Play Guide
Chapter 3

Prize Mapping

Planning your KO path through the game — prize trade math, 2-2-2 vs 3-2-1 plans, targeting the right Pokémon, and disrupting your opponent's map.

Prize Mapping

Prize mapping is planning your path to six prizes. Instead of attacking whatever's in front of you, you plan which knockouts you need, in what order, and how many attacks it takes. This is where strategic thinking wins games that raw power doesn't.

What Is a Prize Map?

A prize map is your answer to: "How do I take my last six prizes from here?"
At the start of a game, you have six prizes to take. Each knockout gives you prizes equal to the Pokémon's rule box:
  • Single-prize Pokémon: 1 prize per KO
  • Two-prize Pokémon (ex/V): 2 prizes per KO
  • Three-prize Pokémon (VMAX/VSTAR): 3 prizes per KO
Your prize map is the specific sequence of knockouts that gets you from 6 prizes remaining to 0.

Common Prize Paths

The 2-2-2 Plan

Take three knockouts, each worth 2 prizes. This is the most common path when both players use ex/V Pokémon as their main attackers.
Requires: Three attacks that each knock out a 2-prize Pokémon.

The 3-2-1 Plan

Take a 3-prize knockout, a 2-prize knockout, and a 1-prize knockout. Or any combination that adds to 6.
Common variations:
  • 3 + 2 + 1 = 6 (three KOs total)
  • 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 6 (four KOs)
  • 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 6 (six KOs — slow but possible)

Why Fewer KOs Is Better

Fewer required knockouts means:
  • Fewer turns needed to win
  • Fewer chances for things to go wrong
  • Less setup required (fewer attackers need to be powered up)
  • Less exposure to opponent's disruption
Taking six single-prize KOs requires six attacks minimum. Taking three two-prize KOs requires only three. That's three fewer turns your opponent gets to play.

Reading Your Opponent's Board

At any point, look at their board and ask:
  • What's worth 2-3 prizes that I can realistically KO?
  • What's their main threat? (What will hurt me most if it stays alive?)
  • What are they powering up on bench? (Future threats)
  • Is there a low-HP bench sitter worth easy prizes?

Target Priority

Generally, prioritize targets by this logic:
  1. Their main attacker (if you can KO it) — Removes their biggest threat AND takes prizes
  2. High-prize easy targets — 2-3 prize Pokémon with low HP or damage already on them
  3. Setup Pokémon — Removing their engine pieces (draw Pokémon, energy accelerators) cripples future turns
  4. Whatever gets you to exactly 6 — Sometimes the "wrong" target is right because it closes the game

Disrupting Their Prize Map

Your opponent is planning too. Disrupt their map:

Deny High-Value Targets

If your opponent's plan is to 2-2-2 your ex Pokémon, you can:
  • Attack with single-prize Pokémon instead (forces them to take six KOs instead of three)
  • Keep damaged Pokémon on bench and send fresh ones active
  • Heal to deny knockouts (forces extra attacks)

Force Awkward Prize Counts

If you can make your opponent's prizes land on odd numbers (5, 3, 1), they can't close efficiently:
  • Leading with a single-prize attacker puts them at 5 prizes after their first KO
  • From 5, they need either another single-prize KO (to 4) or find a way to take multiple prizes at once

Boss/Gust Into Unready Pokémon

Dragging an unpowered bench Pokémon active wastes their turn (they must retreat or pass without attacking). This buys you time and disrupts their sequencing.

Prize Mapping in Practice

Start of Game

Before your first attack, sketch your plan:
  • "I need to KO their two ex attackers (2+2) and one bench sitter (1+1) = 6"
  • Or: "I'll take their VMAX (3) and their support ex (2) and gust something small (1)"

Mid Game

Reassess after each knockout:
  • "I've taken 2 prizes. I need 4 more. They have two ex on bench — that's exactly 4."
  • Or: "They promoted a single-prize wall. My map is disrupted — I need a new path."

Late Game

When you're at 1-2 prizes remaining, your map is almost closed:
  • What's the easiest remaining knockout?
  • Can they deny it? (By switching, healing, removing the target)
  • Do I have a backup target if they disrupt my plan?

Prize Denial

When you're losing the prize race (they're ahead), your job is to make their remaining prizes as hard to take as possible:
  • Promote high-HP Pokémon (force 2-3 attacks per KO)
  • Bench thin (remove easy targets — don't bench things unnecessarily)
  • Heal (force them to swing again)
  • Disrupt their energy/attacker (slow their KOs)
Conversely, when you're ahead, close the game fast. Don't give them time to recover.

The Math Behind Aggression

Every turn you spend setting up instead of attacking is a turn your opponent uses to develop their own board. Aggressive prize-taking pressures them into reacting to you rather than executing their plan.
The simple heuristic: If you can take a meaningful knockout THIS turn, do it. Setup for a "better" knockout next turn is only worth it if the difference is significant (e.g., setting up lets you take 3 prizes instead of 1).