Pokemon I don't think I know how to play the TCG

Xys

Xys

Otherworldly Trainer
Member
Here's how my sister and I have always played the TCG our whole lives:
- We take a deck of 20 cards each, and lay out 6 to use.
- We both draw a card out to be our battler, then get some sticks to use as health markers. For example, a Pokemon with 100 HP will have 10 sticks to display their health.
- We flip a coin to see who goes first, and take turns using moves to decrease eachother's HP.
- If a Pokémon is asleep, we flip a coin to see if they wake up. Tails = no, and skip turn, heads = yes.
- For paralysis, flipping a heads means they can move that turn,and tails means not.
- For poison, 1 stick (10 HP) is taken away each turn.
- We don't even know what energy is, so if we get an energy, and we get the same ones that a specific Pokémon move shows, we count that as double power, then discard the energy after.
- We also have a double battle mode that works like this, but with 2 Pokémon.

This is how card battles worked in my neighborhood as a kid, and everyone did it this way. It wasn't until I actually saw videos of competitive card battling that I realized things are a bit different.

How accurate is this to the actual rules, and where can I find the real way to play?
 
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On PTCGO they have a very basic way of teaching you how to play. You can also probably find something by searching.

Your rules arent tooo far from the actual ones, but of course wong. Funny how a lot of people played Pokemon in a different way. I was like 3 when I started getting Pokemon because all of the kids at my school were playing it. They played it very different to the original. Brings back so many memories.
 
Again, ptcgo or YouTube are your best bet, it’s funny how many people grew up playing pokemon wrong, the kid in my neibourhood thought that prize cards were optional and if you played with them, the winner would get the other players prize cards
 
PTCGO is a very effective tutor. There is a special mode called "Tutorial" which will teach you the basics of the game and give you some rewards when you complete each step.

Always, don't forget to search on how to play the game via YouTube or Google/Yahoo. They'll help you out a lot.

You didn't play the game all that far off from how its actually played, but it's a lot more technical than that.
 
I can't really add much to what's already been said. The PTCGO is probably the best intro. like others have pointed out. I would also recommend this video by Jwittz, a Youtuber who used to only make Pokemon TCG related videos:
. It's a very good introduction. The only thing wrong with the video is that two rules have changed. You can no longer attack on your first turn, and the Burned special condition has changed. Now, when a Pokemon is burned, you place 2 damage counters (20 damage) on it in between turns, and after you do, flip a coin. If heads, you are no longer burned. Hope this helps!
 
Shfinx said:
I can't really add much to what's already been said. The PTCGO is probably the best intro. like others have pointed out. I would also recommend this video by Jwittz, a Youtuber who used to only make Pokemon TCG related videos:
. It's a very good introduction. The only thing wrong with the video is that two rules have changed. You can no longer attack on your first turn, and the Burned special condition has changed. Now, when a Pokemon is burned, you place 2 damage counters (20 damage) on it in between turns, and after you do, flip a coin. If heads, you are no longer burned. Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
This video is actually how I learned to play
 
You can also buy a trainer kit, those walk you through it step by step.
 
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