The Pokémon TCG is full of terms with which many who are relatively new to it might not be familiar. As such, it’s often the case that many find themselves uncertain with all the lingo related to the world’s most popular TCG franchise.

With this in mind, we’ve compiled a glossary of terms that are frequently used within the TCG community. We’ve divided the glossary into three portions: collection-related terms, gameplay-related terms, and colloquial names for certain cards.

Pokémon TCG Collection-Related Terms

• Chase card (noun) — the most expensive card of a particular set
• Degenerate/degen (noun) — a person who purchases and opens an excessive number of booster packs for the specific intent of landing one or more high-value cards
• ETB (noun) — Elite Trainer Box
• Genwunner (noun) — a Pokémon fan who only likes or overwhelmingly prefers Gen 1; often used derisively by younger fans
• God Box (noun) — a booster box with an unusually large number of rare and expensive cards
• God Pack (noun) — a booster pack specifically designed to include many rare and expensive cards; only present in specific sets
• Hat (noun) — colloquial term for Tera Jewels on a Terastallized Pokémon
• KTCG (noun) — Korean Pokémon TCG products
• LCS (noun) — local card store
• Raw (adjective) — ungraded
• Rip (verb) — the act of opening a booster pack
• Scalp (verb) — selling Pokémon TCG products at an excessive price, usually after having obtained those products in bulk
• Waifu (noun) — a fan-favorite female character
• Waifu tax (noun) — the price increase that a card experiences when it depicts a waifu
• Wizards of the Coast (WotC) era (noun) — the first two generations of the English Pokémon TCG

Pokémon TCG Gameplay-Related Terms

• BDIF (noun) — Best Deck in Format
• Beatstick (noun) — a Pokémon primarily used to deal large amounts of damage
• Broken (adjective) — a card deemed to be excessively powerful to the extent that it harms the metagame
• Deckout (verb) — losing a game by running out of cards in the deck
• Donk (verb) — defeating the opponent on the first turn of the game before the opponent has had a chance to make a move
• Gust (verb) — forcing the opponent to switch out the opposing Active Pokémon by way of a specific card or attack effect
• Map (verb) — planning the order in which the opponent’s Pokémon are to be KO’d and thus the sequence of Prize cards to be taken
• Metagame/meta (noun) — the current overall state of Pokémon TCG gameplay in general, including deck choices, strategies, and matchup advantages and disadvantages
• Mill (verb) — forcing the opponent to discard cards from the deck in order to induce a deckout
• Multi-Prizer (noun) — a Pokémon yielding more than one Prize card upon being KO’d
• Prized (adjective) — a card left in the player’s Prize cards, unable to be retrieved until the player draws it by picking up a KO
• Ramp (verb) — the act of attaching additional Energy cards to the player’s Pokémon
• Rotation (noun) — the rules determining which cards are legal for tournament use at a given point in time
• Single Prizer (noun) — a Pokémon yielding one Prize card upon being KO’d
• Snipe (verb) — attacking an opposing Benched Pokémon
• Splash damage (noun) — damage inflicted by an attack that targets more than one opposing Pokémon
• Tech (noun) — a card specifically selected to address a matchup difficulty

Colloquial Card Names

• ADP — Arceus & Dialga & Palkia GX (Alter Genesis [SM12] 100/095 / Cosmic Eclipse 221/236)
• Beauty Looking Back — Pikachu (S-P Promotional Cards 227/S-P)
• Birthday Pikachu — _____’s Pikachu (Unnumbered Promotional Cards / Wizards Black Star Promos / Promo Card Pack 25th Anniversary Edition [S8a-P] 007/025 / Celebrations 24)
• Bubble Mew — Mew ex (Shiny Treasure ex [SV4a] 347/190 / Paldean Fates [PAF] 232/091)
• Extra Battle Day Acerola — Acerola (SM-P Promotional Cards 395/SM-P)
• Extra Battle Day Lillie — Lillie (SM-P Promotional Cards 397/SM-P)
• Hat Lillie — Lillie (Collection Moon [SM1M] 066/060 / Sun & Moon 147/149)
• Illustrator — Pokémon Illustrator (Unnumbered Promotional Cards)
• Logan Paul Charizard — Charizard (Base Set 4/102)
• Mewtube — Mewtwo GX ☆ (Shining Legends [SM3+] 082/072 / Shining Legends 078/073)
• Moonbreon — Umbreon VMAX (Eevee Heroes [S6a] 095/069 / Evolving Skies 215/203)
• Munch (Pokémon name) — Psyduck (SM-P Promotional Cards 286/SM-P) / Eevee (SM-P Promotional Cards 287/SM-P) / Pikachu (SM-P Promotional Cards 288/SM-P) / Mimikyu (SM-P Promotional Cards 289/SM-P) / Rowlet (SM-P Promotional Cards 290/SM-P)
• Sunbreon — Umbreon ex (Terastal Festival ex [SV8a] 217/187 / Terastal Festival ex [SV8aF] 217/187 / Prismatic Evolutions [PRE] 161/131)
• Van Gogh Pikachu — Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat (SVP Black Star Promos 085)
• Yu Nagaba (Pokémon name) — Pikachu (S-P Promotional Cards 208/S-P) / Eevee (SV-P Promotional Cards 062/SV-P) / Vaporeon (SV-P Promotional Cards 063/SV-P) / Jolteon (SV-P Promotional Cards 064/SV-P) / Flareon (SV-P Promotional Cards 065/SV-P) / Espeon (SV-P Promotional Cards 066/SV-P) / Umbreon (SV-P Promotional Cards 067/SV-P) / Leafeon (SV-P Promotional Cards 068/SV-P) / Glaceon (SV-P Promotional Cards 069/SV-P) / Sylveon (SV-P Promotional Cards 070/SV-P)

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