Here are the full rules, by way of Pokemama (PTO Camille R.)
Deck Construction
Any cards from HeartGold / SoulSilver through Black and White are legal cards to use when building decks.
Team Forming
1.Each team consists of two players. These players will need to agree on a name for their team for registration purposes. Each team will need to register on the team registration sheet at the tournament.
2.If you do not have a teammate, you may be able to find another player without a teammate and form a team at the tournament itself, so be sure to come anyway even if you don't have a teammate!
3.Once the tournament has started, you may not change your teammates or your decks.
4.Both players must agree to dropping in order to drop from a tournament.
5.If one teammate leaves the tournament without dropping and without informing both a judge and their teammate, they will be banned from all future Team Tourneys, as their teammate will effectively be unable to continue to participate.
Setup
1.At the start of each round, each player will need to take a seat at the appropriate table, in their appropriate spot. The first team member listed on the team always sits to the left of their teammate.
2.Each player shuffles his or her deck, then offers it to the opponent that is in front of them to cut.
3.Each player draws 7 cards from their deck into their hand and each player sets down a Basic Pokemon as their Active Pokemon, as well as up to 4 Benched Pokemon (instead of the usual 5).
4.If a player has no Basic Pokemon in their hand when they draw their 7 cards, they have to reshuffle as usual, but only one player from the opposite team may draw a card (they may decide amongst themselves who gets to draw the extra card).
5.After all mulligans have been resolved, all four players each set down 3 Prize cards from the top of their deck instead of the usual 6.
6.Then, to determine who goes first, each player rolls a 6-sided die. Both teammates add up their combined total and whoever has the highest total gets to go first. The winning team of the die roll also gets to choose, before any Pokemon are flipped over, which player from their team goes first. (The first turn of the opposing team will be whoever is straight across from the player that goes first, and play will continue in an N like zigzag fashion.)
Game Play
1.Turn order goes like this: the player who goes first gets their turn, then the opponent that is directly across from them, then the player's teammate, then the opponent's teammate, and then back to the first player. It should work similarly to the letter N. Just be sure to keep track of your turn order!
2.Each player may have 1 Active Pokemon and up to 4 Benched Pokemon of their own.
3.If a Stadium card is played, it is placed in the center of all of the players and affects all players.
4.Special Conditions are now resolved at the beginning and at the end of the afflicted player's turn. For example, Player 1A poisons Player 2B with an attack. No poison damage is placed between Player 1A's turn and just at the beginning and end of Player 2B's turn. The Special Condition is considered to be on the player all of the time, though, for the purpose of card effects that do something if the Pokemon is affected by a Special Condition.
5.If you Knock Out one of either opponent's Pokemon, you draw one of your own Prize cards (not your partner's). If you have no Prize cards remaining, your partner draws one of their Prize cards instead. If both players on a team have no Prize cards left between them, that team wins.
6.If your Active Pokemon is Knocked Out and you have no Benched Pokemon, you're not out of the game! Reveal your hand to all players to make sure that there are no Basic Pokemon in your hand (and to give your opponent the bonus of seeing your hand).
- 1.If there is a Basic Pokemon in there, you must play it immediately as your Active Pokemon.
- If you don't have a Basic Pokemon in your hand, whenever your turn begins, you flip over the top card of your deck: if it's a Basic Pokemon, you set it down as your Active Pokemon and get to continue playing just as usual; if it's not a Basic Pokemon, your turn ends immediately.
- If both you and your partner have no Active Pokemon and no Benched Pokemon at any time, after any effects are resolved, your team loses the game.
7.If you are unable to draw a card at the beginning of your turn, you must immediately pass without taking any action. You may still use any effects of your partner's Trainer or Supporter cards if they let you use them.
8.If both players on a team are forced to pass after being unable to draw a card at the beginning of their turn, that team loses. The game is considered to be lost after the second teammate passes.
9.Any card effects that make you flip Prize cards over or affect your prize cards in any way only affect your own Prize cards and can never affect your partner's, unless it says you can choose any player's Prize cards.
10.Whenever you play a Trainer card, you may choose to have all effects that would affect you affect your partner instead (any time it says "your," you replace it with "your partner"). Your partner must still be able to fulfill the requirements of the card. The card is placed in your discard pile after all effects are resolved. You still choose which opponent the Trainer card affects, if it affects one.
11.Whenever you play a Supporter card, you may choose to have your partner receive all effects of that card instead (as if they were playing it themselves) as long as they are able to fulfill all requirements of the card. (any time it says "your," you replace it with "your partner," except for the Supporter rule). You can still play only one Supporter card during your turn, even if your partner uses the effect, and the card is placed into your discard pile at the end of your turn. You still choose which opponent the Trainer card affects, if it affects one.
12.Pokemon Tool and Technical Machine cards can only be attached to the Pokemon of the active player, so you can't attach a Pokemon Tool card from your hand to your partner's Pokemon. Anything that has to be attached to a Pokemon or set in the owner's playing area has to be attached to the owner's Pokemon or placed in the owner's playing area (Fossils, PlusPowers, etc.).
13.Poke-Powers may only be used by the player using them and no effects can be transferred to their partner unless the Poke-Power affects all Pokemon, both Active Pokemon, or is some other floating effect that affects all players.
14.Poke-Bodies are always active and can sometimes affect both you and your partner. If a Poke-Body targets "each of your Benched Pokemon" or "all of your Pokemon," it affects both players Pokemon.
15.When you use an attack, you must choose which opponent you are attacking. Any effects of the attack that affect you, such as letting you draw cards or searching your deck for a card, only affect you and not your partner. But look at the next rule for some effects that might affect your partner from your attacks.
16.Targeting card and attack effects... (any specific rulings in the appropriate section override any of these)
- If it says "your opponent" or "the Defending Pokemon" on the card, you must choose which opponent you're using the effect on. You can choose only one opponent unless it says otherwise.
- If it says "both Defending Pokemon" or "each Defending Pokemon," it affects both opponent's Defending Pokemon.
- If it says "both of your Active Pokemon," it affects both your Active Pokemon and your partner's Active Pokemon.
- If it says "each Active Pokemon," it affects all players Active Pokemon.
- If it says "all Pokemon" or "all Pokemon (both yours and your opponent's)", it affects all Pokemon in play.
- If it says "both players" or any similar variant, you must choose which player from each side is affected.
- "Your Bench" always refers to the active player's Bench and never the combined Bench.
- If an attack affects an opponent's Benched Pokemon, it must be the same opponent that is receiving the other effects and damage from the attack.
- For any attacks, comparing Prize cards or counting Prize cards taken always refers to the active player's and the target player's Prize cards and never their partner's.
- Anything that affects Prize cards only affects that player, even if they have no Prize cards left. For any Poke-Powers, Poke-Bodies, and Energy cards, comparing Prize cards or counting Prize cards taken always refers to the team's Prize cards and not individual players.
17.Since the Tournament is just a fun Tournament, communication and coordination between players is important. Both players are free to show their partner their hands at any time. Players may communicate by whispering to their opponent as well as speaking out loud, giving them opportunity to plan out their strategies with nearly no restrictions, except for time (excessive talking amongst players will result in a warning, so keep communications brief, like under 15 seconds if it's one of your turns).
*Clarification for play with Lost World - to keep this card still fair and viable... We'll errata it so that each opponent must have 6 or more Pokemon in the Lost Zone.
