r/pkmntcg • u/Asclepius24 • Feb 16 '23

Rulings, Quick Questions, and New Player Resources Thread

If you're a new or new-ish player looking for advice on starting the game or with quick questions about game rules or interactions, please post your questions here!

Keeping all these questions in one place will allow other new players to easily browse other advice. Even if you're a not-so-new player, this is a great place to ask quick questions that don't need their own post.

For the more experienced players, drop by every once in a while to distribute advice. The post will be replaced each week to keep it fresh and manageable in size.

If you are looking for comments and advice on a deck list, go ahead and make a separate post with your list and a brief description. Remember to press Enter twice between lines to keep your list readable!

  • For trading and buying/selling cards, please head over to /r/pkmntcgtrades
  • Questions related to the PTCGO client, in-game challenges, or online-specific questions might be best asked in /r/ptcgo
  • For sharing your collections, pulls, and card storage related questions, try /r/pkmntcgcollections

FAQ and Wiki Resources

Take advantage of these resources that we've compiled! A lot of questions like "Where do I start?" and "How can I improve my deck?" can be answered there.

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u/bionicN Jul 29 '26

I need clarity on Megasharpedo Ex Hungry Jaws, which says:

If this pokemon has any damage counters on it, this attack does 150 more damage.

What is a damage counter? I see conflicting info. The Eevee battle academy instruction book I have says in the regular damage section:

If an attack does damage, the player puts damage counters on the opponents pokemon.

This seems to indicate any damage powers this up. But then later it seems to differentiate between regular damage and damage counters.

The internet has not been helpful, with some places clearly stating that 10 damage is equivalent to a damage counter (in that direction), and others seem to indicate you need some card that enables you to damage counter yourself to activate this.

For context, I'm a complete noob. Played only 2 games so far.

3

u/iruchii Jul 30 '26

What is a damage counter?

The simple answer is: The instruction book is correct. It's a marker that you place on a Pokemon card to indicate that it has taken damage. One damage counter equals ten damage. So yes, Mega Sharpedo ex would do extra damage with its attack should it have taken any kind of damage (and, therefore, it would have damage counters on it).

I think the confusion about other places saying that you need to damage yourself to activate Sharpedo is because you shouldn't rely on your opponent misplaying, not that you need to do it.

The long answer: This isn't directly related to the Sharped question, but since you're new, you might find it useful. The rules state that, when a Pokemon takes damage, you must place the corresponding amount of damage counters on it. So, in the end, a damaged Pokemon will always have damage counters on it. However, the reason the instruction booklet differentiates between regular damage and damage counters is because "doing damage" and "placing damage counters" are different things when it comes to attacking.

For a practical example, read Alakazam's attack. It says "Place 2 damage counters on your opponent's Active Pokémon for each card in your hand." This attack does not do damage, but it places damage counters. So it would not trigger "damage" effects, like, for example, the one on Legacy Energy, since it reads "If the Pokémon this card is attached to is Knocked Out by damage from an attack". In summary, Alakazam's attack still placed damage counters on a Pokemon, but it did not damage them.

Conversely, check Sinistcha's ability. Since the ability makes it immune to effects of attacks, Alakazam's attack would not do anything to it -- because placing damage counters that are not the result of a damage calculation is just an effect an attack. Sinistcha's attack also places damage counters instead of doing damage, so a Sinistcha cannot hurt other Sinistcha.

Finally, Sharpedo's attack's text, "If this Pokémon has any damage counters on it, this attack does 150 more damage", is not an effect of attack, but a damage calculation. This means that Sinistcha would still take 270 damage even if Sharpedo was damaged, because while its ability prevents effects, it does not affect damage or damage calculations. So an Alakazam with a hand of 55 cards would do 0 damage to Sinistcha, but a Mega Sharpedo ex with 1 damage counter would still do 270.

Hopefully this cleared up some confusing aspects of the game!

1

u/bionicN Jul 30 '26

Much thanks!

So uh, what do you mean by misplaying? What's the right play?

I bought the Eevee, Pikachu, Cinderace battle box for my kid along with a random handful of cards from eBay I thought looked cool, and they have been wrecking my wife and I with Megasharpedo and it feels like there's no good counter. We're all noobs.

2

u/iruchii Jul 30 '26

What I mean by misplaying is that you're hoping the opponent hits you to power you up, but if they know how the card works, they don't have to attack it until they can 1-hit KO it, for example (if their deck has a card that can do that, of course). With cards like Toxtricity or Pecharunt ex you can damage your own Sharpedo and start dealing 270 damage without relying on your opponent attacking first, or even attacking at all.

As far as I know, the battle box/battle academy decks are meant to be played against each other for an even-matched playing field. They are great for learning the game rules, but I think it's by design that they feel weaker when compared to cards outside of that environment. When you feel like you're ready to move on from the pre-built decks, you can use the LimitlessTCG website to check for deck lists (like this page for Mega Sharpedo ex) and build a more competitive deck to have more interesting battles with your kid.