It can sometimes be easy to forget that Pokémon is much more than just a best-selling video game series, with a successful anime and popular trading card game also contributing significantly to the franchise's mammoth success. The trading card game in particular is an interesting case; it could theoretically have the same battle system as the games, but it instead has its own unique set of rules. While these rules are relatively simple, they can seem a bit confusing to brand new players that are looking to get their feet wet.
Conveniently enough, the official Pokémon YouTube channel recently posted a short video explaining the basics of the trading card game in a way that can be easily understood. Sure, it may seem a bit unnecessary, but it's likely a more concise way of learning then by way of a friend fumbling through the rules and potentially forgetting something. Here's the video:
What do you think? Do you still play the Pokémon TCG? How do you think it compares to the battle system in the games? Drop us a comment in the section below.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 11
A tutorial video only about 17 years too late! It's almost as if they were planning a new card game...
Ahh... That reminds me when the TCG Championships were just beginning. I slightly regret not registering for them in my local area back then. The idea of winning real gym badges by winning card battles was very intriguing, but a little intimidating, too.
I like playing Pokémon TCG but it's a bit hard to find people to play with. My siblings like to play sometimes but after few matches they'll stop playing for another month or two. Also after I moved away from home I moved further away from those friends who played with me. I like to play casually so any card is okay in a deck and all the cards I have are from booster packs or theme decks so I can't make the best strategies with them.
Also a funny story:
I actually joined a tournament once (10 years ago) and because setting up took so long, my dad who drove me there, had already done all the shopping and I had to leave before playing any matches. That was a weird situation. I did get to keep the cards they gave to everyone which were used to build the decks and 4 promo cards in addition to that. I was a bit scared of other people because most of them were a lot older than me and I'm really shy so it was also a relief that I couldn't stay for longer.
Card/collectiable games. Very accurate way to lose a lot of money.
Online? Is it 100% free? "Redeem code cards found in specially marked Pokémon TCG products to unlock online booster packs, theme decks, or promo cards!" So, probaly not all cards are for free.
Like with drugs. If you want play for real you need more cards.
My daughter likes this. Though she has bought some cards via lots on Amazon she's pretty frugal with her pocket money and I steered her towards the custom decks to ensure she could play without having to learn deck building herself. It's to break out on occasion and has made me more familiar with these odd critters.
@DontPlayDumb The TCG Online has a free to play model in place, you can play for free with 3-4 basic decks to choose from and unlock card packs with tokens you collect.
You can collect tokens by winning online matches, doing daily challenges, pretty much anything gives out tokens but the amount varies.
You can even unlock more decks to use if you're willing to collect tokens a bit more.
It's basicly a better experience if you collect the cards in real life because you can then bring those cards into the online game but it's still ok if you don't actually collect the cards anymore.
I play the TCG online quite regularly, I think the free to play model is quite well implemented, it seems to give you just enough tokens to not make it feel like a grind.
The only problem with it I find is it seems to need a lot of internet bandwidth and even my high spec laptop seems to lag sometimes while running it.
My son got a bunch of Pokemon cards from friends for his birthday about a month ago, but neither he or I had ever played the game before. I downloaded the Gameboy Color TCG to learn the basics. That game is a good teacher, and now he and I (after I invested a little more into filling out our decks and getting energy cards) play it once a day. It's more fun than I expected.
@Flopsy86
Thank you for explanation.
I wish I was old enough to understand how the card game worked back when it first was a thing. I love the early expansions like Jungle or Rocket.
I really have no interest in these new formats though. I play Magic the Gathering casually and that's all I need.
I tend to enjoy the Card Game far more than I enjoy the actual pokemon game, since there's no obnoxious levelling system that blots out the ability to play eachother fairly without grinding up to the other player's level, and the retreat system allows you to swap out your pokemon at any time without having to sit out a turn, (albeit there is a minor fee via the energy card system) massively increasing the variety of actions that you can perform per turn.
Pokémon cards are cool but if you are looking to swap other types of cards and stickers try www.stickerpoints.com
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