These are the bread and butter of most decks, usually comprising at least half of your cards. Pokémon tools are basically auras, and stadiums are more like world enchantments. You have item cards and supporter cards that work the same as sorceries, though supporter cards are more powerful and are limited to just one per turn. That is, you can use any type of energy for it. The colorless energy symbol (that looks like a white star) is the same as generic mana in MTG. And as long as your Pokémon has the correct amount of energy attached, it can use the corresponding attack. You can play one energy card from your hand per turn, same as with lands in MTG. Each Pokémon has at least one attack that costs a certain amount of energy to use. So, in order to play a Charizard, you first have to play a Charmander and then evolve it into a Charmeleon and then again into the Charizard card. In the same way that Pokémon evolve in the video games, you need to evolve your Pokémon from their base forms to their higher forms. There are three main card types: Pokémon, Energy, and Trainers. There are plenty of in-depth tutorials available online, but I'll summarize the key points as best I can. I'm not going to through all of the rules for the game.

Ready? Let's go!ĭevils' Playground | Illustration by Wayne England

Let me break down some of the features of Pokémon, how it compares to MTG, and how you as a Magic player can learn this game from scratch. But the Pokémon TCG is one of the most unique card game experiences out there, and for my money, one of the most well-designed TCGs of them all. Popular games like Hearthstone, Eternal, and Legends of Runeterra have some very obvious connections, like their use of a mana system. Today Pokémon is worth well over $100 billion, with projects across multiple games, anime series, and of course, a fantastic trading card game.Ī lot of trading card games take influences from the example Magic set back in 1993 these days.

This fan-favorite game started as the vision of a young autistic kid from Japan who loved collecting insects as a hobby, and quickly grew into the most valuable media franchise in the world. If you’re currently in your thirties or younger, like I am, it’s likely that you've interacted with Pokémon.

Comparative Analysis | Illustration by Willian Murai

Is the pokemon card game still popular