Pokémon Trading Card Game Live

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Pokémon Trading Card Game Live (also referred to as Pokémon TCG Live) is a free-to-play digital version of the Pokémon Trading Card Game and the successor to the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online. It is available on Windows, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and Android devices.

Pokémon Trading Card Game Live
Logo of Pokémon Trading Card Game Live
Basic info
Platform:	Windows, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, Android
Category:	Strategy card game
Players:	1-2
Connectivity:	Internet
Developer:	The Pokémon Company International
Publisher:	The Pokémon Company International
Part of:	Generation VIII miscellaneous
Ratings
CERO:	N/A
ESRB:	E
ACB:	G
OFLC:
PEGI:	3
GRAC:	N/A
GSRR:	N/A
Release dates
Japan:	N/A
North America:	February 22, 2022 (Canadian beta) June 8, 2023 (global launch)
Australia:	July 19, 2022 (beta) June 8, 2023 (global launch)
Europe:	August 14, 2022 (German, French and Italian beta) June 8, 2023 (global launch)
South Korea:	N/A
Hong Kong:	N/A
Taiwan:	N/A
Websites
Japanese:	N/A
English:	Pokémon.com

Originally planned for 2021, an announcement on Nov 4, 2021 delayed the mobile soft launch in Canada, as well as a global open beta for desktop, to 2022. The Canadian limited beta was announced on February 16, 2022 and launched on February 22, 2022 for Android, Windows, and macOS in both English and French, with iOS and iPadOS to be added later. On May 24, 2022, the limited beta became available on all platforms in Canada and Mexico (and in Spanish), along with cross-platform play, and on July 19, 2022, was expanded to Australia and New Zealand. On November 15, 2022, the global beta became available, supporting English, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.

The game would launch globally on June 8, 2023, closely following the shutdown of its predecessor on June 5, 2023.

Among the main differences to its predecessor is an overhaul of the game's interface, the absence of cards from the HeartGold & SoulSilver series as well as the trading system to streamline gameplay, and being able to obtain individual cards in the new client with one of the game's currencies. The game has all cards released internationally from the Black & White expansion onward. It was announced to launch initially with only cards from the Lost Thunder expansion onward being playable, with new products being released in periodic updates. However, the game launched with all cards from Sun & Moon on implemented with game logic but without booster packs from those sets purchasable in the game's shop.

Gameplay

Pokémon Trading Card Game Live builds off the gameplay found in Pokemon Trading Card Game Online, adapting the Pokémon Trading Card Game into a digital medium. The primary differences between the two games are in their visuals and their economies.

As before, players can collect digital cards, build decks, then play against the computer or against other players. Moving cards and other in game items is primarily done through a drag and drop interface. Playing cards as a whole is done this way, placing the cards into the appropriate zone or onto a Pokémon depending on their rules. If there are further decisions that have to be made, some cards have players select a Pokémon in play while other cards open a menu where the cards are placed into slots to represent picking them. These menus can be closed and reopened if the player wants to review the board state before making a decision.

Pokémon cards in play can be selected, bringing up a menu where the player can look at their text more closely. If it is their Pokémon while it is their turn, the player can pick an action that the card can use, be that attacking, retreating or using an Ability.

Matches against other players are timed, with each player having a separate timer. A player's timer counts down whenever they have to make a decision in the game. If one player's timer counts all the way down to zero, that player loses. Timers are not reset if the game results in a tie and a Sudden Death game begins. In addition to this, all decisions have a short timer attached to them, indicated to the player once the timer is at 15 or fewer seconds. If this timer runs out, the game makes the decision for the player. If enough decisions are resolved this way in a row, a player can also lose the game for being inactive.

Playing matches against other players rewards players with Experience points, coins, and experience in the Battle Pass. These in turn allow the player to collect cosmetic items to customize the appearance of themselves and their deck. Other rewards that can be gained include booster packs and Credits, which are used to acquire new cards for one's digital collection so that they can build different decks.

Visuals

Example of the game's interface on mobile prior to a certain update. Benched Pokémon and Stadiums were displayed with "condensed art", only showing certain characteristics and hiding the text unless the player selected the card.

Pokémon TCG Live has a noticeably more fantastical bend compared to its predecessor, with battles taking place in a futuristic setting compared to the prior game depicting a standard tabletop. More things have animations, such as tapping on the playfield or holding an Ancient or Future card. The playfield lights up to indicate who is taking the current turn, and the in-play zone takes on a different appearance depending on the Energy type of the Pokémon who most recently became an Active Pokémon. Attacks again have varying animations depending on the Energy type of the Attacking Pokémon, and a Knocked Out Pokémon has an accompanying red burst sweep through the in-play zone before the card leaves the field.

