How to Win at the Pokémon Card Game

Stay calm. Being calm relaxes your mind. It makes it easier to think. It is hard to strategize with a stressed mind.

• Breathe in and out. This is a very effective way to calm your mind. It is also quick, for you need to be quick on what your opponent is doing.

Study your opponent’s cards. See what their disadvantages and advantages are. Guess what strategy they are using. Ask yourself:

• How can I defeat those Pokémon?
• How will they be able to defeat mine?

Look at the weaknesses and resistance of the Pokémon in play. See if any of your opponent’s Pokémon have any weakness or advantages to yours or vice versa (the other way around). Weaknesses can make or break the game, and so can resistance. Try your best to use that information and make it to your advantage.^{[14] [15] [16]}

• The Weakness and Resistance of a Pokémon can be found at the bottom-left corner of the Pokémon card.

Play the right energy on the right Pokémon.^{[17] [18]} Planning ahead is key. Don’t rush to attach energy to just any Pokémon. Keep track of how many energies you have used and how many you have left in your deck or prize cards. Guess what the playing field will look like in a few turns. What will you need? Focus on setting up Pokémon you will need in the near future.

• Don't put energy on your dying active Pokémon. It might be better to let it be knocked out so you can set up it's replacement.
• You don't have to play an energy just because you have it.
• It’s also a good idea to put in a specific type of energy in the right type of Pokémon. For example: fighting energy should go with fighting Pokémon, and electric energy should go with electric Pokémon.

Evolve your Pokémon.^{[19] [20]} If you know that your Pokémon is really weak, but you have the Evolution for that Pokémon in your hand, then evolve it. That make sit stronger and have more HP. You can evolve multiple Pokémon of you can. Use strategy on when to evolve it on the right time, though.

• You can’t evolve a Pokémon more than twice. You also cannot evolve a Pokémon if it was just put in play, or of it is your very first turn.
• If your basic Pokémon has a Special Condition, that’s a perfect time to Evolve that Pokémon.

Retreat your Pokémon.^{[21] [22]} This is an option that is frequently underused. Retreating is a great way to save an EX or GX with low HP.^[23] Just be sure to have something ready to switch in. A well placed retreat can also serve as a devastating surprise attack. Quickly set up or evolve a Pokémon your opponent didn't account for and switch it in on the same turn to really ruin their day.

• Be aware that it’ll cost you some energy cards to retreat. Strong Pokémon with no retreat cost are very valuable.
• If you can’t retreat, then try to use the cards you have in your hand, like potions, to heal and revive your Pokémon’s health. Some Pokémon cards have abilities, or attacks, that can heal other Pokémon. Chaney is a great example. Use those specific Pokémon cards to your advantage.

Think before you attack. Many amateur trainers attack right away on their turn. Be sure consider what trainers/supporters are available. Before you at attack, ask yourself:

• Did I draw a card from my deck yet?
• How have things changed since last turn?
• Have I played an energy yet?
• Can I activate an ability or stadium card effect?
• Will my Pokémon get knocked out on my opponent’s turn after I attack?
• Do I have any cards in my hand to make the effect of the attack stronger?

Use the cards in your hand. See if you have any Trainer, Stadium, Energy, or Pokémon that you can use in the game. Your hand can provide you lots of assistance while playing. Be sure to really think about what you want to do with the cards in your hand first, before putting them in play. Sometimes it is better to save some cards for a rainy day. Remember to:

• Evolve your Pokémon in play.
  • You can’t evolve a Pokémon if it was just put in play on your field. Plus, if you evolved a Pokémon, you can’t evolve that Pokémon again for that turn, for it counts as a new Pokémon in play. You can evolve many different types of your Pokémon per turn, though. Evolving a Pokémon also gets rid of Special conditions, if your Pokémon happens to have one. It also gets rid of other effects.
• Attach tools to your Pokémon.
  • You can do this as many times as you want. Be aware, though, that a Pokémon can only have one tool attached to it, so be wise on which tool you put on a Pokémon.
• Attach energy cards to your Pokémon.
  • You can only do this once per turn. Mostly all Pokémon need energy to attack. The energy cost of an attack can be found at the left side of the attack move. If it has a grey spot, then the attack is free, and you can use it any time; you don’t need attach energy in order to use that attack.
• Use any potions or other Trainer cards that can help revive your Pokémon’s health.
  • You can do this as many times as you want for your Pokémon. Once you use a your trainer card that heals, discard it.
• Play Stadium cards.
  • They can give you power-ups or abilities that can favor your Pokémon. Be aware that only one stadium card can be in play; once a different stadium card is put in play, discard the other one.

