How to Play the Pokémon TCG
You have a Pokémon deck in front of you, along with the Active Spot, Bench, and Prize cards, but do not know where to begin. Here is the shortest route to your first turn: what goes on the table, why players collect Prize cards, and what each kind of card does.
What matters
Every deck contains exactly 60 cards. The first player to take all six Prize cards wins the game. You take a Prize card each time you knock out one of your opponent's Pokémon.
Table layout
One Pokémon occupies the Active Spot. It receives attacks and can attack in return. Behind it is the Bench, where up to five more Pokémon wait for their turn.
Pokémon and Evolution
A Basic Pokémon can be played directly from your hand. Stage 1 and Stage 2 Pokémon enter play only through Evolution.
Energy and damage
Energy powers attacks and can be Basic or Special. Want to switch your Active Pokémon for one on the Bench? You must pay its Retreat Cost with Energy.
Weakness increases damage from an opponent, while Resistance reduces it. Use damage counters to mark damage received. An Ability works differently from an attack.
Trainer cards and discarding
Trainer cards are divided into Item, Supporter, and Stadium cards. You may play only one Supporter card per turn. Cards you discard go to the discard pile.
Energy types in the TCG: a note for video game experts
Anyone familiar with the Pokémon video games may expect the same types. The card game uses a different set, and both lists are correct; they simply describe two different systems.
In the card game, the Energy types are called Lightning rather than Electric and Darkness rather than Dark. Bug, Ghost, Poison, Flying, Ice, Rock, Ground, and Normal do not exist as Energy types at all; Pokémon with those video game types are assigned a different type in the TCG.
This is how many cards of each Energy type are currently in our catalog:
- Water — 1,517
- Grass — 1,469
- Psychic — 1,349
- Colorless — 1,334
- Fighting — 1,106
- Fire — 915
- Lightning — 846
- Darkness — 642
- Metal — 568
- Dragon — 268
- Fairy — 192
The whole catalog is 12,027 cards from 109 sets.