Players have three dimensional avatars. During a battle, the player can select emotes from a wheel to the side of the playfield. This causes their avatar to slide on screen briefly and perform a representative animation.

Prior to a certain update, the mobile version of Pokémon Trading Card Game Live displayed Benched Pokémon cards with "condensed art". These cards would only display their artwork, a special property indicated by their name, an icon representing their Stage, HP, Energy type, and if they have an Ability. The card's name was not displayed. Stadium cards were also displayed in this way, so the only visible portion of the card was the artwork. This saved visual space on phones. This feature was removed, and so Benched Pokémon and Stadiums display the full card.

Formats

Pokémon TCG Live supports two of the TCG's wide and varied formats.

Standard

The Standard format is considered something of a default, being used in the majority of modes in TCG Live. A deck is only legal for use in Standard if every card in the deck has one of the Regulation marks that are currently allowed in Standard. Every year, a process called Rotation occurs where cards with older marks are made illegal.

Standard is represented by the color red, with its symbol being a red circle with two other circles intersecting the circumference.

Expanded (Beta)

The Expanded format is less common, only being available as part of Casual mode in TCG Live. A deck is only legal for use in Expanded if every card in the deck is from Black & White or an expansion released after that point. However, Expanded has a ban list to adhere to. Cards on the ban list caused problems in the format, and as such are not allowed to be played in Expanded.

However, TCG Live does not yet allow every card legal in Expanded to be played in a match. As such, the format is currently called Expanded (Beta), only allowing cards that have been implemented on the client. Currently the game allows cards from Sun & Moon and newer expansions.

Expanded (Beta) is represented by the color blue, with its symbol being a blue circle with three other circles intersecting the circumference.

Modes

Ranked mode

In Ranked mode, players compete against other players. Winners get Rank Points, used which allow them to progress through a monthly Ladder and receive rewards. Losing a battle costs players Rank Points. Games in Ranked mode are played exclusively in the Standard format.

Casual mode

In Casual mode, players play the Trading Card Game for fun. Nothing is risked except for the fact players get more rewards for winning matches than losing them. This mode can be played in both Standard and Expanded (Beta). The Standard format is represented by a red emblem with a Charizard silhouette, while the Expanded format is represented by a blue emblem with a Blastoise silhouette.

Friend

Players can set other accounts as Friends and play friendly battles against them. These battles are done in the Standard format.

Decks

The Decks menu lists out all of the decks the player has saved. One deck can be selected as the Active Deck for the Standard format, and the same goes for the Expanded format. This is the deck used when the player enters the queue for a battle of that format. However, in order for a deck to be made active, it must first be a valid deck, that is a deck legal in the format that only contains cards that the player owns.

TCG Live has a number of preconstructed decks available for players. A set of these is granted whenever Standard rotates, along with all of the cards in said decks. One deck is granted in much the same way through the Basic Pass of the Battle Pass for each expansion, and the Premium Pass adds a second deck. Some events also give out full decks. Preconstructed deck products in the real world have code cards that add the deck and its contents to the player's account in TCG Live.

Deck Editor

The player can create their own decks, or modify one already stored. This interface for searching for cards is tabbed, such that the player is either viewing Pokémon, Trainers, or Energy. The player can further implement filters for cards, using properties like "Attribute" and "Energy type" to more easily find specific cards. Results can be sorted by schema like "A-Z" for alphabetical ordering by card name, "Expansion" which groups cards by which expansion they were released in and further orders them by collector number, or "Evolution Chain" to group Pokémon that evolve from one another together. Lastly, players can search by text, which checks both names of cards and the text of cards.

After selecting a card, the player can open a menu and scroll to find any one of its rarities and variations, so that they can add a specific printing to their deck. Cards stack in the deck's display, so if multiple copies of the same card with different printings are in a deck only one printing is visible in this menu.

The player can exchange Credits to obtain cards that they do not have already while in the Deck Editor. The cost of this exchange is based on the card's rarity. This is determined per printing, so while a Rare card costs 400 Credits, the same card's Illustration Rare version costs 750 Credits. Exclusive cards from Play! Pokémon Events such as League promos cannot be obtained through this method.

A deck can have a name set to it so that it is easier to search for later. However, said name can be no longer than 22 characters. Certain preconstructed decks have longer names, but they cannot be recreated in the Deck Editor. These names are not seen during the game.

