Home›Guides›Pokémon TCG online in the formats the official client will not run
Pokémon TCG online in the formats the official client will not run
Pokémon TCG Live is a good client for the game it runs, and the game it runs is Standard. Expanded is there in Casual with a card pool that starts at Sun & Moon. Gym Leader Challenge appears as a Trainer Trials option for two weeks in every nine. Anything older, anything house-ruled, anything with a card the client has not implemented, is not there at all. A shared table does not have that problem, because it does not know what format you are playing — it just has the cards.
Play-test a deck nowin your browser · nothing to install
Which formats run where
| Format | In TCG Live | On Untap.in |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Yes | Yes |
| Expanded | Casual only; Sun & Moon onward | Yes, the whole card pool |
| Gym Leader Challenge | Rotating Trainer Trials window, two weeks in nine | Any day, any type |
| Retro (an era of your choice) | No | Yes — every printing back to Base Set |
| House formats, proxies, custom cards | No | Yes |
The table has 32,310 Pokémon cards, every printing from Base Set to the current sets, each with its own text and stats, so a deck from any era imports as the cards it was built with. It enforces nothing: it moves cards, keeps the prize count and the damage counters, and your table resolves the game the way you would across a mat. That is the trade — no judge, in exchange for no format being off-limits.
Gym Leader Challenge, on a Tuesday
GLC is the format the client treats as an occasion: one type, singleton, no Rule Box Pokémon, an Expanded-derived card pool. On a table it is just a deck. Build the sixty, import it from a Limitless list or type it in, open a game and write "GLC" in the title so the lobby knows what it is joining. The deck builder's filters do the legality check you would do by hand — type, Rule Box, duplicates — and the rest is a game of cards. Nothing closes in nine weeks.
Retro: a 2003 deck against a 2005 deck
No client runs the game as it was in a given year, and a lot of people want to. Pick the era, agree the rules of the time, build from the sets that existed, and play. Every printing is in the database with its own text, so an old card plays with its old wording rather than an errata'd one, and the alternate arts of the time are there as separate printings. The table does not mind that the modern first-turn rule did not exist yet; you play the rule you agreed.
Setting up
- Import the deck. Decks → Import, paste a limitlesstcg.com or pokemoncard.io link or a text list in the standard export format. A line like "4 Pikachu ex SVI 57" lands on that exact printing.
- Open a table. New Game → Pokémon TCG, two seats, and name the format in the title. Send the link or let the lobby fill it.
- Play. Prizes, bench, active, discard and the Lost Zone all have a place; damage and special conditions are counters on the card. Rewind takes the table back if a trigger was resolved in the wrong order, and the game is recorded for later.
What you give up
The client's rules engine, its ladder, its animations, and the certainty that a play was legal. Energy attachment, abilities, retreat costs and prize-taking are all yours to do, and both players need to know the format. For a competitive Standard grind, Live is the better tool and nothing here says otherwise. For everything Live will not run, this is where it runs.
Frequently asked questions
Can I play Pokémon TCG Expanded online?
TCG Live runs Expanded in Casual with cards from Sun & Moon onward. On Untap.in the whole Expanded card pool is there, with every printing, at a table that enforces no rules.
Can I play Gym Leader Challenge online any day?
On Untap.in, yes. In TCG Live, GLC appears as a rotating Trainer Trials option for two weeks in every nine.
Can I play old Pokémon cards online?
Yes. Every printing from Base Set onward is in the database with its original text, so a deck from any era imports as it was built.
Does Untap.in enforce the Pokémon rules?
No. It is a shared table: it moves cards and keeps the counters, and the players resolve the game. That is why no format is off-limits.
Can I import a Limitless decklist?
Yes. Paste a limitlesstcg.com or pokemoncard.io link or the text export, and each line lands on its exact printing.
Is this free?
Yes. Decks, solo games and the public lobby cost nothing. Power Up is an optional subscription for extra seats and perks.
Bring a list
Import a deck, goldfish a few hands, then open a table and send your pod the link. It runs in the browser, and the first play-test takes about as long to set up as reading this did.
Play-test a deck nowMore guides
Where to play Commander online depends on what you are trying to do: goldfish a new list, play your pod across three cities, play your paper deck over webcam, or have the rules enforced. Every option, honestly compared.
Updated 11 November 2026 How to play-test a Magic deck onlineGoldfishing tells you whether a list works on its own; a real opponent tells you whether it works. How to do both online, what the deck-site playtesters can and cannot do, and how to test a change instead of guessing.
Updated 11 November 2026 MTG Arena has no Commander. Here is how to play it anywayArena's Brawl is two players at 25 life, and there is no four-player mode. Export the deck from Arena, paste it into Untap.in, and sit at a four-seat Commander table in the browser with the list you already built.
Updated 11 November 2026 Draft online, then play the deck you draftedBooster draft, cube and sealed in the browser: bots fill the empty seats, you draft from any set in the database or a CubeCobra list, and the deck you build is played at the same table. Compared honestly with the pick-trainers.
Updated 11 November 2026 Import a deck from Moxfield, Archidekt or anywhere elsePaste a deck URL from Moxfield, Archidekt, EDHREC, MTGGoldfish and dozens of other sites, or a plain-text list, and play-test it online in the browser. Every printing kept, sideboard included, nothing retyped.
Updated 11 November 2026 A Cockatrice alternative that runs in the browserCockatrice is a free desktop tabletop for Magic with no rules engine. Untap.in is the same idea with no download, voice at the table, rewind, replays and 50-odd other card games. When to switch, and when not to.
Updated 11 November 2026 An XMage alternative, for the half of you who should switchXMage enforces every rule and runs as a Java download. Untap.in trusts the table and runs in the browser. Which one you want depends on whether you are learning the rules or play-testing a deck — this page says which is which.
Updated 11 November 2026 A Tabletop Simulator alternative for card gamesTabletop Simulator is a paid 3D sandbox that becomes a card table through mods. Untap.in is a flat table built for card games, free for everyone at it, with the card database kept for you. For Magic and 50-odd other games.
Updated 11 November 2026 Play-test your own card game onlineDesigning a card game, or custom cards for one? Upload the cards with their art and text, build decks from them, goldfish alone or sit on both sides, then play-test against real people in the browser. No rules engine to code against.
Updated 11 November 2026 Pokémon TCG Pocket on a shared tablePlay-test a Pokémon TCG Pocket deck online with cards you have not pulled yet, against a friend, in the browser. Twenty-card decks, Limitless import, points on a counter, no rules engine. What the app does that a table cannot, and the other way round.
Updated 11 November 2026 Play Union Arena onlineBandai has no online client for Union Arena, and TCG+ builds decks but does not play. Untap.in has the card pool and a two-seat table in the browser: import or type a fifty-card deck, send a link, and play the game the way you would across a mat.
Updated 11 November 2026 Play Final Fantasy TCG onlineA browser table for Final Fantasy TCG with every printing synced from Square Enix's official card list, deck import from FFDecks and Materia Hunter, and a real opponent. For when the Tabletop Simulator mod is four sets behind.
Updated 11 November 2026