Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Terminology for Different Classes of Cards

C

Clueless in Seattle

New Member
I'm trying to figure out what the term is that designates the different kinds of cards.

I don't mean the type, I think I have that one down. If I understand it correctly, the type of a Pokemon is the name of an Energy type and is shown by an Energy symbol in the upper right corner of the card. Right?

But there are also different classes of cards, for example Pokemon, Trainers, Supporters, Energy, etc.

Is there any agreement on the term used to designate the group of categories that in the example above I have called "classes" of cards?
 
I don't think there is a specific term in the game yet for the distinction between Pokemon, Energy, Trainer, Supporter, and Stadium cards. They have sub-distinctions in each group, but they haven't really defined a term like the "class" that you mention. It might be helpful, though. Perhaps you're the one to coin the term!

You are correct in the term "type" referring to the Energy type (color) for a Pokemon or Energy. Some of the cards back in the E-sets used the word (color) after the word type to emphasize that relation.

Notice that on any card that mentions more than one class in the same sentence (e.g. Cyrus's Conspiracy), it lists each class (and sub-class if needed) separately.
 
The fixed taxonomy of Pokemon cards, I believe, goes something like this:

  • Pokemon
    • Basic Pokemon
      • (old WotC-era) Baby Pokemon (pretend this isn't here)
    • Evolution
    • Level Up
  • Trainer
    • Pokemon Tool
    • Technical Machine
    • Fossil
  • Supporter
  • Stadium
  • Energy
    • Basic Energy
    • Special Energy

I don't believe any card text uses broader classes than what I list at the top level here. As Noah said, if something is talking about more than one major class, it lists them all.

Prior to DP, the game used "Trainer" to refer to all three of Trainers, Supporters, and Stadiums. In Japanese the broader category was トレーナーのカード ("torena no kado" => "Trainer's card" (possessive)) and a Trainer card was simply トレーナ ("torena" => "trainer"). This distinction was pretty much lost in translation throughout the EX series, which is likely why they moved away from it and started treating Supporters and Stadiums as their own major class. The term is still used in the Japanese rulebook as a section header but I believe has been otherwise retired.
 
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I have seen the total class of Trainers, Supporters, and Stadiums referred to as "trainers" in Japanese usage.
 
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