Other Uses of the Pokémon TCG

The videos of English soccer players doing their own thing with the Pokémon TCG, which are nonetheless part of an official campaign of Pokémon with the FA of England, highlight something remarkable. The usage of the TCG cards as depicted is unusual and out of ordinary as far as the cards are meant to be used (that is, played). That leads to the consideration that the TCG cards may be used in yet other ways that are plausible yet at the same time beyond the commonality of the game that it is linked to.

Although it might seem obvious that the cards can be traded and collected (hence, "Trading Card Game"), this might still escape the mind of some players, especially newer ones for whom "TCG" might just be simply regarded as an initialism. Therefore, it has to be (re)stated that this becomes another use for the cards, which judging by the response of current players, could be an uncommon thing to do. It regardless constitutes another use of the cards and thus bears mentioning. What could be an uncommon take on this uncommon take, however, is to display the collected and/or traded cards in a sort of gallery, whether with modifications of current means of display or even the development of new ones. Much of the efforts for this are likely to depend on the creativity and imagination of those who possess the cards.

If one is thinking about keeping and collecting the cards, one might also have to think about making them as something for investments; the cards themselves can (or have been proven to be able to) be bought or sold for sufficiently large prices, particularly for old and classic cards that are out of print and are no longer in play, or current cards that are printed in reflective  print and/or special styles. This will certainly necessitate special ways of storing the cards, which would themselves be an investment, but these and the cards would pay off if someone else wishes to acquire them for some odd reason - hopefully for further investment - at which point a price can be set for the transaction and the investment would pay off.

As for other games that the cards can be used for, they seem to be few and far between, though one comes to mind immediately: matching games. Some popular single-player card games actually comprise matching games, and these may permit the TCG cards to be used ad hoc. Depending on possessed cards and/or the composition of those cards, some matching leeway might be necessary for a good matching game involving the cards, but given that even a TCG deck contains duplicate cards or similar cards, not much leeway may be needed to adapt TCG cards for matching games.

The preferred usage of Pokémon TCG cards is still to play them as intended by the actual rules for the TCG. But with a little understanding of what the cards entail in artistic, monetary, or game-mechanical value, there may be something to gain from the cards, enough that any person with the sufficient know-how can utilize them for other purposes than the standard game... just like the games that the soccer players played with them.

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