AWKWARD ZOMBIE

They lost the rights to the cards?

It was a combination of issues. Pokemon at the time was trying to unify their overseas markets when initially they gave out rights to anyone that kinda looked trustworthy. But they really wanted more control when pokemon was becoming a more stable brand. With ruby and sapphire coming out, the tcg got an overhaul, and this seemed like the perfect chance to make a change as big as changing the company producing the game.

Wizards did itself no favors though. They constantly asked to make unique cards, skipped cards they didn't want to bring over, and wanted to make more compilation sets after legendary collection was received poorly, including a massive set that would have the whole Kanto dex in it. All made of old cards.

When The Pokemon Company revealed the news, wizards had just released Expedition, the first e-reader set. They only had less than 6 months to distribute cards, so they wanted to ram 4 huge sets in before they lost it. Only two made it, the others were thankfully held up with printing issues. The two sets (Aquapolis and Skyridge) though are currently the largest made, truthfully being made each from 2 sets in Japan, and most pokemon fans regard them as garbage and a low point for Wizards to shit on the game like that by flooding the market.

Thankfully things are much better now with a unified system.

That being said it's kinda fun mixing and matching cards from old and new sets, as long as the people you're playing with are cool with it. None of the decks me and my friends have made are tournament legal, but holy shit, is it fun to play with cards you've grown up with and actually know how to use.
Also, double battles are fucking nuts, ever tried one Kamak?

Double battles are pretty fun, but both decks have to be pretty well synched in order to make a balanced game. If one's too strong, the opponents are going to pick off the weak one so they can gang up on the stronger one.

That's especially a problem recently since EX cards are in an insanely different league than normal Pokemon cards.

So, now that we know the basics, where the heck does everything go, in addition, what are the terms for Pokemon on the field?

Lesson 4: Play Area Ettiquette



So, with this lesson, I got a little help by finding a diagram of a typical play area. However, it seems to be old, or a bit basic, so I've added a few areas to it.



As you can see, your play area should be a 180 degree rotation of your opponents. While it used to not be a big deal if you mirrored your opponent, things can get confusing, so having a standardized place to put your cards can help keep the game state from breaking unintentionally (which is very important, as we'll see).

So with that, let's dive in to the parts.

Deck

This is where the deck is located at all times during the game. It should always be above the discard pile, to the right of the active play area, and face down (unless a card effect tells you otherwise). The only times it should leave this area is if you have to search or shuffle your deck.

Which brings us to an important distinction not on the play area:

Your Hand

Like in most card games, the Pokemon TCG gives you a hand to play with. It should remain in your hands, not visible to the opponent, unless you're searching or shuffling. It is important to keep your hand out of your deck, discard, or your opponent's deck and discard.

If you ever have to handle any of these, find a secure place on the table to place your hand face down, away from other cards. The last thing you want to do is be accused of messing up the game for adding/losing cards out of your hand.

Discard Pile

When you're finished with using a card's effect, have a Pokemon faint, or are told to discard a card, these cards go to the discard pile, face up, below the deck. When you're setting up, it's important to realize that even though initially the deck is the only thing in that area, you will almost inevitably end up with cards in your discard. It's important to keep these two piles distinct though.

In addition, discard piles are free search zones, meaning both players are allowed to look at either player's discard pile at any time. This can be important information for players, especially if you didn't see what cards they may have gotten rid of to use an attack or trainer. Nothing can be hidden in the discard pile. Players are also allowed to organize their discard pile for easier searching, but this can tip off opponents to information you hope they won't find out. Just remember, you're not obligated to tidy up your discard for anyone.

Now that we've covered that, let's go to the left side of the play area.

Prizes

These cards are placed face down at the beginning of the game, and you're able to draw them when you knock out an opponent's Pokemon as a reward. because of there being prize cards, some of the cards in your deck will wind up prized, and they may be very important to your strategy.

It's important to space the cards out enough to where they're distinct, but if you're pressed for space, you can fan them out instead. If an opponent asks how many prizes you have, you must allow them to check the number, though they're not allowed to look at the cards face up to get an advantage.

Now that we've dodged around the edges, let's get to the meat of the field.

The Bench

Each player has a bench, which is like the Pokemon in reserve that a trainer has. On the bench, they can't attack, but they can support with abilities and effects. The bench can be important because it's typically where players power up their Pokemon, without having to worry about the opponent attacking them.

That being said, the bench isn't always safe. Certain cards like Gust of Wind and Pokemon Catcher:



Can drag Pokemon from the bench into direct battle. Also, some Pokemon are capable of attacking Pokemon on the bench. If you have a Pokemon with low HP, it can be easy prey for a knockout, especially if it's on the field for a support role.

These are things to consider when building a deck in the first place.

Active Pokemon

This is the Pokemon that is in the direct line of combat. On your turn, it is the Attacking Pokemon (though generally this term isn't used that often), and the only one capable of using an attack for that turn. On your opponent's turn however, it is the Defending Pokemon. Card text can make this distinction in the effects of attacks, often saying things like "Opponent's Active Pokemon" or "The Defending Pokemon" to mean the same Pokemon: your Opponent's Active Pokemon. Be sure to realize that if you were to do something to the "Defending Pokemon" (like paralyzing it), during the opponent's turn, they will no longer be the Defending Pokemon, but the effect will still last until your turn. This change in terminology does not mean the effect ends.

Now for the parts I've added to the play area.

Stadium

If you have a Stadium card, it must be played facing sideways (the text should be facing inward to the play area so it's readable to both players) on the line between both players. If you're afraid the card will get mixed in with the wrong deck at the end of the game, you can suggest pulling it back a bit to the owner's side, as long as both players agree.

