. In order to be more flexible, ensure your deck includes Pokémon with at least two different Type Weaknesses and no retreat cost.

Together with a Deck, it is recommended each Player has a few accessories starting from a Deck box, some card sleeves and a Playmat to protect their cards during play and transportation. A coin, and some damage dice tokens can also be quite handy therefore the Pokémon Elite Trainer box can be a very useful product for any new Players as it comes with pretty much everything you need to get started other than the Playmat.

You are ready: It's time to join the battle!

Learning how to actually play Pokémon TCG is actually pretty simple. Players begin by drawing seven cards, choosing a Basic Pokémon as their Active Pokémon, and optionally placing others on the Bench. Each Player then sets six Prize cards face down and decides who goes first. To win, a Player must take all six Prizes, but they can also win if the Opponent has no Pokémon in play or cannot draw at the start of their turn.

Once setup completed, Players alternate turns. Each turn starts with the Player drawing a card, and continues with them playing any number of cards. Attacking once with their Active Pokémon is always the last action a Player can take. Attaching one Energy to power up attacks is also limited to once per turn. When a Pokémon attacks, it deals damage equal to the damage value of that attack plus any Weakness or Resistance modifiers. Damage accumulates, and once they reach a Pokémon’s HP, that Pokémon is Knocked Out. The defending Player must promote a Benched Pokémon to be their Active Pokémon, and the attacking Player takes one Prize card (or more if the Knocked Out Pokémon is a special one)

What’s the best way to get into Pokémon TCG

The best products to get if you are new to Pokémon TCG are usually those that scalpers, and veterans usually are less interested to buy. Battle Decks are the easiest to find and they offer a single 60-card pre-constructed deck that can be very handy to learn the game in particular if you ensure to pick a fairly recent one. ETBs can also be good to get some accessories and booster packs to open and you can find a few empty one easily online if sealed products are hard to find.

Once you have played some matches with a Battle Deck and you learned how to play Pokémon TCG, then you should look to purchase some single cards. Opening Booster packs is obviously more exciting, but it is more cost-effective to purchase single cards and magic Madhouse offers a great selection of Pokémon singles to chose from.