r/PokemonTCG: rules, karma requirements and posting culture
A fast, image-heavy room for showing off Pokemon card pulls and collections. Friendly to a lucky pack, hostile to scalpers, and closed to price checks and promotion.
PokemonTCG · Open on Reddit
- Members
- 1.4M
- Created
- 2009
- New posts a day
- 287.7
- Comments on a typical post
- 2
- New posts removed
- 13%
The short answer
r/PokemonTCG has no published karma requirement for ordinary posts. The one stated gate is on linked videos, which need an undisclosed amount of comment karma. About 86% of posts in our sample stayed up, and three quarters of all posts are photos. The removals are mostly topic based: AutoModerator takes down anything asking what a card is worth, whether it is fake, or how it would grade. Promotion is only allowed in the weekly Self Promo Sunday thread.
Who posts here
Plenty of posters are new or returning after years away, including parents buying for their kids, and they get welcomed. Collector shorthand such as ETB, SIR, chase and hit is used without explanation, so it helps to know it. The questions beginners most want to ask, what is this worth and is it real, are exactly the ones removed, and should I buy or open this posts get an automated reply telling you to decide for yourself.
- Collectors posting what they just pulled from a new set.
- Adults returning to the hobby after finding a childhood binder or box.
- Parents opening packs with their kids, or trying to find product for them.
- Binder builders asking for card suggestions around a theme or artwork style.
- A smaller group of players asking rules questions. The sidebar sends competitive talk to a sister subreddit.
Karma and account requirements
What it takes to get a post through in r/PokemonTCG.
| Karma | Not stated for normal posts. Linked videos need a minimum amount of comment karma and the number is not disclosed. Uploading the video straight to Reddit avoids the check.Mods' wording: “You must also have a certain amount of comment karma to post videos. This value is not disclosed.” |
|---|---|
| Account age | Not stated publicly. |
| Post flair | Optional in practice. About half of posts carry one. Help/Question and Pulls are the most used. |
| Value, buying and selling | Not allowed as posts or comments. Price checks, sales and trades go to the weekly thread or to other subreddits.Mods' wording: “selling/buying/trading them are not allowed” |
| Authenticity and grading | Not allowed. Is this fake and what would this grade posts are removed automatically and pointed to a dedicated subreddit.Mods' wording: “Posts to determine what a cards grade will be or if a card is authentic are not allowed.” |
| Sealed product photos | Only as part of a displayed collection. A single box, a store shelf or a haul on a bed or car seat is not allowed.Mods' wording: “Single boxes, packs, stores posts, and/or ETBs are not allowed.” |
What AutoModerator says
The moderators' bot leaves these messages on posts. They are the closest thing to an official statement of the thresholds.
Thank you for your submission! Posts or comments that are for the purpose of determining value of a card(s), selling cards, or buying them are not allowed. You can post in our weekly thread or you can use TCG Player, Troll & Toad, eBay, and LGSes to determine value of a card.
Automod has flagged and removed this post for asking about a cards authenticity, quick rule of thumb: 1) If it has a gold back or black back, it is a fake card. 2) If it has no fingerprint-like texture and it should, it is fake. All rainbow cards and most full arts are textured. 3) If it has mispellings in the name or the rest of the card, it is likely a fake card. 4) If it doesn't match any Pokemon cards you've looked at anywhere else, it is likely a fake card. If you still have questions, please check out the stickied posts on r/IsMyPokemonCardFake which is a sub for helping determine authenticity of cards, you are welcome to post there.
The answer is completely subjective to your own situation. Stop karma baiting and make your own decisions, there is tons of information out there to figure out your own answer. If you really arent sure what to do maybe try clarifying what you are asking more so people can give a better answer.
We see you may be asking about a cards value which is likely against Rule 3: Posts or comments that are for the purpose of determining value of a product/cards, selling cards, or buying them are not allowed. You can post in our weekly thread or use TCGPlayer.com or Pricecharting.com for specific lookups. Helpful tips: Condition is extremely important. Language matters. Value is not the same as selling price. If you still have questions, please check out the stickied posts on r/PokemonCardValue which is a sub for helping determine values of cards, you are welcome to post there. Remember, damage is bad for value.
If you are happy with it, great. If you aren't, then think about why you are getting Pokemon cards and you'll be able to answer your own question.
