Pokémon Trading Card Game - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Pokémon Trading Card Game (Pokémon TCG) is a collectible card game

Collectible card game

thumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...

based on the Pokémon

Pokémon

is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...

video game series, first introduced in Japan in October 1996, then North America in December 1998. It was initially published by Wizards of the Coast

Wizards of the Coast

Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...

, the company that produces Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...

.

It is one of Nintendo

Nintendo

is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....

's last remaining strong links to its heritage as a playing card company.

Gameplay

In a game of Pokémon TCG, players take on the role of a Pokémon trainer, using their creatures to battle. Players play Pokémon to the field and use their attacks to reduce the opponent's HP. When a Pokémon's HP is reduced to 0 it is knocked out and the player who knocked it out takes a Prize card into their hand. A player may win the game in 3 ways; by collecting all of their prize cards (initially 6, some cards can increase this), if their opponent runs out of Pokémon on the field or if their opponent must draw a card from their deck but there are no cards to draw.

Players begin by shuffling their decks and drawing seven cards. Both players check to make sure they have at least one Basic Pokémon in their hand. If not, they must reshuffle and redraw and the opponent may draw one additional card. Once both players have at least one basic, they both play 1 or more Basic Pokémon to their play field, 1 in the Active spot, and up to five on the "bench" (representing the 6 maximum carry limit from the video games). Players then take the top 6 cards of their remaining deck and place them to the side as their Prize Cards and flip a coin to see who goes first. (Note: Many players use dice instead of coins, even numbers representing Heads, odd numbers representing Tails.)

Play alternates between players who may take several actions during their turn including playing new Basic Pokémon, evolving to higher level Pokémon, playing Trainer cards, playing energy(one per turn generally, needed to use most attacks), using non-attack Pokémon abilities and retreating their active Pokémon. At the end of their turn, a player may use one of their Active Pokémon's attacks, provided the prerequisite amount and types of energy are attached to that pokemon. Game effects from that attack are activated and damage is put on the defending Pokémon (some attacks simply have game effects but do not do damage). If the damage exceeds the defending Pokémon's HP, it is knocked out (i.e. discarded along with any attached cards) and the active player takes a prize card and ends their turn.

As with almost any card game, the "Golden Rule of Card Games" applies, stating that "whenever a card's text overrides the game rules, the card takes precedence". For example, the game rules state a player may only play one energy card per turn, but several Pokemon abilities allow additional energy to be played if that card is in play.

Pokémon cards

Pokémon cards are the basis of all decks (which consist of 60 cards). Without them a player cannot play the game, since both players begin the game by placing a Basic Pokémon in the active position on the playing field. Each Pokémon card depicts a Pokémon from the video games. Each player may have up to six Pokémon on the playing field at a time: one “active” Pokémon and up to five on the bench (these are considered to be in reserve, but they can still affect gameplay). Each Pokémon card has a name, a type, amount of Hit Points, level of evolution, attack(s), weakness, resistance, retreat cost, and flavor text. Some Pokémon have effects, called Poké-Powers, Poké-Bodies, or ability that are not attacks but can affect gameplay; occasionally a Pokémon will have no attacks. From Diamond & Pearl to HeartGold SoulSilver
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
are enhanced remakes of the 1999 video games Pokémon Gold and Silver. The games are part of the Pokémon series of role-playing video games, and were developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS...

each Pokémon's level is given next to its name, although not part of the name itself (e.g. Riolu Lv.15).

Most Pokémon feature attacks that deal damage to the opponent's active Pokémon, or occasionally, their benched Pokémon; still others perform different functions, such as manipulating players' possession of cards. The vast majority of these attacks require Energy, which comes in the form of Energy cards, though the occasional Pokémon may have an attack that requires no energy (these attacks typically are weak or perform a function other than damage).

The two types of Pokémon cards are Basic Pokémon and Evolved Pokémon. Basic Pokémon are Pokémon that have not evolved, and can be play directly onto the Bench. Each deck must have at least one Basic Pokémon to be considered legal. In contrast, an Evolved Pokémon cannot normally be placed directly onto the field; they must be played on the corresponding lower-stage Pokémon. Stage 1 Pokémon evolve from Basic Pokémon, and Stage 2 Pokémon evolve from Stage 1 Pokémon. As a Pokémon evolves, it gains HP and can use Energy more effectively. Baby Pokémon cards, introduced in Neo Genesis, are a special kind of Basic Pokémon, sometimes distinguished by a Poké-Power called "Baby Evolution." Baby Pokémon have low HP, but their attacks have strange and sometimes very powerful effects. Baby Pokémon with the kick ability can evolve into another Basic Pokémon, specified on the card. When a Baby Pokémon evolves into what would normally be a Basic Pokémon, that Basic Pokémon counts as being an Evolved Pokémon for the purposes of cards that affect Basic Pokémon and Evolved cards differently. Variations of Basic, Evolved, and Baby Pokémon cards have appeared in many sets, usually indicated with a word before or after the Pokémon's name.

