That's it. That's a wrap on Season Two, everybody.
Thanks for the great times.
Conkeldurr, you did a great job holding that camera steady.
Lanturn, your lighting was top notch.
I'll see you all next time.
Andrew, where are you going?
We still have one more episode left to do!
One more episode?
Rosemary, I must have got hit with amnesia
because I don't have any ideas for a final episode.
Well, quit acting like a Wimpod!
We cannot leave these Trainers hanging
without giving them an awesome final episode.
I was thinking, what if we gave them
Top 10 tips and tricks on how to play the Pokémon Trading Card Game?
Think you can handle that?
Sure, how about tip number one,
don't try to flake out on the final episode of Top Deck Academy
or Rosemary will call you a Wimpod.
I mean, seriously.
Okay, you know, that sounds like a great idea.
How about I take half and you take half?
Sounds like a plan.
I think I've got some really great tips and tricks to share,
and I can't wait to get it started.
Then let's get into it.
Conkeldurr, keep that camera steady because we've got one more episode
to go for Season Two of Top Deck Academy.
TOP DECK ACADEMY
Tip number one, always bring a backup.
Having a backup plan is important,
especially in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
Establishing a backup attacker
means finding a Pokémon and building it up
with enough Energy to attack before your attacker
in the Active Spot gets Knocked Out.
It's helpful to use search cards, like Quick Ball and Level Ball,
to find a new attacker and ready it on the Bench
so that it's ready to promote when needed.
In an ideal game, you always have a backup ready on the Bench
when your Active Pokémon gets Knocked Out.
But that's not always the case.
Which leads us to our next tip.
Tip number two, promote a Pokémon with free retreat.
Like Andrew was saying, when playing a game of Pokémon,
your Pokémon will eventually get Knocked Out.
Rosemary, I feel like my Pokémon are always getting Knocked Out.
It's okay.
It happens.
But when it does, you want to give yourself
the most options during your turn as possible.
The best thing you can do when a Pokémon gets Knocked Out
is to promote a Pokémon that has free retreat.
By promoting a Pokémon with no Retreat Cost,
you make it so that you don't have to decide on an attacker
until the final stages of the turn.
Not all decks play Pokémon that have free retreat.
So trying a Pokémon with an Air Balloon attached is the next best thing.
If you don't have a Pokémon with free retreat,
then you have to think very carefully
about which Pokémon you send into the Active Spot.
Tip number three, manage your Bench.
Your Bench is one of the most important resources in the Pokémon TCG.
You only get five Bench spots to work with alongside your Active Pokémon,
so it's really important to use them wisely.
Oh, just like a team of six in the Pokémon world.
Exactly.
You want to make sure that you have enough space
for a backup attacker as well as any support Pokémon
you may need throughout the match.
One mistake that players often make
is to fill up their Bench with support Pokémon
so they don't have enough space for a backup attacker.
Similarly, if you fill your Bench, you won't be able to use support Pokémon
with come-into-play Abilities like Crobat V's Dark Asset,
which draws extra cards.
Remember, just because a Pokémon is in your hand
doesn't mean you have to put it into play.
Tip number four, keep track of resources.
It's important to remember that every card in your deck
is a valuable resource.
As a game goes on, you'll want to pay close attention
to how many of each card you have remaining in your deck.
If you only have one attacker in your deck, for instance,
you probably don't want to discard it with Quick Ball or Professor's Research.
Keeping track of resources can help you decide which cards
to discard when you need to and which cards to save for later.
Supporter cards like Bruno and Marnie are great for conserving resources,
since they both put your hand back into the deck
before allowing you to draw more cards.
Tip number five.
Keep track of opponent's resources.
Keeping track of your own resources is essential.
But it's also important to keep track of your opponent's resources.
How many Switches your opponent played,
how many Supporters might they have left?
How many Energy?
Thinking about these questions
and finding the answers can help you figure out your game plan.
So what you're saying, Andrew, is that a plan might change,
depending on whether you think your opponent has used
all their Boss's Orders or something, right?
I feel like I forget all the time to keep track of my opponent's resources.
Is there a way I can check that if I haven't been keeping track of it?
Absolutely. And that's a really good question.
