Pokémon TCG Live app launched in limited beta, only available in Canada
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A limited beta for the new Pokémon Trading Card Game Live App has been launched, but is currently only available in Canada.
Set to replace the existing Pokémon Trading Card Game Online app, a beta for Pokémon TCG Live can be accessed by Canadian players right now, with users being able to use various features included in the app ahead of its full release. In a preview of the beta, Dicebreaker received an overview of the features and modes included.
Players will be able to export their card collection from their Pokémon TCG Online account into their new Pokémon TCG Live profile during the beta, but will not be able to access both apps at the same time if they do so. Players can choose to delay migrating their collection until after the beta ends and the full game releases, thereby enabling them to play both apps until then if they want to. Alternatively, players can import specific deck lists into Pokémon TCG Live by copying them from Pokémon TCG Online into the new app’s deck list feature.
Any unopened products players might still have in their Pokémon TCG Online app can be converted into currency for Pokémon TCG Live, which can be used to purchase different items in the app’s online store. Pokémon TCG Live is an entirely free-to-play game with no in-app purchases, meaning that players cannot spend real currency to buy in-game currency or products. Players will be able to enter any card codes they get with physical decks into the game after it fully launches in order to unlock sets to use in-game. However, redeeming card codes will be limited to recently released or upcoming sets such as this month’s Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars sets.
Currency for Pokémon TCG Live includes coins – which can only be used to purchase customisation items for your avatar, deck boxes and sleeves – credits, if players want individual cards to fill in empty slots in their decks, and crystals, a currency that can be used to purchase available booster sets alongside any bundles or customisation items players want. As with the card codes, players will only be able to purchase cards, booster sets and bundles from recent releases for Pokémon TCG, with plans for the expanded format – which will include sets from Black & White, onwards – to be supported in the future.
The avatar customisation options featured in the Pokémon TCG Live beta will enable players to select from aspects such as skin-colour, hairstyle, eye-colour and clothing. New accessories can be unlocked by players purchasing them from the online store or by earning them in various challenges. Players can also choose from a variety of greetings for their avatar to say, including several that reference the popular Pokémon anime – such as Team Rocket’s catchphrase – and even memes from the Pokémon video games, including the kid who loves shorts.
Update: This article previously stated that the Ladder League was a single-player mode, when it is actually a multiplayer feature. This has since been corrected.
As with Pokémon TCG Online, the new beta for the Live app includes tutorial battles, this time being taught by the brand-new Professor Fir, to help teach players the basics, with guidance on both what actions to do in a battle and what to select to perform those actions. Players will be able to then participate in ranked battles – which will determine a player’s beta ranking – and casual battles, alongside battles between friends, with cross-platform play being available during the beta. There is also a ladder league feature included in the Pokémon TCG Live beta, which will offer rewards to players depending on their performance against opponents that season.
Rewards can be gained from completing quests in the Battle Pass section of the Pokémon TCG Live app as well, with new quests being made available every day. If players have the currency they can unlock the Premium Battle Pass, which will provide more quests that offer players even more rewards.
In the Pokémon Trading Card Game – which is developed and published by The Pokémon Company, the studio behind the Pokémon TCG Live app – players compete against each other using their respective decks of cards. Players begin the trading card game by placing a Pokémon card into their active slot, before putting any other Pokémon cards they want onto their bench. On their turn, players can play a single energy onto a Pokémon card of their choice, play Pokémon cards on their bench, swap their active Pokémon card out and play various trainer or item cards. In order to attack, a Pokémon card needs to have the required amount of energy placed onto it. The aim of the game is to defeat six of an opponent’s Pokémon or leave them without an active Pokémon card and any Pokémon cards on their bench.
The Pokémon Trading Card Game Live beta is available to play on mobiles, PC and MacOS in Canada now. It is yet to be confirmed whether there will be a beta available elsewhere in the world, with a PR representative stating that the UK will not receive a beta. The Pokémon TCG Live app is set to fully launch sometime this year.