Home › How to Play

How to Play

Learn the basics of the world's biggest trading card games

Setup

  • Each player builds a 60-card deck with no more than 4 copies of any card (except basic Energy).
  • Shuffle your deck, draw 7 cards. Place one Basic Pokemon face-down as your Active Pokemon.
  • Place up to 5 more Basic Pokemon on your Bench. Set aside 6 Prize cards face-down from your deck.
  • If you have no Basic Pokemon in your opening hand, reshuffle and draw again (opponent may draw an extra card).

Turn Structure

  • Draw a card from your deck at the start of every turn.
  • Attach Energy -- one Energy card per turn to any of your Pokemon.
  • Evolve Pokemon by placing a Stage 1/2 card on the matching Basic/Stage 1 (not on the first turn or the turn you play it).
  • Play Trainer cards -- Supporters (1 per turn), Items (unlimited), and Stadium cards.
  • Retreat your Active Pokemon by paying its retreat cost, then promote a Benched Pokemon.
  • Attack once per turn if your Active Pokemon has enough Energy. This ends your turn.

Winning the Game

  • Take all 6 of your Prize cards (you draw one each time you Knock Out an opponent's Pokemon).
  • Knock Out all of your opponent's Pokemon in play.
  • Your opponent cannot draw a card at the start of their turn (deck out).

Type Matchups

  • Pokémon have Weaknesses (take double damage) and Resistances (take reduced damage) shown on the card.
  • Common examples: Fire beats Grass, Water beats Fire, Electric beats Water, Fighting beats Electric.

Deck Building

  • Main Deck: 40-60 cards. Extra Deck: up to 15 cards (Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, Link monsters). Side Deck: up to 15 cards.
  • Maximum 3 copies of any card, unless restricted by the Forbidden/Limited list.

Turn Structure

  • Draw Phase -- draw 1 card (the player going first skips their first draw).
  • Main Phase 1 -- Normal Summon or Set a monster (1 per turn), Special Summon, activate Spells/Traps, set cards.
  • Battle Phase -- declare attacks with your monsters. Compare ATK vs DEF (or ATK vs ATK). Damage is dealt to Life Points.
  • Main Phase 2 -- another chance to summon, set, or activate cards after battle.
  • End Phase -- resolve any end-of-turn effects, discard down to 6 cards if over the hand limit.

Key Mechanics

  • Normal Summon: Play a Level 1-4 monster from your hand (1 per turn). Level 5-6 need 1 Tribute, Level 7+ need 2 Tributes.
  • Special Summon: Summoned by card effects -- no limit per turn. Includes Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, and Link summons.
  • Spell Cards: Activate from hand or field. Types include Normal, Quick-Play, Continuous, Field, Equip, and Ritual.
  • Trap Cards: Must be Set for one turn before activation. Can be chained in response to other effects.

Winning the Game

  • Reduce your opponent's Life Points from 8000 to 0.
  • Special win conditions (e.g., Exodia -- holding all 5 pieces in your hand).
  • If your opponent cannot draw a card when required, you win.

The Basics

  • Build a deck of at least 60 cards (no more than 4 copies of any non-basic-land card).
  • Each player starts with 20 life and draws 7 cards. You may mulligan (reshuffle and draw one fewer).
  • Play one Land card per turn. Tap lands to generate Mana, which you spend to cast spells.

Card Types

  • Creatures -- attack and block. Have Power (damage) and Toughness (health). Summoning sickness means they can't attack the turn they enter.
  • Instants -- cast any time, even on your opponent's turn. Resolve immediately then go to the graveyard.
  • Sorceries -- cast only during your Main Phase. Powerful effects then go to the graveyard.
  • Enchantments -- permanent cards that stay on the battlefield with ongoing effects.
  • Artifacts -- colorless permanents with various abilities. Some are Equipment that attach to creatures.
  • Planeswalkers -- powerful allies with loyalty abilities. Opponents can attack them to reduce loyalty.

Turn Structure

  • Untap all your tapped permanents, then Draw a card.
  • Main Phase -- play lands, cast creatures/sorceries/enchantments/artifacts.
  • Combat -- declare attackers, opponent declares blockers, deal damage.
  • Second Main Phase -- cast more spells after combat.

Winning the Game

  • Reduce your opponent's life total to 0 through combat damage or spell effects.
  • Your opponent tries to draw from an empty library (deck out).
  • Alternate win conditions exist on certain cards (e.g., Thassa's Oracle, Laboratory Maniac).

How It Works

  • Pick a TCG and a set, then rip virtual booster packs. Cards are pulled using realistic rarity rates based on official odds.
  • Each pack opened earns you XP. Level up to unlock new sets, features, and the Golden Ticket bonus.
  • Pulled cards are automatically saved to your virtual Binder (collection).

Rarities and Pull Rates

  • Packs follow real-world rarity distributions. Common and Uncommon cards fill most slots.
  • Rare, Holo Rare, Ultra Rare, and Secret Rare cards appear at increasingly lower odds.
  • God Packs are extremely rare and contain all high-rarity cards. These are auto-saved as highlights.

Your Collection

  • View all your pulled cards in the Binder. Filter by set, rarity, or game.
  • Track your best pulls and see how your collection compares on the leaderboard.
  • Build decks from your virtual collection for the Battle Arena.

The Pack Simulator is free to use and no real cards are involved. It's all about the thrill of the rip!

Ready to play?

Rip some packs, build a collection, and battle other trainers on TCGZen.

Open Pack Simulator