Small Guide to Team Play
Small Guide to Team Play
Look at the Pokemon Floor Rules for the rest.
Whenever you see "you" or "your" on a card you HAVE
to choose between yourself or your partner.
Whenever you see "your opponent" you MUST choose
one of your opponents at that time.
Bill says "Draw 2 cards"
There is no you or your in the text, therefore you cannot use
Bill for your partner.
Copycat would allow you to choose which opponent you wanted to
copy and let you or your partner shuffle that hand into that
deck and draw the new cards.
If a Pokemon Power is always on, you must designate it when it
comes into play, as helping you or your partner or effecting one
of your opponents. (A paper marker helps if you have more than
one).
If a Pokemon Power turns on and off like Base Vensaur's,
then you may designate who it effects every time you use it.
You can change who Alakazam effects each time it is used,
but you may never move a damage counter or any other marker
from one player to another, except if the card does that
normally like "Rocket's Mewtwo."
If a Pokemon Power turns on only when that Pokemon is active,
then you designate it every time it becomes active.
Muk (Legndary Collection) shuts all Pokemon Powers off.
Magby Neo does likewise unless it is no longer active.
If a card states somewhere in the text, the words "defending
pokemon" then usually you cannot transfer extra effects to
your other opponent. A good example of this is Dark Gengar,
its attack mentions the Defending Pokemon not once, but
twice, so everything in its attack must go to there only.
Otherwise, if the attack says "you" or "your opponent" in the text
somewhere (even if it is a reminder note) then you MAY give
any of the Extra Effects of the attack to:
(Extra Effects are anything other than the big number on the
right side of the attack)
ONE -- your partner if it says you
The best example of this is you can attack one of your opponents
with Neo Cleffa and letting your partner shuffle their hand into their
deck and drawing seven new cards.
TWO -- the other opponent if it says your opponent.
(This is splitting the attack between two opponents)
The best example of this is doing the base damage to
one opponent's active and confusing the other opponent's
active pokemon.
Another example is Seadra's Mud Slap hitting one active
and doing bench damage to the other opponent's bench.
You always must specify
ONE of your opponents as the defending
Pokemon even if your attack moves elsewhere such as Expedition
Mew's Super Psywave (there is no base damage to this attack,
it is all special effects-like the Faint Attack.)
If you use Murkrow Neo to attack a nonbaby active Pokemon
and then you may move the damage to the other opponents
active Baby without having to flip. However since Darkness Energy
says to do the extra 10 damage to the defending pokemon,
the baby receiving the damage would only take 20 for the
faint attack and none for the darkness energy.
The big number on the right side of the attack must always
go to that
ONE pokemon specified at the beginning of the
attack as the defending pokemon.
(You can never call your partner's pokemon the
"defending pokemon", trying to avoid a baby flip for Eeeeeeek...)
One BIG misconception in Team Battle concerns Dark Ursaring
and Neo 2 Tyranitar. Both of these cards say to hit every
bench, BUT there is a reminder text in it that says:
"(Yours and your opponents)"
This FORCES you to choose one friendly bench and one
opponents bench. It does NOT hit all four benches.
While I was judging in the Team Battle World Championship
at Gen Con 2003, MTM himself said that if that reminder
text was not there, he would have banned that card.
Remeber what happened to Team Rocket's Mewoth which
did not have the reminder text in it...It WAS banned.
I judged Team at the World Championship last year, and
it was rather messy trying to keep track of 21+ coin flips
every time Team Rocket's Mewoth attacked.
As far as strategy goes, speed is rather important with the
possibility of two people double teaming you, and the
fact that two of you only need Five prizes instead of the
usual Six for one person.
Poison, Burn and Char affect a Pokemon at the end of every turn.
Sleep is week, because you flip at the end of every turn to
wake up.
Paralysis is about normal, the Paralysed Pokemon is unparalysed
at the end of ITS turn.
Hope this helps.