Improvise. Sometimes, you don’t always get the cards you need. If this is the case, try your best to see what you can work with. Sometimes, your very opponent can play a move that can benefit you. For example: your opponent may happen to play a stadium card that, yes, benefits him/her, but can also benefit you. Some things to do, or look out for, when no good come from your deck is:

• To seeing if your Pokémon can attack or not.
• To analyzing you Pokémon if they have any special abilities that can benefit you and your Pokémon.
• To spend the time planning in your head on how to defeat your opponent’s Pokémon.

Predict your opponent’s next move. Although this is pretty tricky, it is important to anticipate what is coming next. Does your opponent feel threatened or confident? Will he bide his time or strike fast and hard? Adjust to your opponent's play style and watch as he adjusts to yours.

• Try not to be too obvious when doing this. Example: bending over constantly to look at your opponent’s Pokémon card information. Also, think to yourself when doing this, for you don’t what your opponent knowing what you’re doing.

Take your time. Don’t rush what you’re doing. Be calm and steady. Once you’re sure that you want to attack, make the move. Be aware, though, that you cannot attack on your first turn in a game.

• Be sure to remember your strategy on winning.

Be a good sport. The first step in loosing a battle is not getting angry. Tell the person that they have a good deck, and that next time, when you and your opponent battle, you’ll be stronger. Tell th person that, next time he/she is going down (in the most nicest and friendliest way possible). This builds up relationships when two people battle.

• If you get mad and loose it, your opponent will look at you as a sore looser, and won’t want to battle you again.

Try to remember what critically advantages your opponent’s Pokémon had on yours. Your opponent could have had some Pokémon types that the majority of your Pokémon have a Weakness to. For example: Lugia EX has a weakness to lightning types. The other most likely thing is that your opponent had resistance to your types of Pokémon. For example: Raichu GX has resistance to metal types. Once you figure out the disadvantages that your Pokémon have with your opponent’s, add in different Pokémon types that back each other’s weaknesses, or effect your opponent’s Pokémon’s weaknesses. For example: Grass has a weakness to fire, but fire has a weakness to water, so have a Grass and Water deck! Or, add in types that have resistance to your opponent’s types.

• The Weakness and Resistance of a Pokémon can be found at the bottom-right side of the card.

Recall all of the Trainer cards your opponent put down during the battle. Trainers can be essential in a game, and some can even make some Pokémon invincible. Stadium cards are good examples. Knowing what Trainer cards your opponent has can really help you a lot, for you can decide what extra cards you can add into your deck that can counter those Trainer’s effects.

• For example: Luxio from Sun and Moon’s attack stops you’re opponent from playing Item cards, which is a type of Trainer card. That prevents lots of effectived, which can help you a lot!

Look through your deck again. Make a thorough sweep of the cards you have. This can help you to see what cards were in your deck while you were battling with your opponent. See if your deck is missing any critical cards, like a specific Trainer or Pokémon. Your deck could be overwhelmed by some cards that throws off your deck, or just doesn’t seem to fit in.

• Be sure to see if your energy cards, Pokémon cards, and Trainer cards are balanced. In other words, see if the numbers of all of them correspond with each other, and that one number is way bigger or smaller than the other.
  • Remember that you should roughly have about 20 of each.

Refresh your deck. Once you’ve figured out what you need to do with your deck, edit and revive it. Think about the steps above and what you’ve chose to take out and what to add in. Be sure that, once you’re done with editing, you recheck it; even one wrong card can mess up the whole entire deck. Be sure that your cards are balanced, and that you have what you think is necessary to beat your opponent.

• Remember that your deck must have 60 cards, unless you’re both using a trainer deck, which has half that amount.
• If you don’t have the cards you need, trade with your friends for card. Be aware, though, that you made need to give up so things in your deck. If they’re nice enough, they may even give them away for free!

Test your new and improved deck. If your deck provides you with the cards you need (one Basic Pokémon, a few energies, and some Trainer cards) then, it’s all set.

• If it doesn’t, look through your deck again, edit what you think you left out, and try again.