Ditto Draft

Ditto Draft is the ideal way to draft the Pokémon TCG with two to four players. Open booster packs, pick the cards you’d like to build a deck with, and then battle against your friends, with a little help from Ditto!

The Setup 

Ditto Draft is a Limited format event for two to four players. Four is the ideal number, but the event can be run with two or three. Ditto Draft events may be run with Pokémon TCG products in two different ways: 

• 1 Each player receives four predetermined Pokémon TCG booster packs. They can all be from the same expansion or from different expansions, as long as each player has the same four packs. 
• 2 Each player receives a Build & Battle Box. Each player opens their 40-card ready-to-play deck without revealing its contents to the other players. Then, they set aside any Pokémon in the deck, as these cards will not be used for deck construction. Only the Trainer cards and Energy cards in the deck may be used. Players can look through these cards, which can be used to build their deck along with the cards drafted later. 

Regardless of the product used, players will also be provided with Ditto Markers to use along with the special Ditto Draft rules (see below). Ditto Markers can be placed on Basic Pokémon without a Rule Box to grant them the Ability to evolve into any Stage 1 or Stage 2 Pokémon that a player drafts and includes in their deck. 

Players will be seated in a circle to facilitate the draft. Once everyone is ready, the Organizer will signal the players to open their first booster pack. If using a combination of packs from different expansions, all players should open a pack from the same expansion at the same time. Each player selects one card from the pack and sets it aside to start their draft selection pile, along with the Pokémon TCG Live or Pokémon TCG Online code card and the basic Energy card or VSTAR marker. Players then pass the remaining cards from the booster pack, face down, to the person on their left. The cards selected by each player should remain secret during the drafting process.

Each player continues to select one card from among the cards passed to them until all the cards have been selected. After all cards from a booster pack have been picked, players will have one minute to review the cards they have so far. This process repeats for each remaining booster pack, with the passing pattern alternating from left to right as each new pack is opened.

Deck Building

After all the booster packs have been opened and all the cards have been selected, each player constructs a 40-card deck using the cards they picked from the booster packs and if applicable the Build & Battle Box, as well as basic Energy cards provided by the Organizer. Players have 20 minutes to construct their decks. Players may not trade the cards they selected in the draft with other players until the tournament ends. After everyone's deck is completed, play begins.

Gameplay

Games will be played with 4 Prize cards instead of the usual six. Once the first round of the tournament begins, players may not alter the contents of their decks. All standard gameplay rules apply, with the following additional Ditto Draft rule: 

Once during your turn (before you attack), you may place a Ditto marker on 1 of your Basic Pokémon that doesn’t have a Rule Box. It gains the following ability: 

"Ability: EVOLUTIONARY ADVANTAGE Once during your turn, you may put any Stage 1 or Stage 2 card from your hand onto this Pokémon to evolve it." 

You can’t use this Ability during your first turn or the turn this Pokémon was put into play. If you put a Stage 2 card onto this Pokémon, your turn ends. Each Pokémon can use only 1 Evolutionary Advantage Ability per game.

To see when we are running our next Ditto Draft head to our events page on our website.