Stadiums are usable by both players as long as the effects can be used. If the stadium only affects Psychic Type Pokemon and you have Fighting Types, you cannot use that Stadium.

Trainer Area

While this area can be set aside on either side of the active Pokemon, it's often done on the right due to it's close proximity to the discard pile and deck. When you play a Trainer card, it needs to be visible to both players until the effect is fully used, at which point, it's discarded. It's important to discard cards that are no longer in play as soon as possible to avoid confusion.

However, some players like to play their Supporters here and leave them afterwards (often rotating them when the effect is used) in order to keep track of the fact that they used a supporter that turn. Both players should agree to that player doing that, and it's important that the player doing this discard the supporter at the end of the turn to not confuse the game state (you don't want to potentially lose the ability to play a supporter on a turn just because you forgot to discard it last turn.

Only cards being used should be placed in this area. Cards you're discarding to use an effect like Ultra Ball



Should not be placed in this area unless you make it clear verbally that you're discarding them to play Ultra Ball. You can confuse the opponent if you suddenly play 3 Ultra Balls and then only seek out 1 Pokemon and don't discard 6 cards. Clear communication is key.

In addition, there's another tricky card I should mention right now:



This card has recently been messing up players a lot because of bad etiquette. There are 3 causes:

1. They don't follow the card text. The point of the card is to flip over a card at a time until you find the first Supporter. Many players think it's easier to just look at the deck and pull out the card that Random Receiver asks for, since this way the opponent doesn't figure out what their deck does. However, this is ripe for abuse, and will get you in trouble if you do this.

2. They flip the cards right on top of their designated trainer area. This is especially bad for messy trainers who have a pile of items they hadn't gotten around to getting rid of. When they find a supporter, they often accidentally (or "accidentally" in a few cases) shuffle the already used trainer cards into their deck, giving them cards that should be in the discard, including Random Receiver. It's important to keep the flipped cards and the used cards separate for this reason.

3. The opponent assumes the Supporter they find is the one they're going to use. This often happens because the player is forced to show their opponent the supporter they get from Random Receiver, and as a form of etiquette, they often put the card near the Random Receiver and say the name of the card, much like they would if they were playing it. This is especially bad if the supporter is a card that affects the opponent, such as N:



This actually became a big problem in tournaments, because if the player wasn't going to play N (maybe they wanted to hold onto it, or maybe they had another Supporter they wanted to play but were hoping for something better than it or N), the opponent messed up the game by thinking the player declared the use of the card. The important thing in a situation like this is to ask the opponent whether they're playing the supporter they got from Random Receiver, or, if you're the player doing this, inform them whether you're using it or not.

The Trainer Area is a grey area that can often cause problems if you take shortcuts or make mistakes. It's important to be proactive and communicate what you're doing to the opponent.

The last part of the Play Area is the most fluid part. There really isn't a designated area for it, but as part of etiquette, keeping them in order can help lessen confusion.

Dice and Coins

Recently, Pokemon has allowed the use of translucent d6 dice to be used in place of damage counters and coins. They're quickly becoming popular for the ease of use (since coin flips can be called into question if they don't flip enough). While dice work better, they open up the problem that if you're using the same kind of dice for damage as you are for coin flips, you don't want them touching and creating confusion over which were which.

Since most parts of the play area are taken up by other cards, usually dice and con flips take place to the left of the active Pokemon, though they can be anywhere as long as both players are clear on what's going on.

----------------

So having a organized play area is the responsibility of both players. Just as you should keep your side clean, you should also make sure your opponent does the same, just so confusion doesn't occur later. However, don't be a dick about them being messy with their cards. if they refuse to keep an organized play area, you should either let the game continue until real problems occur, or ask a Professor, Tournament/League Organizer, or third party to mediate and possibly explain to the opponent how they could get in trouble for sloppy set up and play, which could cost them the game.

Keep in mind, sharking the game (trying to get the opponent in trouble to make the game in your favor) for bad play is looked down upon, but helping keep an opponent from confusing/breaking a game is admirable and part of the Spirit of the Game that players are expected to adhere to. No one should coach their opponent to win, but no also wants to lose because they forgot something simple like putting prizes out. Be a pal and help out. it'll make you a better player.

There is more etiquette to cover, but that will be for another lesson.

pop flyin' Gaming.

-Professor Kamak

So I gave that TCG Online thing a shot and found out i had an account I'd forgotten about. It's pretty alright, gives you a couple decks to start out with, but having to unlock stuff by actually buying stuff is weird. If anyone wants to give the TCG a shot and has no one to play with try it out.

It's incentive to buy the cards, because for a lot of people who buy the cards, they want to play, but leagues are too far.

For instance, I'm at least 40 minutes away from a league, and I'm sure there's a lot of kids that really can't justify the weekly trip to meet up and play, not including schedule conflicts. So for these kids, it's a bit nice to buy cards and be able to play at any time.

I'm not sure if it's been implemented yet (I haven't been on the online game since about November), but trading will come into the game and make it a bit easier to get the cards you need, though you will need code cards to get started.

The nice thing is, if you buy a deck, you can use the code card in it to get the theme deck unlocked, which gives you the cards in it to play around.

And speaking of cards, here's another lesson. Don't worry kids, the boring stuff is almost over.

Lesson 5: Card Etiquette and Statuses



So, you know where cards belong, now it's time to talk about how your active Pokemon and bench Pokemon should be arranged, along with talking about what happens with status conditions.

Since the field is public knowledge, both players are allowed to clarify and rearrange the play table a bit (with the permission of the opponent if it's not their side). This helps keep cards from being hidden under other cards and giving one side or another incomplete information (you might think your Pokemon has only 3 energy and needs 4 for an attack, but you didn't see the fourth stuck under the Pokemon card), which can cost the game or get you in trouble for sloppy play. So here's a bit of help on how to play your cards right and have a fair match.

