Pokémon TCG pocket players are banning EX cards to enjoy the game even more

If you’re a fan of EX Pokémon cards, you should not take part in this community's battles.

Not everybody in the community is a fan of the EX cards. | © Pokemon Company

A lot of players want to get rid of EX cards in the new Pokémon TCG game by creating their own community within the community.

I grew up with Pokémon Trading Cards, but to be honest, I was more focused on collecting them than to play, but still had my fair share of TCG battles back in the days. And even though the folder with all my cards from the jungle and fossil sets is still on my shelf, I look at the modern cards with more and more special effects and HP way over the old cap of 120 and realize that this is pretty much a new game at all.

And it seems like there are also quite a few people playing the new Pokémon TCG pocket that feel at least a bit in the same way and would like to get rid of the EX cards.

Pokémon TCG pocket

The newest installment in the franchise took the Poké world by storm. Porting the beloved card game into the digital world worked out and after three weeks already generated over $120 million in revenue.

Users can open booster packs – and be more than just lucky –, curate perfect decks and battle against friends and strangers around the globe.

As with the old card game, there are cards rarer and stronger than others and EX Pokémon cards are right now the most interesting ones.

Beautiful to look at – horrible to see on your opponent's side of the table. | © The Pokémon Company

Pokemon EX Cards

There is a reason for the EX cards being that rare. They have more HP, have stronger attacks and effects and just look awesome. All that coming with the prize of giving the enemy two instead of one point when defeated – IF they even get defeated.

So it is no surprise that these cards are highly used in battles giving the player an amazing boost when it comes to attack stats and health points. For some people these cards are showing up way too often in battle, so they decided to take matters into their own hands.

NOEX Community

The community created a battle format that doesn’t allow to use EX cards in game, called “NOEX” and it is pretty simple to take part in these battles.

When players select a “private match” in the battle menu, they just have to use “NOEX” as the password and hopefully will be paired with an opponent that also doesn’t use EX Pokémon. Since there are no official settings, players have to rely on the honesty of the other users.

And even though there are already some reports of players still using said cards in a NOEX battle, the biggest part of the community seems to enjoy that new way of playing the Pokémon TCG pocket.

Are you playing Pokémon TCG pocket? What are your thoughts on EX cards?

Daniel Fersch
Daniel Fersch