Pokémon Trading Card Game: Difference between revisions

This article does not yet meet the quality standards of Bulbapedia. Please feel free to edit this article to make it conform to Bulbapedia norms and conventions.

This article is about the Trading Card Game itself. For the Game Boy game related to this game, see Pokémon Trading Card Game (game).

Back of an English language card

Back of an original Japanese language card

Back of the current Japanese language card, since 2002

The Pokémon Trading Card Game, abbreviated as Pokémon TCG or PTCG, is one of the most popular and steady aspects of the Pokémon franchise (next to the video game and animated television series). The Pokémon TCG revolves around buying, collecting, and trading playing cards with various likenesses of Pokémon on them including some Pokédex information. At this time of writing, the TCG has at least one card for every Pokémon in existence with the exception of Arceus whom has only just been revealed.

History of the Pokémon TCG

The Pokémon TCG was created by Media Factory in Japan. It was first released in Japan in 1996. Wizards of the Coast, seeing a great opportunity to ride the new Pokémon wave, was licensed the game and introduced Pokémon TCG to North America in 1999. In 2003, Nintendo of America took over the game from Wizards of the Coast, and is currently releasing new sets for it. During the early part of its run, two Game Boy Color games were also released, Pokémon Trading Card Game and Template:Card GB 2, though only the first was released outside of Japan.

How to play

A person must build a deck of sixty cards using a combination of various "Pokémon" cards (creatures that do battle), "Trainer" cards (which have special effects on them) and "Energy" cards (a method of cost). To win, a player must "knock out" six of their opponent's Pokémon creatures. A player can also win if their opponent no longer has any Pokémon creatures left to battle with, or if their opponent runs out of cards in their deck.

Unlike classic card games which uses a single deck of 52 cards, a trading card game (TCG) is constantly and continuously growing. New cards with new game abilities are released at a steady interval in order to keep the game fresh and alive. The only cost of TCG's, however, is that it forces a player to constantly keep in touch with the game, as well as having to purchase new cards from newly released sets. Players who don't keep up run the risk of falling behind other players. The Pokémon TCG requires a deck of 60 cards for standard or tourney play, while short matches can be held via 'half-decks' which consist of 30 cards instead. During a 60 card match, only four of an individual Pokémon is allowed in each deck to keep things fair and challenging. This is limited to two in a half-deck match.

Card types

• Summary of Card Types
• Elemental types
  • Grass
  • Fire
  • Water
  • Lightning
  • Fighting
  • Psychic
  • Colorless
  • Darkness
  • Metal
• Pokémon
  • Basic Pokémon
  • Evolution
  • Dark Pokémon
  • Light Pokémon
  • Shining Pokémon
  • Crystal Pokémon
  • Pokémon-ex
  • Pokémon ☆
  • δ Delta Species
  • Owner's Pokémon
  • Pokémon LV.X
  • Pokémon SP
• Trainer card
• Energy card

Wizards of the Coast (English) sets

• Original releases
  • Base Set
  • Jungle
  • Fossil
  • Base Set 2
  • Team Rocket
• Gym series
  • Gym Heroes
  • Gym Challenge
• Neo series
  • Neo Genesis
  • Neo Discovery
  • Neo Revelation
  • Neo Destiny
• Legendary Collection
• e-Card series
  • Expedition Base Set
  • Aquapolis
  • Skyridge
• Southern Islands
• Wizards Black Star Promos
• Best of Game Cards

Wizards of the Coast (English) unreleased sets

• Crosstrainer
• Unnamed Wizards Set
• Jamboree
• Legendary Collection 2

Nintendo (English) sets

Sets

• EX series
  • EX Ruby & Sapphire
  • EX Sandstorm
  • EX Dragon
  • EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua
  • EX Hidden Legends
  • EX FireRed & LeafGreen
  • EX Team Rocket Returns
  • EX Deoxys
  • EX Emerald
  • EX Unseen Forces
• δ Delta Species series
  • EX Delta Species
  • EX Legend Maker
  • EX Holon Phantoms
  • EX Crystal Guardians
  • EX Trainer Kit
  • EX Dragon Frontiers
  • EX Power Keepers
• Diamond & Pearl series
  • Diamond & Pearl
  • Mysterious Treasures
  • Secret Wonders
  • Great Encounters
  • Majestic Dawn
  • Legends Awakened
  • Stormfront
• Platinum Series
  • Platinum
  • Rising Rivals
  • Supreme Victors

Other Merchandise

• EX Battle Stadium
• EX Series Value Pack
• 2004 World Championships
• 2005 World Championships
• 2006 World Championships
• 2007 World Championships
• 2008 World Championships
• Nintendo Black Star Promos
• DP Black Star Promos

Media Factory/The Pokémon Company (Japanese) sets

Exclusive Sets

• Vending Machine cards
• Video Introduction Set
• Neo Introduction Set
• Pokémon VS
• Pokémon Web
• Beat of the Frontier
• Advent of Arceus

Exclusive Decks

• e-Series
  • 5th Movie Half Deck
• ADV Series
  • 6th Movie Half Deck
• PCG Series
  • 7th Movie Half Deck
  • 8th Movie Half Deck
  • 9th Movie Half Deck
• DP Series
  • 10th Movie Commemoration Set
  • 11th Movie Commemoration Set
• DPt Series
  • Gift Box DPt
  • Garchomp vs Charizard SP Deck Kit
  • Arceus LV.X Deck: Grass & Fire
  • Arceus LV.X Deck: Lightning & Psychic

Promotional Series

• Unnumbered Promotional cards
• "P" Promotional cards
• "T" Promotional cards
• "J" Promotional cards
• "ADV-P" Promotional cards
• "PCG-P" Promotional cards
• PLAY & PPP Promotional cards
• "DP-P" Promotional cards
• "DPt-P" Promotional cards
• Unreleased cards

External links

• Go-Pokémon Official English TCG Resource
• Pokémon-Card.com Official Japanese TCG Resource (Japanese)
• The PokéGym
• Pokébeach
• Pokémon Marriland

On Bulbagarden forums

• Pokémon Trading Card Game discussion forum

This article is part of Project TCG, a Bulbapedia project that aims to report on every aspect of the Pokémon Trading Card Game.