Author: Professor Zack

Join us at Box Buster Sports Cards in Montrose on Saturday, July 20th for a Ditto Draft! Check-in starts at 2pm and we’ll start drafting at 2:30pm. $20 entry fee for drafting 4 packs (exact packs will depend on store inventory at the time of the event). Prize Packs will be given to all players and extra Prize Packs awarded to the winners! Please bring your own sleeves, damage counters, etc. Basic energies and Ditto Markers will be provided by organizer.

How Ditto Draft Works

From the TCG Alternate Play Handbook

Each player receives four predetermined booster packs. They can all be from the same expansion or from different expansions, as long as each player has the same four packs.

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 Construction

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, 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.