The Pokemon Trading Card Game

Two reivews in one week? I must be spoiling you.

[size=+1]The Pokemon Trading Card Game[/size]​

So, I'm messing around with something I actually do have to memories with. Again.

So, I touched on the fact that Poke-Mania was at it's absolute height while I was in school and the Nintendo Game Boy had another ace in it's deck against every parent's wallet: Pokemon Blue, Red and Yellow. Every child had or wanted something Pokemon related. If you couldn't get the toys, you could watch the show, that was shown every single saturday on SM:TV live. This was an English, saturday morning kids show where you'd get shoddy sketches that were funnier when no one gave a crap (which seemed to be every week), competitions and cartoons to watch with your (then) gordy pals Ant and Dec with Cat Deeley.

This is the sketch they'd do before every episode of Pokemon was played. They're dressed as Gary and Misty having a battle, not a prepubescent Doc Brown and Applejack getting caught making out.​

Outside of that, there were the toys and the cards. I remember collecting tons of these things. I think I just enjoyed collecting them, their designs interesting and the desire to fill out my collection like a little flattened Pokedex I kept together with a rubber band was pretty enjoyable a pastime with my friends, who'd swap cards with me all the time. We got into so many arguments over them too. It could get very heated if we had a rare card that the other wanted but might have been...borrowed without permission or traded for something that wasn't worth it. I didn't, of course, but others I can't speak for...

What I find odd is that I never learned to play the game until 2014 when I brought a new deck of the cards. Namely, the Fennekin deck. At this point, the game had moved on but not enough that I couldn't catch up. Sure, it's been over a decade since I cared about Pokemon cards and using them for their intended purpose was all the fun I was likely to get out of these things and I am actually pleased I did as it turns out the Pokemon Trading Card Game (Pokemon TCG for short) is pretty fun. It mirrors the RPG games but has it's own twists and alternatives that made Pokemon battles fresh for me.

So, I should start with the rules. They're reasonably simple.

Both players have two decks of 60 cards. You can have any cards you like in there but only four of each card (except energies) are allowed. You have some counters to show damage, poison and burns then a coin for coin tosses. To start the game, you lay down some prize cards that are picked up for defeating your opponent's Pokemon. Then you draw some cards to make up your first hand. If you have a basic Pokemon to lay down, you can start. If not, you draw more cards until you do. Choose a basic Pokemon to start off with and some to go into the bench and your away!

From here, your aims are to either defeat all your opponents usable Pokemon or pick up all your Prize cards. If you run out of cards to draw from your deck, you will lose automatically and give the game to your opponent.

Should you win, you too can heroically pose with a pokeball, looking pleased with yourself. In fact, it's compulsory according to the rule book, as well as standing in your local town and challenging strangers that pass by your field of vision.​

Now, it's this rule that the first issue of Pokemon TCG kinda springs up. While rare, you can get completely screwed over in your first few turns if you only have one usable Basic Pokemon. All your opponent need do is defeat whatever you put forwards while your trying to find anything to back your team up in some way. Random chance is a big deciding factor in some games, as you can only receive new cards from either the prize area or your deck.

However, some cards can negate this crap shoot by allowing you to search your deck for what it specified. Granted, you're made to shuffle every time so that your stream of new cards was kept a mystery but it always felt like a handy ability to keep near by because it could just save your game from stagnation. Or even inactivity.

From this point onwards, the game is just like the Game Boy games...almost.

For every action your Pokemon can take, they must have a matching number of energy cards attached to them. And you can only attach one energy during your turn. Some cards will let you get around such a rule but it's a constant rule and a possible delay to any plans you make as you warm your Pokemon up with a new energy at every opportunity you get. This is the first major alteration to the Game Boy games by swapping out PP for mandatory energy costs. The time spent between laying down a Pokemon and racing to power up a move so you can start to cause damage is crucial as it leaves your Pokemon, and your chances of winning, in a vulnerable position. When both players have no energies on their active Pokemon, this isn't an issue. But when only one does, it's a little daunting to scramble energies together. It pays to spread your energies around to all of your benched Pokemon too, on the off chance they get booted out to deal with whatever your opponent has left.

Pictured: Adding Energy Cards to your Pokemon​

I don't think this is a bad system, however. It lets you get your opponent on the ropes if they make a mistake. If you were careless, you can get punished for it. That's excellent in a competitive game like this as there's plenty of cards and attacks that can take advantage of this rule. If you spot a pokemon with no energies, you have the chance of pulling it into active play and then pummeling it to pick up a cheeky prize card. It's a touch underhanded but it's hardly something that feels like cheating. That could mean the difference between victory and saving what's left of your pride.

Another rule is the requirement that you can only lay down the required Basic Pokemon before you can bring evolution cards into play. While you can evolve any number of Pokemon at any time during your turn as long as you have their next stage card in your hand. But, you can only evolve a pokemon once and you can't if you've played that basic card that turn. Again, I don't mind this. It keeps some semblance of balance between each player no matter what's in their deck. Evolved pokemon tend to be very powerful and desirable, making getting them pretty high on the wishlist of your game but take some time to build up. Your opponent is clearly doing the game at all times, however, making it a race of tactics and luck to get the cards you need ASAP.

