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Pokémon Trading Card Game Live
Logo of Pokémon Trading Card Game Live
Basic info
Platform:	Windows, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, Android
Category:	Strategy card game
Players:	1-2
Connectivity:	Internet
Developer:	The Pokémon Company International
Publisher:	The Pokémon Company International
Part of:	Generation VIII miscellaneous
Ratings
CERO:	N/A
ESRB:	E
ACB:	G
OFLC:
PEGI:	3
GRAC:	N/A
GSRR:	N/A
Release dates
Japan:	N/A
North America:	February 22, 2022 (Canadian beta) June 8, 2023 (global launch)
Australia:	July 19, 2022 (beta) June 8, 2023 (global launch)
Europe:	August 14, 2022 (German, French and Italian beta) June 8, 2023 (global launch)
South Korea:	N/A
Hong Kong:	N/A
Taiwan:	N/A
Websites
Japanese:	N/A
English:	Pokémon.com

Pokémon Trading Card Game Live (also referred to as Pokémon TCG Live) is a free-to-play digital version of the Pokémon Trading Card Game and the successor to the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online. It is available on Windows, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and Android devices.

Originally planned for 2021, an announcement on Nov 4, 2021 delayed the mobile soft launch in Canada, as well as a global open beta for desktop, to 2022.^[1] The Canadian limited beta was announced on February 16, 2022^[2] and launched on February 22, 2022 for Android, Windows, and macOS in both English and French, with iOS and iPadOS to be added later.^[3] On May 24, 2022, the limited beta became available on all platforms in Canada and Mexico (and in Spanish), along with cross-platform play,^[4] and on July 19, 2022, was expanded to Australia and New Zealand.^[5] On November 15, 2022, the global beta became available, supporting English, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.^[6]

The game would launch globally on June 8, 2023, closely following the shutdown of its predecessor on June 5, 2023.

Among the main differences to its predecessor is an overhaul of the game's interface, the absence of cards from the HeartGold & SoulSilver series as well as the trading system to streamline gameplay, and being able to obtain individual cards in the new client with one of the game's currencies. The game has all cards released internationally from the Black & White expansion onward, initially with only cards from the Lost Thunder expansion onward being playable, with new products being released in periodic updates.^[7]

Gameplay

Pokémon Trading Card Game Live builds off the gameplay found in Pokemon Trading Card Game Online, bringing the TCG into a digital medium. As before, players can collect digital cards, build decks, then play against the computer or against other players. The primary differences between the two games are in their visuals and their economies.

Playing games against other players rewards players with Experience points, coins, and experience in the Battle Pass. These in turn allow the player to collect cosmetic items to customize the appearance of themselves and their deck. Other rewards that can be gained include booster packs and Credits, which are used to acquire new cards for one's digital collection so that they can build different decks.

Visuals

Pokémon TCG Live has a noticeably more fantastical bend compared to its predecessor, with battles taking place in a futuristic setting compared to the prior game depicting a standard tabletop. More things have animations, such as tapping on the playfield or holding an Ancient or Future card. The playfield lights up to indicate who is taking the current turn, and the in-play zone takes on a different appearance depending on the Energy type of the Active Pokémon. Attacks again have varying animations depending on the Energy type of the Attacking Pokémon, and a Knocked Out Pokémon has an accompanying red burst sweep through the in-play zone before the card leaves the field.

Formats

Pokémon TCG Live supports two of the TCG's wide and varied formats.

Standard

The Standard format is considered something of a default, being used in the majority of modes in TCG Live. A deck is only legal for use in Standard if every card in the deck has one of the Regulation marks that are currently allowed in Standard. New marks using letters are always legal, while older marks are made illegal during a process each year called Rotation.

In Casual mode, this is represented by a red emblem with a Charizard silhouette.

Expanded (Beta)

The Expanded format is less common, only being available as part of Casual mode in TCG Live. A deck is only legal for use in Expanded if every card in the deck is from Black & White or an expansion released after that point. However, Expanded has a ban list to adhere to. Cards on the ban list caused problems in the format, and as such are not allowed to be played in Expanded.

However, TCG Live does not yet allow every card legal in Expanded to be played in a match. As such, the format is currently called Expanded (Beta), only allowing cards that have been implemented on the client. At launch, this was only as far back as Lost Thunder. Currently the game allows cards from any expansion newer than Sun & Moon, as well as cards from Sun & Moon itself.

In Casual mode, this is represented by a blue emblem with a Blastoise silhouette.

Modes

Ranked mode

In Ranked mode, players compete against other players. Winners get Rank Points, used which allow them to progress through a monthly Ladder and receive rewards. Losing a battle costs players Rank Points. Games in Ranked mode are played exclusively in the Standard format.

Casual mode

In Casual mode, players play the Trading Card Game for fun. Nothing is risked except for the fact players get more rewards for winning matches than losing them. This mode can be played in both Standard and Expanded (Beta).

