Pokemon TCG Gym Leader Challenge: What it is and why to play it

If you’re a Pokemon TCG player, then you know that there’s only really a few officially supported ways to be able to play the game. With most paper events being Standard, and the new client only supporting Standard at the moment, we don’t have very many great options for playing in a different way. Well, we have for you a brand new way to play the Pokemon TCG, the Gym Leader Challenge. We will dive more into this format, what it’s all about and why you should be playing it.

If you’re looking for some awesome Standard decks to play, then definitely check out our best Pokemon TCG decks guide for a breakdown of the current meta. If you’re also playing on the new Pokemon TCG Live, then check out our guide on how to redeem Pokemon TCG codes in the game to get free packs.

What is the Pokemon TCG Gym Leader Challenge?

The Pokemon TCG Gym Leader Challenge is a fan created format, akin to Pauper, U150 or Aceless formats. This format puts you in the role of a “Gym Leader”. This format is a Singleton format, and while it’s primarily a 1v1 format, you could definitely play this multiplayer. Here are the rules of the format:

• Decks may only have Pokemon of one type
• Only one of each card with the same name is allowed except for basic energy
• Cards with a Rule Box are not allowed (V, EX, GX, BREAK, Radiant, and Prism Stars)
• ACE SPEC cards are not allowed
• Set Legality: Black & White and forwards
• Games are played with the most current Pokemon TCG rule set

That’s all there is to it. Now there is a small banned list of cards that cannot be played in decks. Here are those cards:

• Lysandre’s Trump Card (XY-Phantom Forces, 99/119, 118/119)
• Oranguru (SM-Ultra Prism, 114/156)
• Forest of Giant Plants (XY-Ancient Origins, 74/98)
• Chip-Chip Ice Axe (XM-Unbroken Bonds, 165/214)
• Hiker (SM-Celestial Storm, 133/168, Hidden Fates SV85/SV94)
• Kyogre (Shining Fates, 021/072)

These cards are banned for a few reasons. One of them prolongs the game and gives you the potential to have infinite resources. A few of these give you the ability to manipulate your opponent’s deck which is very powerful. The others give the types that they affect a huge boost of power.

Why play the Pokemon TCG Gym Leader Challenge?

Now why would you want to play this format? Well, there’s a few reasons. For one, it lets you play cards that have rotated from Standard in a new way. Given that there are few Extended tournaments out there and we can’t play it on TCG Live yet, this is a solid alternative.

GLC is a format that promotes deck building creativity. Yes the card pool is a good size. But, when you put it into the context of a singleton format, your resources are far more limited. So, you’ll have to come up with interesting interactions and combinations to build a fun deck.

Lastly, this format is a growing format. There’s a huge community of players in the Tricky Gym Discord server that are always looking for webcam matches. They host online events as well!

And that’s all there is to it folks! We highly recommend you give this format a shot as it’s an absolute blast to play. For more information about the format, head over to gymleaderchallenges.com where they have some fantastic resources, including staple card lists, and sample decks for each of the different types. If you’re interested in learning about some of the more historical aspects of the Pokemon TCG, check out our guide on the Shadowless Pokemon card, and why they’re the ultimate collectors item.