Since the active Pokemon has the most basic rules, we'll start with it.



So, we have a pop flyin' little Tepig out on the field. Right now it has no cards on it, but we're going to fix that soon.

Let's say we're going to evolve it straight to Emboar (and assume we're allowed to by circumstances such as using Rare Candy). What will the stack of cards look like?



It'd actually look like this. You're allowed to cover up the Pokemon card completely with your evolutions, and it's actually recommended that you do this to prevent confusion when there's 2-3 Pokemon stacked up on themselves. If your opponent wants to though, they can move the top cards to see if you skipped a middle stage or not. It's not too common, but they're allowed that knowledge.

That being said, Pokemon cards are only technically allowed to be covered by their evolution cards. No other card should be on top of it. Which makes sense, because you'll be covering up information if you do that.

So, we have an Emboar, but now we want to attach some energies. Where do we put them though? The most common way to do it is this:



Most recently made energy cards have the energy symbols they provide on the top left corner so that placement like this will generally let you know what the Pokemon has. Now if Emboar were to attack, you and your opponent will know that you have 2 fire energies, 1 water energy, and 3 colorless (Prism doesn't work because Emboar isn't basic). There isn't any confusion, and if either side doesn't recognize an energy, they can pick it up to read about it. No muss, no fuss.

But you know, that Defending Pokemon is a bit scary. Maybe Emboar could use a tool card. These have a very specific way to attach them in order to distinguish them from energies. They must be attached as such:



The name must be visible and the card must stick out enough to be distinct (no nubs allowed). Some people use the picture as a reference point (if the full picture is visible, that's far enough). However, I'm of the mind if at least half of the picture is showing, it should be obvious enough.

Additionally, if you're worried about encroaching on one side more than the other, or you feel you'll cover the card accidentally, you can play it like so:



The only card you can't see is Tepig, but you know it has to be there due to evolution. In other words, all of the information needed for both sides is visible at a glance.

You can play the energies going off the top of the card instead, such as:



This is especially helpful on the bench if you have a lot of Pokemon and not a lot of space. After all, you want your bench Pokemon to not overlap.

As an added note about the difference between bench and active, tool cards can be tucked in further until just the name is present. However, if you worried about it being overlooked, have the card stick out of the left to make it more apparent to yourself.

Now we've gone over basic procedure for the cards, during common gameplay, it's time for...

Damage and Status Effects

So Emboar has 150HP and you just got tackled by a Caterpie for 10 damage. How do you keep track of it in a way that both you and your opponent can check?

damage counters or dice are needed.

If you played the game way back in the day, you probably remember these:



Or newer players know about these:



Or, some players even used these:



These are no longer recommended to be used, unless you have designated 50 and 100 damage counters that both players can agree on. The safest bet for using damage counters are these:



These mini-translucent dice (the ability to see through them is important if you want them to also function as coins, as you can tell that these aren't loaded dice), can be effectively used as damage counters, and you shouldn't need more than 3 total as damage counters on any Pokemon you play.

Now, where can you put these to mark for damage?

Well, really you can play them anywhere where it's obvious that they belong to that Pokemon and where you won't forget them if you switch Pokemon. However, the best place to put them is over the portrait of the Pokemon, as they won't cover up any important information, and when you slide the card, to switch it out, the dice won't be forgotten.

As you might have noticed before, there are also two different counters up above:



The red and green counters are used to keep track of poison and burn status effects. With the recent introduction of more cards that can burn and poison, t might be in your best interest to carry some of these around, just in case, or at least get distinct ways of marking these effects (glass beads, different colored dice, etc.).

In total there are 5 status conditions in the TCG, to be aware of, and we will go through each in detail along with their card Etiquette:

Poison

One of the nastier effects of the game, poison makes the affected Pokemon take 10 damage inbetween each player's turn. Both players should remember to do this before they draw their card for the turn.

When a Pokemon is poisoned, they may retreat to dispel the poison, be cured of it with a card, or evolve to cure it.

Poison is denoted with a poison counter.

Burn

Burn is a better/worse version of poison (and the newest status effect in the game), depending on luck. Much like poison, its effects work in between turns. The difference is that you flip a coin to determine the damage your burned Pokemon takes. If you get heads, good news! It takes no damage. If you get tails, it takes 20. This can quickly add up if you're not careful though.

When a Pokemon is burned, they may retreat to dispel the burn, be cured of it with a card, or evolve to cure it.

Burn is denoted with a burn counter.

Confused

This status condition, like the next two, do not have counters. Instead, the card is rotated to show that the Pokemon is confused. When your Pokemon is confused, if it tries to attack, you must flip a coin to see if it's successful. Heads means the attack goes through fine. Tails means you take 30 damage in confusion. One thing to keep in mind, if you pass your turn without attacking, you do not have to flip for confusion damage.

When a Pokemon is confused, they may retreat to dispel the confusion, be cured of it with a card, or evolve to cure it.

Confusion is denoted with an equally confusing configuration, it stands on its head!



Paralysis

One of the rarer, but possibly most annoying status condition, is Paralysis. If your Pokemon is paralyzed, it cannot attack. Once your turn is over, it's automatically cured of paralysis.

When a Pokemon is paralyzed, it cannot retreat unless with the help of a card that forces retreat (like Switch). It can be cured with certain cards, or evolved out of paralysis.

Paralysis is denoted with a 90 degree clockwise rotation.



