Pokemon Trading Card Game Classic Revives The Original Pokemon TCG Experience

The Pokemon Trading Card Game has evolved multiple times since its debut in 1999, and now The Pokemon Company has revealed its next evolution: Pokemon Trading Card Game Classic, which is a return to the original rules.

Pokemon TCG Classic is a non-tournament legal set that includes three preconstructed decks. Each deck is focused around one of the original three final evolutions: Blastoise, Venusaur, and Charizard. Decks will include 60 cards centered around the featured Pokemon's type--water, grass, and fire--while brand-new cards like Lugia ex, Ho-Oh ex, and Suicune ex will allow for new ways to play.

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A brief teaser video of Pokemon TCG Classic debuted during today's Pokemon Presents livestream, which showed two players using a black briefcase-looking setup to play the game complete with special damage counters.

In the video, the case opens up into a play area with designated card zones, after which we get a brief glimpse into some of the cards that will be included in the set. All cards shown looked identical to cards found in the Pokemon TCG Base Set from 1999. Those cards include:

• Bulbasaur
• Ivysaur
• Venusaur
• Charmander
• Charmeleon
• Charizard
• Blastoise
• Pikachu
• Chansey
• Professor Oak trainer card
• Multiple Energy cards

Pokemon Trading Card Game Classic will be available later this year, with the first preview coming during the Pokemon World Championships in Yokohama, Japan in August. Other Pokemon Presents announcements from today's livestream include the re-emergence of Pokemon Sleep, as well as new downloadable expansions coming to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.