Pokémon Trading Card Game

The Pokémon Trading Card Game (ポケモンカードゲーム, Pokemon Kādo Gēmu, "Pokémon Card Game"), abbreviated to PTCG or Pokémon TCG, is a collectible card game, based on the Pokémon video game series, first published in October 1996 by Media Factory in Japan. In the US, it was initially published by Wizards of the Coast; Nintendo eventually took over publishing the card game alongside the video games in June 2003.

Gameplay

A collection of Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! cards

Players assume the role of a Pokémon trainer and use their Pokémon to battle their opponents'. Players play Pokémon to the field and attack their opponent's Pokémon. A Pokémon that has sustained enough damage is knocked out, and the player who knocked it out draws a Prize card. There are usually six Prize cards, and the primary win condition is to draw all of them. Other ways to win are by knocking out all the Pokémon the opponent has on the field such that the opponent has none left, or if at the beginning of their opponent's turn there are no cards left to draw in the opponent's deck.^[1]

Players begin by shuffling their decks and drawing seven cards, then playing one Basic Pokémon onto the field. This Pokémon is known as the Active Pokémon, and is usually the one that attacks and receives damage. If a player does not have any Basic Pokémon, they must shuffle and draw a new hand, and the opponent may draw one additional card. Once both players have at least one Basic Pokémon, they can play up to five more Basic Pokémon onto their "Bench" (representing the maximum-carry limit of six from the video games). Players then take the top six cards of their deck and place them to the side as Prize Cards. Next, one player selects heads or tails, and the other flips a coin; the winner of the coin flip will decide who goes first or second. The player going first cannot attack on their first turn. (Dice may be used in place of coins, with even numbers representing heads and odd numbers representing tails).

Play alternates between players who may take several actions during their turn, including playing new Basic Pokémon, evolving their Pokémon, playing Trainer cards and Energy cards, and using Pokémon Abilities. A player may also retreat their Active Pokémon, switching the Active Pokémon with one on the Bench. At the end of their turn, a player may use one of their Active Pokémon's attacks, provided the prerequisite amount and types of Energy are attached to that Pokémon. Effects from that attack are then activated and damage may be placed on the Defending Pokémon (some attacks simply have effects but do not do damage). This damage may be modified depending on whether the defender has a Weakness or Resists the attacker's Pokémon type. If the final damage exceeds the defending Pokémon's HP, it is Knocked Out, and the active player takes a Prize Card and ends their turn.^[2]

Card types

Basic Pokémon are the foundation of all decks. Without them a player cannot play the game, since both players begin the game by placing a Basic Pokémon in the Active position on the field. Each Pokémon card depicts a Pokémon from the video games. Each player may have up to six Pokémon on the playing field at a time: one "Active" Pokémon and up to five on the bench. Each Pokémon card has a name, a type, and an amount of Health Points (HP). All Pokémon feature attacks; these typically deal damage to the opponent's active Pokémon, or occasionally, their benched Pokémon; however, an attack may also perform different functions, such as drawing cards, inflicting Special Conditions, or altering the opponent's board state. The vast majority of these attacks require Energy, which comes in the form of Energy cards. Abilities (known as Poké-Powers and Poké-Bodies until 2011) are not attacks but simply effects that either are activated under certain conditions, or remain in effect as long as the Pokémon with the Ability remains in play.

The other type of Pokémon card is an Evolved Pokémon. Basic Pokémon are Pokémon that have not evolved, and can be played directly onto the Bench. In contrast, an Evolved Pokémon cannot normally be placed directly onto the field; they must be played on top of the corresponding lower-stage Pokémon. Stage 1 Pokémon evolve from Basic Pokémon, and Stage 2 Pokémon evolve from Stage 1 Pokémon. As a Pokémon evolves, it gains HP and its attacks change, typically becoming more powerful. Pokémon ex or EX cards were first introduced in the TCG set EX Ruby and Sapphire, and typically have higher Hit Points than other Pokémon, yet award an extra prize card to the opponent when defeated. Baby Pokémon cards, introduced in Neo Genesis, are a special kind of Basic Pokémon that have low HP but attack with strange (sometimes very powerful) effects. Mega Pokémon, introduced in XY, evolve from Pokémon-EX, but are a special stage; as such, effects on Stage 1 Pokémon do not apply to Mega Pokémon. Variations of Basic, Evolved, and Baby Pokémon cards have appeared in many sets, usually indicated with a word before or after the Pokémon's name. Secret Rare Pokémon cards are some of the rarest cards. They are usually represented by a shiny holo foil and a gold outline. These cards include Shiny Pokémon, Trainers, alternate-art Pokémon, and some rarer Mega evolution cards.

