Are you playing Pokèmon card game and need help to setup properly? Every game requires the correct battlefield setup before flipping a coin to see who begins first.
How to setup a Pokèmon card game? The game involves two players who act as Pokémon trainers that use creatures in their respective decks to battle each other.
Each player has a customized deck of 60 cards with different types, including energy cards, Pokémon and items at the start of the game.
Before beginning the game, players place their respective Basic Pokémon inactive position in the playing arena. Each player’s deck must have at least one Basic Pokémon before the gameplay begins, if not then the deck is reshuffled.
At the beginning of Pokèmon game, the players have to flip a coin to see who gets to start the game first.
Each player must draw seven cards from their deck, and the next top-six cards are set aside, which the player uses as the prize cards during the game. Both players place their Basic Pokémon face down before the game, with up to five Pokémon on the bench at the start of the game.
In this article, we are going to review how the Pokemon game works and proper way to setup the game. Answered below are frequently asked questions about setting up the Pokemon card game. Let’s dive in!
How does the Pokémon card game work?
When each round begins, the active player has to draw cards from the top of the deck.
When the player runs out of the cards in the deck, the player has to wait for the next turn to draw the cards. If the player can’t draw the cards, then the player losses the game.
In the second phase of the turn, the player can play any number of basic Pokémon at hand or on the bench.
Attach an energy card to the Pokémon to give the Pokémon energy to attack the opponent’s Pokémon. The energy card chosen must have required energy equivalent to the energy cost so that it matches with the Pokemon.
Evolving the Pokémon cards through either stage 1 or 2 is another gameplay option. The player cannot evolve the card the same turn once it is played, and the player can only evolve once in their turn.
The player may select any number of item cards and trainer cards apart from supporter card and stadium. Any player can use the unique abilities of the cards to pair with their Pokemon.
Attack the opponent Pokémon using the active Pokémon, which can attack once in a turn. If the player’s Pokémon gets damaged, retreat the active Pokémon back to the bench using the energy card attached depending on the retreat cost indicated.
How many cards do you draw at the start of a Pokémon game?
At the start of each game, a player draws 7 cards from the unique deck of 60 cards, called the starting hand cards.
In a starting hand, a player puts a basic Pokémon in the active spot and then places the remaining 5 Pokémon on the bench in a face-down position.
If a player has no basic Pokémon at the start of the game, the player has to reshuffle and draw a new set of 7 starting hand cards.
Before starting the game, a player must put the top 6 cards facing down position on the left side of the playing area, which they use as their prize cards during the game.
Is there a maximum hand size in Pokémon?
Yes, there is maximum hand size of 7 cards at the beginning of each Pokèmon card game. However, a player may have a limitless amount in their hand at any given time.
For an integral player role to clean up, the player discards the excess cards to achieve the maximum hand size. The number of hand sizes can reduce when the mulligan is performed.
Note that the player is not allowed to pick cards from the opponent hands but can count the cards at any time.
Can you discard Pokémon?
Yes, you can discard Pokèmon cards. In fact, when the players removes cards, they are taken out of play and added to the discard pile.
However, if the card say otherwise, a player should not remove the card. In addition, when the Pokémon is knocked out of play, the Pokémon, together with energy cards attached to it, are discarded in the player discarding pile.
When the Pokémon card has been knocked out of play, and the player wants to retreat to the bench, the energy card attached is also discarded. Therefore, it must correspond to the retreat cost indicated by the card.
Discarding the energy card cannot happen in such a case if the retreat of the card is free. If the card’s attack indicates that the energy card has to be discarded after the attack, the energy card is removed after the attack.
How big is a Pokémon deck?
The rules governing the build-up process of a Pokémon deck in the Pokémon TCG allows a player’s deck to have a total of 60 cards. This includes all types of cards including energy cards.
Additionally, the deck should not have more than 4 cards with the same name apart from energy cards.
In terms of the size of the deck, it’s precisely 6.3cm by width and 8.8cm by length. This is equivalent to 2.48 inches by 3.46 inches.
How to setup Pokémon card game
Properly setting up a Pokèmon card game is essential to every round and straightforward for a beginner to become familiar with.
Each player must have a unique deck consisting of 60 cards. Start by shuffling the deck and draw seven cards from the player’s deck, these are the player’s hand.
The starting hand must have at least 1 basic Pokemon card, otherwise the deck must be reshuffled and dealt once again. Other cards include energy cards, stadiums, items cards, supporter cards and trainer cards.
The player draws six cards from the top of the deck, which serves as prize cards used when the active Pokémon has been knocked out by the opponent. These prize cards will be put on aside for trading purposes.
Use the Basic Pokémon in your hand as an active Pokémon to play with.
Once the player puts down their active Pokémon, if they still have basic Pokémon, they place them on the bench underneath the active Pokémon waiting for the play. A benched Pokèmon is activated if there is no active Pokèmon in play.
The knocked out Pokèmon are kept in the discard pile along with their energy cards.
These are the basic setup to get the trading card game started. Once the Pokèmon cards are distributed among the players, shake hands and flip a coin to play the game.
Setting Up Pokemon Card Game: Conclusion
Setting up the Pokèmon card game is important and cannot be altered in any way. For better understanding of the gameplay, we recommend reviewing the basic rules, popular cards and card reading before jumping into the game world.
The gameplay consists of drawing card from the deck in order to successfully combat the opponent.
To start the game, each player needs to draw 7 cards from the deck to make their starting hand. There you will need at least one active Pokèmon and up to 5 Pokemon cards can be located on the bench facing down.
Note that the player can have six Pokémon at the beginning of the game, but only one Pokémon is Active. Additionally, each player cannot have more than the maximum starting hand of 7 cards at the beginning of the game.
Whenever you draw cards, you can discard the card. However, the discard pile removes the cards from play.
The Pokemon card game must be setup properly before playing so that the game is fair and both sides have an equal chance of winning. Follow the gameplay rules and enjoy the trading game experience.