Asleep

The final status condition, like burn, can be a more powerful version of paralysis. Like paralysis, the Pokemon can't attack while it's asleep. In between each player's turn, the player with a sleeping Pokemon may flip a coin. Heads means the Pokemon wakes up (they can potentially wake up immediately), while tails means they're still snoozing.

When a Pokemon is asleep, it cannot retreat unless with the help of a card that forces retreat (like Switch). It can be cured with certain cards, or evolved out of sleep.

Sleep is denoted with a 90 degree counterclockwise rotation.



Status conditions can stack, but only one rotation condition can be in effect at one time (the newest effect overwrites the old ones, so a confused Pokemon can fall asleep potentially). This means a Pokemon can be poisoned, burned, and have another status effect at the same time, though that's unlikely to happen.

For many people, remembering which way to rotate for sleep and paralysis can be confusing. Most people don't care if you get it right, because it's not likely that both will come up in the same game, but for an easy mnemonic, just remember that they go alphabetically from left to right:



You can come up with your own mnemonic to remember if you want though.

So, you now know how almost everything about the basics of playing the game.

However, how the heck do you even start it?

Next time, we'll discuss how to set up a game, go through a mock game, and discuss how to win or lose a game.

Until then, feel free to leave feedback. I hope these are helping people understand the game.

pop flyin' Gaming.

-Professor Kamak

Man, I really want to start playing this TCG again...

Alright everyone, here's the moment you've been waiting for, the final general lesson on how to play the game:

Lesson 6: Setup and Play



You're ready to play a match, you've got your deck built (don't sweat this right now, we will discuss deck building strategies soon!), and now it's time to throw down for the sake of humanity. Or not, maybe you're playing a friend. Either way, you'll need to follow these steps for setting up the game.

Shuffle Your Deck

This is pretty important wherever you are, but especially during tournaments and other big name events. At many higher ranked events, you must submit a deck list, that tells them exactly what cards you have in your deck that they'll check your deck against before you start playing and even randomly during the event, especially if you're suspected of switching out cards to get an advantage. When you do a deck check, you have to organize your cards in the order you list them on the deck list, which means all of the same cards are going to be clumped together. The last thing you want is to need a draw supporter and get stuck for 5 turns drawing energy cards. Shuffle your deck until you feel the cards are distributed well enough. You probably want to double shuffle (once after the deck check, and once right before the match) if you're worried about them being really clumped.

When you shuffle your deck, you don't want the bottoms of the cards to be visible to you or your opponent. Tipping them off to your strategy can give them an immediate advantage, and if they suspect you're peeking, you can be in an awkward situation. for many people, finding a good way to shuffle the cards is important, and some even have a "lucky" shuffle strategy, like how other people have lucky rituals in other sports.

When you shuffle, you should always do it in front of your opponent. If you arrive at a table early for a match, you can take the opportunity to shuffle, but expect to continue doing so once the opponent arrives or there might be problems (bad apples ruin everything for honest players unfortunately). once both players have satisfied the shuffle criteria, we move onto the next stage:

Cutting

It's customary to cut the opponent's deck for them. a cut is considered "taking a random amount of cards off the top of the deck to create two stacks, and putting the previous top stack under the bottom stack". This means you can't count out a number of cards to move (this is more bad for you than anything. If the other player knows where the cards are that they need, they can just keep track of how many you moved). You also can't just take the top card off by itself intentionally and put it at the bottom, as 1 card isn't a "stack".

The other thing is that if you accidentally cut a deck into three or more stacks and put them together, it's considered a shuffle. If you shuffle an opponent's deck, they may cut their own deck once more. If they shuffle their deck at that point, it'll be up to a judge to come by and cut the deck for that player. In some cases, they can get in trouble for wasting time in timed events. Players should also avoid accidentally (or "accidentally") looking at the contents of their opponent's deck when they cut.

However, cutting isn't technically necessary in friendly games, and even in higher level events, you can tap a deck to say that you approve of the shuffle.

Anytime an opponent has to shuffle their cards, you're allowed to cut their deck, and vice versa. Players cannot deny the ability to have their deck cut at these opportunities.

Once a deck is cut, it's customary to pass the deck back to it's owner, shake hands, and begin the match.

Draw a Hand

The first thing you need to do at this point is draw 7 cards from the top of the deck. All draws must be made from the top of the deck at all times.

Upon getting your hand, you must play 1 Basic Pokemon to your Active Pokemon position. You may also place spare Basic Pokemon on the bench (this is a good idea in order to not lose a match). All Pokemon placed at this beginning part of the match MUST be face down.

However, you may not have any basic Pokemon in your hand. This is okay. It's called a mulligan. You must display to your opponent your hand to show that you indeed don't have any basics, and you shuffle your hand into your deck (letting your opponent cut afterwards). You then redraw 7 cards and play any basics you have. You can mulligan any number of times, but keep in mind, the more you do so, the longer it will take to get started. Every time you mulligan (and vice versa for your opponent), your opponent has the opportunity to draw a "mulligan card" in exchange for you not setting up. If both players mulligan, neither gets the extra card (if you mulligan 2 times, and your opponent mulligans 3 times, you're allowed only 1 card at most). They can choose to not accept the mulligan, but if they do choose to pick it, they have to do this next step first.

Placing Prizes

Once you have a suitable hand that provides you with an Active Pokemon, you then place prize cards. The standard is 6, but sometimes this changes, especially for players that want quicker games. These go face down in the prize section of the play area. Once prizes are out, you may draw any mulligan cards you're entitled to, and place any more Pokemon that you want on the bench (if you draw a better Active Pokemon on a mulligan draw, it can only be on the bench. Once a starting Active is picked, it can't be moved).

Who goes first?