Friend

Players can set other accounts as Friends and play friendly battles against them. These battles are done in the Standard format.

Decks

The Decks menu lists out all of the decks the player has saved. One deck can be selected as the Active Deck for the Standard format, and the same goes for the Expanded format. This is the deck used when the player enters the queue for a battle of that format.

TCG Live has a number of preconstructed decks available for players. A set of these is granted whenever Standard rotates, along with all of the cards in said decks. One deck is granted in much the same way through the Basic Pass of the Battle Pass for each expansion, and the Premium Pass adds a second deck. Preconstructed deck products have code cards that add the deck and its contents to the player's account in TCG Live.

Deck Editor

The player can create their own decks, or modify one already stored. This interface for searching for cards is tabbed, such that the player is either viewing Pokémon, Trainers, or Energy. The player can further implement filters for cards, using properties like "Attribute" and "Energy type" to more easily find specific cards. Results can be sorted by schema like "A-Z" for alphabetical ordering by card name, "Expansion" which groups cards by which expansion they were released in and further orders them by collector number, or "Evolution Chain" to group Pokémon that evolve from one another together. Lastly, players can search by card name and card text.

A deck can have a name set to it so that it is easier to search for later. However, said name can be no longer than 22 characters. Certain preconstructed decks have longer names, but they cannot be recreated in the Deck Editor.

Deck Customization

Players assign a number of Deck Accessories to their decks for cosmetic appeal. Each deck is assigned one of the three types, using those accessories in any game the deck is being used in.

• Deck Boxes: Seen on pre and post game screens.
• Deck Sleeves: Seen as part of the ame pre and post game screens. Also seen during the game, as the literal backs of cards and as representing unknown cards in the opponent's hand.
• Coins: Seen when the player flips a coin for any game effect.

Test Deck

The player can test their decks against an AI opponent, named AI. This battle is much like a regular battle, except that both players' timers are locked at 39:00 and do not decrease at any point. No rewards are given for matches done through this menu.

The AI uses one of the current starter decks. The player can use cards that they do not own in Test Deck. However, Test Deck is either opened in Decks menu for Standard or Expanded, and the deck has to be legal in the selected format.

Changes from TCG Online

• There are more animations in general
• Attacks that have no effect no longer have an associated animation of the card shaking before returning to the Active Spot.
• Cards with the same name are displayed as a stack in the hand.
• The angle of the camera is such that the cards are facing the camera more directly.
• Cards the opponent play appear right side up, such that the player can read the text
• Prior to version _____, Pokémon cards on the Bench did not display their attacks until they were selected., only showing their artwork, HP, Energy type, and Ability.
• Cards can no longer be traded between players. Instead, players are given more cards and booster packs directly from the game, and can spend Credits in order to craft specific cards.
• Booster packs are modified from their real world counterparts, consisting of 6 or 5 cards instead of 10.

Tutorial

This section is a stub. You can help Bulbapedia by expanding it.

Professor Fir introduces the player to Pokémon Trading Card Game Live and teaches them how to play.

Battle Pass

Main article: Battle Pass (TCG Live)

One of the primary new features of TCG Live is the introduction of a Battle Pass. By playing the game and completing Quests, players earn experience which is used to unlock tiers in the Pass that give them rewards. Each Battle Pass is themed to go with a single expansion, concluding with the launch of the next expansion and being replaced with a new Battle Pass for that expansion. It comes in two tracks, a Basic Pass that all players have access to, and a Premium Pass available for purchase by using Crystals The Premium Pass has to be purchased for every Battle Pass; it does not persist across expansions

The Battle Pass has 50 Tiers, each rewarding different themed accessories, booster packs of the current expansion, and various currencies. Each player starts at Tier 1, then progresses up the Tiers one at a time until they reach Tier 50. The player needs 1000 experience to unlock each Tier, though Quests provide lump sums large enough that completing both available Quests in a day and a game or two usually results in unlocking 1 Tier per day. The player can also spend Crystals in order to unlock Tiers instantly.

The Basic Pass grants a full 60 card deck primarily using some of the new cards from the expansion. It primarily grants Credits. Many of the further tiers reward specific cards meant to upgrade the deck, with one of the rewards of the 50th tier being a Secret Rare of one of the main Pokémon of the deck.

Players have the additional option of purchasing a Premium Pass with crystals, a second track of the Battle Pass which is completed at the same time. It consists of an additional full 60 card deck primarily using some of the new cards from the expansion, and cards that are meant to upgrade that deck, with one of the rewards of the 50th tier being a Secret Rare of one of the main Pokémon of the deck. It also rewards more booster packs, including those from older sets, Coins, customization items, and even crystals. There are enough Crystals available in the Premium Pass to make back the purchase cost of it, should one play enough Pokémon Trading Card Game Live during the duration of the Battle Pass.

For an additional cost, if a player has yet to purchase a Premium Pass, they can purchase the _____ Premium Pass, which bundles the Premium Pass with unlocking the first 15 Tiers on the Battle Pass.