TCG Live does not have a dedicated "Collection" menu for viewing every card the player owns. The Deck Editor is used as a substitute, by setting the filter for format to "all". This way, all cards that the player owns are visible, even ones that are not legal in any format or lack the game logic needed for the card to be usable in Live.

Deck Customization

Players assign a number of Deck Accessories to their decks, as a purely cosmetic addition. Each deck is assigned one of the three types, using those accessories in any game the deck is being used in.

• Deck Boxes: Seen on pre-game screens.
• Deck Sleeves: Seen as part of the same pre-game screens. Also seen during the game, representing any unknown cards from that deck.
• Coins: Seen as part of the same pre-game screens. Also seen when the player flips a coin for any game effect.

Test Deck

The player can test their decks against an AI opponent, named AI. This battle is much like a regular battle, except that both players' timers are locked at 39:00 and do not decrease at any point. No rewards are given for matches done through this menu.

The AI uses one of the current starter decks. This option is selected per deck from that deck's menu. This deck still has to be a valid deck for the selected format, but the requirement that the player owns cards in the deck is waived for Test Deck.

Changes from TCG Online

• There are more animations in general.
• Attacks that have no effect no longer have an associated animation of the card shaking before returning to the Active Spot.
• Cards with the same name are displayed as a stack in the hand.
• The angle of the camera is such that the cards are facing the camera more directly.
• Cards the opponent play appear right side up, such that the player can read the text.
• Prior to version _____, Pokémon cards on the Bench did not display their attacks until they were selected., only showing their artwork, HP, Energy type, and Ability.
• Cards can no longer be traded between players. Instead, players are given more cards and booster packs directly from the game, and can spend Credits in order to craft specific cards.
• Booster packs are modified from their real world counterparts, consisting of 6 or 5 cards instead of 10.
• The player selects an Active Deck from the deck menus for use in queues, instead of having to pick a deck on the same menu as they enter the queue on.
• There is no dedicated menu for looking at the player's collection, with the Deck Editor serving as a substitute.

Tutorial

Professor Fir introduces the player to Pokémon Trading Card Game Live and teaches them how to play.

Battle Pass

Main article: Battle Pass (TCG Live)

One of the primary new features of TCG Live is the introduction of a Battle Pass. By playing the game and completing once per day Quests, players earn experience which is used to unlock tiers in the Pass that give them rewards. Each Battle Pass is themed to go with a single expansion, concluding with the launch of the next expansion and being replaced with a new Battle Pass for that expansion. It comes in two tracks, a Basic Pass that all players have access to, and a Premium Pass available for purchase by using Crystals. The Premium Pass has to be purchased for every Battle Pass; it does not persist across expansions

The Battle Pass has a large number of Tiers, each rewarding different themed accessories, booster packs, and various currencies. Each player starts at Tier 0, then progresses up the Tiers one at a time until they reach the highest Tier, typically Tier 50. (Certain Passes may have more or fewer Tiers.) The player needs 1000 experience to unlock each Tier, though Quests provide lump sums large enough that completing both available Quests in a day and a game or two usually results in unlocking 1 Tier per day. The player can also spend 200 Crystals in order to unlock the next Tier instantly, or a multiple of 200 to unlock multiple successive Tiers at the same time.

Tier 0 of the Basic Pass grants a full 60 card deck primarily using some of the new cards from the expansion. Many of the further Tiers reward specific cards meant to upgrade the deck, with one of the rewards of the highest Tier being a Secret Rare of one of the main Pokémon of the deck. The remainder of the pass primarily grants Credits and booster packs of the current expansion.

Players have the additional option of purchasing a Premium Pass with Crystals, a second track of the Battle Pass which is completed at the same time. It consists of an additional full 60 card deck primarily using some of the new cards from the expansion at Tier 0, and cards that are meant to upgrade that deck, with one of the rewards of the 50th tier being a Secret Rare of one of the main Pokémon of the deck. It also rewards booster packs from the current expansion. booster packs from older expansions, Coins, customization items, and even Crystals. The Premium Pass rewards fewer Crystals than the cost of the Pass, but rewards from Daily Quests and the monthly ladder more than bridge the gap.

For an additional Crystal cost, if a player has yet to purchase a Premium Pass, they can purchase the Premium Pass +. It grants the Premium Pass and unlocks the first 15 Tiers of the Battle Pass instantly.

Profile

In the Profile menu, the player can check on certain in game elements of their account and customize their character.