Once both players are set up, one player will use a randomizer (a coin or an approved translucent d6 (evens are heads, odds are tails)), and the opponent will call the result. If the opponent calls it, their turn is first. If they don't, the player with the randomizer will go first.

Before anything else happens, players will flip their active and bench Pokemon face up (provided you've been given clearance by the tournament organizers that the match has begun), and the player that goes first may start their turn.

So now that you know how to set up a game, we'll be going through a mock battle I've put together on PlayTCG with some basic, easy to understand decks. But we need to clarify something first:

How do you win?

There are 3 ways to win a match (excluding disqualifications or any other weirdness that can happen):

Prize Out: This is the most common way to win a game. Every time you knock out an opponent's Pokemon, you draw a prize card. Once you have no more prize cards, you've won the match. Keep in mind, your opponent is going for the same thing usually, and even if one side gets good headway towards winning, the opponent can come from behind to win.

Bench Out: This is the next most common way to win. If your opponent doesn't have many Pokemon out, you might knock them all out before you run out of prizes. If a player can't promote a Pokemon to the active position from the bench, you have benched them out. This is why it's important to get more Pokemon on the field early in the game, otherwise, if you have one Pokemon sitting out there, the opponent might knock you out without a fight. Nobody wants to be the kid with only a Rattata. Keep in mind, your bench can only hold 5 Pokemon at a time, but if your active Pokemon is knocked out and replaced with a bench Pokemon, that bench space opens up. You're not limited like in the games to only 6 Pokemon on hand.

Deck Out: This is the least common way to win, and is often frustrating to the opponents. A person decks out if they don't have a card to draw from their deck at the beginning of their turn. Some decks work to dwindle cards to make their opponents deck out, and others burn through their own deck to look for cards, but can get dangerously close to decking themselves out. Usually though, decks aren't at risk to deck out.

So without further adieu, it's time for an example.

Mock Battle

For this fight, I'm using an outdated deck I built last year against a preconstructed Emboar deck. We'll see how they both fare. I'll link to Bulbapedia articles each time I reference a card.

Setup

So I went through the trouble of setting it all up. Neither side mulliganed, prizes were put out and the blue player ended up going first on the roll. Blue player is starting with two Gothitas, while the red player has a Darumaka. This might end up being a fast match if things don't turn around.



Blue's First turn

On the blue player's first turn, they drew Dual Ball, and used it to get two Pokemon out (due to getting two heads). Cleffa and Ralts were gotten out and put on the bench. The player then played a water energy on Gothita and retreated it to the bench, putting Cleffa out. Finally they ended their turn with Cleffa's Eeeeeeek attack, returning their hand into the deck and drawing 6 cards, while Cleffa fell asleep.

In between turns, the blue player flips to see if Cleffa wakes up, and it doesn't.



Red's First turn

Red drew a Herdier. That's not going to help. Red attaches a Fire Energy to Darumaka and ends his turn since Cleffa can't be damaged by attacks when it's asleep.

In between turns, Cleffa wakes up. Red's crying at this revelation right now.



Blue's Second turn

Blue draws another Gothita and promotes it and the Ralts to the bench. The bench is now full. He attaches a psychic energy to Gothita, and uses Professor Elm's Training Method to search out Gardevoir. Blue then uses [img=http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Rare_Candy_%28Dark_Explorers_100%29]Rare Candy[/img] to evolve the Ralts that was played last turn into Gardevoir. Now that Gardevoir's on the field, it's Ability, Psychic Mirage is active:



This means that the Gothita on the bench now has effectively 2 energies on it.

Blue then ends his turn with another Eeeeeeek, getting a new hand, and putting Cleffa to sleep.

However, between turns, Cleffa wakes up. This could be bad news.



Red's Second turn

Red draws a Pansear and promptly puts it on the bench and attaches a fire energy to it. It's a start at least.

He then uses Darumaka's firebreathing attack, which gets a coin flip of tails. The attack does 10 damage to Cleffa.



Blue's Third turn

Blue draws a switch but opts to hold onto it for now. He attaches a Psychic energy to the same Gothita as last turn, and uses Professor Elm's Training Method to pull out a Gothorita to evolve it.

He then Eeeeeeek's once more.

Cleffa, however, wakes up. Oh bugger.



Red's Third turn

He draws another fire energy and puts it on Pansear.

Time to try out firebreathing again.

He gets tails again. Cleffa takes only 10 damage again.



Blue's Fourth turn

Blue draw's Cilan, but he already has one of those.

He attaches his Psychic energy to Gothorita (giving it 3 physical cards, but 6 effective energy), and evolves it into Gothitelle. He free retreats Cleffa to the bench, and sends out Gothitelle. Since Gothitelle is the active Pokemon, its ability, Magic Room, is now in effect until it's no longer active:



Ouch.

He uses Cilan to search out 2 Psychic energies and a Water energy. Then uses Madkinesis for 150 damage. Yowza.

Darumaka faints, and is sent to the discard, and Pansear is promoted by Red to be the new active. Blue draws a prize card, which ends up being Professor Elm's New Theory.

Red only has one Pokemon left, and can easily be benched out at this point, especially with how powerful Gothitelle is.



Red's Fourth turn

Red draws a Tepig and puts it on the bench. He'd probably want to retreat Pansear out with Switch, but Gothitelle blocks it. Instead, he puts a Fighting Energy on Pansear and uses Live Coal for 30 damage on Gothitelle.



Blue's Fifth turn

Blue draw's a double colorless energy. He attaches a Psychic energy to a benched Gothita, and uses Professor Elm's New Training to pull out a Gothitelle. Then Gothitelle uses Madkinesis to knock out Pansear. Tepig is promoted and Blue gets a prize, a Gothorita.



