How to Play Pokémon TCG: A Beginner's Guide

For a standard game, each player needs their own 60-card deck.

You will also need a way to keep track of damage and certain effects during the game. Typical accessories include:

• Damage counters or dice
• A coin or suitable coin-flip die
• Special Condition markers
• A playmat, if desired

Preconstructed Pokémon decks are one of the easiest ways to start because they contain a complete 60-card deck designed to be played immediately.

A Pokémon TCG deck is primarily made up of three categories of cards:

A standard Pokémon TCG deck contains exactly 60 cards.

With the exception of Basic Energy cards, you normally cannot include more than four cards with the same name in your deck.

Your deck must also contain at least one Basic Pokémon.

There is no single correct ratio of Pokémon, Trainer and Energy cards.

A beginner deck may contain a relatively balanced mixture, while competitive decks are often built around specific strategies and can use very different ratios.

The important thing is that the cards in your deck work together rather than simply choosing 60 powerful cards individually.

Basic Pokémon are particularly important because they can normally be played directly from your hand.

Evolution Pokémon generally cannot.

For example, an Evolution chain might look like: Charmander → Charmeleon → Charizard.

Charmander is the Basic Pokémon.

Charmeleon evolves from Charmander.

Charizard then evolves from Charmeleon.

You normally need the previous Evolution Stage already in play before evolving into the next one.

Your Pokémon are divided into two main areas during a game.

At the beginning of a standard game, each player places six cards from the top of their deck face down as Prize cards.

Normally, when you Knock Out one of your opponent's Pokémon, you take a Prize card and add it to your hand.

Some Pokémon have special rules that allow the opponent to take more than one Prize card when they are Knocked Out.

The first player to take all of their Prize cards wins the game.

A standard game begins with both players shuffling their 60-card decks.

Each player then draws seven cards.

You need a Basic Pokémon in your opening hand.

If you have one:

• Choose one Basic Pokémon and place it face down as your Active Pokémon.
• You may place additional Basic Pokémon face down on your Bench.
• Place the top six cards of your deck face down as your Prize cards.
• Determine which player goes first.
• Reveal the Active and Benched Pokémon.

You are now ready to play.

If you do not have a Basic Pokémon in your opening hand, you reveal the hand, shuffle it back into your deck and draw another seven cards.

This is commonly called a mulligan.

Your opponent may be able to draw an additional card when you take a mulligan.

A Pokémon TCG turn begins by drawing one card.

You can then perform a variety of actions.

Depending on the cards available to you, you may:

• Put Basic Pokémon onto your Bench
• Evolve Pokémon
• Attach an Energy card
• Play Trainer cards
• Use Pokémon Abilities
• Retreat your Active Pokémon

You can generally perform these actions in whichever order makes sense for your strategy, subject to the rules and the text printed on individual cards.

When you are ready, you may attack with your Active Pokémon.

Attacking normally ends your turn.

Most Pokémon attacks require Energy.

For example, an attack may require 1 Fire Energy + 1 Colorless Energy.

The Fire requirement must be satisfied by an appropriate Energy.

A Colorless requirement can generally be satisfied by Energy of any type.

As a standard turn action, you can normally attach one Energy card from your hand per turn.

Because Energy usually builds up gradually, deciding where to attach it is an important strategic decision.

You might power up your Active Pokémon immediately or prepare another Pokémon on your Bench for a future turn.

Your Active Pokémon's available attacks are printed on its card.

An attack normally shows:

• Energy cost
• Attack name
• Damage
• Additional effect, if applicable

To use an attack, your Pokémon must satisfy its Energy requirement.

You then follow the instructions printed on the attack.

For a simple attack, this may just mean dealing the listed damage to your opponent's Active Pokémon.

More complicated attacks may:

• Apply Special Conditions
• Discard Energy
• Draw cards
• Damage Benched Pokémon
• Heal Pokémon
• Move Energy
• Prevent certain effects

The card text tells you what happens.

When a Pokémon is attacked, damage is placed on it using damage counters or dice.

For example, if a Pokémon has 120 HP and receives 70 damage, it has not yet been Knocked Out.

If it later receives at least another 50 damage, its accumulated damage reaches its HP and it is Knocked Out.

Damage normally remains on the Pokémon between turns unless an effect heals or removes it.

A Pokémon is Knocked Out when the damage on it reaches or exceeds its HP.

The Knocked Out Pokémon and cards attached to it are normally placed in their owner's discard pile.

The opponent then takes the appropriate number of Prize cards.

If the Knocked Out Pokémon was the Active Pokémon, its owner must normally choose another Pokémon from the Bench to become Active.

If that player has no Pokémon remaining in play, they lose the game.

Some Pokémon have Weakness or Resistance printed near the bottom of the card.

Sometimes you do not want your current Active Pokémon to remain in battle.

You can retreat it and replace it with one of your Benched Pokémon.

Most Pokémon have a Retreat Cost printed on the card.

To retreat normally, you discard the required amount of Energy from that Pokémon.

You can normally retreat only once per turn.

Choosing when to retreat can be an important part of the game, particularly when an Active Pokémon is heavily damaged or poorly matched against the opponent.

Evolution allows Pokémon to become stronger versions of themselves.

A typical chain might be: Basic → Stage 1 → Stage 2.

To evolve, place the appropriate Evolution card on top of the Pokémon it evolves from.

You normally cannot evolve a Pokémon during the same turn that Pokémon was first put into play.

You also normally cannot evolve a Pokémon on your first turn.

When a Pokémon evolves:

• Its previous damage remains
• Attached Energy remains
• Attached cards generally remain unless another rule or effect says otherwise

The evolved Pokémon now uses the HP, attacks, Abilities, Weakness, Resistance and Retreat Cost shown on its new card.

