I get asked “how do I even start playing” more than almost anything else — way more than card values, honestly. So here it is: everything you need to sit down with a friend and actually play a full game, no prior knowledge assumed. I’m keeping this to the physical/paper game (Pokémon TCG Live works the same way, just automated). A video version is coming once I’ve got this written version locked down.
The goal
You win one of three ways:
Take all your Prize cards. You set aside 6 cards face-down at the start of the game. Every time you knock out one of your opponent’s Pokémon, you take one (some Pokémon — like ex or VMAX cards — are worth 2 Prize cards when knocked out, so those trade fast).
Your opponent runs out of Pokémon. No Pokémon in play, none left to play — game over.
Your opponent can’t draw a card. If someone’s deck is empty on their draw step, they lose right there. This barely ever comes up, but it exists.
Most games end on Prize cards. Just remember: bigger, splashier Pokémon usually cost your opponent more Prizes when they go down, which matters a lot when you’re deciding what to attack into.
What’s in a deck
60 cards, always. Three types: Pokémon cards — what you actually play and attack with. Trainer cards — Items, Supporters, Stadiums, and Tools, doing everything from drawing extra cards to searching your deck to healing damage. Energy cards — attach these to power up your Pokémon’s attacks.
You can only run 4 copies of any card with the same name (max 4 Pikachu, max 4 Ultra Ball, etc.) — the one exception is basic Energy, which you can run as many of as you want. There are 8 basic Energy types, and there’s no dedicated Colorless Energy card — Colorless costs in attacks can be paid with any Energy type:
Grass
Fire
Water
Lightning
Psychic
Fighting
Dark
SteelSetting up
Both players shuffle, draw 7 cards, and set a Basic Pokémon face-down as their Active Pokémon (the one doing the fighting) — you can also place more Basics face-down on your Bench, up to 5. Once both players are ready, flip everything face-up, set aside your 6 Prize cards, and you’re in.
Whoever goes first is decided however you like — coin flip, rock-paper-scissors, doesn’t matter.
How a turn works
Every turn has three parts, always in this order:
1. Draw. Draw one card. Mandatory, no skipping it.
2. Main phase. Do as much or as little of this as you want, in any order: play Basic Pokémon to your Bench (up to 5 total); evolve a Pokémon that’s been in play since the start of this turn (you can’t evolve something the same turn you played it); attach one Energy card from your hand to any of your Pokémon (one attachment per turn, total — not per Pokémon); use Pokémon Abilities; play as many Item cards as you want; play one Supporter card; play one Stadium card; retreat your Active Pokémon once, paying its Retreat Cost in Energy, to swap in a Benched Pokémon.
3. Attack. Pick an attack your Active Pokémon has enough Energy for, resolve it, and your turn ends. One attack per turn, and once you attack, that’s it.
The one rule that trips everyone up: the player going first draws a card like normal, but cannot attack and cannot play a Supporter card on their very first turn. Nobody can evolve on turn 1 either, for either player, since evolving needs a Pokémon that’s already been in play since the start of the turn. It sounds fiddly written out, but at the table it just means: turn 1, you set up your board and pass. That’s it.
Standard format and rotation, explained simply
If you’re buying singles or building a tournament-legal deck, you need to know about rotation. Every card released has a small letter printed on it — the regulation mark — usually near the artist credit or set symbol. Once a year, the oldest regulation marks get rotated out of the Standard format, so the format keeps refreshing instead of accumulating years of cards.
The current rotation took effect this year — regulation mark G and everything older is no longer Standard-legal, and only cards marked H and onward are tournament-legal in Standard. Practically, that means anything from Twilight Masquerade onward is safe to build around, and anything from the original Scarlet & Violet base set through Paradox Rift just rotated out. New sets keep adding new regulation marks as they release, and each stays legal until it’s old enough to rotate out in turn.
If you’re just playing casually with friends, none of this matters — play with whatever cards you own. It only bites you if you’re building for an actual Standard tournament.
What’s next
That’s genuinely enough to sit down and play a full game. Once you’re comfortable with the basics, check out my Meta Decks page for what’s actually winning right now, or Jack’s Decks if you want to see what I personally play. And if you want to play an actual game with me — in person here in Singapore, or on Pokémon TCG Live — head to Play with Jack.
Written by Jack, cross-referenced against the official tournament rules and a handful of community rules guides — if anything here ever looks off, tell me and I’ll fix it.
