How to play Pokémon Trading Card Game

How to play

Setup: Flip a coin; the winner decides who goes first. Each player shuffles their 60-card deck and draws seven cards. If you have no Basic Pokémon, show your hand, shuffle it back and draw seven again until you do; your opponent may draw one extra card for each mulligan you took beyond theirs. Put one Basic Pokémon face down as your Active Pokémon and up to five more face down on your Bench. Only then set the top six cards of your deck aside face down as your Prize cards. Both players turn their Pokémon face up and the first turn begins.

Card types: Pokémon do the fighting. Basic Pokémon go straight into play; a Stage 1 card evolves from the Basic it names, and a Stage 2 from a Stage 1. Energy cards pay for attacks: Basic Energy comes in nine types (Grass, Fire, Water, Lightning, Psychic, Fighting, Darkness, Metal and Fairy), and a Colorless symbol in a cost can be paid with any Energy. Trainer cards are Items, Pokémon Tools (attached to a Pokémon, one per Pokémon), Supporters and Stadiums.

Your turn: Draw a card. Then, in any order: put Basic Pokémon onto your Bench, which holds five; evolve Pokémon that have been in play since the start of your turn; attach one Energy card from your hand to one of your Pokémon; play any number of Items and Tools, but only one Supporter and one Stadium; retreat your Active Pokémon once, discarding Energy equal to its Retreat Cost; and use Abilities. Finally, attack, which ends your turn. The player who goes first can't attack or play a Supporter on their first turn, and neither player can evolve on their own first turn.

Attacking: Only your Active Pokémon attacks, using one attack whose Energy cost is covered by the Energy attached to it. Apply Weakness (double damage on current cards) and Resistance (minus the printed amount) only to the Active Pokémon being hit, then put one damage counter on it for each 10 damage. A Pokémon whose damage equals or exceeds its HP is Knocked Out: it and its attached cards go to the discard pile, its owner moves a Benched Pokémon into the Active Spot, and you take a Prize card, two for a Pokémon ex and three for a Mega Evolution Pokémon ex.

Special Conditions: Attacks can leave the Active Pokémon Asleep, Burned, Confused, Paralyzed or Poisoned. Between turns, in Pokémon Checkup, a Poisoned Pokémon takes one damage counter; a Burned one takes two, then flips a coin and recovers on heads; an Asleep one flips and wakes on heads; a Paralyzed one recovers after its owner's next turn. A Confused Pokémon flips before attacking, and on tails the attack fails and it takes three damage counters. Asleep and Paralyzed Pokémon can't attack or retreat. Moving to the Bench or evolving cures every condition.

Winning: You win when you take your last Prize card, when your opponent has no Pokémon left in play, or when your opponent can't draw a card at the start of their turn.

Strategy

The Pokémon TCG rewards decks that do the same strong thing game after game, faster than the opponent can answer it. Consistency first: A deck that reliably gets its main attacker powered up by its second turn usually beats a stronger deck that sets up late. Play four copies of your key Basic Pokémon and of each card in its Evolution line, plus plenty of Trainer cards that search your deck for Pokémon or draw you new cards. The official rulebook suggests 12 to 15 Energy and 20 to 25 Trainers to start, with the rest Pokémon; tune the numbers once you know the deck. Plan your Energy: You can attach only one Energy card a turn, so an attacker that needs three Energy takes three turns on its own. Attach to Benched Pokémon early so your next attacker is ready the moment your Active is Knocked Out, and value Abilities and Trainers that attach extra Energy. Count Prizes: Six Prize cards make the game a race of Knock Outs. A Pokémon ex gives up two Prizes and a Mega Evolution Pokémon ex three, so a deck of big ex attackers can lose in three Knock Outs, while a deck of single-Prize attackers makes the opponent take six. Before each attack, count how many Knock Outs each side still needs, and avoid leaving an easy multi-Prize target where it can be hit. Use the Bench well: Benched Pokémon wait to evolve, power up and use Abilities, but some attacks hit the Bench and some cards drag a Benched Pokémon into the Active Spot. Keep a backup attacker ready, and don't fill all five spaces with Pokémon you won't use. Supporter every turn: You can play only one Supporter a turn, and they are often your strongest draw and disruption cards. Aim to have one to play each turn, and choose it before you commit your other cards. Weakness and matchups: Weakness doubles damage on current cards, turning a two-hit Knock Out into one. Learn the popular decks at your league, and consider an attacker of a type they are weak to. First or second: The player who goes first can't attack or play a Supporter that turn. Decide whether your deck gains more from the extra setup turn or from the Supporter on turn one.

Tips

- Start with a ready-made deck such as a Mega Battle Deck or a League Battle Deck, then change a few cards at a time, keeping it at exactly 60. - Do everything else first: attacking ends your turn. - Attach an Energy every turn you can, even to a Benched Pokémon, so your next attacker is ready. - Weakness and Resistance apply only to the Active Pokémon being attacked; damage to the Bench ignores them. - Retreat costs Energy and is once a turn; Asleep and Paralyzed Pokémon can't retreat, but moving to the Bench cures every Special Condition. - Use Poison and Burn markers that look different from your damage counters. - Count Prize cards before you attack: a Pokémon ex gives up two and a Mega Evolution Pokémon ex three. - Set up your Active and Bench before your Prize cards, and don't look at the Prizes when you set them aside.

Player count & time

Always two players, and games are quick: about half an hour for a single game. Pokémon TCG Live is the free official digital version, handy for practising and trying decks without buying cards.

Current formats

Standard is the main format. Legality goes by the regulation mark, the letter at the bottom of each card, not by expansion: after the 2026 rotation (10 April 2026 for in-person play), cards marked H, I and J are legal, along with later marks. Standard rotates once a year. Expanded uses cards from the Black & White Series onward. Pokémon TCG Live plays Standard, and its support for Expanded cards is being added in phases.

Getting started

The official rulebook points new players to a Mega Battle Deck, a ready-to-play 60-card deck with a strategy sheet, and to League Battle Decks from Play! Pokémon stores; find a store at pokemon.com/locator. An Elite Trainer Box is booster packs plus accessories such as sleeves, Energy cards, damage-counter dice and a coin, not a ready-made deck. When you start building, buying the single cards you need is usually cheaper than opening packs to find them.

Common beginner mistake

Running too many different Pokémon lines, two of this and one of that, so the deck rarely finds the pieces it needs. Pick one or two main attackers, play four copies of each card in their Evolution lines, and spend the rest of the deck on finding them and powering them up. And remember that whoever goes first can't attack or play a Supporter on that first turn.