The world of the Pokemon Trading Card Game (TCG) has just celebrated the conclusion of its North America International Championship (NAIC). And to celebrate this occasion, Pokemon Live will be giving away some free cards.
Pokemon TCG Live Code
The code NAIC25DESTINEDRIVALS can be redeemed by interested players on Pokemon TCG live. This code will gift the account two Special Illustration Rare (SIR) cards, Team Rocket's Giovanni and Ethan's Adventure.
Those who’d like to receive these free gifts will have to hurry though. This code will only be redeemable until the 23rd of June. It goes without saying that this code can only be redeemed once per account.
And as a side-note, if the account redeeming this code already has the maximum number of copies of the featured SIRs, then the newly redeemed copies will automatically turn into Trade Credits.
How To Redeem
For those not familiar with redeeming gift codes for Pokemon TCG Live, there are two ways to do so.
First is through the official Pokemon TCG Live website. You'd need to scroll down a bit and look for the "Redeem Now" button which will then take you to a log-in screen for your Trainer Club account associated to the Pokemon TCG Live account.
Once logged-in, just punch in the code in the indicated box, click on 'Submit Code', and once the screen displays your rewards, click 'Claim Now' to claim your rewards.
The second method is through the Pokemon TCG Live app/program itself. Once you've activated your preferred platform's version of Pokemon TCG Live, you'd need to navigate to the 'Shop' tab, select 'Redeem' enter the code in the indicated box, and then use the 'Claim Now' button to add the cards to your collection.
Android and PC users can use either of the above mentioned methods to redeem these codes. iPhone users are limited to use the code redemption webpage provided through the Pokemon TCG Live website.
Team Rocket’s Giovanni & Ethan’s Adventure
Both of the cards being given out by the Pokemon Company International (TPCi) were released in the Destined Rivals expansion roughly two weeks ago (May 30th). Despite not making it to the finals of the NAIC, both these cards found some representation in the tournament.
According to the analytics collected by Limitless TCG, these two cards were found in decks that made it to the top 10% standing. In a tournament boasting a population of over three thousand participants, that’s a pretty impressive showing.
Team Rocket’s Giovanni has been found in decks making use of Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex and Team Rocket’s Spidops as part of its main roster. As for Giovanni’s own capabilities, he’s a versatile board control tool as long as one uses Team Rocket’s roster of pokemon.
Most, if not all, competitive decks run at least a couple of copies of Counter Catcher or Boss’s Order. Team Rocket’s Giovanni acts as an exceptional counter to these staple Trainer cards by undoing their work while throwing that same board manipulation back at the opponent.
Ethan’s Adventure is a little more straightforward compared to the leader of Team Rocket. This one card’s ability to search out three cards would have every player securing a full play set if Ethan’s Adventure wasn’t limited in search parameters.
In the Pokemon TCG, digital or physical, balancing out a deck’s capability for speed and consistency is part of the conundrum players have to solve.
And for players who’ve decided to align themselves with Ethan’s Pokemon, they reap the efficiency benefits that Ethan’s Adventure provides.