The Diamond & Pearl set introduced a new type of Pokemon Card, Lv.X cards. Lv.X cards would replace the previous EX cards. Lv.X's are considered neither Basic Pokémon nor are they considered Evolution Cards, but simply Pokémon Cards. They are placed on the Pokémon Card in which the name specifies (i.e.: Lucario to Lucario Lv.X). In turn, though, Lv.X cards are not "named" cards. That means that only 4 altogether including regular and Lv.X's are allowed. They can also only be placed when the Pokémon is active cards,players may use all powers and attacks on the Lvl X card IN ADDITION to the powers and attacks printed on the card it was attached to.

HeartGold SoulSilver
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
are enhanced remakes of the 1999 video games Pokémon Gold and Silver. The games are part of the Pokémon series of role-playing video games, and were developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS...

replaced Lv X cards with Pokemon "Prime". Prime cards function exactly like any other basic or evolution card, but are generally more powerful and often have better artwork. Prime cards are distinguished by a specific silver border foil pattern. Also introduced in the HGSS series were Pokemon Legends. These cards depicted legendary pokemon, however were used as a combination of 2 cards. Initially just Ho-Oh and Lugia, subsequent set Legends depicted 2 separate Pokemon on each set of cards such as Deoxys/Rayquaza and Entei/Raikou. Because of this, Legend sets depicting 2 Pokemon have more than 1 Pokemon type and are worth 2 prize cards when knocked out.

Pokemon Black and White once again abandoned the previous sets special card (Prime) and introduced Full art chase cards. These cards have identical stats and abilities as other cards in the set, but have no borders, but rather feature art along the entirety of the playing card. It has been revealed that in a set in the near future, EX Pokemon will be reintroduced.

Energy cards

Energy cards are attached to a Pokémon to enable it to attack. There are two types of Energy cards: Basic Energy cards and Special Energy cards. There are eight different Basic Energy types: Fighting, Fire, Grass, Electric, Psychic, Water, Darkness and Steel. Darkness and Steel Energy could only be provided through Special Energy cards until the Diamond & Pearl expansion set, where they became Basic Energy types. Basic Energy cards only provide one Energy of the specified type, while Special Energy cards have additional benefits and varying Energy provisions. Additionally, the amount of Basic Energy cards allowed in a deck is unrestricted, while Special Energy cards follow the standard rule restricting the number of cards with the same name in a deck to four.

Some attacks require a certain type and amount of Energy, depending on the type of attack and the Pokémon using it. If an attack requires Basic Energy, then that type and amount of Energy must be attached to the Pokémon, whereas if the attack has a Colorless Energy requirement, that requirement can be met by any Energy card. Colorless Energy is neither a Basic nor a Special Energy type and can be provided through both Basic and Special Energy cards. However, the Double Colorless Energy (released as the first Special Energy in Base Set) can count as only colorless Energy.

Trainer cards

Trainer cards perform various functions to affect the game. Some can remove damage counters from Pokémon, remove energy from the opposing Pokémon, or revive Pokémon that have been knocked out. Before the Diamond & Pearl expansion, all cards that were not Pokémon or Energy were considered Trainer cards, though they have since been subdivided into categories: Item cards that directly affect the battling Pokémon, Stadium cards represent custom arenas that add a special mechanic to gameplay and Supporters represent other characters in the Pokemon world.

Most Trainer cards are simply classed as Trainer: Item. The player follows the directions on the card and then usually discards it. They were introduced from the very beginning of the card game's history, with the Base Set. Normal Trainer cards make up the largest number of Trainer cards by far, and can affect any part of the game, including other Trainer cards. They are often illustrated using computer-generated imagery

Computer-generated imagery

Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...

, the most having been done by Keiji Kinebuchi.

