So, you’re new to the TCG, and want to start playing casually or competitively? This is thread for you! Below you can find several great tips and resources for new and returning players. Even if you’ve been playing the TCG for a while now, keep scrolling down. You may just find some helpful information.
How To Play
If you don’t even know how to play, you can check out the Official TCG Rulebook, or the Official TCG Tutorial. Either one will teach you how to play the game. The rulebook is text-based, and covers all the rules in the game, while the tutorial is more kid-friendly: It teaches the basic mechanics, has a voice telling you the rules, and it's interactive.
What To Buy
If you don’t have any cards to play with, or don’t have very good or new ones, a Theme Deck is a great place to start. They include all the bare essentials for playing the TCG, including a 60 card deck, damage/poison/burn counters, a coin, and the rules of the game. Also highly recommended is some dice and card sleeves. Dice can be used as damage counters, as well as coins (evens are heads, odds are tails). Most players like to use dice because they can do all the things damage counts and coins can do, and take up less space. Rolling a die is also much less prone to mistakes than flipping a coin. Sleeves are great for protecting your cards from damage when you shuffle them. If you damage your cards too much, you can tell which cards are which by markings on the back of the cards, which some may consider as cheating. Another great product you should consider getting along with a Theme deck is an Elite Trainer Box. They come with sleeves and dice, along with 8 booster packs, and 5 of each Energy Card. All wonderful resources for players just starting out!
Where To Find Other Players
If you haven’t already, you should definitely try to find a Pokémon League near you with Pokémon's official Event Locator. Leagues are a great place to socialize with other TCG players, play, trade, and learn more about the game. People are usually nice and helpful there, so don’t be shy to play a game with them or ask some questions.
On days your League isn't open, you might enjoy the Trading Card Game Online. Here you can either play against random opponents online, or play against the computer AI. Every TCG product you buy should come with a Code Card you can enter online to get more packs and cards to play with. If you bought a Theme Deck in real life, the code it came with should give the whole deck online, so you can test out your deck against real life, and online opponents.
How To Make Your Deck Better
Once you’ve played with your deck at league, be sure to take note of what cards you weren’t using, or drawing too many of. Theme decks usually have a lot of useless Pokémon lines, such as 2 Phantump with no Trevenant, or a 4-2-1 Pidgey/Pidgeotto/Pidgeot line. Contrary to popular opinion, I think Theme decks’ Energy counts are just about right. Those bad Pokémon lines can be taken out for thicker Pokémon lines, better Pokémon lines, or more Trainers. Speaking of, you should definitely consider adding some staple trainers into your deck. Cards like Professor Sycamore, VS Seeker, Ultra Ball, Muscle Band, all of them are great in pretty much any deck you might have. You can find a full list of staples Trainers here.
How To Start Playing Competitively
If you’re interested in getting into the competitive side of the game, start by making a competitive (or semi competitive) deck. If you want a good idea on what decks are considered top of the metagame, check out the Metagame Deck Discussion forum. That forum lists every competitive deck in the current format, and the threads for each deck includes a starting list for that deck. Playing these decks in real life and online will give you an idea of how competitive games play out, and which decks you may like. If you want to start making your own deck from scratch, this guide will help you in making that. If you’re afraid of spending a lot of money on a competitive deck, feel free to use proxies (fake cards you print out and put in a card sleeve) against your friends.
Where To Find Tournaments
If you want to start playing in tournaments to get a feel for how they work, use Pokémon's Event Locator to find a tournament near you. The League Challenge tournaments are the smallest, cheapest, and usually closest tournaments that will show you how tournaments work, allow you to play against and see top players, and see what decks are popular in your area.
And that’s the basics you need to know to get into the TCG! This forum also includes plenty of guides that are useful to newer/returning players, so I recommend checking those out. Feel free to make a thread if you need any additional tips or advice on the game. Our members are always happy to answer any questions you have!
How To Play
If you don’t even know how to play, you can check out the Official TCG Rulebook, or the Official TCG Tutorial. Either one will teach you how to play the game. The rulebook is text-based, and covers all the rules in the game, while the tutorial is more kid-friendly: It teaches the basic mechanics, has a voice telling you the rules, and it's interactive.
What To Buy
If you don’t have any cards to play with, or don’t have very good or new ones, a Theme Deck is a great place to start. They include all the bare essentials for playing the TCG, including a 60 card deck, damage/poison/burn counters, a coin, and the rules of the game. Also highly recommended is some dice and card sleeves. Dice can be used as damage counters, as well as coins (evens are heads, odds are tails). Most players like to use dice because they can do all the things damage counts and coins can do, and take up less space. Rolling a die is also much less prone to mistakes than flipping a coin. Sleeves are great for protecting your cards from damage when you shuffle them. If you damage your cards too much, you can tell which cards are which by markings on the back of the cards, which some may consider as cheating. Another great product you should consider getting along with a Theme deck is an Elite Trainer Box. They come with sleeves and dice, along with 8 booster packs, and 5 of each Energy Card. All wonderful resources for players just starting out!
Where To Find Other Players
If you haven’t already, you should definitely try to find a Pokémon League near you with Pokémon's official Event Locator. Leagues are a great place to socialize with other TCG players, play, trade, and learn more about the game. People are usually nice and helpful there, so don’t be shy to play a game with them or ask some questions.
On days your League isn't open, you might enjoy the Trading Card Game Online. Here you can either play against random opponents online, or play against the computer AI. Every TCG product you buy should come with a Code Card you can enter online to get more packs and cards to play with. If you bought a Theme Deck in real life, the code it came with should give the whole deck online, so you can test out your deck against real life, and online opponents.
How To Make Your Deck Better
Once you’ve played with your deck at league, be sure to take note of what cards you weren’t using, or drawing too many of. Theme decks usually have a lot of useless Pokémon lines, such as 2 Phantump with no Trevenant, or a 4-2-1 Pidgey/Pidgeotto/Pidgeot line. Contrary to popular opinion, I think Theme decks’ Energy counts are just about right. Those bad Pokémon lines can be taken out for thicker Pokémon lines, better Pokémon lines, or more Trainers. Speaking of, you should definitely consider adding some staple trainers into your deck. Cards like Professor Sycamore, VS Seeker, Ultra Ball, Muscle Band, all of them are great in pretty much any deck you might have. You can find a full list of staples Trainers here.
How To Start Playing Competitively
If you’re interested in getting into the competitive side of the game, start by making a competitive (or semi competitive) deck. If you want a good idea on what decks are considered top of the metagame, check out the Metagame Deck Discussion forum. That forum lists every competitive deck in the current format, and the threads for each deck includes a starting list for that deck. Playing these decks in real life and online will give you an idea of how competitive games play out, and which decks you may like. If you want to start making your own deck from scratch, this guide will help you in making that. If you’re afraid of spending a lot of money on a competitive deck, feel free to use proxies (fake cards you print out and put in a card sleeve) against your friends.
Where To Find Tournaments
If you want to start playing in tournaments to get a feel for how they work, use Pokémon's Event Locator to find a tournament near you. The League Challenge tournaments are the smallest, cheapest, and usually closest tournaments that will show you how tournaments work, allow you to play against and see top players, and see what decks are popular in your area.
And that’s the basics you need to know to get into the TCG! This forum also includes plenty of guides that are useful to newer/returning players, so I recommend checking those out. Feel free to make a thread if you need any additional tips or advice on the game. Our members are always happy to answer any questions you have!