UPDATE: After additional testing I determined that the energy requirement for off-type mutant evolution is unnecessary. The updated rules function as follows: 1) any (non ex) basic can evolve into any stage 1. Any non ex stage one can evolve into any stage 2. Regardless of type! 2) players must “lock in” their evolution lines before the game begins using Pocket deckbuilding rules. I.e only 2 basics than evolve into up to two stage 1s which can evolve into up to two stage 2s. Best way to track this is just snapping a pic for reference during gameplay. I’ll briefly discuss the clarified evolution rules when I drop my 1v1 Cube List video (hopefully tomorrow). Thanks!
Honestly.... At this point, just play the actual TCG. Don't have to be super competitive, or expensive. Just get a friend , and each buy a prebuilt ex Battle Deck from like Target or somewhere, and just as much could be had, that could blossom in going to leagues, and expanding that circle of friends.
I do play the TCG! I have a cube for classic pokemon too and have done a handful of videos covering it. Draft cubes are my favorite way to play most TCGs. The draft / deckbuild part you get with a cube is a big part of the fun.
@ for me personally I can’t do the longer matches. I only like to watch them on occasion. But I would have probably never touched the TCG competitively if it weren’t for Pocket
Absolutely love the creativity of this style of play. I love adapting card games into draft formats, and I can see you’ve really thought about the development of expanding the freedom within the usually constrained structure of a draft. I think the pre-established evolution lines is a bit too convoluted, but the other method seems good. Well done
Thanks I appreciate the feedback and encouragement. I tried to make games work with just the on-type mutant evolution rules but it broke the game. 20 card decks with a high degree of consistency via Pokeball and Research make the game system very sensitive to goofing with the math built into the evolution system. Having 3-4 basics that can evolve into 3-4 stage 1’s changed the feel of the game in ways that weren’t enjoyable to me. The extra step of pre-fixing the evolution trees makes it all click and preserves the feel of the game in a cool way. I encourage you to try it!
love these ideas, work well... only if you have a printer! I use regular pokemon cards in the 20 card deck, and have a bit of an expanded pool of trainer cards, I also use that 1:1 lego pieces to count energy! In the case of the newer rulebox cards ( GX, V ETC) I remove the special move and count both as two points js as regular, I also try to keep all the HP below the 200 mark js like pocket. I also sometimes use the mutant rule depending on the pokemon we have. The oak and pokeball exist in the original game with a slight tweak, so I js have them do pokeball and oak of greed things.
You’ve really thought this through! Thanks for sharing. I actually thought of using Lego pieces as well I just didn’t have the right colors easily accessible!
@@SWUCUBE sounds great! i love lego with all my heart, I really need to buy a display case and fill it! you should get them speed champions sets if they like cars, easy to build and easy to play with! and cheap!
@@MakeKasprzak a pokemon draft cube definitely doable without mutation but it’s a whole different animal. You need to make sure you have enough copies of each stage of each line so that your players can reliably build playable decks. These cubes tend to be much larger and work best with a bigger card pool. 1.5 sets into Pocket and that isn’t really an option for us yet.
I love this so much! I'm waiting on your next video about why you've chosen these cards. Do you think a different set with different types would also work as a draft cube? Like, with psychic and dark and so on?
I’m glad you enjoy! A different set with different types would absolutely work! I’ve already pulled one together and plan to make another video about it in the very near future!
@SWUCUBE oh that's exciting! Thank you for sharing your cubes and your thoughts and processes behind making and playing with them 💖😊 I'll wait hopefully and patiently for that video!
@@mohamedrayanekaddouri3626 yep! See the section of my video where I talk about evolution rules. Basically, in the cube I built, ANY (non ex) basic can evolve into ANY stage 1. If you an evolving into a different type you need to already have the corresponding energy attached. In the example I gave Vulpix a water energy, making it eligible to evolve into Vaporeon. As Pokemon TCG and Pocket weren’t designed for limited play the evolution rules need to be relaxed to adapt the game for a draft cube.
