The "Stuck" Prize Cards

Those who play the Pokémon TCG - physical or Live online, not the recent stripped-down TCG Pocket - know that as part of the setup, they need to lay down Prize Cards that become markers for victory, which are drawn mostly when opposing Pokémon are knocked out. Being actual cards of the deck, they become part of the hand in the process and can be played just like any other card. And therein lies the rub: if Pokémon don't get knocked out, or more specifically, one's Pokémon get knocked out before they knock out the opponent's, the cards are effectively "stuck" there (something I've already mentioned before) even with best play. This becomes something that can be discussed to a certain extent, including by experience.

Obviously, any card in a deck can become "stuck" as a Prize card, and this could be as benign as a duplicate Item or as crucial as a Stage 2 Pokémon, with no way to know what they might be initially as the cards are facedown. Some cards are known to have actions that allow the cards to be turned face up, but these are few and far between and still require the effort to knock out Pokémon to get at the cards; most recently, there is also the Hisuian Heavy Ball that essentially allows a swap-out with one Prize card, helping to alleviate the situation slightly. Regardless, because taking the last Prize card means attaining victory and ending a match, that one last card is effectively "stuck" where it is for pretty much the entire match.

I once played with a Gardevoir deck to help a friend practice for a tournament, and I became a first-hand party to the experience. Even though I played the deck cards as best as I could, my efforts never seemed to get off the ground, and I lost with no cards remaining in the deck (known as a "deck out"). It turned out that two of the Prize cards contained the namesake Pokémon of the deck, preventing me from mounting an offense with them. Later on, a friend who used the deck also had a loss and ended up in a similar situation, with a crucial Gardevoir "stuck" among the Prize cards. While it might be a coincidence that the "stuck" situations were with the same deck and Pokémon, it might possibly occur with other decks and cards.

Learning to play the (common) Pokémon TCG in a certain capacity might also mean learning to take advantage of or otherwise deal with one's Prize cards to avoid "stuck" situations like the one above. Yet even after learning how to do just that, there is always the possibility that some "stuck" situations might continue to occur, whether one is in control of the game or not. That could be considered both a consequence of how the game is structured and how the cards manifest themselves by chance. In any case, "stuck" possibilities are not deterrents to playing the game - as evidenced by its continued popularity - and they're just things to contend with, as with all the other elements that are present by players or situations.

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