Pokemon Trading Card Game Adds New Free-to-Play Raid Battles

The Pokemon Trading Card Game has provided fans with a new free-to-play co-op Raid Battle mode. The new game mode pits four players against a powerful Raid Boss in a setup similar to those seen in Pokemon Sword and Shield. Setup is simple – each player picks two Pokemon cards with no Energy cards or Trainer cards attached, and then determine the Boss Pokemon’s power level by adding together the strongest attack from each pair of Pokemon cards. When the Raid Battle starts, the players trade turns with the Boss Pokemon. All four players will go in order, dealing damage and determining whether their move has any additional effects. Some effects, such as those that add or remove energy, are ignored by other effects Can still be used. The Boss Pokemon then goes, with its attacks and targets determined by a special Boss Attack deck. The players win if they knock out the Boss Pokemon before four of their Pokemon are knocked out.

Players can download everything they need for the Raid Battle mode on the Pokemon website, including Boss Pokemon cards, the Boss Attack deck, a Cheer deck. The Pokemon website also has a Digital Raid Assistant that keeps track of how much HP the Boss Pokemon has and draws Boss Attack and Cheer cards for players.

The Raid Battle mode is a relatively straightforward adaptation of Pokemon Sword and Shield‘s Raid Battle system, complete with players “Cheering” their allies when one of their Pokemon is knocked out to provide them with buffs. As of now, the Pokemon Company has provided two Boss Pokemon to use in Raid Battles – Pikachu and Drednaw. It’s unclear if more Boss Pokemon will be added in the future. While it’s a relatively simple game mode, it seems like a perfect distraction for Pokemon TCG fans who are stuck away from each other during COVID-19 quarantines. You can check out the full Raid Battle mode here.