BinderLoot

Your first Pokémon game

Set up the Active Spot, the Bench and the Prize cards, and know the three ways to win.

6 min read

After this guide you can

  • Set up a game, mulligans included.
  • Name the three ways to win.

Put the game on the table

60
cards in each deck
7
cards in the opening hand
6
Prize cards for each player
5
Pokémon on the Bench at most

  • Each player shuffles a 60-card deck and draws 7 cards.

    Rulebook: Setting Up to Play, p. 8

  • Each player puts the top 6 cards of their deck aside face down as Prize cards.

    Rulebook: Setting Up to Play, p. 8; Zones of the Pokémon TCG, p. 7

  • A player has exactly one Active Pokémon and up to 5 Pokémon on the Bench.

    Rulebook: Zones of the Pokémon TCG, p. 7; Turn Actions, p. 10

Worked example: Ana and Ben set up

Choose who starts and draw seven

Opening hand

Charmander, Basic, 60 HP

60 HP

Teaching examples. Check current legality before using these printings in Standard.

1 / 4

Ana and Ben flip a coin. Ana wins and chooses to go first. Both players shuffle and draw seven cards.

Charmander, Obsidian Flames, illustrated by DOM. Miraidon ex, Scarlet & Violet, illustrated by 5ban Graphics. Card images from TCGdex. Pokémon is a trademark of Nintendo, Creatures and GAME FREAK. BinderLoot is unofficial and is not endorsed by them.

  • Flip a coin. The player who wins the flip chooses which player goes first.

    Rulebook: Setting Up to Play, p. 8

  • Each player puts one Basic Pokémon face down as the Active Pokémon, and up to 5 more Basic Pokémon face down on the Bench.

    Rulebook: Setting Up to Play, p. 8

Three ways to win

  • Take all six of your Prize cards.
  • Knock Out the last Pokémon your opponent has in play.
  • Your opponent cannot draw a card at the start of their turn.

  • A player wins by taking all of their Prize cards, when the opponent has no Pokémon in play, or when the opponent cannot draw a card at the start of their turn.

    Rulebook: How to Win the Game, p. 8; Turn Actions, p. 14

  • Only the draw at the start of a turn can lose the game. A card that tells a player to draw more cards than the deck holds draws what is left, and play goes on.

    Rulebook: What if you should draw more cards than you have?, p. 21

Your turn: Ben has no Basic Pokémon

Ben draws seven cards, and none of them is a Basic Pokémon. His second hand holds one. Ana took no mulligan.

1 / 2What does Ben do with his first hand?
2 / 2How many extra cards may Ana draw?

Check yourself

1 / 3How many Prize cards does each player set aside?
2 / 3You Knock Out the Active Pokémon of your opponent, and their Bench is empty. What happens?
3 / 3A card tells you to draw 3 cards, and your deck holds 1. Do you lose?
Next guideHow a Pokémon turn runsDraw, prepare, attack, then Pokémon Checkup. The first turn has its own limits.

Sources