What is the Compendium?
The Pokémon Trading Card Game Rulings Compendium is a compilation of official rulings from The Pokémon Company, International (TPCi) for the Pokémon Trading Card Game. This resource is compiled and published by Team Compendium, Inc.
Where do these rulings come from?
Rulings are collected from various official sources including documents published by The Pokémon Company International (including expansion FAQs), chat logs (from when Wizards of the Coast published the game), and private rulings meetings with The Pokémon Company International. Our only direct input into the text of the rulings is to clean up typos and/or clarify intent. If you have doubts as to the accuracy of the Compendium, we have provided the source for each and every one of these rulings, so that you may verify them if you wish.
The vast majority of these rulings are literal “copy-and-paste” from WotC chat transcripts or PUI/TPCi Rules Team update logs, although we often clean up spelling, grammar and punctuation (which are often less than optimal in real-time chats) and occasionally add wording for clarity. If we do clarify a ruling’s intent, we try to minimize adding to or changing text and always identify such changes by using [brackets] around the clarification text.
Is the Compendium an official Pokémon TCG document?
We are always careful to be clear that the rulings are official. The Compendium is not. And it’s the rulings that are important.
Despite not being an official document, the Compendium is mentioned as a resource on Pokémon’s support portal under the question “How do I become a Professor?”. The Pokémon Company International has also endorsed the Compendium, going back to when it was still Pokémon USA:
Why are there different versions of the Compendium?
There have been 5 editions of The Pokémon Trading Card Game Rulings Compendium: The Compendium, The Compendium EX, The Compendium LvX, The Compendium BW, and The Compendium VMAX (this website).
In case you are wondering about the legitimacy of using the older WotC rulings:
How often is the Compendium updated?
The Compendium is updated regularly, and has been for over 20 years. However, there is no fixed schedule for when ruling updates will be posted. All members of Team Compendium are volunteers and have lots of responsibilities, so please be patient if it has been a while since the latest update. Rest assured, we will update the site.
As a general rule of thumb, rulings are often made when new cards are released, especially just prior to the Prerelease tournaments of a new set. Outside of these, however, rulings are made as needed based on the state of the game.
How can I share the Compendium?
We want to make sure the current version of the Compendium is always available for free, ensuring that all players and Judges have access to the most recent rulings. As such, the best way to share the Compendium is to link to us! Please link to the top level URL of the site (https://compendium.pokegym.net/), as over the years, the Compendium pages may change filenames/locations.
You may make copies of the Compendium for your own, personal, non-commercial usage, as well as for limited, free distribution at Play! Pokémon events by players/Judges to fellow players/Judges. Outside of these scenarios, you may not copy the Compendium for any reason. Prohibited actions include (but are not limited to) making a copy of the Compendium on your own website, distributing the Compendium for a profit, or utilizing the Compendium in any commercial products.
Is the Compendium available in languages other than English?
Currently, the Compendium is only available in English. If you wish to translate the Compendium into your local language, please contact us directly to make arrangements.
I think I found an error in a ruling – how can I let you know?
Before sending us a message, please make sure you are viewing the latest version of the Compendium (available at https://compendium.pokegym.net/) as the rulings are updated regularly. Also, please note that these rulings are made by The Pokémon Company International (and their predecessors for earlier rulings), so we have no direct control over the actual rulings being made. Heck, there are several rulings that we don’t agree with either! If you wish to dispute a ruling, please post your disagreement and reasoning in the “Ask the Rules Team” section in the PokeGym Forums. We’ll be sure to address it with TPCi if warranted.
If, after you’ve read the latest Rules Compendium and above disclaimer and still believe we’ve made an error, please contact us via email teamcompendium -at= pokegym.net.
There are other websites with rulings out there that I can use. Why should I use the Compendium?
Because these aren’t our rulings. These are official rulings. We did not sit down and make them up among ourselves. Even if we disagree with a ruling, we still document it because it is official. It is important that everyone use the same, official rulings because it is important that as players move from area to area, or go from local play to top-level Premier Events, they know what to expect in terms of card play. The Compendium is the only document that has been recommended by both WotC and TPCi to their Tournament Organizers as a rulings resource. No one else can say that.
Who is Team Compendium?
Team Compendium is a group of volunteers who manage the Pokémon Trading Card Game Rulings Compendium. Team Compendium participates regularly on the TPCi Rules Team (which is comprised of TPCi R&D staff and Team Compendium) in order to nominate, test, and record official rulings made by TPCi, and to publish them in the Compendium. Team Compendium also works with TPCi to compile the FAQ documents that are distributed to Tournament Organizers for Prerelease tournaments.