I feel like you could've solved a lot of these issues by changing the draft style. Maybe try a Winston Draft? A Sealed style might also work; where each player would open up maybe six 5-card packs (like in Pocket), and just built a deck out of those "boosters".
Having to change the many rules for evolution and restricting lines, which also affects Energy. Winston draft might allow for mutant evolution within a specific colour/type only.
@ Winston draft probably would! I’ve since done away with the energy requirements and simply allow fully open mutant evolution. It works very well. See my more recent videos on the draft cube for details!
@@GreenMonkeySam also, restricting lines is absolutely essential for gameplay. You can’t have 3 basics in a line, it would warp games significantly. I tried and failed with this method. Finding a way to make only one color mutant evolution work is one thing but evolution lines cannot be allowed to be “thicker” than they are in the actual game.
Pokeball can be handled a couple different ways but anything that is truly random and also does not provide public info to your opponent requires an honor system. Here is what I mean: For Pokeball we do a quick shuffle and then the player that played Ball silly looks at cards one by one from the top of their deck until they reach a basic pokemon. If you trust your playgroup to not cheat this is the cleanest way to do Pokeball.
I think at this point you should just create a limited set with 4 copies of each card, let two opponents build a deck and go. The new rules wouldn’t be needed if you just had 4 copies of let’s say 50 of the top meta cards. New players could have a list of reference decks to build ready to go. Just a first thought though, your idea is very creative!
That’s a totally viable approach if the goal is to just play constructed type decks. If you’ve never experienced limited in a card game I’d recommend trying this out! The draft and deckbuilding process are a big part of the joy of the experience!
takes out some of the shenanigans that can go on with premade deck lists is kind of less beginner-friendly and definitely rewards veterans more! also who doesn't love a gamble!
@@SWUCUBE yeah very cool I will definitely say I haven’t tried limited before so I’m definitely not going to knock it till I try it, it sounds really fun just a brand new way to play and brand new considerations. Crazy picturing some of the possible alternate evolution paths like a Weezing right into a Scollipede How do fossil Pokémon work?
How to deal with dragonite and it randomly dealing 200 damage to all pokemon including on the bench? Does that just have to be banned in your physical format because the randomness is too tough to simulate in real life?
Dragonite is actually super easy. At most the opponent can only have 4 targets. Just assign a number to each of the opponents targets and roll a D6 as many times as needed to get 4 hits. If you roll a 5 or a 6 just reroll.
Great question. In my group we just shuffle first then look at the top cards of the deck down until you hit the first basic, then draw that. It’s an honor system rule, but in a trusting playgroup it’s a 1:1 port from digital to physical.
This is really cool but the mutant evolutions really rub me the wrong way. I would personally just want to print more, at least 2x copies of necessary cards. 4 of a few supporters like professor's and poke ball
I totally get that! The good news is these proxies are cheap and if you don’t mind lugging around a few hundred it’s pretty easy to build enough cards to replicate the entire meta!
UPDATE: After additional testing I determined that the energy requirement for off-type mutant evolution is unnecessary. The updated rules function as follows:
1) any (non ex) basic can evolve into any stage 1. Any non ex stage one can evolve into any stage 2. Regardless of type!
2) players must “lock in” their evolution lines before the game begins using Pocket deckbuilding rules. I.e only 2 basics than evolve into up to two stage 1s which can evolve into up to two stage 2s. Best way to track this is just snapping a pic for reference during gameplay.
I’ll briefly discuss the clarified evolution rules when I drop my 1v1 Cube List video (hopefully tomorrow).
Thanks!
This seems like a lot of fun, I'd love to see some pocket irl gameplay on this channel
That’s a great idea!
Honestly.... At this point, just play the actual TCG. Don't have to be super competitive, or expensive. Just get a friend , and each buy a prebuilt ex Battle Deck from like Target or somewhere, and just as much could be had, that could blossom in going to leagues, and expanding that circle of friends.
I do play the TCG! I have a cube for classic pokemon too and have done a handful of videos covering it. Draft cubes are my favorite way to play most TCGs.