Red's Fifth turn

It's do or die time. Red draws a fire energy card and attaches it to Tepig.

Tepig uses Tackle for 10 damage.



Blue's Sixth turn

Blue draws a psychic energy, attaches it to Gothita, then evolves Gothita into Gothorita. Then he has Gothitelle use Madkinesis for the knock out and the win.

The players flip over their prizes to see what they were missing. Looks like Red missed out on a Juniper and a Simisear. Meanwhile Blue had a Gothitelle and a Kirlia prized. That could have been bad.



The game is over, and Blue has won. On retrospect, this was probably a bad idea since preconstructed decks usually lack supporters, but we still managed to get a game out of it. You can see how the Pokemon worked together, with Gardevoir powering up Gothitelle to insane levels with Psychic Mirage, and Gothitelle locking the opponent from using item cards.

But this is just a taste of the strategies present in the game. Just as there are hundreds of Pokemon, there are plenty of solid strategies for decks. Some fare a bit better than others, but building a deck around cards you love is very rewarding, especially when it flows correctly.

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For now, that's all of the basic lessons I have to teach you. We will begin to talk about deck building soon, and I will begin analyzing cards and their uses. We will also go over general tournament rules, the different tiers of tournaments, and also special events like pre-releases and how they differ from normal league play.

And for those of you who have nothing but old cards, don't worry. We'll have a few special discussions about their place in unlimited and restricted tournaments. We'll even discuss collecting for those of you who might play a bit but would rather catch 'em all.

For now, if there's any questions about these lessons or anything else about the card game, feel free to ask. I hope this has taught a few of you about the game, and maybe got a few people fired up about getting back into the game.

pop flyin' Gaming.

-Professor Kamak

So, before we get to deck building, I want to take time to step back and see how the game started.

History of Pokemon: The Early Years



There is so much wrong with this, and I cringe every time I see it or remember it exists. Fucking 90's commercials, man.

Also, why would you slap a card down like that, you're touching the foil ahhhhhhh, don't you know foil back then was so easily scratched and ruined?



Man, the 90's were weird even for Japan.



Anyways, when the card game first came out in Japan, shit was so cash. Leagues opened up everywhere, and while they primarily were for TCG players, they also served as a place to trade and battle. Something that has carried over until the video games were officially wrapped into leagues and tournaments as a valid alternative. Keep in mind, the internet was still AOL message boards and TV was... that. Plus everyone dressed weird. Since trading card games weren't really big back then (magic was the only real big card game back then), Pokemon served to fill a niche between collectible kids things and competitive cards.



Ads popped up everywhere to promote the game (magazines, TV, movies, anything that could be advertized on), and stores were pretty much selling out as soon as they could get the packs.

Naturally, once the Pokemon games hit it big in the States (something Game Freak NEVER expected), the card game was set to be released in early 1999 with the help of a company used to running a successful Trading Card Game: Wizards of the Coast. The first set released?

Base Set



As much as people were hyped about Pokemon cards in Japan, it was probably even worse in the United States (though it took a couple of months for stores to realize that these silly little cards were a goldmine). Because booster packs back then were all taken directly from the booster box and were loose rather than placed in bulkier blisters like today, most stores had to put packs behind counters. Many of them had them behind the counters of the electronics departments, but some stores had so much demand for them, cashiers would have booster boxes at the check outs to sell to customers passing through. When Pokemania was in full swing, booster boxes could bodaciously sell out faster than a midnight console release. Limits were placed on how many packs a person could buy, leading to Pokemaniacs lining up family members in order to get around the personal limits. There were reports of people buying packs off of people fortunate enough to get them for more than double the price, and some people were concerned for their safety if they purchased them. This lead to some "quality" reporting over how Pokemon cards were supporting gambling and violence and general unfounded fears including some ulterior motive from Japan. Some of these have surfaced over the years, and they're all pretty amazing. Including this notable story about how a 9 year old became addicted to gambling and was forcing his parents to spend thousands on the cardboard crack.

The set itself had many great cards that people still tote around as their favorites. Holofoils made you just about the coolest kid ever, and if you had a Charizard (or multiple Charizards), you were a god among men. What people don't remember, or rather, didn't know, is that there are 3 types of cards in this first set.

With all sets of this time, there were two prints. The first print, a limited run of cards, are first edition cards. You can recognize them with their first edition symbol on the cards. What's different about Base Set though is that the very first run of cards were all basically misprints. Wizards of the Coast forgot to put a shadow effect around the portrait of the Pokemon on the cards that was meant to make it look like it popped out. Wizards fixed it quickly, but the damage was done. These are the most collectible cards in the set, having very limited numbers. A full set of shadowless cards would go for around $3,000 and individual booster packs with shadowless cards go for $50 on eBay.



For those curious, the only difference here is that the Charizard on the right has a shadow on the bottom and right side of the portrait. This difference means over $100 in value.

So Pokemon was bit by the trading card bug. And pretty badly at that. But of course, Base Set was only the beginning. By the time Base Set had come out in the US, Japan already had 5 sets out. It was clear that the newer cards were going to need to come fast to keep up with the demand.

In June 1999, that next set was released.

