Supporter card (TCG)
Supporter cards (Japanese: サポート Support; also known as サポーター Supporter prior to the Black & White expansion) are one of the four primary subclasses of Trainer cards in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, alongside Item cards, Pokémon Tool cards, and Stadium cards. Supporter cards depict and feature people; generally, these are characters from the Pokémon games and Pokémon anime such as Gym Leaders and Trainer classes, though many are exclusive characters featured within the many themes created for the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Supporter cards are color-coded as orange, as shown on the name of the card type and the card's infobox.
Supporter cards debuted in English in the Expedition Base Set with the start of the e-Card Series, and within the P Promotional cards during the Web Era in Japan. Originating as a subclass of Trainer cards, Supporter cards, as well as Stadium cards, were elevated to equal level as Trainer cards with the start of the Diamond & Pearl Series. When the Trainer cards of Generation IV were reclassified as Item cards, the term "Trainer card" became an overarching term, while Supporter and Stadium cards joined Item cards and returned to subclasses of Trainer cards. Generally, Supporter cards have stronger effects than Item cards, or have effects that are unique to this card type.
Players are allowed to play only 1 Supporter card during their turn (unless a card allows them to play more). When they were first introduced, most Supporters were to be played next to the player's Active Pokémon and discarded at the end of that player's turn. The only supporter not to be discarded was Charon's Choice, who returned to the hand instead. With the release of the Black & White expansion, this practice was changed, and Supporters were to be discarded directly after being played. This was to allow players to retrieve Supporter cards from the discard pile during the same turn if they wished. Beginning with the Sword & Shield series, the player who goes first cannot play a Supporter card on their first turn.[1] There are currently 436 different Supporter cards, though many have received multiple prints.
Information
As the characters of the games and the anime change periodically, it is not uncommon for various Supporter cards from different Generations to share the same effects: for example, both the Generation III EX Series Supporter Professor Birch and the Generation V Black & White Series Supporter Bianca share the same effect. In most cases, Supporter cards with different names that have the same effect can be played together, allowing a deck to have more than four cards that have the same effect. However, the cards Professor Juniper, Professor Sycamore, Professor's Research, Lysandre, and Boss's Orders have effects that are too powerful for a deck to be able to have more than four instances of their effect.[2] These cards have specific rules preventing them from being played in the same deck as a card with an identical effect.[3] The cards Professor's Research and Boss's Orders were created to allow for the effect to be themed to multiple characters without creating new cards with new names that would fall under this rule.[4] On Professor's Research and Boss's Orders, the name of the character featured on the card can be found to the left of the card name, in a smaller and lighter font.
A feature started from the Black & White Series of the Pokémon Trading Card Game onward is that popular Supporter cards are reprinted as Full Art cards. Other than Full Art cards, Supporter cards typically do not receive alternate artworks. Occasionally, when the card is reprinted in a completely different Series or is reprinted and released through a special promotion, it may receive an alternate artwork.
TAG TEAM Supporters
TAG TEAM Supporter Cards were introduced in the Cosmic Eclipse set of 2019. These cards feature two characters from the Pokémon franchise instead of the normal one and have distinctive yellow patterns around the upper left and lower right borders of the card. TAG TEAM Supporter Cards act the same way as normal Supporter cards, but they have an optional second effect. The second effect can only be used if the player discards a certain number of cards from their hand as a cost.
List of Supporter cards
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The following is a dynamic list. Its subject matter requires frequent updates to remain current and complete. This list should typically be updated every month. The last time this page was edited was on October 16, 2024. |
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This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: JP cards (Fusion Arts - VMAX Climax, Dark Phantasma - VSTAR Universe, promo cards) |