The draft / deckbuild part you get with a cube is a big part of the fun.
Matches take a long time 😢
@@TRU2Sk9ng1992 Not really. Plus, the longer 10+min matches are usually the more exciting matches.
@ for me personally I can’t do the longer matches. I only like to watch them on occasion. But I would have probably never touched the TCG competitively if it weren’t for Pocket
I recently rebuilt a deck of each color from the 2017 GX format because that was my favorite format.
Absolutely love the creativity of this style of play. I love adapting card games into draft formats, and I can see you’ve really thought about the development of expanding the freedom within the usually constrained structure of a draft. I think the pre-established evolution lines is a bit too convoluted, but the other method seems good. Well done
Thanks I appreciate the feedback and encouragement. I tried to make games work with just the on-type mutant evolution rules but it broke the game. 20 card decks with a high degree of consistency via Pokeball and Research make the game system very sensitive to goofing with the math built into the evolution system. Having 3-4 basics that can evolve into 3-4 stage 1’s changed the feel of the game in ways that weren’t enjoyable to me.
The extra step of pre-fixing the evolution trees makes it all click and preserves the feel of the game in a cool way. I encourage you to try it!
@ yeah I can see the issue more clearly now, makes sense the way you’ve done it.
I have to give a try, thanks for sharing!
Sweet! I’d love to hear how it goes!
love these ideas, work well... only if you have a printer! I use regular pokemon cards in the 20 card deck, and have a bit of an expanded pool of trainer cards, I also use that 1:1 lego pieces to count energy! In the case of the newer rulebox cards ( GX, V ETC) I remove the special move and count both as two points js as regular, I also try to keep all the HP below the 200 mark js like pocket. I also sometimes use the mutant rule depending on the pokemon we have. The oak and pokeball exist in the original game with a slight tweak, so I js have them do pokeball and oak of greed things.
You’ve really thought this through! Thanks for sharing. I actually thought of using Lego pieces as well I just didn’t have the right colors easily accessible!
@@SWUCUBE perks of being a younger lego fan! ( I haven't gotten a new set in over 2.5 years lol!)
Been 25 years for me my dude! But my kids are about to hit the golden age of Lego so my time is comin!
@@SWUCUBE sounds great! i love lego with all my heart, I really need to buy a display case and fill it! you should get them speed champions sets if they like cars, easy to build and easy to play with! and cheap!
I'm working on a similar format for TCG Hybrid. this is giving me some great ideas! thanks for sharing 💯
Sweet I’d love to see what you are working on!
Gonna have to try this with my friends!
Awesome!
@@SWUCUBE btw, what kind of printer do you use for the proxies?
If only they made a real life TCG of Pokémon….
@@SoullessGabe got you covered, friend!
ua-cam.com/video/xEKUR4dKn5U/v-deo.htmlsi=v0qze4xr9qfPV64k
Awesome! I do wish it was a bit simpler (i.e. no need for mutation rules), but it makes a lot of sense.
@@MakeKasprzak a pokemon draft cube definitely doable without mutation but it’s a whole different animal. You need to make sure you have enough copies of each stage of each line so that your players can reliably build playable decks. These cubes tend to be much larger and work best with a bigger card pool. 1.5 sets into Pocket and that isn’t really an option for us yet.
I love this so much! I'm waiting on your next video about why you've chosen these cards. Do you think a different set with different types would also work as a draft cube? Like, with psychic and dark and so on?
I’m glad you enjoy! A different set with different types would absolutely work! I’ve already pulled one together and plan to make another video about it in the very near future!
@SWUCUBE oh that's exciting! Thank you for sharing your cubes and your thoughts and processes behind making and playing with them 💖😊 I'll wait hopefully and patiently for that video!
i love the concept, however at 19:52 did you just evolve a Vulpix into a Vaporeon ???
@@mohamedrayanekaddouri3626 yep! See the section of my video where I talk about evolution rules.