Jungle

With most sets back in the day, there was a story behind each of them. Jungle's story was a combination of Safari Zone and exploring a rainforest. Jungle introduced some of the most powerful cards in the game, including Mr. Mime, Wigglytuff, Clefable, and Kangaskhan. To denote the difference between base set and Jungle, Jungle cards were given a set stamp:



However, Jungle wasn't without problems. The set was ridiculously small, which didn't matter in Japan because these were expansion sets that could be released every couple of months as bite sized portions. A set with 48 cards was just fine. However, for WotC, a 48 card set like this was a nightmare. Players could buy just a few packs and trade to get the complete set. In addition, Jungle had only holofoil cards and not rares, and they made up 1/3rd of the set. Without energies to buffer the set, and with players getting a really rare card every time, Wizards decided to tweak the set, making this the first time they butted heads with Pokemon over changing something in the game. They made rare versions of all of the holofoils, making half of the set really hard to get. This is why if you ever look at a Pokemon collector's extra cards, they're likely to have loads of Jungle cards. It wasn't a well received strategy, but hey, cards were cards, and some of the rares looked neat to people when they could see the art.

Around the time Jungle came out, organized leagues first started popping up. I remember everyone wanted to go to these things, but a lot of the people who went were pretty disappointed. Compared to now, leagues were largely babysitting services where you sat there and played and traded by yourselves and the adults didn't know what to do or how to play. They'd even help you with trades, resulting in some people trading away rare Pokemon breeders for things like Haunter. Truly a dark time. Leagues however, became a place where you could get promo cards (though cards wound up in a number of places, including cereal boxes, poptarts, CD's, magazines, video games, and I think even a Hallmark Card), and those things were sought after by everyone. Many leagues even gave out badges that they received from Wizards (If they were officially backed), something that continued for years.

Around this time, a lot of weird media came out of the wood works about Pokemon cards. Entire magazines and guidebooks were printed about the games, promising sneak peeks of new cards in Japan or having reader submitted card ideas. They were almost always aimed at kids, and were abyssmal.

The guidebooks themselves often got facts wrong and/or ripped off the user manuals you'd get from leagues or in pre-built theme decks. These had an effect of messing with a lot of people who didn't know better.

There were even "helpful hints" on what to do with your Pokemon cards, including telling players to sign every one of their cards, not in case they'd lose them, but to show they're the trainer that "mastered" the cards and built an unstoppable team (seriously).

And then you got things like this:



I can tell you for a fact that this is a thing that exists, and I have it in my lap at this very moment. It is one of my favorite pieces of early Pokemon memorabilia from just how bad and silly it is and also because Ernie Hudson. Trying to get through it will result in tears. When you get to Tarzan guy, oh man.

The best part? It was 2 tapes. At some point it ended, but to see the rest, you had to switch it out.

To put this in context, this was a 80 minute documentary made where a guy went into a random booty league one day, and decided to talk about the Pokeymans. Including interviewing a manager about what he thought about the game, and finding "local Pokemon celebrities" who were basically kids with good decks.

This was a thing that was sold in stores. And it wasn't officially backed by anyone who was a part of the games.

You kids will never realize how crazy Pokemon was.

An interesting point made here, however, was the idea that Pokemon cards were going to be very valuable very quickly. In the 90's things like Beanie Babies and rare collectibles were common, and many times people bought into these things because they thought they'd get rich later. However, almost all of the fads people followed didn't pan out like that. By the time most of them even heard of the Pokemon card game, the cards that would be worth much more down the line were already gone. However, this idea of "get rich quick" permeated early Pokemon.

So, about the time kids were heading back to school, problems began to appear. Pokemon cards really only took off at the end of the school year in 1999, so their power fermented and reached a high point by the time schools went back into session. Kids stealing cards, kids getting in fights, cards being ripped apart (which was the ultimate dick move back then), all of this started becoming more popular. It especially got bad in October when the next set came out.

Fossil



And then the Triforce was complete. Whereas Jungle focused more on Safari Zone Pokemon, Fossil finished off the Pokedex with more rare Pokemon, including, as you guessed, fossil Pokemon. Fossil Pokemon were the first (and really only) Pokemon to evolve from a Trainer Card, having to be revived from a Fossil Trainer to be a Pokemon. The game was pretty weird.

This set also followed the change from Japan to English of having double the amount of rare cards, and in addition, Mew was removed from the set for an unknown reason, which caused a stir when it was a very popular card. Both versions of mew eventually were released as promo cards in leagues, but until then, people were a bit upset over its exclusion, especially when the first movie came out about a month later.

Fossil set off a chain reaction that could not be stopped. Pokemon cards were invading the schools and parents and the media were in a tizzy over Pokemania. Even where kids were getting along fine with the cards being around, there was a bit of a moral panic of not wanting their kids to associate with kids that played the game or collected the cards, in case it spread. Schools across the country cracked down, some banning the cards from being out at school hours, and some banning them entirely, confiscating them if kids had them in their desks or backpacks. Pokemon cards even gave an Olympic competitor a goal when he fought to keep a prized Pokemon card. The Pokemania was as much in effect as it was mystified by sensationalists.

That first Christmas was the year of Pokemon, with merchandize everywhere. Tins for Pokemon cards appeared, new Pokemon cards that were collectible and not playable were big, sometimes mixing with the desirable cards. Things like collectible marbles appeared to get in on it. But Pokemon cards remained the big thing. Kids hopes to get more of those foil boosters, maybe under the tree, or in their stockings. It was a big deal.

Finally, before we get too far in and start dealing with the weirder sets, let's discuss one of Wizard's weird choices:

Base Set 2



It's really not clear what the intent was with this, though it was advertised as being a cheaper way to get cards. Booster packs for the older sets were starting to get dangerously close to the $2 mark depending on the store, and Base Set 2 was a $1 pack. It brought back cards from Base Set and Jungle, and was the largest set at the time. According to later stories about it, Base Set 2 was intended to have all of the cards from the first 3 sets in it, along with a few promos to give players incentive to buy into the set. Because of the card amounts in it, it was to be a balanced set and would boast having all of the Pokemon together.