Avatar

Players have a new avatar system, which uses three-dimensional models rather than two-dimensional artwork. There are two base appearances to choose from, each corresponding to a gender. Items of clothing are gender specific, but when the game rewards the player with items it always includes both variations. This system allows players to choose options for Face (including the shape of their face, eye color, and skin color), Hair (hair styles and hair color), Glasses (What frame to wear, if any, as well as color options for the frames and lenses), Hats, Tops, Bottoms, and Shoes.

The player can additionally choose Poses, animations that their Avatar uses when starting a match and when winning a match. (The loser does not get to show an animation.) Similarly, players can also choose a Catchphrase: a string of text displayed in the same situations.

During a battle, the player can select emotes from a wheel to the side of the playfield. This causes their avatar to slide on screen briefly and perform a representative animation.

Redeeming code cards

The reverse of a code card. The code is on the side not pictured.

Main article: Code Card

Certain physical Pokémon Trading Card Game products will come with a unique code card that can be used to redeem virtual cards or other virtual products for the TCG Live. Code cards are available in physical Theme Decks, Elite Trainer Boxes, Booster packs, and other products that state that they contain a code card or contain the TCG Live symbol on the packaging, and unlock a respective or related product to where it was available. Code cards created for Pokémon TCG Online can be used in TCG Live.

Shopping

TCG Live uses the following currencies in :

• Coins are used to purchase cosmetic items such as avatar items, deck boxes, card sleeves and (gameplay) coins.
• Crystals are used to purchase Booster packs, card bundles and pre-constructed decks, all which reflect real-life distributions. The Premium Battle Passes are also purchased with Crystals, and Crystals can be converted into Coins.
• Credits are used to purchase specific cards (without relying on opening booster packs or similar products) as well as certain limited-time product bundles. Credits are obtained primarily by the game's duplicate protection; when the player receives a card of which they already have a playset, that excess copy is automatically converted into a number of Credits. Exclusive cards from Play! Pokémon Events such as League promos cannot be exchanged with Credits.

Card Drop Rates

Typical booster packs in the TCG Live have 6 cards per pack (5 for expansions before Scarlet & Violet) as opposed to 10 cards from real life, at the usual rarity/drop rates:

• 1 Common card*
• 1 Common or Uncommon card*
• 1 Uncommon card*
• 1 Foil Common to Foil Rare card (for 6-card packs)
• 1 Foil Common to Foil Rare or Rare and above card
• 1 Rare to Ultra Rare card

There is a small chance that the cards with a * will be of a rarity above Rare Holo instead.

Collector Crates are another kind of bundle obtainable from the Ladder and Battle Pass rewards, awarding 9 cards of a specific expansion at the following rarity/drop rates:

• 2 Common Foil cards
• 2 Uncommon Foil cards
• 2 Foil Rare or Rare to Illustration Rare cards
• 2 Ultra Rare cards
• 1 Special Illustration Rare or Hyper Rare card

Transfers from TCGO

Both Live and Pokémon Trading Card Game Online utilize Pokémon.com's Trainer Club account system. As long as players did not migrate their Pokémon TCG Online collection to Pokémon TCG Live's beta, they were free to play either game for as long as TCGO remained available. Players that did decide to migrate their data to TCG Live during the testing period were unable to log in to TCG Online.^[8] PTCGO shut down officially on June 7, 2023, though data migration is still possible until further notice.

Items transferred to Live include:

• All cards from the Black & White Series onward
  • Four copies of standard cards
  • One copy of ACE SPEC cards, Prism Star cards, and pieces of Pokémon V-UNION cards
  • 59 copies of Basic Energy cards
    • At the launch of Live, cards from the Black & White Series, XY Series, and certain cards from the Classic Collection of the Celebrations expansion (those originally printed before Sun & Moon) could not be used.
• One copy of accessories (deck boxes, coins and card sleeves) that have a real-life counterpart or were from certain special events

Note: When the game was initially announced, cards from Sun & Moon series released before Lost Thunder were also listed as being unavailable at launch.

Unopened products are not transferable but the player will be reimbursed for them with Crystals.

• 1-9 items: 500 Crystals
• 10-24 items: 1100 Crystals
• 25-49 items: 2,250 Crystals
• 50-124 items: 4,700 Crystals
• 125 or more items: 12,400 Crystals

Note: When the game was initially announced, the listed Crystal reimbursements were half these amounts.

See Also

• List of Pokémon Trading Card Game Live distributions

In other languages

Language Title French Jeu de Cartes à Collectionner Pokémon Live German Pokémon-Sammelkartenspiel-Live Italian Gioco di Carte Collezionabili Pokémon Live Brazilian Portuguese Pokémon Estampas Ilustradas Live Spanish Juego de Cartas Coleccionables Pokémon Live

References

This article is part of both Project Sidegames and Project TCG, Bulbapedia projects that, together, aim to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon Sidegames and TCG, respectively.