Stats

In the Stats menu, the player can view the total number of matches they have played, as well as the total number of times they have won or lost. They can also look at their current win streak.

Friends

In the Friends menu, the player can look at all of the friends registered to their TCG Live account. Adding friends is done through inputting their screen name, The player can also start battles with their friends.

Avatar Customization

Players have a new avatar system, which uses three-dimensional models rather than two-dimensional artwork. There are two base appearances to choose from, each corresponding to a gender. All items of clothing are gender specific, even items like hats, and are purchased separately. When the game rewards the player with items it always includes both variations of the item. This system allows players to choose options for Face (including the shape of their face, eye color, and skin color), Hair (hair styles and hair color), Glasses (What frame to wear, if any, as well as color options for the frames and lenses), Hats, Tops, Bottoms, and Shoes.

The player can additionally choose Poses, animations that their Avatar uses when starting a match and when winning a match. (The loser does not get to show an animation.) Similarly, players can also choose a Catchphrase: a string of text displayed in the same situations.

This menu allows players to spend Coins to purchase new items for their avatar. All Glasses cost 250 Coins, all Shoes cost 300 Coins, All Tops, Hats, and Bottoms cost 350 Coins. All other items do not have purchasable options.

Shop

The Shop menu allows players to obtain items in the game. It is not the only menu where items can be purchased, but it is a useful framing device to explain aspects of the game's economy.

TCG Live uses the following currencies:

• Coins are used to purchase cosmetic items such as avatar items, deck boxes, card sleeves and (gameplay) Coins.
• Credits are exchanged for specific cards, allowing for obtaining specific cards without the randomness of opening booster packs or Collector Crates. Credits can also be used to buy certain limited-time product bundles. Credits are obtained primarily by the game's duplicate protection; when the player receives a card of which they already have a playset, that excess copy is automatically converted into a number of Credits dependant on the card's rarity. Exclusive cards from Play! Pokémon Events such as League promos cannot be exchanged for with Credits.
• Crystals are used to purchase Booster packs, card bundles and pre-constructed decks, all which reflect physical products. The Premium Battle Pass is also purchased with Crystals, and Crystals can be spent to unlock Tiers of the Battle Pass in place of experience. Crystals can be spent to purchase Coins or Credits.

Bundles

The Bundles section allows players to purchase various bundles or products. Each of these reflects a physical product, coming with any of that product's Coins, promotional cards, and card sleeves. If the product is a deck, then the deck and all cards within are also included. Sometimes the deck box for the deck is included, but many deck boxes are not supported in TCG Live and for those products the box is instead one of the game's default type themed boxes. Similarly, competition-legal coin-flip dice are not in the game and are replaced with default type themed coins. If that product has booster packs in it, an equivalent number of booster packs are included with the digital version of the product. While the booster packs may vary in the physical product, the digital version always has all the packs be from one expansion. All purchases here are made using Crystals.

Expansions

This menu is a hub where the player can select an expansion to land on a page specific to it. There, players can see their progress towards having every card from that expansion, see and purchase any product collections with unique cards or items featuring that expansion, or directly buy booster packs of that expansion. Booster pack purchases come with Credits.

• One booster pack and 10 Credits costs 200 Crystals
• Three booster packs and 125 Credits cost 560 Crystals
• Six booster packs and 350 Credits cost 1120 Crystals

Currency

This menu allows the player to buy 300 Coins for 250 Crystals or 1400 Coins for 1100 Crystals.

Redeem

The reverse of a code card. The code is on the side not pictured.

Main article: Code Card

Certain physical Pokémon Trading Card Game products will come with a unique code card that can be used to redeem virtual cards or other virtual products for the TCG Live. Code cards are available in physical Theme Decks, Elite Trainer Boxes, Booster packs, and other products that state that they contain a code card or contain the TCG Live symbol on the packaging, and unlock that product in the game or an item related to that product. Older Code cards created for Pokémon TCG Online can still be used in TCG Live.

Codes can be redeemed in the game in the Redeem section of the Shop menu. This is done either via typing in the code, or by using a camera to read the QR Code from the card. There is also a page on the Pokémon TCG website where codes can also be redeemed through either method, with the rewards appearing in TCG Live afterward.

There is a “soft” redemption limit on the number of codes from a specific physical product that can be redeemed for full rewards, which varies by the item. Once this cap has been reached, further redemptions of that product only grant a small amount of in game currency. These counts reset when each new set is released.

