How to Play thePokémon TCG
Two players each build a 60-card deck, battle Pokémon against one another, and race to claim six Prize cards. This page covers what you need for a first game — the card types, how a turn works, and the three ways a game is won.
What you need to start
One 60-card deck per player, and something to track damage. You do not need expensive cards — a deck's consistency comes from Trainer cards, which are usually the cheapest part of it.
Deck rules
- Deck size
- Exactly 60 cards
- Copies of one card
- Maximum 4 sharing a name
- Basic Energy
- No limit
- Bench size
- Up to 5 Pokémon
- Prize cards
- 6 per player
The three card types
Every card in a deck is a Pokémon, a Trainer or an Energy. Knowing which is which is most of what a first game requires.
Pokémon cards
The Pokémon that fight for you. One is Active at a time and up to five wait on your Bench.
- Basic — play these straight from your hand
- Stage 1 and Stage 2 — evolve onto a Basic
- ex — far stronger, but give up extra Prize cards
- Mega and Tera — special forms with their own rules text
Trainer cards
Everything that is not a Pokémon or an Energy. Trainers are where a deck gets its consistency.
- Item — play as many as you like each turn
- Supporter — one per turn, usually strong draw or search
- Stadium — stays in play and affects both players
- Pokémon Tool — attaches to one Pokémon
Energy cards
The fuel for attacks. You attach one Energy from your hand each turn, and every attack lists what it needs.
- Basic Energy — one per type, unlimited copies in a deck
- Special Energy — provides extra effects, limited to 4
- Attached to a Pokémon, not played onto the field alone
- Discarded when that Pokémon is knocked out
Setting up a game
Shuffle and draw 7
Both players shuffle their 60-card deck and draw seven cards.
Check for a Basic
You need at least one Basic Pokémon in hand. If you have none, reveal your hand, shuffle it back and draw seven again — a mulligan. Your opponent draws an extra card for each mulligan you take.
Place your Pokémon
Put one Basic face down as your Active Pokémon, and up to five more on your Bench.
Set six Prize cards
Take the top six cards of your deck and set them aside face down. These are what you claim by knocking out your opponent’s Pokémon.
Flip to decide who starts
The winner chooses who goes first. The player going first cannot attack on their first turn, so going second is often the stronger choice.
How a turn works
Every turn follows the same shape. Attacking always ends your turn, so it is the last thing you do.
Draw a card
Start every turn by drawing one card from your deck.
Take your actions, in any order
Play Basic Pokémon to your Bench, evolve Pokémon you played on an earlier turn, attach one Energy, play Item and Tool cards freely, one Supporter, and one Stadium.
Retreat if you want to
Once per turn you may move your Active Pokémon to the Bench by discarding Energy equal to its retreat cost.
Attack, which ends your turn
If your Active Pokémon has the Energy an attack requires, use it. Apply Weakness and Resistance, place the damage counters, and your turn is over.
Two limits catch new players out: you may attach only one Energy per turn, and a Pokémon cannot evolve on the same turn you played it.
How to win
Three ways, and the first is by far the most common.
Take all six Prize cards
Claim one each time you knock out an opponent’s Pokémon — two or three for an ex.
Clear their board
If your opponent has no Pokémon left in play after a knockout, you win immediately.
Deck them out
If your opponent cannot draw a card at the start of their turn because their deck is empty, you win.
Reading a card
Four numbers decide most of what a Pokémon card does in play.
- HP
- Damage it can take before it is knocked out.
- Weakness
- Damage from the listed type is doubled. This decides more games than anything else on the card.
- Resistance
- Damage from the listed type is reduced, usually by 30.
- Retreat cost
- Energy discarded to swap this Pokémon out of the Active spot.
Japanese cards show all of this identically — the numbers and symbols do not depend on language. Our guide to Japanese cards covers where each one sits on the card.
Common questions
How many cards do you need to play Pokémon TCG?
A legal deck is exactly 60 cards — not 59, not 61. You may include at most 4 copies of any card that shares a name, with one exception: Basic Energy cards have no limit. You also need damage counters or dice, and a coin for effects that require a flip.
Can you play the Pokémon TCG with Japanese cards?
For casual play, yes — the game is identical and both players can look up what a card does. For official organised play the rule is that every card in a deck must be in the language of the event, so a Japanese card generally needs an English equivalent to be tournament legal in an English-language event.
How long does a game of Pokémon TCG take?
A casual game usually runs 15 to 30 minutes. Tournament rounds are typically capped around 50 minutes, at which point a turn limit decides the result if neither player has taken all six Prize cards.
What is the difference between an ex Pokémon and a regular one?
An ex Pokémon has far more HP and stronger attacks, but your opponent takes two Prize cards instead of one when it is knocked out — sometimes three for the largest ones. That trade-off is the core decision: a stronger attacker that hands the game away faster if it falls.
Do I need to buy expensive cards to play competitively?
No. Deck strength comes from how the 60 cards work together, not from the price of any single card. Trainer cards that let you draw and search your deck are usually cheap and matter more to consistency than an expensive attacker does.
What does the retreat cost on a card mean?
It is the number of Energy cards you discard to move your Active Pokémon back to the Bench and bring up a different one. A high retreat cost is a real weakness: a Pokémon that is expensive to retreat can be trapped in the Active spot and worn down.
This covers enough to play a game. For edge cases and tournament rulings, the official Pokémon rulebook is the authority.
Ready to start collecting?
Authentic Japanese packs, sealed boxes and single cards, shipped across India.