Basically, in the cube I built, ANY (non ex) basic can evolve into ANY stage 1. If you an evolving into a different type you need to already have the corresponding energy attached. In the example I gave Vulpix a water energy, making it eligible to evolve into Vaporeon.
As Pokemon TCG and Pocket weren’t designed for limited play the evolution rules need to be relaxed to adapt the game for a draft cube.
I've been thinking about how to play Pokémon TCG with my little cousins that only have like 20 cards each. This gave me some ideas.
Sweet! Simplifying the game for the youngsters has really helped in my family!
There is also a "Pokemon - My First Battle" product floating around that is good for youngsters.
I feel like you could've solved a lot of these issues by changing the draft style. Maybe try a Winston Draft?
A Sealed style might also work; where each player would open up maybe six 5-card packs (like in Pocket), and just built a deck out of those "boosters".
What issues, specifically?
Having to change the many rules for evolution and restricting lines, which also affects Energy. Winston draft might allow for mutant evolution within a specific colour/type only.
@ Winston draft probably would! I’ve since done away with the energy requirements and simply allow fully open mutant evolution. It works very well.
See my more recent videos on the draft cube for details!
@@GreenMonkeySam also, restricting lines is absolutely essential for gameplay. You can’t have 3 basics in a line, it would warp games significantly. I tried and failed with this method. Finding a way to make only one color mutant evolution work is one thing but evolution lines cannot be allowed to be “thicker” than they are in the actual game.
Cool concept, how do you deal with Items or anything that calls something Random? Eg. PokeBall
Thanks for sharing the game :D
Pokeball can be handled a couple different ways but anything that is truly random and also does not provide public info to your opponent requires an honor system. Here is what I mean:
For Pokeball we do a quick shuffle and then the player that played Ball silly looks at cards one by one from the top of their deck until they reach a basic pokemon. If you trust your playgroup to not cheat this is the cleanest way to do Pokeball.
@SWUCUBE that sounds like a great workaround to it
I think at this point you should just create a limited set with 4 copies of each card, let two opponents build a deck and go. The new rules wouldn’t be needed if you just had 4 copies of let’s say 50 of the top meta cards. New players could have a list of reference decks to build ready to go. Just a first thought though, your idea is very creative!
That’s a totally viable approach if the goal is to just play constructed type decks.
If you’ve never experienced limited in a card game I’d recommend trying this out! The draft and deckbuilding process are a big part of the joy of the experience!
takes out some of the shenanigans that can go on with premade deck lists is kind of less beginner-friendly and definitely rewards veterans more! also who doesn't love a gamble!
@ yea playing this way definitely burns more mental calories than jamming games in PvP on the app
@@SWUCUBE yeah very cool I will definitely say I haven’t tried limited before so I’m definitely not going to knock it till I try it, it sounds really fun just a brand new way to play and brand new considerations. Crazy picturing some of the possible alternate evolution paths like a Weezing right into a Scollipede
How do fossil Pokémon work?
Interesting
How to deal with dragonite and it randomly dealing 200 damage to all pokemon including on the bench? Does that just have to be banned in your physical format because the randomness is too tough to simulate in real life?
Dragonite is actually super easy. At most the opponent can only have 4 targets. Just assign a number to each of the opponents targets and roll a D6 as many times as needed to get 4 hits. If you roll a 5 or a 6 just reroll.
What tutorial did you follow to create the Pokemon TCGP Proxy Cards?
Video incoming on that tomorrow AM!
Nice but how do the pokeball work?
Great question. In my group we just shuffle first then look at the top cards of the deck down until you hit the first basic, then draw that. It’s an honor system rule, but in a trusting playgroup it’s a 1:1 port from digital to physical.
This is really cool but the mutant evolutions really rub me the wrong way. I would personally just want to print more, at least 2x copies of necessary cards. 4 of a few supporters like professor's and poke ball
I totally get that! The good news is these proxies are cheap and if you don’t mind lugging around a few hundred it’s pretty easy to build enough cards to replicate the entire meta!