Pokémon Tools, a subset of Trainer: Item cards, first appeared in Neo Genesis. They are the card game's equivalent to Pokémon items, objects that Pokémon can carry around and use at will. Which Pokémon can receive the Pokémon Tool is specified on the card, and a Pokémon may not hold more than one at a time. Some Pokémon Tools can stay on the Pokémon until it gets Knocked Out, whereas some are discarded after a certain condition is met. Like ordinary Trainer cards and Stadium cards, Pokémon Tools are illustrated in CGI, mostly by Keiji Kinebuchi and Ryo Ueda. While Technical Machines can be considered a subdivision of Pokémon Tools, they are worded as a separate category. These are the most recently introduced of the current kinds of Trainer cards, starting in the Expedition set. Technical Machines, like Pokémon Tools, are attached to a Pokémon and either stay with the Pokémon until it gets Knocked Out, or are discarded after a certain condition is met. However, a Technical Machine will always have an attack as its text, and as long as the Pokémon holds the Technical Machine, it can use the attack provided on the Technical Machine instead of its normal attack. Illustrations for Technical Machines were once the domain of "Big Mama" Tagawa, but they are now exclusively done by Mitsuhiro Arita.

The first Stadium cards were from the Gym Heroes set. They initially were all themed on Pokémon Gyms and would benefit the Gym Leader. Later Stadium cards became locations within the Pokémon video games and sometimes areas completely original to the card game. Unlike other Trainer cards, Stadium cards stay on the field once played, unless another Stadium card is played or something happens that requires the Stadium card to be discarded. Stadium cards always provide the same effect to each player. Stadium cards are predominantly CGI (a few are hand-illustrated) and were once in the domain of Keiji Kinebuchi. Ryo Ueda now illustrates most of them.

Supporter cards were introduced in the Expedition Base Set. Normal Trainer cards themed on Pokémon characters have since been assigned to Supporter cards instead. They are substantially more powerful than Trainer cards, but only one can be played per turn (as opposed to normal Trainers, which have no limit). Supporter cards tend to interact with the deck, such as finding a card of the player's choice from the deck and putting it in play. Because they feature Pokémon characters, the dominant artist for Supporter cards is Ken Sugimori

Ken Sugimori

is a Japanese video game designer, illustrator, manga artist, and director. He is most famous as the character designer and art director for the Pokémon franchise. Sugimori is also credited with the art direction for other titles, including Pulseman. Sugimori drew all of the original 151 Pokémon...

, who designed the characters in the video games and anime. The illustrations for Supporter cards are always hand-drawn.

With the release of the first "Black and White" based TCG expansion, all Trainer, Supporter and Stadium cards have been brought back together under the Trainer Card designation. Each different type of card is marked as a Trainer, then marked with a sub-type; Trainer: Item (what would have previously been a "Trainer" card), Trainer: Supporter and Trainer: Stadium. All card rules are the same, namely only being able to play 1 Trainer: Supporter per turn and the Stadium rules for Trainer: Stadium.

Multi-type cards

There are also some cards that are two card types in one card. Examples include the "Clefairy Doll" Trainer card in the Base Set, which can be played as a Pokémon card, or special Pokémon that can, rather than battle, be attached to other Pokémon as Energy cards. Certain Unown

Unown

is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Unown first appeared in the video games Pokémon Gold and Silver and in subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise...

cards are both Pokémon and Pokémon Tools.

Fossil cards were first introduced in the Fossil expansion on October 8, 1999, though only Mysterious Fossil was introduced then and would be the only Fossil card until 2003, when it was joined by Root Fossil, Dome Fossil and armored fossil. Fossil cards are counted as Trainer cards while in the deck or in the player's hand, but when put into play, they also count as a Basic Pokémon. All Fossil cards in play count as the Colorless type. Certain Pokémon are required to evolve from these fossils except under special circumstances. For example, Kabuto

Kabuto

A kabuto is a helmet used with traditional Japanese armour as worn by the samurai class and their retainers in feudal Japan....

, Omanyte, and Aerodactyl

Aerodactyl

Aerodactyl, known in Japan as , is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Aerodactyl first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed...

must evolve from a Mysterious Fossil card. Older Fossil cards were illustrated by Keiji Kinebuchi; newer ones are illustrated by Ryo Ueda. Beginning with the 4th Japanese Black and White set, Fossil cards are played differently. Rather than evolving from the player's hand, a Player may look at a number of cards from the bottom of their deck and if they find the required pokemon may play it to their bench.

