Objective of the Game
Pokémon TCG is a trading card game where players take on the role of Pokémon trainers. The main goal is to defeat your opponent's Pokémon and be the first to collect six prize cards.
Game Materials
- Pokémon Cards: These include Basic Pokémon and evolved Pokémon you need to build your team.
- Energy Cards: Required to perform attacks with your Pokémon.
- Trainer Cards: These can be played once per turn and have special effects.
- Prize Cards: Whenever you knock out an opponent's Pokémon, you draw a prize card.
Setup
- Both players shuffle their deck and draw the top seven cards.
- Each player selects up to five Basic Pokémon to place on their Bench and one Pokémon as their Active Pokémon. If you have no Basic Pokémon in your hand, you may mulligan once.
- Place the top six cards of your deck face-down as Prize Cards.
Turn Phases
- Draw: Draw a card from your deck.
- Action Phase:
- Play Basic Pokémon: You can place Basic Pokémon from your hand onto your Bench.
- Evolve Pokémon: Place the evolved form on top of a corresponding Basic Pokémon.
- Attach Energy: Attach an Energy card from your hand to a Pokémon.
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Trainer Cards: Some Trainer cards allow you to draw more cards or have other specialized effects.
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Battle Phase:
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Attack: If your Active Pokémon has enough Energy cards, you can perform an attack by paying the required Energy and executing the attack's effect. Pokémon can attack only once per turn.
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End of Turn: Pass to your opponent's turn.
Special Rules and Strategies
- Status Effects: Some attacks inflict status effects like "Poison", "Paralysis", or "Sleep", affecting Pokémon actions.
- Evolving: Evolving is an effective strategy as evolved Pokémon often have stronger attacks and more hit points.
- Type Advantages: Different types have advantages or disadvantages against others; Fire is strong against Grass, for example.
- Deck Building: A balanced deck contains Pokémon, Energies, and Trainer cards that work well together to adapt to various situations.
The winner is the player who first draws all six Prize Cards or defeats the opponent’s last Pokémon.
