Each player may have up to six Pokémon on the playing field at a time: one "Active" Pokémon and up to five on the bench. Each Pokémon card depicts a Pokémon from the video games. Without them, a player cannot play the game since both players begin the game by placing a Basic Pokémon in the Active position on the field.
Basic Pokémon are Pokémon that have not evolved and can be played directly onto the Bench. Card types īasic Pokémon are the foundation of all decks. If the final damage exceeds the defending Pokémon's HP, it is Knocked Out, and the active player takes a prize card and ends their turn. Damage may be modified depending on whether the defender has a weakness or a resistance to the attacker's Pokémon type. Effects from that attack are then activated and damage may be placed on the Defending Pokémon some attacks simply have effects but do not do damage.
At the end of their turn, a player may use one of their Active Pokémon's attacks, provided the prerequisite amount and types of Energy are attached to that Pokémon. A player may also retreat their Active Pokémon, switching the Active Pokémon with one on the Bench. Play alternates between players who may take several actions during their turn, including playing new Basic Pokémon, evolving their Pokémon, using Item cards, playing 1 Stadium card, playing 1 Support card, playing 1 Energy card, and using Pokémon Abilities. Play then begins with the player who won the coin flip. Players then take the top six cards of their deck and place them to the side as Prize Cards. Once both players have at least one Basic Pokémon, they can play up to five more Basic Pokémon onto their "Bench" (representing the maximum-carry limit of six from the video games). If a player does not have any Basic Pokémon, they must call mulligan, shuffle, and draw a new hand, and the opponent may draw one additional card for every mulligan. This Pokémon is known as the Active Pokémon and is usually the one that attacks and receives damage. Players then shuffle their decks and draw seven cards, then play one Basic Pokémon onto the field. The player going first cannot attack their first turn, unless the card says otherwise. (Dice may be used in place of coins, with even numbers representing heads and odd numbers representing tails. Players begin by having one player select heads or tails, and the other flips a coin the winner of the coin flip will decide who goes first or second. Other ways to win are by knocking out all the Pokémon the opponent has on the field so that the opponent has none left, or if at the beginning of their opponent's turn there are no cards left to draw in the opponent's deck. There are usually six Prize cards, and the primary win condition is to draw all of them. A Pokémon that has sustained enough damage is Knocked Out, and the player who knocked it out draws a Prize card. Players play Pokémon to the field and attack their opponent's Pokémon.
Players assume the role of a Pokémon trainer and use their Pokémon to battle their opponent's Pokémon. A collection of Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! cards