Pokémon with more than one type were in the Delta TCG sets. These Pokémon were two different types. They also had abnormal types. For example, a Pokémon that would normally be a fighting type may be a fire type in the delta species. Dual type Pokemon were reintroduced in the second HGSS set, HGSS:Undaunted, in the form of Pokemon Legend cards.

Pokémon types

A simplified type system was used for the trading card game. Instead of 17 types of Pokémon, only nine exist. Seven were in the Base Set, and Darkness and Metal types appeared when Pokémon Gold and Silver

Pokémon Gold and Silver

are the second installments of the Pokémon series of role-playing video games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Color. The games have dual-mode capabilities allowing them to also be played on earlier Game Boy models. They were first released in Japan in 1999 and to...

introduced the Dark and Steel types. The types usually follow this pattern:

TCG type	Color	Type(s)
Grass	Green Green Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...	Bug, Grass,(Poison)
Fire	Red Red Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...	Fire
Water	Blue Blue Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...	Water, Ice
Lightning	Yellow Yellow Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...	Electric
Psychic	Purple Purple Purple is a range of hues of color occurring between red and blue, and is classified as a secondary color as the colors are required to create the shade....	Psychic, Ghost, Poison
Fighting	Brown Brown Brown is a color term, denoting a range of composite colors produced by a mixture of orange, red, rose, or yellow with black or gray. The term is from Old English brún, in origin for any dusky or dark shade of color.... /Orange	Fighting, Rock, Ground
Darkness	Black Black Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...	Darkness
Metal	Silver Silver (color) Silver is the metallic shade resembling gray, closest to that of polished silver.The visual sensation usually associated with the metal silver is its metallic shine. This cannot be reproduced by a simple solid color, because the shiny effect is due to the material's brightness varying with the...	Steel
Colorless	White White White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...	Normal, Flying, Dragon

1 Starting with the Diamond & Pearl expansion, Poison-type Pokémon in-game are now Psychic; they were previously Grass.

Most Pokémon have only one type. However, EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua introduced Dual-type Pokémon, which have two different types. All existing Dual-type cards have either Darkness or Metal as their secondary type, with the exception of certain Pokémon cards with the Dual Armor Poké-Body, such as Medicham from the EX Crystal Guardians expansion, which can have multiple types when certain energy are attached.

Weakness and resistance are determined by the type of the attacking Pokémon (unlike the video game series, where they are determined by the type of the attack used). In older sets, Pokémon that are weak to another type take twice the base damage in an attack, while resistance decreases attack damage by 30 points. However, starting in the Diamond & Pearl expansion, Pokémon cards state how much more or less damage they take from an opponent’s attack if weakness or resistance applies. If an older card is Modified-legal (meaning that there has been a reprint in the current Modified format), use the newer card as a reference, even if the older card is being played.

If a Pokémon has two types, both of those types are calculated as far as weakness and resistance are concerned. For example, if a Pokémon has weakness to two types, and a Pokémon that is both of those types attacks, that attack will do four times its normal damage.

The Pokémon Platinum Base Set introduced Pokémon SP cards, a variant of trainer specific Pokémon cards from older sets, that reintroduced the 'double damage' weakness standard from older sets without a base number next to the type weakness while adding an actual 'x2' to avoid confusion by newer players (ex: Infernape SP has a weakness of 'Water x2', meaning a Water attack that deals 30 points of damage deals 60 instead). Only Pokémon SP cards would maintain this 'double damage' standard, while remaining non-SP Pokémon would simply have normal weakness calculations. With the introduction of the HeartGold/SoulSilver Base Set in 2010, all weaknesses on Pokémon cards revert back to taking twice the damage, with the same 'x2' written next to each weakness. Similarly, the second set under this block, HS Unleashed, also reintroduces the concept of dual-type Pokémon cards- in this case, the LEGENDS cards for the three legendary beasts of the Johto region Suicune

Suicune

is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Suicune first appeared in the video games Pokémon Gold and Silver and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles, animated adaptations, and printed adaptations of the...

, Raikou, and Entei

Entei

is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Entei first appeared in the video games Pokémon Gold and Silver and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles, animated adaptations, and printed adaptations of the...

. Each LEGENDS 'pair' features two of the three beasts battling together, giving each card dual-types (ex: Suicune/Entei LEGEND being a Water/Fire Pokémon card) and subsequently dual-weaknesses under the new 'double damage' printing (ex: Raikou/Suicune LEGEND having "Fighting/Electric x2" weaknesses).

