You will be given a few standard decks to start off with, but it won’t be long before you want to build one all of your own. Thankfully you won’t need to beg your mum to buy you some cards to play with your friends. You will be playing against real-world randoms in both modes of play. The latter is the big new addition that wasn’t in Pokémon TCG Online, adding the competitive angle many players have been wanting. Like Magic: The Gathering Arena and Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel, there is no single-player campaign. The former will give you the choice to play in the Standard Format, which includes all sets from the last two years or so, or Expanded Format, which uses all cards dating back to Black & White in 2011. While not yet present in the beta, the game will in time be divided into Casual Mode and Ranked Mode. The opening tutorial will teach you all about them and refresh you on the other rules too. There are newer mechanics, including Supporters and Pokémon VMAX, though they add extra depth rather than rewrite the rulebook. Players pit their Pokémon Cards against each other, evolve them to make them stronger, use Trainer Cards to get an advantage, ready them for attack with Energy Cards, and claim one of their six Prize Cards for every felled foe to inch closer to victory. The game has not changed its fundamental rules since its very first set, great news for lapsed players jumping back in.

Pokémon TCG Live is focused squarely on these two things, letting you collect digital versions of all the real-world cards to use in simulated online battles. The second – amassing a collection of the shiniest cards possible.

The first is curating a carefully crafted deck, using the latest metagame to cultivate strategies. A Digital Playground to Battle and CollectĪsk any player who has purchased a booster pack and they’ll tell you the Pokémon Trading Card Game is about two things.

Pokemon tcg live round times