What you can post
| Post type | Subreddit setting | Share of recent posts |
|---|---|---|
| Text | Allowed | 22% |
| Link | Allowed | 1% |
| Image | Allowed | 75% |
| Video | Allowed | 2% |
| Poll | Allowed | 0% |
Post flairs in use
- Help/Question 20%
- Pulls 17%
- Discussion 7%
- Other 6%
- satire <1%
- Self Promo Sunday <1%
What happens to a new post
Where the most recent posts ended up. Sample size: 300.
- Stayed up86%
- Removed by Reddit's filters2%
- Held by AutoModerator4%
- Removed by moderators7%
- Deleted by the author1%
Reddit counts a removal by the subreddit's own AutoModerator rules as a moderator removal, so that share is not all human. Held by AutoModerator means the post is waiting in the mod queue.
What happened when we posted here
We have posted here ourselves. This is how our own posts and comments fared.
- Stayed up
- 100%
- Removed by Reddit's filters
- 0%
- Removed by moderators
- 0%
- Period
- June 2026 to July 2026
The rules, in the mods' words
- 1
Treat others with respect
On this subreddit, we allow and encourage debates and open conversations towards the TCG and all aspects of it. However, one may not be rude or offensive to anyone in any way, including, but not limited to; judgement, racism, sexism, xenophobic behaviors, doxxing.
- 2
Pack weighing and tampering
r/PokemonTCG does not support or advocate pack weighing or tampering. Anyone promoting pack weighing or tampering will be banned without appeal. This includes sharing information supporting or of how to tamper.
- 3
Pricing, selling, buying, trading cards
Posts or comments that are for the purpose of determining value of a card, or selling/buying/trading them are not allowed. You can post in our weekly thread or use TCG Player, Troll & Toad, eBay, pokedata.io, and LGSes to determine value of a card.
- 4
No begging for codes
There are many resources to find cheap online booster pack codes or Pocket friend codes; trying to mooch codes off fellow community members here is unacceptable. Any comments begging for codes will be removed, and posts begging for codes will be met with bans.
- 5
Referral links
Links with referral codes are not allowed.
- 6
Off Topic and Spam
Non-TCG content is not allowed in r/PokemonTCG. Memes and related content are allowed so long as they are related to the TCG. Posts may be flagged as spam if their content is already posted.
- 7
Video restrictions
Videos posted to reddit should only be single videos. No channels. You must also have a certain amount of comment karma to post videos. This value is not disclosed. This is to ensure that people who post videos, are members of the community. You can bypass this restriction by uploading videos directly to reddit.
- 8
Card Grading and Card Authenticity
Questions related to card grading are not allowed. You can look to PSA, CGC, Tcgplayer, and other similar services for guides. Posts to determine what a cards grade will be or if a card is authentic are not allowed. You can post your authenticity question at r/ismypokemoncardfake
- 9
Sealed and Store Haul Content
Sealed content can be posted as long as it is shown as displayed part of a collection. Single boxes, packs, stores posts, and/or ETBs are not allowed. The collection must be displayed in some way to distinguish it from non-collection posts. Posts of pics from beds, cars, and other places where they are not displayed, are not allowed.
- 10
Promotion
Self promotion is only allowed in the weekly Self Promo Sunday thread. All other promotion will get you moderated up to being banned without warning.
These are the rules as archived in January 2025. Rules change. Check the sidebar before you post.
The culture
r/PokemonTCG has about 1.4 million members and close to 290 posts a day. Three quarters of them are images. The typical post is a photo of cards with a six word title and about 30 words of text, and the median post gets two comments. Most posts pass quietly. A few go very large.
What goes large is luck and nostalgia. The top posts in our sample are a misprinted chase card from a new anniversary set, sealed childhood boxes found after decades, an old binder from the attic, and a seller who shipped a far more valuable card by mistake. During a big release the feed is almost all pulls from that set.
Money is the sore point. The rules keep value questions out, but prices are everywhere in the comments: scalpers, marked-up packs, whether the market is correcting or crashing. Posts calling out resellers do well, and one commenter in our sample called the place a scalper sub. People who collect for the art and people who track the price share the room and do not always like each other.
What lands
- A clear photo of a big pull, with what you opened to get it.
- A childhood collection rediscovered, with the story of where it was found.