Game Freak and consumers really didn't like this. The idea of buying cheaper versions of cards didn't really sit well with them, and the fact that they were different not only meant collectors had to "catch 'em all" again, but also less knowledgeable players would get duped with less rare cards. After all, a Base Set 2 Charizard was worth not nearly as much as a Base Set Charizard. Even so, Base Set sold well, mainly due to the appealing displays, the careful marketing, and the cheaper price. It was a good way to get kids into the game if they weren't swept up in the initial wave.

In addition, Wizards also promoted the game with the use of a new starter set that came with an interactive CD where kids could learn how to play. For most kids, this is how they originally learned, and it helped not only organize leagues better, but also counteracted the bad information spread the previous year about how to play the game. With people excited about the card game, it was starting to shift from collecting to playing for the first real time since the game launched.

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This was hardly the only interesting time in the TCG's history, but a lot of stuff coincided at the right times to make an interested turn of events. Pokemon had a lot of growing up to do, and the hype wasn't going to last forever. After Base Set 2, the steam was going to be dwindle a bit, but the card game was just beginning.

I hope you find this retrospective piece into the past of the Pokemon TCG. More of these pieces will come in time, gradually working up to the current era of Pokemon.

Have any stories or memories you want to share? Post them! I certainly have a lot of fond (and sometimes less than pleasant), memories from this time too, and it'd be fun to hear. Pokemon is a great tool for making great memories with people, and I hope all of you have something to look back on fondly.

But memories are also being forged now. In 2 weeks I'll be making the trip with 3 friends to compete in the Pokemon State Championships in Dallas Texas. If anyone in the area wants to stop by, it's open to the public. Despite the competitiveness, you're free to hang out if you don't want to play, or heck, try anyways (though you may want to brush up on tournament rules before jumping in. It's an opportunity to have a lot of fun in fairly small location.

I'm hoping to make some new memories soon, and I hope maybe you'll have that opportunity too.

pop flyin' Gaming.

-Professor Kamak

Cards were only 1-2 dollars back then? Wow.

Yup.

And right now they're $4.17 a pack.

I used to get 4 a week on a $5 allowance, because they'd end up being about $1.25 apiece after tax.

Also, booster boxes were $25-$30 early on (though quickly went to $40-50 later), but few people ever really bought them from stores, or were even allowed to buy them.

I miss those prices.

Great start. But, Kam, before you get to into the deck building, I think now would be a good time to go over the special cards (particularly EXs and ACE SPEC cards.) After all, with the exceptions of a few oddities, most competitive decks contain, if not rely upon, such cards. Also, while I don't remember what the official ruling on randomizers is, common rule among players seems to dictate that you can't have your damage counters be identical to your randomizer, meaning, if one wishes to use dice for both purposes (it's reccomended), dice of varying size is recommended. If one dice is twice the size of the others, it helps eliminate any chance. perceived or real, of confusion.

- Alec, Professor's Aide

Goddammit Kamak, you're making my broke self want to go out and start buying Pokemon cards again.

Good point with the dice, but most people don't have problems using the same ones for both, even competitively. It is recommended to make the distinction just in case, but I've yet to really see a big "Do not do this" issue brought up with it.

Though, I'm sure some people would try to take advantage of the confusion. Oh well.

Just keep in mind players, for randomizers the dice must be translucent, but damage counters don't have to be, they're just nicer if they are for most players.

As for Ace Specs and EXes, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it later. Competitive play is fine, but I don't want to overemphasize it's importance. Many people enjoy building and playing decks for fun, sometimes just with whatever they've happened upon in their collecting. It's even a bit fun to try to build a deck with limited resources. I'll certainly cover them soon, but I think it's better to walk before we run in this, and there's a bit to cover in general deck building before we even consider those special cards.



Good. My scheme is working...

But no, while competitive play is a bit more daunting resourcewise, it can be pretty easy to build a decent deck on a budget, especially if you're successful at trading for what you need or saving cheddar by using things like starting decks. We'll discuss this aspect near the end of the deck building process.

If you're collecting, there's not much help for you sadly, though trading with other collectors can certainly help. Some will accept bulk, and if you have some spare older cards, you can possibly find new collectors willing to help you get the new stuff that's heaping up.

Anyways, as some of you might have observed, STP 2013 will be starting soon in many regions.

What is STP?

STP stands for States, Territories, Providences. They're basically one of the bigger events in North American Pokemon competitive play and only happen once a year.

As you can tell by the name, each state, providence, and territory in applicable countries has their own event (that if, if they registered an event with Pokemon). There are video game and TCG tournaments, and often a lot of side events like drafts, specialty competitions, and mini-tournaments to win prizes like mats and booster boxes. There's plenty of festivities, and they're a lot like conventions. Even if you don't compete, it's fun to hang out, and admission is free.

If you're interested, check this page out for More details, including event dates, times, and locations.

Clicking on an event will potentially lead you to a link to more information about the events at the locations (if the organizer is... organized), including prices for things like drafts.

If you happen to be near the events, check them out. They're among the smallest "big" events for Pokemon, as Cities and Battle Roads are much smaller (less than 50 people usually), and Regionals can get into several hundred, and everyone I've talked to says they have a nice feel to them.

Of course, it will depend on the location. I'm not sure, but I don't foresee places like Rhode Island to have massive turn outs (though I could be wrong).

For now, I'll leave this at that, but expect the first lesson in deck building soon. We'll be discussing finding the base strategy.

Ah memories. Good ones and bad ones. The bad one was my brother pulling a 1st Edition Nidoking misprint and then some kid snatching it out of his hand a while later. Never did find said kid. Good ones were when we were rewarded with booster packs for chores or good grades.

I still have all my rare Pokemon cards, including some promos. Oh, and the Burger King gold "cards."