Sets

With the release of Black and White: Emerging Powers on August 31, 2011, there are currently 47 different Pokémon TCG sets released in English and 49
released in Japanese. These sets have a vast range of sizes, from Fossil (the smallest at 62 cards), to Aquapolis and Skyridge (both the largest, with 182 normal cards, 182 reverse-foil cards and four box toppers - 368 cards in total). Only seven of these sets (Heartgold Soulsilver and all subsequent sets) are legal in the current Modified Format, under which all major tournaments are played. A rarely played format is Unlimited, in which all cards released in English are legal (except oversized cards such as large box topper cards, Ancient Mew or _______'s Pikachu).

Early in the game, sets were released in seemingly random intervals, but ever since Nintendo

Nintendo

took over the production of the sets, there has been a constant stream of four sets per year, released at 2.5 to 3.5 month intervals.

The current 49 released expansions are: Base Set, Jungle, Fossil, Team Rocket, Gym Heroes, Gym Challenge, Neo Genesis, Neo Discovery, Neo Revelation, Neo Destiny, Legendary Collection, Expedition Base Set, Aquapolis, Skyridge, EX Ruby And Sapphire, EX Sandstorm, EX Dragon, EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua, EX Hidden Legends, EX FireRed And LeafGreen, EX Team Rocket Returns, EX Deoxys, EX Emerald, EX Unseen Forces, EX Delta Species, EX Legend Maker, EX Holon Phantoms, EX Crystal Guardians, EX Dragon Frontiers, EX Power Keepers, Diamond & Pearl Base Set, Diamond & Pearl - Mysterious Treasures, Diamond & Pearl - Secret Wonders, Diamond & Pearl - Great Encounters, Diamond & Pearl - Majestic Dawn, Diamond & Pearl - Legends Awakened, Diamond & Pearl - Stormfront, Platinum Base Set, Platinum - Rising Rivals, Platinum - Supreme Victors, Platinum - Arceus, HeartGold and SoulSilver Base Set, HeartGold and SoulSilver - HS Unleashed, HeartGold and SoulSilver - HS Undaunted, HeartGold and Soulsilver - HS Triumphant, Call of Legends, Black and White Base Set, and Black and White - Emerging powers

Every few sets, new types of cards are introduced to the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Several of these include: Dark Pokémon (Team Rocket); Owners' Pokémon and Stadium cards (Gym Heroes); Darkness-type and Metal-type Pokémon, the second generation, and Pokémon Tools (Neo Genesis); Shining Pokémon (Neo Revelation); Light Pokémon (Neo Destiny); Supporter cards and Technical Machines (Expedition); Crystal-type Pokémon (Aquapolis); Pokémon-ex (EX Ruby & Sapphire); Dual-type Pokémon (EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua); Pokémon-* (EX Team Rocket Returns); Delta Species Pokémon and Holon's Pokémon (EX Delta Species); Pokémon LV.X, the separation of Trainer, Supporter and Stadium cards, and the addition of Metal and Darkness as Basic Energy types (Diamond & Pearl); Pokémon With Items (Mysterious Treasures); Trainer cards of which two can be played at once (Stormfront); owner-specific Pokémon SP (Platinum) , Pokémon LEGEND (HeartGold and SoulSilver Collection), Pokémon PRIME which replace Pokémon Lv. X ("HeartGold and SoulSilver Collection") and Full Art cards (Black and White) These changes, along with yearly format rotations, make for a constantly evolving game.

Play! Pokémon

In addition to the collectible aspect of the card game, The Pokémon Company International (formerly known as Pokémon USA) has also created Play! Pokémon, formerly known as Pokémon Organized Play (POP), which is in charge of the organization of an official League program, where players can battle others in local environments and earn player points, two-card booster packets from a promotional set, badges, stickers and other materials. These are run by League leaders and owners. POP also runs a professor program, in which individuals age 18 or over may become a professor, who can sanction and run tournaments and leagues.

A League Leader may assist in organizing the league, while a League Owner is the one officially in charge of the league, reporting to the Organized Play program any results and/or problems every seven weeks. The leagues run in yearly cycles, based on a certain aspect of one of the Pokémon Game Boy or DS games: the current cycle is based upon the Energy types.

Prerelease tournaments are organized just before each set is released. Usually, they are run on the two weekends before a set is released in stores to the public. At prereleases players are given booster packs from the judge and must construct a 40 card deck, with only 4 prize cards, using only the cards pulled from the packs and the judges provide the energy, but not special energy cards.

