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How to Play: the Basics
A Pokémon TCG match pits two decks of exactly sixty cards against each other. Each player fields one Active Pokémon and up to five on the Bench, attaches Energy cards to power attacks, and plays Trainer cards for all kinds of effects. Knocking out an opposing Pokémon lets you take one of your six Prize cards.
There are three ways to win: take all six of your Prize cards, knock out your opponent's last Pokémon in play, or win by deck-out when the opponent cannot draw at the start of their turn.
The core of the strategy is the trade-off between speed and power: cheap attackers apply early pressure, while evolved Pokémon hit harder but take turns to set up. Type weaknesses and resistances, retreat costs and Energy management decide the close games.
Setting up a game
Each player shuffles their sixty-card deck, draws seven cards, places one Basic Pokémon face down as their Active and up to five more on the Bench, then sets aside the top six cards of their deck face down as Prizes. A hand with no Basic Pokémon is a mulligan: reveal, reshuffle, redraw, and the opponent may draw an extra card.
The turn, step by step
A turn always starts by drawing a card. Then, in any order: play Basic Pokémon to the Bench, evolve Pokémon in play, attach one Energy from hand (once per turn), play Item cards freely, one Supporter and one Stadium per turn, use Abilities, and retreat the Active once by paying its retreat cost. The turn ends when you attack; if the attack knocks out the opposing Pokémon, you take a Prize card.
The card types
| Pokémon | Basic, Stage 1, Stage 2 (evolve one stage per turn, not the turn they came into play) |
|---|---|
| Energy | Basic Energy (Grass, Fire, Water, Lightning, Psychic, Fighting, Darkness, Metal) plus Special Energy with bonus effects |
| Trainers | Items (unlimited), Supporters (one per turn), Stadiums (one in play) |
Special Conditions
Asleep, Burned, Confused, Paralyzed and Poisoned each change how a Pokémon acts between turns, and they are checked in that order. Evolving or retreating removes them, which is one of the quiet reasons evolution lines matter.