Pictured: Evolving your Pokemon​

But, there's a pleasant freedom to this idea as well. You don't have to have pokemon that evolve as some basic pokemon can be seriously powerful on their own despite having no higher stages, meaning you can get a decent damage output without the dependency on evolution cards. Furthermore, you have control over what you put in your deck to rigging it to your advantage is a must. Whether you prefer to screw over your opponent with special rules or pokemon switches, burn through your deck a little quicker to get what you want or even use cards to search your deck for what you need. As long as it's within the 60 card limit, you can do anything.

In fact, it's interesting that all cards have a use. Weak pokemon can be send out as a martyr while your bench is evolved and energized. All trainer cards can be played when you like on your turn and you can play more than one. Plus, energies are now like gold dust to me when they used to be those weird cards I never cared about...except for the rare variants. Your hand rarely feels like a waste unless you get some serious bad luck or you have not thought your deck through properly. It's pretty satisfying to see your patience in deck building pay off.

The game doesn't seem all that difficult to pick up and learn but I think the most frustrating thing about it is that chance of being utterly stunned by your deck. It's rare if you've set your deck up correctly with a nice balance of what you like to play with but it's perfectly possible for powerful cards to either be at the bottom of your deck or one of your prize cards. It's a little more like a form of poker where you rig the deck however you like as the skill comes from dealing with whatever you're handed. But, your deck being stunted because you're shuffling has hidden your best cards can knock you for six, even if you don't make the best move.

You might not get that energy you need. Or that evolution to deal with your opponents pokemon. Or that one stadium card you were banking on. A random chance element is a big part of most trading card games as far as I have seen so this is not anything new but definitely a shock to a card game virgin such as myself as having the game stun my progress so thoroughly was jarring.

Not having that one card you just know could swing the balance can send you nuts too. Such as this beast right here!​

But I enjoy this game. The strategy and differences to it's source material got me back into Pokemon after so many years of being only so-so with the more recent RPG games. It's own idiosyncrasies are probably more engaging for me than the RPG as it requires more forethought and tactical thinking than mashing 'A' until everything falls over.

Oh! I should talk about the decks and booster packs too...Well, they're all reasonably priced with a wide variety of decks to play with for about £10 over here with booster packs hovering around £2 to £3. And they're fine! I have little complaints as the boosters seem to have a decent number and the decks always have some powerful cards inside. I haven't seen one I haven't wanted at all yet.

What's even more intriguing is the Online game. The Pokemon Trading Card Online is arguably one of the smartest moves I've seen for this game. In essence, it's a digital and free-to-play version of the game. It reminds me of a modern and card-based Pokemon Colosseum as your only choices are to fight in matches against Computer or Human opponents over the internet. The Computer seems to give you a decent challenge but the online players can range from equal to super-mega-incredibly-sprinkles-mecha powerful. Consider yourself warned.

Plus, you get to play against pre-pubescent M. Night Shyamalan!​

What's weird about the Pokemon TCG Online is just how generous it feels. While every single card is virtual and therefore costs them nothing to give you, they seem to give you tons of them. They start you off with a fire, water and grass deck box to start playing and messing around with as you please. Also, as you win matches, you're given coins. These buy virtual goodies like card sleeves and deck boxes that are entirely aesthetic but the cheapest thing here is the booster packs. If you play for an hour, maybe too, you'll breeze through at least one booster pack with the AI but the humans are gonna make you sweat for those coins.

I find this curiously pleasing. They're at a decent price that doesn't seem to far outside of the realm of possibility. However, there's got to be a way of paying for coins and just going on a booster pack spree. Or maybe buying up all the available decks?

Well, no. There isn't. You earn these coins. No pay-to-win there.

Instead, they do things Skylander's Style!

Trust me! It sounds weird but I know what I'm doing! Especially this time!​

For every physical booster pack you buy, you get a code that gives you a free virtual pack of the same type. Now, they don't contain the same card because of the unpredictable nature of the packs but that's still a decent system as you'll have both to play with. One with your friends when you meet them, one for all the friends you can't see face to face. Decks have the same thing except they will match the cards in the deck in the virtual version because they are predictable. Again, it's a pretty neat concept that's a decent optional extra for anyone that wants it.

The game itself? Damn good. It's a little lacking in music for some places but I always found myself too focused on what I was doing to care. Otherwise, it's a great way of practicing the game and all it's rules in an environment where it barely matters. The computer will also take you through the game as well as let you know what legal moves you have left by showing you what you can interact with clearly. You can right-click any upturned card to read it too, helping your knowledge of the game as you read up on stuff.

But the Physical and Virtual decks are all optional though. You don't need one to play the other as they stand alone perfectly well but they compliment each other in a pleasing and non-intrusive way. The virtual deck system feels like a bonus and a greater incentive to buy pokemon cards. You effectively double whatever you buy.

So, Pokemon has started me off on my interest in Card Based games. It's a decent game that I honestly wished I had learned when I was younger because damn! I would have collected totally different stuff when I was a kid! I would have had completely different fights too...

With cards like these, who needs friends? Or front teeth?​