Pokemon proxies helped my kids play more and avoid the challenges of collecting

I learned to play Pokemon, the trading card game, so that I could teach my son. Along the way I found out all kinds of information about the world of Pokemon cards that I find odd and at times frustrating. The positive is that I found a very simple, if slightly time consuming answer to the most significant of the issues. How to avoid the cost associated with buying random packs of cards.

I’m writing this for parents predominantly because I think I can help get you and your kids into the Pokemon card game quickly and for less expense than if you start collecting cards. Obviously, if you want to collect cards then buy a folder and enjoy. But if you want to play the game and keep it cheap, then read on.

But let’s go back a step.

History

Pokemon launched in 1996 as a pair of Game Boy games and, later that year, a trading card game (TCG) before moving into comics, TV show, movies and books (not necessarily in that order). In those early days I remember being able to buy an abundance of starter packs that would give you all you needed to start playing. These starter packs were cheap, easy to obtain and the rules were simple for little kids. But, the game needed to evolve, much like Pokemon themselves, and for the game to have longevity it needed something special.

• In 1996 there were 151 Pokemon characters for kids to catch ‘em all.
• Today, in 2026, there are 1025 distinct Pokemon species.

Pokemon can be:

• a card game - a fairly complex tabletop card game played by kids and adults all over the world
• collectable trading cards - buy sealed packs, obtain rare cards that can be worth a huge amount of money. The idea is to collect the cards to be able to play the game, rather than to make money from it.
• a range of toys, comics/books, computer games, TV shows and movies.

Pokemon, the card game, is pretty cool.

Starting from ‘My first Pokemon’ or a Battle Academy Set (the way I started my kids) quickly leads you into buying a starter battle deck and getting up to the league battle decks. Along the way you can buy hugely expensive box sets of trainer cards and extras, or cheap booster packs containing just a handful of cards.

Getting a good starter set is easy. Getting a set of cards with your kids favourite characters is near impossible without spending vast amounts of cash and having some luck, or going online and buying individual cards from resellers.

Trainer boxes (called the trainer toolkit) are available and guarantee the buyer all the cards required to build a deck. This leaves the player just seeking the additional Pokemon they want. Not bad for £40 or thereabouts.

Collecting cards

The TCG part of Pokemon troubled me even before I fully understood the situation. Pokemon cards are sold in sealed packs and the buyer doesn’t know what cards they will ‘pull’. Buyers only know the series of cards they are getting and, as TCG could be described as gambling-lite, the odds of pulling certain cards - described online as rarity droprate-, that they can pretty much guarantee they won’t get the cards they need to form a complete deck.

There have been comparisons between digital loot boxes (found inside computer games) and Pokemon booster packs (physical cards), suggesting they are both forms of gambling or at least games designed for children to be gateways to gambling. It is suggested that the instant gratification of the digital loot boxes makes the gambling link much stronger. Though it is interesting to note that in Japan the rate of finding rare or valuable cards is said to be higher than in Europe because of key differences:

• smaller pack sizes
• what you get in a pack is different
• many packs provide a ‘guarantee’ of receiving a certain level of card whereas in the West, no such guarantee is offered.

Originally, the trading was designed to mitigate this nod towards gambling.

If your kid’s school has a good Pokemon community then you might find the trading aspect to be quite fun though it’s not without its pitfalls as cards have such a varying value.

Because there are cards of greater value based on scarcity, buyers want these cards to resell for big money. Scalpers head into stores and buy all the cards they are allowed to buy. Limited supply plus high demand leads to secondary market markups and it makes getting a set for your kid more complicated.

And, if your kid is trading, have you checked the value of the cards being traded? We want to be fair both ways. I’d feel pretty bad if my kid managed to come home with some super rare card that he managed to trade for a random duplicate he had.

But I found a solution, and one that is readily known on the net. Proxies. Before I get to that, let me finish off with the Pokemon world.

All the other stuff

The final bits are the TV show and toys. A weird and wonderful mixture. The TV show is ok. There’s lots of episodes, nice story arcs and characters your kids can get to know. They translate well to the books and there are pre-readers and early reader available to encourage your kid to start reading. All very positive.

The plastic toys are massively overpriced - Pokeballs, plastic resin characters and playsets. But, the quality of the little character in the Battle figure series is amazing; the colours and detail of the characters continues to surprise me. Facebook marketplace works well for secondhand stuff at a fraction of the price.

The computer games are of course stuff of legends. I’ll leave those for another article.

What are Pokemon proxies?

If you want to make a specific deck of 60 cards you can’t easily obtain those cards.

