Pokémon TCG
A Pokémon TCG game is scored in Prize cards: six each, counted down, and the player who takes their last one wins. Here's how the count works under the rules, the ways people keep it at the table, and how to keep it in TurnZero HQ.
Each player starts with six Prize cards. During setup, after drawing an opening hand of seven and putting down a Basic Pokémon, each player places the top six cards of their deck to the side, face down. Those are the Prize cards, and the number still sitting there is the score.
You take Prize cards by Knocking Out your opponent's Pokémon. A Pokémon is Knocked Out when the damage on it reaches its HP, and the player who Knocked it Out then takes Prize cards into their hand. How many depends on the Pokémon:
The rule box on the card states the number, and a few card effects change it, so read the card rather than going by the name alone. Because the count comes down in steps of one, two or three, a game is usually a race of Knock Outs, and a player behind by a single Knock Out of a Pokémon ex can be two Prize cards behind. Where the rule box sits on a card →
One side effect of setting the six aside face down: a card you need can be stuck in your Prize cards until you take it. That's part of why decks usually run more than one copy of their key cards.
Taking your last Prize card is the usual ending, but the standard rules give two more ways to win, and a player can always concede.
The two less common endings are why the Prize card count isn't the whole story. A player on four Prize cards can still win if the opponent's last Pokémon goes down, and a deck that draws aggressively can run itself out of cards. If both players meet a win condition at the same moment, the rulebook's answer is Sudden Death: a new game in which each player sets aside one Prize card. Organized play adds its own details for tied finishes, so a tournament follows its current rules document.
Prize cards and damage counters measure different things. Damage counters sit on one Pokémon and say how close that Pokémon is to being Knocked Out: each counter is 10 damage, so a Pokémon with 120 HP and eight counters on it has 40 HP left. They stay on the Pokémon until an effect heals or moves them, or the Pokémon leaves play.
Prize cards are the player's score. Nothing in the game adds to them, they only go down, and they move only when a Knock Out happens. A game can have a dozen Pokémon carrying damage at once, but only two Prize card counts.
TurnZero HQ tracks the Prize card count, not the damage on each Pokémon. Damage is easiest to read when it's on the card itself, where both players can see it without looking at a screen.
Most players never write the Prize card count down, because the Prize cards are already on the table: you can count how many are left at a glance. A separate tracker helps when you want a record of the game afterward, or when somebody is following along from elsewhere.
TurnZero HQ keeps the Prize card count for each player and saves the game when it ends. You still play with real cards at a real table; the app keeps score beside it. Games happen inside a gathering, which is TurnZero HQ's word for a group sitting down to play, and a gathering is set to one card game.
One device keeps score at a time: the host or a seated player. Anyone else in the gathering watches the count update live, with a line saying who is keeping score, and a player at the table can tap Keep score here to take it over. Each finished game is saved in the gathering's history. How gatherings work →
The Pokémon tracker is a score and a record. It does not do these things today:
It doesn't track damage counters, Special Conditions or anything else on individual Pokémon.
It doesn't rate players or decks, predict who will win, or keep per-player Pokémon stats.
It doesn't write an AI recap of the game or hand out awards.
It doesn't run best-of-three matches; each game is recorded on its own.
It has no Sudden Death setup, since every game starts on six Prize cards.
It isn't a way to play Pokémon online. The game happens at the table.
The score is your Prize cards. Each player sets six cards from their deck aside face down at the start, and takes one or more of them each time they Knock Out one of the opponent's Pokémon. The first player to take their last Prize card wins. There are no points or life totals to count beyond that.
Two for most Pokémon ex and for Pokémon V, and three for Pokémon VMAX and Mega Evolution Pokémon ex. A Pokémon without a rule box gives up one. The number is printed in the rule box on the card, and some card effects change it, so check the card when it matters.
Three, under the standard rules: take your last Prize card, Knock Out your opponent's last Pokémon in play so they have no Active Pokémon and nothing on the Bench to replace it, or have your opponent unable to draw a card at the start of their turn because their deck is empty. A player can also concede. If both players win at the same time, the rulebook plays a short Sudden Death game with one Prize card each.
No. TurnZero HQ keeps one number per player, the Prize cards they still have to take. Damage belongs on the Pokémon itself, and dice or damage-counter tokens on the card are still the clearest way to show it to both players.
Not yet. It records who played, which decks they used, the final Prize card counts, the winner and how the game ended, and saves the game in the gathering's history. Ratings, win odds, per-player stats and AI game recaps are Magic features today.
Count each player's Prize cards, let the table follow along, and save every result. Free on iPhone, Android and the web.
Create Free AccountPokémon and Pokémon character names are trademarks of Nintendo. ©Pokémon. ©Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAME FREAK inc. TurnZero HQ is not affiliated with, sponsored, or endorsed by Nintendo, The Pokémon Company, Creatures Inc., or GAME FREAK inc. Card data comes from the open PokemonTCG dataset, and prices from TCGplayer.