Trainer cards are an essential part of most Pokémon TCG decks.

They help your deck operate consistently and give you additional strategic options.

Some Pokémon have an Ability in addition to, or instead of, certain attacks.

Abilities can provide effects such as:

• Drawing cards
• Searching the deck
• Moving Energy
• Healing
• Increasing damage
• Protecting Pokémon
• Interfering with the opponent

Abilities do not all work in the same way.

Some can be activated during your turn, while others operate automatically when certain conditions are met.

Always follow the wording printed on the card.

Pokémon can sometimes be affected by Special Conditions.

The main Special Conditions are:

• Asleep
• Burned
• Confused
• Paralyzed
• Poisoned

Each condition affects the Pokémon differently.

For example, some can prevent a Pokémon from attacking or retreating, while others cause damage between turns.

Special Conditions apply to the Active Pokémon and may be removed in certain ways, including moving the affected Pokémon to the Bench or evolving it where applicable.

There are three main ways to win.

The first turn has some additional restrictions.

The player going first can begin developing their board, attaching Energy and using many available card effects, but cannot normally attack on that first turn.

There are also restrictions involving Evolution and certain card types.

Because individual cards can modify normal rules, beginners should follow the current official Pokémon TCG rules and the wording printed on their cards when an effect creates an exception.

If you eventually want to play Pokémon TCG competitively, you will encounter the Standard format.

Standard is the primary competitive format and uses cards from currently legal releases.

Older cards periodically rotate out of Standard play.

Modern Pokémon cards include a regulation mark, which helps determine whether a card is currently legal in Standard.

However, some older printings of cards may still be usable when an equivalent card has been reprinted in a currently legal form, subject to the applicable rules.

Because legality changes over time, always check the current official Pokémon TCG format rules before entering a tournament.

For casual games with friends, you can agree on whichever format or card pool you want to use.

Imagine your Active Pokémon already has one Energy attached.

You begin your turn.

• Step 1, draw a card. You draw one card from your deck.
• Step 2, develop your Bench. You play a Basic Pokémon from your hand onto your Bench.
• Step 3, attach Energy. You attach another Energy to your Active Pokémon.
• Step 4, play Trainer cards. You play an Item card that lets you search your deck for another Pokémon, then your Supporter for the turn to draw additional cards.
• Step 5, use an Ability. One of your Pokémon has an Ability you can use, so you activate it.
• Step 6, attack. Your Active Pokémon now has enough Energy to use an attack dealing 90 damage, so you attack your opponent's Active Pokémon and your turn ends.

This basic sequence forms the foundation of most Pokémon TCG turns: draw, develop your board, attach Energy, use Trainers and Abilities, then attack.

Once you understand the rules, building your own deck is where much of the strategy begins.

A good beginner deck should have a clear plan.

Instead of filling the deck with many unrelated powerful Pokémon, try building around a smaller number of Pokémon that work together.

Think about:

• Which Pokémon will be your main attacker?
• How will you find that Pokémon consistently?
• How will you get Energy onto it?
• Which Trainer cards help your strategy?
• What happens if your main attacker is Knocked Out?
• Can you draw enough cards each turn?

Consistency is usually more useful than having many different one-off cards.

Remember that a legal standard deck still needs to contain exactly 60 cards. With the usual Basic Energy exception, you normally cannot have more than four cards with the same name.

Reading the rules helps, but Pokémon TCG becomes much easier once you actually play.

For a completely new player, one of the simplest approaches is to start with a preconstructed deck rather than immediately trying to build a competitive deck from individual cards.

Playing a few games will quickly teach you:

• When to attach Energy
• How Evolution works
• How Trainer cards interact
• When to retreat
• How Prize cards affect strategy
• Why drawing and searching for cards is important

Pokémon TCG Live can also be useful for learning because the digital game handles many of the rules automatically while you play.

Once you understand the basic flow, you can begin changing cards and eventually building your own decks.

One of the reasons Pokémon TCG has remained popular is that the cards can be enjoyed in several different ways.

Some people primarily play the game.

Others primarily collect the cards.

Many do both.

A highly collectible Pokémon card is not necessarily a strong competitive card, and a very useful competitive card is not necessarily rare or expensive.

If you are building a deck, focus primarily on what the card does in the game.

If you are building a collection, factors such as rarity, artwork, condition and personal preference may matter much more.

Sleevd allows collectors and players to discover Pokémon cards from marketplace sellers alongside other trading card games.

Players can search for individual cards they need for their decks, while collectors can browse raw cards, professionally graded cards and sealed Pokémon TCG products.

When buying individual raw cards, always check the exact card, set, language and condition before purchasing.

For more information about evaluating raw cards, see our Trading Card Condition Guide.

If you are unsure whether you should purchase a raw or professionally graded card, see our Raw vs Graded Trading Cards guide.

On Sleevd today there are 432 different Pokémon cards on sale, 872 copies between them, at a median of AED 3. 328 of those cards are AED 10 or less, which is where most of a deck comes from.

The Pokémon Trading Card Game may look complicated when you first see a full board of Pokémon, Energy, Trainer cards and damage counters.

But the fundamental game loop is straightforward: Play Pokémon → attach Energy → develop your board → attack → Knock Out Pokémon → take Prize cards.

Once you understand how a normal turn works, the deeper strategy comes from learning how different cards interact and how to build a deck that executes its strategy consistently.

Start with a simple deck, play a few games and learn the cards as you go.

You do not need to understand every card or advanced competitive strategy before playing your first Pokémon TCG game.