Unless you turn to proxy cards. Proxy cards let you play the game without playing the market.

There are some great sites online that allow you to build a page of cards (with spacing and slightly oversized), print them out and play with them.

Here’s what I do

• Visit a proxy site (tools -> Proxy printer)
• Find the cards I want and prepare 9 at a time on a page
• Print out with a small gap and at about 103% using a standard printer in ‘best’ quality
• Use 160gsm white card stock (I don’t worry about the Pokemon printed backs)
• Cut them out with a folding trimming knife, cutting mat and safety ruler
• Clip the corners with a corner rounder punch - 4mm
• Pop each card into a Dragon shield clear sleeve (standard size)
• Pop the clear sleeved card into a Dragon coloured shield

The prints look good. Printed on card gives them the right weight. Put into two layers of plastic makes them look like real cards and makes them nearly indestructible (to apple juice and cous cous).

Whilst this still ends up costing £10-15 per full deck, there is no stress in obtaining the cards and you can swap any cards out you like to try different skills. You can also reuse all the trainer and energy cards across multiple decks and select rare and cool artwork that you would otherwise never get a chance to own.

The only real limitation is that proxies should be used for home play and you definitely can’t play with them in competitions and tournaments.

We own plenty of Pokemon cards, books, toys and games and I know we will buy more cards and sets in the future if my kids get into the game more. For now, the home printing is a low risk strategy.

But don’t kids want ‘real’ cards to play with?

Sure, and that can come later. Especially if they find themselves at a school or club with an active trading network or other way to obtain reasonably priced cards of the types they need to build their deck. Proxies are great for learning and reduce your parental worry that they might grow out of, or move on from Pokemon.

Costs

To make up a competitive deck by buying ‘singles’, individual cards from market places and trading can cost in the region of £40–£120

Booster-pack gambling approach to getting a competitive deck is unpredictable and very difficult to predict. It is certainly the most expensive route and could cost many hundreds of pounds.

League decks will get you 90% of the way to a competitive deck for around £30. If you want to be tournament ready, this is the route because you can add the small number of extra singles after you know the strengths and weaknesses of the league deck you bought.

The proxy route has fixed costs and you can reuse the cards easily: £10–15

Choice

You have all the tools to decide if you want to buy new, buy second hand or print at home. Now just to decide what cards to obtain. Here are my rules for young players (aged 6,7 or 8) getting started with a cut down pack (the 40 card example below) and a full starter pack (60 card example below). Noting that pre-made battle league packs will be too complicated to start with for a 6 year old.

Like all good games if you can build the foundations with the simpler core game strategy then it will be easier to add on the conditions, stadium, and strategy that more complex Pokemon and trainer cards can bring.

I want to encourage the game rather than the collecting because it’s a good game and one worth learning to play. You might just find other parents to play against once the kids have gone to bed.

For my son and for me, the playing means more than the cardboard. There are enough opportunities for buying and collecting toys. We have made Pokemon about learning how to play board games: learning how to lose, learning how to be a good winner, and of course, enjoying time together at a gentler pace and without screens shouting for our attention.

If your goal is playing, not collecting, then printing proxies is the simplest, cheapest, and least stressful path.

Final tips:

Route to playing

1. My First Pokemon is ok but I decided to
2. Start with the amazing battle academy box set- comes with a rule book, counters, a cool playing board, quick play reminders, and three decks. Such a good place to start. £20 or so.
3. Make sure you know how to play. YouTube, Pokemon official rulebook and playing with another adult will make you more confident at helping your kids pick the game up
4. Progress to a 45 card starter deck - see below
5. Move up to a 60 card simple deck - see below
6. Add on complexity
7. Remember to match your sets so there is some balance as you are playing.
8. Keep it fun, and make sure little kids win more than they lose!

Decks

45 card deck

Why this deck works:

• Lots of basics for solid, reliable play.
• Simple evolutions (Pikachu → Raichu, Magnemite → Magneton) to teach evolution timing.
• Trainer cards focus on draw (Professor’s and Hop) and search (Great Ball/Poke Ball).
• Energy ratio is high so kids are more likely to attach energy and attack, this reduces frustration.

60 card deck - grass

 Why this deck works:

• Still a single theme (Grass) keeps the deck easy to learn — one Energy type to manage.
• Evolution chains teach progression while keeping a solid bench of attackers.
• Trainer mix includes draw/search, switching, simple healing, and energy recycling — core fundamentals of the game for new players.
• Plenty of Pokemon so kids can evolve and learn how to use a team of Pokemon.