How to play the Pokémon TCG

A game of the Pokémon TCG is two players taking turns: set up your Pokémon, power them up with Energy, attack, and be first to take all six Prize cards. Here's a whole game in plain words.

Setting up

  1. Each player shuffles a 60-card deck and draws 7 cards.
  2. Put one Basic Pokémon face down as your Active Pokémon, and up to five more face down on your Bench. No Basic Pokémon? Take a mulligan (see the questions below).
  3. Each player puts the top 6 cards of their deck face down as Prize cards.
  4. Flip a coin. The winner chooses who goes first. Turn your Pokémon face up and start.

Your turn

Draw a card. Then do any of these, in any order, as many times as allowed:

  • Put Basic Pokémon on your Bench (up to 5 there).
  • Evolve a Pokémon by placing its Stage 1 or Stage 2 on top. Not on anyone's first turn, and not the turn the Pokémon came into play.
  • Attach one Energy card from your hand to one of your Pokémon. Once a turn.
  • Play Trainer cards: Items as often as you like; one Supporter a turn; one Stadium a turn; a Tool on a Pokémon that doesn't have one.
  • Retreat your Active Pokémon once: discard Energy from it equal to its Retreat Cost and swap it with a Benched Pokémon.
  • Use Abilities written on your Pokémon.

Attack, and your turn ends

When you're ready, choose one of your Active Pokémon's attacks that it has the Energy for. Work out the damage (Weakness and Resistance), put damage counters on the defender, and do what the attack's text says. Attacking ends your turn; you can also end it without attacking.

If you Knock Out a Pokémon, take your Prize cards, and your opponent picks a new Active Pokémon from their Bench.

Between turns: Pokémon Checkup

Before the next player begins, check both Active Pokémon for Special Conditions: Poison and Burn add damage, Asleep flips a coin to wake, and Paralysis wears off after its owner's turn.

First-turn rules

  • The player who goes first can't attack or play a Supporter on their first turn.
  • Neither player can evolve on their first turn.

Learn it in one game

The fastest way to learn is to play: pick up a beginner deck from the deck guides (the Battle Boxes are matched pairs for two new players) and open the GameShuffle TCG Companion. It tracks the turn, ticks off the once-a-turn plays, and gently reminds you when something breaks the rules, without stopping the game.

Keep track at the table

The free GameShuffle TCG Companion tracks damage counters, Special Conditions, Energy and Prize cards on one phone, knows whose turn it is, and reminds you of the rules without stopping play. No download.

Questions players ask

Can you attack on the first turn in the Pokémon TCG?
Not if you go first. The player who goes first can't attack or play a Supporter on their very first turn. The second player can do both on their first turn.
How many Energy can you attach per turn?
One Energy card from your hand, to any one of your Pokémon. Card effects can attach more.
When can a Pokémon evolve?
Not on either player's first turn, and not on the turn the Pokémon was played or already evolved. After that, one evolution per Pokémon per turn.
How many cards are in a Pokémon deck?
Exactly 60, with no more than 4 copies of any card by name (basic Energy cards are the exception). You need at least one Basic Pokémon to play.
What is a mulligan?
If you draw no Basic Pokémon in your opening 7 cards, show your hand, shuffle it back and draw 7 again. Your opponent may draw one extra card for each mulligan you take.

Written in our own words from the current Pokémon TCG rules, checked October 11, 2026. Card effects can change any rule; the card wins. Pokémon and the Pokémon TCG are trademarks of their owners; GameShuffle isn't affiliated with them.