Energy cards are attached to a Pokémon to power that Pokémon's attacks. Typically, only one Energy card may be played per turn. There are two main categories of Energy cards: Basic Energy and Special Energy. The nine different Basic Energy types (which correspond to Pokémon card types) are Grass, Fire, Water, Lightning, Psychic, Fighting, Darkness, Metal, and Fairy. Two additional types, Dragon and Colorless, do not have their own Energy cards and instead use other types of Energy. Basic Energy cards are used only to fulfill costs for attacking and retreating, while Special Energy cards have additional benefits. Most attacks require a certain type and amount of Energy. If an attack requires a certain type and amount of Energy, then that type and amount of Energy must be attached to the Pokémon. If the attack has a Colorless Energy requirement, that requirement can be met by any Energy card.^[2]

Trainer cards perform various functions to affect the game: healing Pokémon, discarding energy from the opposing Pokémon, or retrieving cards from the discard pile are some key examples. Before the Diamond & Pearl expansion, all cards that were not Pokémon or Energy were considered Trainer cards. Trainers have since been subdivided into categories: Item cards directly affect the battling Pokémon, Stadium cards affect the entire field, and Supporters are like more powerful Items, only one of which can be played per turn.^[2]

Pokémon types

A simplified type system was adopted from the video games for use in the trading card game. Instead of 18 types of Pokémon, only eleven exist in the TCG. Seven were introduced in the Base Set (the first ever set of Pokémon cards); Darkness and Metal types appeared when Pokémon Gold and Silver introduced the Dark and Steel types in the video games; the Dragon type was introduced in the Japanese Dragon Selection set; and finally, the Fairy type was introduced in the Japanese XY set to correspond to its introduction in the video games.

Most Pokémon have only one type, one exception is EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua which introduced Dual-type Pokémon that have two different types. For a while, almost all existing dual-type cards had either Darkness or Metal as their secondary type. Dual-types were also utilized in Pokémon LEGEND cards, to emphasize the multiple Pokémon the mechanic has. In 2016, the Steam Siege expansion from the XY Series reintroduced dual-type Pokémon, this time with regular Pokémon being multiple types.

1. ^ Starting with the Diamond & Pearl expansion, Poison-type Pokémon in-game are now Psychic; they were previously Grass.
2. ^ Starting with the Black & White expansion set Dragon Selection, Dragon-type Pokémon in-game are now Dragon; they were previously Colorless.

Sets

As of November 2, 2016, with the release of XY12: Evolutions in North America, 78 different sets have been released in English^[3] and 64 in Japanese.^[4]

A rarely played format is Unlimited, in which all cards released in English are legal (except oversized cards, such as promotional boxes like Mega Blaziken Ex Premium Collection Box).

Every few sets, new Mechanics or types of cards are introduced to the game. Several of these include: Dark Pokémon (Team Rocket); Owners' Pokémon and Stadium cards (Gym Heroes); Darkness-type and Metal-type Pokémon, the second generation, and Pokémon Tools (Neo Genesis); Shining Pokémon (Neo Revelation); Light Pokémon (Neo Destiny); Supporter cards and Technical Machines (Expedition); Crystal-type Pokémon (Aquapolis); Pokémon-ex (EX Ruby & Sapphire); Dual-type Pokémon (EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua); Pokémon Star (EX Team Rocket Returns); Delta Species Pokémon and Holon's Pokémon (EX Delta Species); Pokémon LV.X, the separation of Trainer, Supporter and Stadium cards, and the addition of Metal and Darkness as Basic Energy types (Diamond and Pearl); Pokémon With Items (Mysterious Treasures);

Trainer cards of which two can be played at once (Stormfront); owner-specific Pokémon SP (Platinum), Pokémon LEGEND (HeartGold and SoulSilver Collection), Pokémon PRIME which replace Pokémon Lv. X ("HeartGold and SoulSilver Collection"), Full Art cards (Black and White), Dragon-type Pokémon, BREAK evolution cards which replace Pokémon PRIME (XY BREAKthrough), and the newly release GX cards from Sun and Moon. These changes, along with yearly format rotations, make for a constantly evolving game.

Competitive play

In addition to the collectible aspect of the card game, The Pokémon Company International (formerly known as Pokémon USA) has also created Play! Pokémon, formerly known as Pokémon Organized Play (POP), which is in charge of the organization of an official League program, where players can battle others in local environments and earn player points, two-card booster packets from a promotional set, badges, stickers and other materials. These are run by League leaders and owners. POP also runs a professor program, in which individuals age 18 or over may become a professor, who can sanction and run tournaments and leagues. A League Leader may assist in organizing the league, while a League Owner is the one officially in charge of the league, reporting to the Organized Play program any results and/or problems every seven weeks. The leagues run in yearly cycles, based on a certain aspect of one of the Pokémon Video Game or Trading Card Game: the current cycle is based upon the Newest set, The current season is Evolutions season.

Prerelease tournaments are organized just before each set is released. Usually, they are run on the two weekends before a set is released in stores to the public. At Prerelease Tournaments players are given three booster packs from the judge and must construct a 40 card deck, with only 4 prize cards, using only the cards pulled from the packs and the judges provide the energy, but not special energy cards. Many fans have come up with alternative methods of playing the Trading Card Game. Certain websites such as PokéCap are dedicated to providing players with a new twist to their card game with new game rules they can follow. New methods may be based more on the video game adaptations of Pokémon or the Pokémon television show.