- A misprint or factory oddity, posted as a curiosity and not as a valuation request.
- A themed binder page with a request for more cards that fit the theme.
- Family posts: opening packs with your kids, a partner surprising you with a box.
- Original analysis, like working out what it costs on average to pull a chase card against buying it as a single.
What gets removed or ignored
- Anything asking what a card or product is worth. AutoModerator's most frequent removal message in our sample is for this.
- Is this real questions about cards or sealed packaging, which are removed automatically with a short checklist for spotting fakes.
- Should I buy this for this price posts. They count as value questions.
- Restoration and repair questions. The subreddit treats modifying cards to raise value as tampering.
- Stream promos and other promotion outside the Sunday thread, plus media and research requests.
- Linked videos from accounts with too little comment karma.
The unwritten rules
- Show the cards, not the price. A pull post that leads with a dollar figure reads as a flex or a value check.
- Take the photo properly. Glare and blur get mentioned, and people ask for proof of the opening when a pull looks too good.
- Expect some salt. A lucky post during a set that is hard to find draws envy as well as congratulations.
- Paying over retail price, or defending it, gets pushback. Buying at the listed price is the norm people expect.
- Comments are short, about 13 words, and often a photo of the commenter's own card in reply.
Self-promotion
The rule is short: self promotion is only allowed in the weekly Self Promo Sunday thread, and anything else can get you moderated up to a ban without warning. Referral links are banned separately, and video links must be single videos, not channels. In practice this holds. A stream promo post in our sample was removed, and the Self Promo Sunday flair shows up on well under 1% of posts. Fan art made from cards can do well as a normal post when it is shown as a piece of work with nothing to sell.
How people write here
- Typical post length
- 30 words
- Typical title length
- 6 words
- Titles phrased as a question
- 24%
- Typical comment length
- 14 words
- Comments that include a link
- 6%
- Posts that carry a flair
- 50%
Top keywords
The words and phrases that show up far more often here than in other communities, from recent posts in r/PokemonTCG.
- pokemon 37 posts
- cards 64 posts
- packs 35 posts
- pulled 42 posts
- booster 26 posts
- card 57 posts
- etb 17 posts
- binder 17 posts
- pok mon 17 posts
- pack 22 posts
- bundles 15 posts
- pikachu 8 posts
- booster bundles 9 posts
- tins 10 posts
- booster bundle 10 posts
- mew 11 posts
- gengar 10 posts
- sir 11 posts
- mini tins 7 posts
- bundle 15 posts
- tin 11 posts
- collection 19 posts
- tcg 10 posts
- th anniversary 10 posts
- charizard 9 posts
- mewtwo 6 posts
- pulls 16 posts
- pull 19 posts
- sirs 5 posts
- card show 7 posts
- pitch black 6 posts
- pokemon center 6 posts
- holos 5 posts
- boxes 12 posts
- local card 6 posts
- lugia 6 posts
- collecting 11 posts
- collector 8 posts
- ripped 8 posts
- holo 7 posts
Common questions
How much karma do you need to post in r/PokemonTCG?
No karma requirement is published for normal image or text posts. Linked videos are different: the rules say you need a certain amount of comment karma and that the value is not disclosed. You can avoid that check by uploading the video directly to Reddit.
Can I promote my shop, stream or channel in r/PokemonTCG?
Only in the weekly Self Promo Sunday thread. The rules say all other promotion can get you moderated up to being banned without warning. Referral links are not allowed anywhere, and video posts must be single videos, not channel links.
Can I ask what my Pokemon cards are worth in r/PokemonTCG?
No. Posts and comments meant to determine a card's value, or to buy, sell or trade, are not allowed and are removed automatically. The removal message points to the weekly thread, to marketplace price lookups and to a separate subreddit for card values.
Why was my r/PokemonTCG post removed?
The usual reasons are asking about value, asking whether a card or pack is fake, asking about grading or restoration, posting a single sealed box or store haul, or promoting something. In our sample moderators removed about 7% of posts and AutoModerator held another 4%.
Data as of October 4, 2026. Numbers come from public Reddit data (the Arctic Shift archive and GummySearch) sampled on this date. Removal share counts posts taken down by moderators, AutoModerator or Reddit's own filters. Banner and icon belong to the community. Moderators change rules without notice, so treat the sidebar as the final word.
