If you've ever played a competitive card game you'll know how important properly sequencing your cards can be. Playing your cards in the correct order can be the difference between winning and losing. This has been historically even more important in the Pokémon Trading Card Game than other games and things seem to be trending that way in Pokémon TCG Pocket as well. In this guide we'll go through 10 important sequencing principles and some of the common sequencing choices you may face in PTCG Pocket.
1) See randomized results before playing your cards with fixed outcomes
In general, you want to know the results of random cards or abilities before performing actions with certain results. For example, don't retreat, attach energy, or play cards like X-Speed before you play Misty. You're going to want to see the results of the Misty before making additional decisions. Use Hypno’s Sleep Pendulum ability before you decide whether or not to play Giovanni. Hold your Gardevoir’s Psy Shadow until you see what you draw into with Professor's Research.
2) When to attach energy
There are few situations when you want to attach energy at any time other than the end of your turn, just before you attack. Occasionally, you'll need to attach at a different time in order to retreat. You will want to see the outcomes of all of your trainer cards first. Even if you're pretty certain you know where you want to place the energy and which Pokemon you are going to attack with, it's still best to wait and see what you get off of Professor's Research or the results of your Misty. You never know, you might change your mind and you can't undo your attachment for turn. Moreover, there are surely more trainer cards and abilities coming out that will make this even more important and you should practice good habits now.
If your active Pokémon has enough energy to attack you should still attach an energy to a benched Pokémon. Think about how many attachments each of your reserve Pokémon will need to be able to attack and try to get them to within one attachment of becoming an attacker. If you have an Exeggutor EX and a Lilligant on the bench, you will usually want to attach to the Lilligant rather than the Exeggutor. Exeggutor EX can be powered up in a single turn, whereas Lilligant requires two energy to attack. Of course, this is further complicated by retreat costs. Exeggutor EX has a hefty three energy retreat cost, while Lilligant can retreat for a single energy—or zero with an X-Speed. Plan your attachments ahead and consider if you'll need to be able to pay a retreat cost.
3) When to evolve
Don't evolve just because you can. Sometimes, keeping an evolution card in your hand conceals information from your opponent. If they don't know you have your Starmie EX in hand or not, they may play differently and make different choices. Why give your opponent information when you don't have to? Of course, Red Card exists and you may need to be careful of that, but it's not currently a heavily played card. Hand Scope rightfully sees almost no play. Keep in mind that you can only evolve each Pokémon once per turn, so if you're working towards a Stage 2 Pokémon you will generally need to evolve proactively.
4) When to fill your bench
Likewise, you shouldn't fill up your bench just because you can. When starting the game, you generally only need to put out one Pokémon (at least until first turn kills become more common). You can play additional benched Pokémon on your turn, now armed with the additional information of what your opponent has done and what you've drawn for turn. Let's say I have a deck with the following Pokémon:
2x Pikachu EX
2x Blitzle
2x Zebstrika
2x Voltorb
2x Electrode
If my opening hand contains both of the Pikachus and both of the Voltorbs I could fill my bench immediately. However, if I bench lock myself in this way I'm cutting off further options. What if I later want a Zebstrika to KO a damaged Pokémon on the bench before it evolves or becomes a major threat? You should fill your bench in anticipation of evolving and with your game plan in mind, but don't bench lock yourself needlessly.
5) Research vs Poke Ball
How do you decide which one to play first if you have both Professor's Research and Poke Ball in hand. It depends what you're trying to dig for.
If you want an evolution you should play the Poke Ball first since pulling a basic out of your deck increases the likelihood that you'll hit the Evolution you need with the Research. Even though you aren't trying to get the Basic, getting it first thins it out of your deck and improves the odds that your Research will find what you're looking for.
6) Thin your deck so that your later draws will be better
Sometimes you have all of the basic Pokémon you need, so you may think you can just ignore the Pokeball in your hand. However, playing the Pokeball will pull a basic out of your deck meaning there's one less dead card you can draw into later. This can also be important if you suspect your opponent might play a Red Card against you. Imagine a scenario when all you need to win is a copy of Giovanni or Sabrina. If you only need one card to win the game on the next turn, you might want to burn cards like X-Speed, Pokeball, and any other playable cards so that you won't draw into them on the other side of your opponent’s Red Card. Thin to win.
7) Retreat/X-Speed timing
Remember, you can only retreat once per turn, so it's an action with a permanent result. Generally, you'll want to save these actions until the end of your turn, just before attaching energy and attacking.
Always keep the retreat cost of your Pokémon in mind when attaching energy. Will you have enough energy to attack and move your active to the bench? X-Speed helps with this, as do free retreating Pokémon—currently Starmie, Starmie EX, Electrode, and Dodrio. You have to carefully consider which Pokémon to promote after one of yours is knocked out and these free retreaters can help out by acting as a pivot. Sometimes you'll need to take a risk and promote a Pokémon hoping you draw a Misty, X-Speed, Koga, Evolution, or other key piece. Be careful not to lock yourself out by putting a Pokémon with a hefty retreat cost like Snorlax, Onix, or Grimer in the active that will take you multiple turns to move.
8) Map out your turn before playing any cards
Think about what attack you are planning to use and what you are trying to accomplish before performing any actions. That way you will be able to work towards what you need, whether it's getting the right Pokémon active or playing a specific trainer card. In fact, as early as the first turn you should start to map out how you're getting each of the three points you need and what cards you will need to get in order to accomplish that.
9) When to Drive Off / Sabrina
Pidgeot’s Drive Off ability and the Supporter Sabrina are the only times you force your opponent to make a decision on your turn. Don't give them any more information to make that decision than you need to. Don't evolve first and give away your plan. Don't play your X-Speed and show you have a way to get the correct attacker into the active. Make your opponent make a decision with asymmetrical information in your favor.
10) Attacking is your final action, double check beforehand
You can't undo an attack. You can't switch to a different attack on the same Pokémon. Attacking is the permanent end to each turn. Take a moment to make sure you have done everything correctly. Check your math, make sure you've played a supporter if it's beneficial to do so, and always click the correct attack.
Final Thoughts
Proper sequencing may often feel like it's only making a tiny difference, but across enough games that difference adds up noticeably. Moreover, given how crucial proper sequencing has always been in the Pokemon TCG, I expect it to become more important and more complicated as we get more expansion sets. Practicing proper sequencing now will pay dividends later. Sound off in the comments of you have any additional tips and let me know which tips you found most useful!