Many fans have come up with alternative methods of playing the Trading Card Game. Certain websites such as PokéCap are dedicated to providing players with a new twist to their card game with new game rules they can follow. New methods may be based more on the video game adaptations of Pokémon or the Pokémon television show.

Tournament play

Players in a tournament are split into three age categories: Junior (born in 2000 or later), Senior (born in 1996-1999), and Master (born in 1995 or earlier). These tournaments play a number of rounds, where players will play a standard game against each other and wins and losses will be recorded. In most tournaments, there are a number of Swiss-style rounds where players are paired up against others of similar win/loss ratios, usually from their own age group (this does not always occur in smaller events, though). Afterwards, there will either be a cut of the top record-holders (usually the top 25% of an event) where players will play best two out of three matches, and the loser gets eliminated (standard tournament bracket style), with an eventual winner.

POP runs a season for these tournaments, which allows players to earn larger prizes and play in a more competitive environment in comparison to League. These range from City and State Championships, all the way up to the Pokémon World Championships, the single invite-only event of the year. Players can earn invites to the World Championships by winning or ranking high at National Championships, having a good Premier Rating (based on the Elo rating system

Elo rating system

The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-born American physics professor....

, which allows players to win or lose points at any Battle Roads or higher-level event), or by qualifying in the Last Chance Qualifier. The World Championships is a two-day tournament, with one eventual winner in each age group; the winner of the Masters Division age group is generally noticed as the best player in the world for that season.

Some of these methods are only used in the USA, as PUI and POP are based in the USA, but they are represented by local distributors who provide the Organized Play program to their own country.

Decks in Competitive Play

Over the different generations, and tournament formats, there have been several main stars when it comes to decks. During the first and second generations, the Haymaker deck consisting of Hitmonchan, Electabuzz, Magmar

Magmar

Magmar, known as in Japan, is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Magmar first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed...

, and sometimes Scyther

Scyther

Scyther, known in Japan as , is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise linked through evolution. Created by Ken Sugimori, Scyther first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue, while Scizor was introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver...

. Ideally, it would start with one of those three Pokémon, then one would play Trainer and Energy cards to get the upper hand. In the current format "TyRam", "DonChamp", "ZPS", "Stage 1s", "Mew

Mew (Pokémon)

is one of the fictional species of Pokémon creatures from Nintendo's and Game Freak's multi-billion-dollar Pokémon media franchise—a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards, and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri...

box" and "Lostgar

Gengar

Gengar, known in Japan as , is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Designed by Game Freak, their name it is both the singular and plural name of the species. First appearing in Pokémon Red and Blue, they later appeared in subsequent sequels, spin-off games, related...

" are a few decks currently being used in competitive play, each with varying strategies, advantages and disadvantages. Information of up to date and recent decks can be found on most Pokemon websites, such as heytrainer.org or propokemon.com.

Tropical Mega Battle

On August 26–27, 2000, forty-two Pokémon trainers from around the world met at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu for the Tropical Mega Battle, an international communication event for the Pokémon Trading Card Game. The Tropical Mega Battle brought together children aged 14 and under from the United States, Japan, France, Italy, Canada, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, for two days in Honolulu, Hawaii. Children participating in the Tropical Mega Battle received invitations through Qualifier tournaments, DCI rankings, and other events in their respective countries.

Events throughout the weekend included competitions facilitated by translators for groups of children representing two different languages in each group; a group photo and an opening ceremony featuring remarks from Hawaiian government officials; and a harbor cruise awards ceremony for the winners of the World Communication Match. Jason Klaczynski, 14-year-old Orland Park, Ill., resident, was honored as the Master Trainer of the Tropical Mega Battle after winning the final round of the World Communication Match against fellow Pokémon trainer Toshiya Tanabe of Sapporo, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

Super Trainer Showdown

The Super Trainer Showdowns were large Pokémon TCG tournaments held in the United States by Wizards of the Coast between 2000 and 2001. The tournaments were open to the public. Each tournament consisted of three age groups; 10 and under, 11 to 14 years old, and 15 years old and over. Each Super Trainer Showdown was preceded by a series of Qualifier Tournaments held in cities around the United States and abroad in which players in the 11-to-14 and 10-and-under age groups could win trips for themselves and a parent or guardian to the Super Trainer Showdown event. To date, there have been four Super Trainer Showdowns.

