The Pokemon card game or the Pokemon trading card game which is the full version of Pokemon TCG is a card game that is a collector’s pride. And it is the envy of everyone who is interested in the game. The first card game came about in October 1996 and was published by Media Factory in Japan. And in the USA, it was published by Wizards of the Coast. The latest development to happen to this card game happened in June 2003 when Nintendo assigned its publishing rights to The Pokémon Company. It is such a collector’s item that today it has over 43.2 billion cards sold worldwide.
What Is the Pokemon Card Game?
The Pokemon card game is a strategy-based game that is wholly abstract. It is played by two players on a playing mat using their cards to battle it out with each other. The two players must assume that they are Pokemon trainers and are fighting against each other. A player each will play one Pokemon on the field and assault the other player who is his opponent.
In this battle, the Pokemon that has suffered the most damage reaches or even exceeds its HP which means being knocked out. And when one Pokemon is knocked his opponent is considered to be the victor. He then scores 1 point and gets 1 Prize Card. But here it is to be noted that there are some special cards which have the mechanics of getting 2 to 3 Prize Cards. It follows the hierarchy of the game.
In the Pokemon card game, the prize cards are the only primary winning streaks. Once you get to win six cards the win is an instantaneous one. There are other ways of winning in the game. One way is by knocking out all the opponent Pokémon on their benches. Their benches are behind the active rows. In this way, the opponent has no Pokémon left. In this game, there are 5 supplementary Pokemon who are kept ready in case the active Pokemon retreats.
The Pokemon card game begins with one player tossing a coin to select a head or tail. The person who wins the toss will decide who will begin the game. In some games instead of a coin being used a dice may be used where odd numbers represent the tail while the even numbers represent the head. When official games are arranged by the Pokemon Card Company, dice are used.
But here there is a catch in the Pokemon card game. The player who enters first cannot by virtue of his entry position make the first strike of attacking his opponent. But he can do it only if his card specifies him to do it. The players will have to shuffle their cards and draw seven from the pack. With those cards, they place the Basic Pokemon card by placing it on the field.
And this is referred to as the active Pokemon that does the consistent attacking. In return, he also receives damage done to him. In case a player does not have an Active Pokemon he is required to call a mulligan and shuffle his cards till he gets an Active Pokemon. And the opponent will draw an extra card for each mulligan. But as soon as the players get an Active Pokemon, they can play 5 more Basic Pokemon so that they can place the top 6 cards on the deck and get them as Prize Cards. Then the Pokemon card game will begin with the person who won the toss.
Types of Pokemon Cards
In the Pokemon card game, all the cards signify either one or multiple Pokemon. And this has come from the Pokemon video games series. Each card has a specific name, element type, ability and a certain amount of HP. The various types of cards are Active Pokemon, Benched Pokemon, Energy Cards and Ability Cards. There are many more types of Pokemon cards like Evolved Pokemon, Basic Pokemon, Stage 1 & 2 Pokemon, Pokemon EX, Baby Pokemon, Mega Pokemon, Break Pokemon, etc. Other types of Pokemon cards also exist.
These are definitely highly valued collectable cards which went out of stock during the pandemic. They continued to sell very well in the market at rates that were considered reasonable. But today they have become highly popular and a trend with the younger generations.
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