Players in a tournament are split into three age categories: Junior (born in 2003 or later), Senior (born in 2000-2002), and Master (born in 1999 or earlier). Notable references include: Austin Brewen who won the first junior tournament, Brenden Zhang who won the first Senior Tournament, and Arturo Heras who won the first Master Tournament. These tournaments play a number of rounds, where players will play a standard game against each other and wins and losses will be recorded. In most tournaments, there are a number of Swiss-style rounds where players are paired up against others of similar win/loss ratios, usually from their own age group (this does not always occur in smaller events, though). Afterwards, there will either be a cut of the top record-holders (approximately the top 1/8 of participants) where players will play best two out of three matches, and the loser gets eliminated (standard tournament bracket style), with an eventual winner.

POP runs a season for these tournaments, which allows players to earn larger prizes and play in a more competitive environment in comparison to League. These range from City and State Championships, all the way up to the Pokémon World Championships, the single invite-only event of the year. Players can earn invites to the World Championships by winning or ranking high at National Championships, doing well at tournaments to get Championship Points, or by qualifying in the Last Chance Qualifier. The World Championships is a three-day tournament, with one eventual winner in each age group; the winner of the Masters Division age group is generally noticed as the best player in the world for that season. Some of these methods are only used in the United States, as PUI and POP are based in the United States, but they are represented by local distributors who provide the Organized Play program to their own country.

Major tournaments

On August 26–27, 2000, forty-two Pokémon trainers from around the world met at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu for the Tropical Mega Battle, an international communication event for the Pokémon Trading Card Game. The Tropical Mega Battle brought together children aged 14 and under from the United States, Japan, France, Italy, Canada, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom for two days in Honolulu, Hawaii. Children participating in the Tropical Mega Battle received invitations through Qualifier tournaments, DCI rankings, and other events in their respective countries.

The Super Trainer Showdowns were large Pokémon TCG tournaments held in the United States by Wizards of the Coast between 2000 and 2001. The tournaments were open to the public. Each tournament consisted of three age groups: 10 and under, 11 to 14 years old, and 15 years old and over. Each Super Trainer Showdown was preceded by a series of Qualifier Tournaments held in cities around the United States and abroad in which players in the 11-to-14 and 10-and-under age groups could win trips for themselves and a parent or guardian to the Super Trainer Showdown event. To date, there have been four Super Trainer Showdowns. The first Super Trainer Showdown was held in Long Beach, California inside of the cruise liner, the Queen Mary on July 22, 2000. The format was unlimited, meaning that all Pokémon cards released in the United States were legal for deck construction. The second Super Trainer Showdown was held at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey on November 18, 2000. There were over 700 players in all three age divisions competing for the title. The tournament was eight rounds of Swiss style pairings followed by a cut to a top-eight single-elimination playoff. All games were best-of-one. The third Super Trainer Showdown was held again in the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey. It was held on June 23–24, 2001 and more than 1,600 players attended the event. The format for this event was titled “Modified” and allowed players to construct 60-card decks using a maximum of four of any card other than basic energy from specific sets. The fourth and final Super Trainer Showdown was held at the San Antonio Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas on December 1–2, 2001^[5]. The format was again "Modified", however the newest set Neo Discovery was also legal for the tournament.

Although TPCI tries to keep Organized Play as equal as possible all over the Earth, there are some notable differences in how POP is run outside of the United States. The Pokémon Card Laboratory (PCL), located in Japan, is the designer of new cards and the ultimate authority on any matter relating to the Pokémon Trading Card Game. It can declare rulings on any in-game circumstance, issue errata, change card text after publishing, and change the basic game rules, although the latter three rarely occur. PCL runs Organized Play in Japan. The Pokémon Trading Card Game in most European countries is currently handled by The Pokémon Company International. Certain countries have no direct official presence; in these regions, distributors of the game run tournaments. European countries are able to qualify for positions at the Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championships each year, through National Championships and European Rankings.

Video games

There are a few video games based on the card game. Pokémon TCG Online (PTCGO) is the official digital version of the card game available for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Android and iPad.^[6] It was originally released in April 2011 as Pokémon Trainer Challenge. The game initially offered three starting decks, and featured more content after release. After April 6, 2011, players could buy cards from the Black and White series, which have a code to be digitally represented.^[7] Players can also create a custom avatar.^[8] There were booster pack codes which allow booster packs up to Black and White-Boundaries Crossed, to be purchased from the online shop. However, as of Black and White- Plasma Storm, the code card within booster packs directly redeem as online booster packs of their respective set. GamesRadar praised the game, stating "Everything looks to be faithfully recreated, including the card mat, prize card layout, and even coins."^[8]

The eponymously titled Pokémon Trading Card Game, known as Pokémon Card GB in Japan, was developed for the Game Boy Color, releasing in Japan in December 1998 and later in North America and Europe in 2000. The game is based on the rules of the card game and features 226 cards from the game, as well as infrared linking for multiplayer and trading. The game was re-released for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in 2014. A sequel, Pokémon Card GB2: Great Rocket-Dan Sanjō! was released exclusively in Japan in March 2001.

See also

• Obake karuta

References

External links

Wikibooks has more on the topic of: Pokémon Trading Card Game

• Official website
• Android version
• Top 10 Most Expensive Pokemon Cards