Card Drop Rates

Typical booster packs in the TCG Live have 6 cards per pack (5 for expansions before Scarlet & Violet) as opposed to 10 cards from real life, at the usual rarity/drop rates:

• 1 Common card*
• 1 Common or Uncommon card*
• 1 Uncommon card*
• 1 Foil Common to Foil Rare card (for 6-card packs)
• 1 Foil Common to Foil Rare or Rare and above card
• 1 Rare to Ultra Rare card

There is a small chance that the cards with a * will be of a rarity above Rare Holo instead.

Collector Crates are another kind of bundle obtainable from the Ladder and Battle Pass rewards, awarding 9 cards of a specific expansion at the following rarity/drop rates:

• 2 Common Foil cards
• 2 Uncommon Foil cards
• 2 Foil Rare or Rare to Illustration Rare cards
• 2 Ultra Rare cards
• 1 Special Illustration Rare or Hyper Rare card

Transfers from TCGO

Both Live and Pokémon Trading Card Game Online utilize Pokémon.com's Trainer Club account system. As long as players did not migrate their Pokémon TCG Online collection to Pokémon TCG Live's beta, they were free to play either game for as long as TCGO remained available. Players that did decide to migrate their data to TCG Live during the testing period were unable to log in to TCG Online. PTCGO shut down officially on June 7, 2023, though data migration is still possible until further notice.

Items transferred to Live include:

• All cards from the Black & White Series onward
  • Four copies of standard cards
  • One copy of ACE SPEC cards, Prism Star cards, and pieces of Pokémon V-UNION cards
  • 59 copies of Basic Energy cards
    • At the launch of Live, cards from the Black & White Series, XY Series, and certain cards from the Classic Collection of the Celebrations expansion (those originally printed before Sun & Moon) could not be used.
• One copy of accessories (deck boxes, coins and card sleeves) that have a real-life counterpart or were from certain special events

Note: When the game was initially announced, cards from Sun & Moon series released before Lost Thunder were also listed as being unavailable at launch.

Unopened products are not transferable but the player will be reimbursed for them with Crystals.

• 1-9 items: 500 Crystals
• 10-24 items: 1100 Crystals
• 25-49 items: 2,250 Crystals
• 50-124 items: 4,700 Crystals
• 125 or more items: 12,400 Crystals

Note: When the game was initially announced, the listed Crystal reimbursements were half these amounts.

See Also

• List of Pokémon Trading Card Game Live distributions

In other languages

Language Title French Jeu de Cartes à Collectionner Pokémon Live German Pokémon-Sammelkartenspiel-Live Italian Gioco di Carte Collezionabili Pokémon Live Brazilian Portuguese Pokémon Estampas Ilustradas Live Spanish Juego de Cartas Coleccionables Pokémon Live

References

Spin-off Pokémon series Pikachu series: Hey You, Pikachu! • Channel • Dash TCG: Game Boy TCG series: Trading Card Game • Trading Card Game 2: The Invasion of Team GR! Play It! series: Play It! • Play It! Version 2 TCG Client series: Card Game Online • Trading Card Game Online • Trading Card Game Live Misc. TCG: Card Game Entry Battle • Say Tap? • Card Game: How to Play DS Card Game Gacha • TCG Card Dex • Digital Raid Battle Assistant Trading Card Game Pocket Super Smash Bros. series: Super Smash Bros. • Melee • Brawl • for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U • Ultimate Snap series: Snap • New Pokémon Snap Picross: Picross NP Vol. 1 • Picross (GBC) (canceled) • Picross (3DS) Pinball series: Pinball • Pinball mini • Pinball: RS Puzzle series: Puzzle League • Puzzle Challenge Trozei series: Trozei! • Battle Trozei Mystery Dungeon series: Red Rescue Team & Blue Rescue Team Explorers of Time & Explorers of Darkness • Explorers of Sky Blazing, Stormy & Light Adventure Squad Gates to Infinity • Super Mystery Dungeon • Rescue Team DX Ranger series: Ranger • Shadows of Almia • Guardian Signs Puck series: Battrio • Tretta (Tretta Lab) • Ga-Olé • Mezastar • Frienda Rumble series: Rumble • Rumble Blast • Rumble U • Rumble World • Rumble Rush PokéPark series: PokéPark Wii • PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond Detective Pikachu series: Detective Pikachu • Detective Pikachu Returns Playground: Pokémon Detective Pikachu Pokémon game templates Core series • Side series • Spin-off series • Pokémon mini • Individual spin-offs • Betas • Demos

This article is part of both Project Sidegames and Project TCG, Bulbapedia projects that, together, aim to write comprehensive articles on video games about the TCG.