What is Our Pokemon Card Zone Upgrade?

I told you I’d be back with another Zone post! In case you didn’t read my last post, which you should ASAP, we’re going to be taking a closer look at all the different Zone upgrades that we offer with our playmats! Last time, we covered the basics of the various Zones that can be found on our Yugioh inspired mats.

For this post, we’re switching gears and diving headfirst into the different Zones and piles that are featured on our Pokemon inspired playmats. Those who wish to upgrade and add Pokemon inspired zones to their playmats will have an easier time keeping their cards organized and properly placed during even the most hectic battles!

There are 9 zones that make up a Pokemon inspired game mat, which include:

• 3 Prize Card Zones.
• 1 Stadium Zone
• 1 Active Zone
• 1 Bench Zone
• 1 Lost Zone
• 1 Discard Pile
• 1 Deck Zone

We’ll go through each Zone together - from left to right!

At the far left of the mat, you’ll find the three Prize Card Zones. For those that don’t know, a Prize Card is a card that’s taken by a player for knocking out an opposing player’s Pokemon. It’s in these Zones where six Prize cards are placed face-down at the beginning of each game. Since they are placed face-down, the identities of these prize cards are unknown to both players.

For each Knockout, a player is rewarded a certain number of prize cards according to the type of knockout. For example, a player can take two Prize cards if they inflict either an EX or GX knockout. If a player pulls off a Tag Team GX knockout, they are awarded three Prize cards. The player who’s able to take all six cards automatically wins the game!

To the right of the Prize Card Zones is the Stadium Zone. If you play a Stadium Trainer Card, that Stadium card gets placed in the Stadium Zone. Makes sense, right? Both players are only allowed to have one Stadium card placed in the Stadium Zone at a time. Once another Stadium card is played, while your previous Stadium is active, that previous Stadium card must be discarded.

The Active Pokemon Zone can be found just to the right and above the Stadium Zone. Any Pokemon placed in this Active Zone has the ability to attack and be attacked in return. The damage they take during an attack is determined by the damage level dealt by your opponent’s Active Pokemon card. A Pokémon set in the Active Pokémon zone has the option to retreat to the Bench Zone as well!

The Bench Zone is directly beneath the Active and Stadium Zones. During a game, any Pokemon that’s been retreated from or not part of the Active Zone may be placed in the Bench. This zone is meant to hold up to five Pokemon at a time and does not allow you to use them in an attack or retreat during play. Instead, Pokemon in the Bench Zone can only use certain abilities and are susceptible to damage in the event of an attack from your opponent. That means you can attack your opponent’s Benched Pokemon as well.

The Zone at the top right of the mat is known as the Lost Zone. Any cards that are sent to the Lost Zone, either due to ability or card effect, are considered to be no longer in play, although they remain face-up for the duration. That means they can’t be retrieved or shuffled back into your deck at any point during the game.

Directly below the Lost Zone is your Discard Pile. Cards that have been previously used, knocked, discarded or removed go straight to your Discard Pile. Unlike the Lost Zone, any cards sent to this Zone are placed face-down and can be retrieved at any point, depending on what kind they are. Think of this Zone as the equivalent to the Graveyard Zone that we discussed in our previous Yugioh Zone post.

Moving to the bottom right of the mat, we finally arrive at the Deck Zone. As with almost every card game and playmat, the Deck Zone is specifically meant to hold your card deck during gameplay. 

And that my friends, is a basic overview of the Pokemon inspired zones that can be found on our upgraded playmats. Any questions? Just let us know in the comments below and we’ll get back to you with the answer as soon as we can! 

In the meantime, be on the lookout for more Zone upgrade posts and analysis in the coming weeks!

Until we meet again,

Vince the Prince