If you want to see what resources your opponent has used,
you can always ask to see their discard pile,
since the discard pile is public knowledge.
Tip number six.
Make a game plan.
The most common way to win a game of Pokémon is to take all six Prize cards.
And the easiest way to take all six Prize cards is to make a plan.
If your opponent is using Pokémon VMAX, which give up three Prize cards each,
you may only need two Knock Outs to achieve victory.
If your opponent is using a mixed strategy,
you may only need to Knock Out one Pokémon VMAX,
one single-Prize Pokémon,
and one support Pokémon like Crobat V to win.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
So that means that using Boss's Orders to target Benched Pokémon
and take specific Prizes is super important, right?
Oh, for sure.
Counting out which Prizes you plan on taking to win is really helpful
when deciding when to use and when to save
Gusting effects like Boss's Orders.
Changing your opponent's Active Pokémon
is extremely valuable, so using Boss's Orders at the right time
to take specific Knock Outs is a champion strategy.
Tip number seven, weigh the odds.
Playing the Pokémon TCG is all about probabilities.
Before you play any cards in a turn,
especially your Supporter card, you should always ask yourself,
"What do I need this turn, and which combination of cards
will give me the highest chance of achieving that goal?"
For example, if the most important thing is to find your Hero Pokémon,
perhaps think about using a search Supporter card like Poké Kid
instead of a draw Supporter like Professor's Research.
By asking yourself these simple questions,
you'll find yourself weighing the odds and making the right call
more often than not.
Hopefully you've been paying attention, Trainers, because it's pop quiz time.
Ooh, I love pop quizzes!
How many Pokémon can you have in play at a time?
Is it five, six, or nine Pokémon?
If you said six, that's right.
With a typical board position, you can have one Active Pokémon,
and five Benched Pokémon, which makes six Pokémon in play.
Some effects like Eternatus VMAX's Eternal Zone Ability
can expand the Bench to allow up to nine Pokémon in play at a time.
Tip number eight, disruption!
Winning a Pokémon TCG battle
isn't just about executing your own strategy.
It's also about keeping your opponent from winning.
Disruption cards can be useful for this and come in all different styles.
There are hand disruption cards like Marnie,
which limit the size of your opponent's hand.
And then there are Energy disruption cards,
like Crushing Hammer or Fan of Waves,
which can remove Energy from your opponent's Pokémon.
Disrupting your opponent's Energy attachments early on in a match
can buy you valuable time to set up.
While disrupting your opponent's hand
at the end of a game can keep them from having the cards they need to win.
Tip number nine, thinning is winning.
Rosemary, that was such a good tip.
I can't count how many times I've lost a close game
because of a well-timed hand disruption card.
It's such a pain.
Fortunately, there is something you could do
to help you draw better at the end of the game.
Thinning your deck.
Thinning your deck is a strategy that involves using
and discarding cards you no longer need
so that you don't draw into them at the end of the game.
For example,
say you have everything lined up to be able to win on the following turn,
but all you need is an Energy card.
If you have a card like Quick Ball in your hand,
then you might want to play that Quick Ball
to thin your deck so that you don't draw into it later.
Quick Ball is amazing for thinning your deck
because you get to discard another, less useful card with it when you play it.
Remember, at the end of the game, thinning is winning.
Trainers, I hope you're listening up
because this last tip is probably the most important.
Tip number ten, have fun!
Whether you are playing the Pokémon Trading Card Game Live
or on a tabletop with a friend, there are always lessons to learn
and exciting strategies to discover
in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
Can't wait for you to catch 'em all!
Thank you so much for joining us this season.
We hope you enjoyed yourselves and can use these lessons
to start your own TCG journey soon.
Huge shout-outs to Ellis, Tord, and the whole Top Deck Academy team.
And, of course, to Andrew for joining me for this final episode of Season Two.
Oh, you know I wouldn't miss it for anything, Rosemary.
Trainers at home, let us know your tricks and tips
for playing the Pokémon TCG in the comments below,
and stay tuned for more content from Pokémon on Twitter @PokemonTCG,
and on Pokémon's official YouTube and Twitch channels.
-Thanks for watching. -See ya!
TOP DECK ACADEMY