For nearly three decades, the rules for the Pokemon Trading Card Game have largely remained the same. Sure, there have been some tweaks over the years, but the core mechanics haven’t changed all that much since 1996. However, Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket introduced players to a much faster version of the game, and a lot of people seem to prefer this version. So much so that some players have started to use the rules for the mobile game while playing the physical version. It’s definitely not a perfect system, but many fans are enjoying the faster matches.
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There are some very big differences between the classic Pokemon TCG rules and those in Pokemon TCG Pocket. For one thing, the mobile game has significantly smaller deck sizes. Rather than playing matches with 60 card decks, Pocket‘s decks feature 20 instead. This is a lot easier to pull off thanks to the fact that Energy Cards no longer take up space, and the player simply generates Energy on each turn. The mobile game also uses a system where players are trying to be the first to get three points. This makes matches a lot faster than the physical game, where the goal is to get six prize cards.
In a thread on the Pokemon TCG Pocket subreddit, players have been sharing their experiences with playing the TCG using Pocket rules. The thread’s original poster, Trycity_23, shared a video in which he and his girlfriend play the TCG doing just that. However, as the OP points out throughout the thread, they had to make adjustments over time, bumping the points required to six. This prompted other users to share their own experiences, and some of the positives and negatives that have come about as a result.
While players have shown a lot of ingenuity when it comes to making Pokemon TCG Pocket‘s rules work in the physical card game, many Reddit users felt that it simply doesn’t work that well. On the surface, the physical card game and TCG Pocket have a lot of similarities, but the cards for each were designed with different rules in mind. That applies to everything from retreat costs, to the amount of damage cards can do, to the effects of Supporter cards. That’s going to lead to some headaches for anyone looking to simply adapt the rules and hope for the best.
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As Pokemon TCG Pocket continues to find new fans, it will be interesting to see how the game evolves, and what impact it might have on the physical card game. It’s possible we could see the mobile game add a competitive mode based on the traditional ruleset, and it’s also possible we could see a ruleset for the physical card game that’s closer to the one that appears in Pokemon TCG Pocket. Both of these things would seem logical given the success of TCG Pocket so far, but what lasting impact the digital game will have on the physical remains to be seen.
Have you tried Pokemon TCG Pocket‘s rules in the physical card game? Do you prefer the rules in the mobile game? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
[H/T: Dexerto]