The first Super Trainer Showdown was held in Long Beach, California inside of the cruise liner, the Queen Mary on July 22, 2000. The format was unlimited, meaning that all Pokémon cards released in the United States were legal for deck construction. The winners were Joseph Viray, Jack Savage, Wesley Hsu, and Andrew Marshall.

The second Super Trainer Showdown was held at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, NJ on November 18, 2000. There were over 700 players in all three age divisions competing for the title. The tournament was eight rounds of Swiss style pairings followed by a cut to a top-eight single-elimination playoff. All games were best-of-one. The format was titled “15/3” in that you were allowed to construct 60-card decks using only fifteen “Trainer” cards and only three of any one card, save basic Energy Cards. Jonathan Brooks, Rudy Rodriguez, Wesley Hsu, and Tom Hanley were the event champions.

The third Super Trainer Showdown was held again in the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey. It was held on June 23–24, 2001 and more than 1,600 players attended the event. The format for this event was titled “Modified” and allowed players to construct 60-card decks using a maximum of four of any card other than basic energy from the sets Team Rocket, Gym Heroes, Gym Challenge, and Neo Genesis. The card “Sneasel” from the Neo Genesis set was banned from play. The event ran for 2 days, with 3 champions name each day. Paul Lamancusa, Jonathan Brooks, Josh Goldstein, Phil Mondiello, Tom Liesegang, Jeremy Borchardt, Wesley Hsu, and Tom Hanley were the winners.

The fourth and final Super Trainer Showdown was held at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California on December 1–2, 2001. The format was again "Modified", however the newest set Neo Discovery was also legal for the tournament. The card “Sneasel” was again disallowed from play. This year's champions included Michael Perucca, Eric Brooks, David Bui, Seena Ghaziaskar, Robert Frac, Wesley Hsu, and Matthew Moss.

Competitive play outside of the United States

Although TPCI tries to keep Organized Play as equal as possible all over the Earth, there are some notable differences in how POP is run outside of the USA.

Pokémon Card Laboratory (PCL)

The Pokémon Card Laboratory (PCL), located in Japan, is the designer of new cards and the ultimate authority on any matter relating to the Pokémon Trading Card Game. It can declare rulings on any in-game circumstance, issue errata, change card text after publishing, and change the basic game rules, although the latter three rarely occur. PCL runs Organized Play in Japan.

Pokémon in the UK

Pokémon TCG retail distribution in the UK is currently run by Esdevium Games Ltd, and Organized Play by D & A Games from 2007 until 2009. In August 2009, control of OP was given to long time UK Judge and Tournament Organizer Ian Fotheringham. The UK has one of the largest player bases outside the US and Japan

Japan

. Its players have performed admirably over the past few years at the World Championships, including a 4th Place for Fares Sekkoum in the 10-division (2006), a Top 16 place for Jake Arnold in the 10-division (2005) a 7th Place for Sami Sekkoum in the 15+ (2005), a Top 16 finish for Yacine Sekkoum in the 15+ (2006) and a Top 16 10th place finish for Faisal Khan ("Freddy-K") in the 15+ (2005).

Held in May 2008, the UK Pokémon TCG National Championships was held in London, a much more popular choice of venue location for the majority of players who were mainly based in the South East of England. In 2006 around 70 players were invited to play in each age group, with approximately 55 players per division in 2007. The prizes have included Nintendo DS

Nintendo DS

The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...

consoles, televisions and invites to represent the UK in the World Championships. The 2008 UK Nationals was the first event of its kind in the country to be open to all players and required no qualification for entry. The 2009 UK Nationals was held at Kempton park on the 16th May 2009 with a high 180 attendance. Sami Sekkoum won Masters again, and newcomer Samuel McLewee took 2nd in the seniors at his first Nationals. Also new for the 2008/09 Season was the UK Battle Royale events. However it is unlikely these will return for the 2009/10 season.

Smaller City Championships, and for the first time in 2006 UK Pokémon Regional championships

UK Pokémon Regional championships

The UK and Ireland Pokémon Championships is an event held by Nintendo in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Regional competitions were held in several regions around the countries. Contestants would fight in a tournament using the Pokémon game that was popular during the time of the event.-Pokémon...

, are held between November and April. These were held in Hull

Kingston upon Hull

Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, Bournemouth

Bournemouth

Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...

, Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

and Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

Banned cards

A few cards were banned from both general play and Modified Format under Wizards of the Coast.

