Hello coaches,
The Pokémon Company recently announced that it will be closing its Pokémon Trading Card Game online client in favor of a new in-house application; Live Pokémon Trading Card Game.
Their previous client (PTCGO) was outsourced to Dire Wolf Digital and has been running since March 2011. Many events and tournaments have been held on the client, especially during the pandemic season with the Players Cup series. PTCGO has been an important part from the card game community over the years, so the decision to build the experience into a new, hopefully, better app was inevitable.
PTCGO in hindsight
PTCGO was well known for its commercial economy, and players could offer any card or card packs for other cards or card packs. For example, you could offer a newer set package for a Zacian V. However, whether or not this exchange would be accepted is up to the people. The economy decided by the players was either a blessing or a curse, and the most powerful cards were by far the most popular and therefore the most expensive. An example, at the time of writing, is the Jolteon V promo card looking for an astronomical 18 packs of Evolving Skies. I specify “at the time of writing this article” because the market is incredibly volatile and subject to change on a whim.
PTCGO had support for 4 formats: standard, expanded, legacy, and thematic.
The standard league is the most popular for tournaments. Tune in to a Pokémon Worlds event and they are most likely playing Standard. Standard is made up of a rotating list of cards, at the time of writing it is made up of any card from the basic set of Sword and Shield onwards. Next year, around August-September, it will rotate to the Battle Styles expansion onwards.
Expanded is the most consistent format, never rotating entire sets, although some problem cards have been banned from the game. Seeing how cards printed years apart can be quite fun, making Expanded my favorite format. Expanded is made up of most of the cards from the basic set of Black and White onwards, with a list of prohibitions.
Legacy has a large barrier to entry, making it kind of an exclusive club. Legacy consists of the Heartgold and Soulsilver sets up to Legendary Treasures, the last of the Black and White sets. It can only be these cards, and they will never be subject to rotation or new additions to be drastically changed. Some basic cards in this format were significantly expensive, like Junk Arm and Tropical Beach, so it has a small but dedicated player base.
The theme is the beginner’s format. You can only use pre-built themed decks, which can be purchased at a fairly low price, even with in-game currency. However, most themed decks are overloaded with junk energy cards and followers, so the theme format is something you have to work on your way out.
PTCGO had a ladder system, where every three weeks you could earn points to earn rewards and special cards, such as GX or V attribute Pokémon and full art followers. Each day there was also a smaller ladder for smaller rewards such as coins and tournament tickets.
Speaking of tournaments! Players can take part in quick tournaments to win tradable packages, a rare commodity. The 3 formats you can participate in are Standard, Expanded and Theme, the first two take 8 tickets to enter and the Theme takes 4. Every time a new set is released, tournaments give out card packs of that new set exclusively for a short period. period, so it is customary for people to save all their entries for themselves.
There are also some small-scale features in PTCGO, like Challenges. These are usually small tasks like “Evolve X Type X Pokémon”, “Deal X Damage with Type X Pokémon”, and so on. These give XP for that guy, who after leveling up gives you themed deck cosmetics. for that specific type. There’s also the Trainer Challenge, which pits you against NPC trainers, most of whom use really outdated decks from the XY era. It’s not really worth discussing.
New Live features (which we know about)
Now that we’ve reviewed the past, let’s talk about the future, huh?
Live will have 3 currencies: coins, crystals and credits. Coins are used exclusively for cosmetic items, such as deck boxes and avatar clothing. Crystals are used to purchase bundles, bundles, promo cards, and the Battle Pass. Credits are earned by obtaining duplicate cards and are used to purchase any specific card. According to some sources, it seems that all the coins are obtained completely in the game without microtransactions, but I will edit this part if I am wrong.
There will be a battle pass, with the option to spend crystals for better rewards. It’s unclear what the rewards are and how well it’s valued, so let’s wait and see. There are also daily tasks, which reward the aforementioned coin.
Each player can create a fully 3D avatar. It sure is something you can do.
Each player will get 8 starter decks to start with, and the app will have a built-in tutorial. Combined with the casual mode for practice, Live should be a breeze for new players to join.
Live will have a ranked mode and a casual mode, with players taking on players of a similar skill level. At launch, only the standard format will be playable, and the expanded one will be introduced after updates. The main game mode will be the usual Pokémon trading card game, completely intact.
Live has been formatted with mobile devices in mind, to open the game to as many people as possible. It should provide a clear and user-friendly interface, even on a touch screen.
What is transferring?
If you use the same Pokémon Trainer Club account between PTCGO and Live, 4 of each card, 1 of each Prism, Ace Spec, and each part of the V-Union cards, and 59 of each Black and White basic energy card in later they will be transferred. Unopened packages will be converted to crystals, at the following exchange rate:
– 1 to 9 unopened items in PTCGO = 250 Crystals awarded in Live
– 10 to 24 unopened items = 550 crystals
– 25 to 49 unopened items = 1,125 crystals
– 50 to 124 unopened items = 2,350 crystals
– More than 125 unopened items = 6,200 Crystals
Leftover cards over 4 and packs over 125 will be discarded as a warning.
Cards from the Heartgold and Soulsilver and Call Of Legends expansions will not carry over. As such, Legacy will not be compatible with Live.
Certain deck cosmetics will carry over, but it is not very clear specifically which one it will be.
PTCGO Coins and Tournament Tickets will not carry over. Better to spend them! Your decklists won’t transfer either, but can be exported from text. Copy and paste them into a notepad document for future use.
I’ll leave these 2 support articles here for clarity.
Transferable
Non-transferable
Reception
The reception of PTCG Live has been very mixed among veteran players. Some veterans are happy with it as they see it as the only way for the game to grow in the future, and are excited to see the game become easier to use. Other veterans, on the other hand, are upset that their large collections will lose their value, they are upset about the departure of the Legacy format, Expanded is not available at launch, and / or they see it as a ‘cash grab’. It doesn’t matter which side you’re on, of course, it’s a drastic change in the way people will play the trading card game online.
conclusion
PTCG Live will be instrumental in expanding the reach of Pokémon Cards in the public consciousness into more than just expensive pieces of cardboard that you can sell; A set is also attached to them! Since Live will also be coming to mobile devices, would Hub readers be interested in more Pokémon card articles (Pokémon TCG Hub, if you like)? Better decks, discussion of new cards, etc.? Make sure to tell us!
The publication of the new Pokémon trading card game application “Live” Announced appeared first on the Pokémon GO Hub.