Sneasel : The first card that was banned was Sneasel from the set Neo Genesis. Decks with Sneasel were winning almost every major tournament, making all other decks uncompetitive. Sneasel's ability to use the new Darkness Energy cards (which increase the power of all Dark-type attacks by 10), no weakness, a free retreat cost, quickly powered-up attacks, and the ability to do enormous damage made it an outstanding card. In short, Sneasel was faster and more powerful than any other card in the game at the time. It was banned beginning with the 2001 Super Trainer Showdown. WotC produced giant Sneasel cards for the event with "Banned at the STS" printed on them. Sneasel was reprinted in HS Undaunted and is no longer illegal.

Slowking : Coincidentally enough, the only other banned card printed in a normal set was also from Neo Genesis. Slowking from Neo Genesis had a Pokémon Power that allowed its user to flip a coin whenever the opponent played a Trainer card, and if that coin was heads, the Trainer card would return to the user's deck without affecting the game. In the Japanese version of the game, this Power could only be used while Slowking was active. When the card was translated to English, however, it was translated incorrectly. The English version of the card not only allowed its owner to use the Power while Slowking was benched, but the power was cumulative, meaning players could flip a coin for each Slowking they had in play every time their opponent played a Trainer card, and if even one were heads, that card would have no effect. While the Japanese version of the card was barely playable (Slowking is not a good attacker, and is easily KO'ed when active), the English version was too powerful because a player could place one or more Slowking on the bench, prevent the opponent from playing any Trainer cards, and still play a stronger Pokémon as the active Pokémon. Slowking dominated the 2002 World Championship (the only World Championship not run by PUI) and, as a result, WotC announced that the card was no longer legal for any format as of January 1, 2003.

_________'s Pikachu

Pikachu

is one of the species of Pokémon creatures from the Pokémon media franchise—a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards, and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. As do all Pokémon, Pikachu fight other Pokémon in battles central to the anime, manga, and games of the series...

: _________'s Pikachu (commonly known as "Birthday Pikachu") was Promo Card number 24 printed by WotC. The effect of its attack, Birthday Surprise, says, "...if it is your birthday, flip a coin. If heads, this attack does 30 damage plus 50 more damage...". WotC banned this card quickly after its release, because there was no quick, easy way to check that it was actually someone's birthday whenever he or she attacked with the card. Disproving liars who wanted to do a lot of damage for a few energy turned out to require much more effort than it was worth. The Japanese version of the card has red text in the margin stating its illegality. It is one of the few Japanese cards with this message that was produced in English, most likely because of its immense popularity with collectors.

Ancient Mew : Ancient Mew was a banned card because of its alternate background. It has no real attacks or Pokémon Powers that would make it broken, as it has a mere 30 HP and does 40 damage. The card's "ancient" runic writing, which confused players and lack of an easy translation method contributed to its banning. Despite the fact that it is a foreign card, it is not considered a foreign card in the Unlimited 2009-2010 Pokémon modified format.

The bans that WotC placed were removed when Pokémon Organized Play took over the game. Their only limitation is that cards must have the normal English or Japanese card back to be playable. In addition, the cards printed in the promotional World Championship Decks are not allowed in any competitive events. These cards are supposed to be printed as promotional items and are not meant to help people collect the large numbers of rare and valuable cards that were played in these decks.

Media Release

Burger King

Burger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...

s world wide sold BK Meals with Pokémon toys that are a total of 12 cards and accessories combined. Announced on June 10, 2008, the toys were released at participating Burger Kings on July 7, 2008.

McDonald's

McDonald's

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...

released a set of pokemon toys and cards summer of 2011, introducing the Black and White pokemon.

As an interesting point, a misprint in 2002 by WotC caused the English translated Mew to halt in production, only several were produced but it was banned as a precaution. This was later remedied and the misprinted card was branded as a collectible. It had only participated in one minor tournament.

Pokémon Trainer Challenge

Pokémon Trainer Challenge is an online browser game

Browser game

A browser game is a computer game that is played over the Internet using a web browser. Browser games can be created and run using standard web technologies or browser plug-ins. Browser games include all video game genres and can be single-player or multiplayer...

based on the Pokémon Trading Card Game. The game initially offers three starting decks, and features more content after release. After April 6, players can buy cards from the Black and White series, which will have a code to be digitally represented. Players can also create a custom avatar. There are now booster pack codes, special items, and blister packs.

GamesRadar

GamesRadar

GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...

praised the game, stating "Everything looks to be faithfully recreated, including the card mat, prize card layout, and even coins."