🏆 Gym Leader Challenge (GLC) Format Now Playable in PTCGL Trainer Trials!

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by

Andreas Bretschneider
in

I have been excited for GLC in Pokemon TCG Live since Trainer Trials has been announced. It is not something you will particularly have to invest in PTCGL code cards and trade credits, in order to be able to afford competitive decks.

It sounds a lot of fun and brings variety to the game. Let’s dive right in!!! 😀

🔍 What Is the Gym Leader Challenge Format?

The Gym Leader Challenge (GLC) format is a community-created singleton format inspired by the gym leaders of the Pokémon world. It has been created by Andrew Mahone, aka. Trick Gym.

Deck Rules:

  • Uses only one type (e.g., Water, Psychic, Fighting)
  • Contains no duplicate cards, except for basic Energy
  • Only includes non-Rule Box Pokémon (no V, VMAX, EX, etc.)
  • Allows cards from expanded format to be played, but still PTCGL only supports Sun & Moon and later.

This creates a highly strategic and diverse environment where smart deck-building and clever plays matter more than brute force.

Decks

The problem with finding good GLC deck lists comes from the lack of support in PTCGL for all GLC legal cards. The few decks I tried from cardboardwarriors.net and Limitless GLC tournaments all had unimplemented cards in them, and they seemed pretty important.

There is not much out yet by PTCGL content creators. A search for the keyword GLC on decks.4tcg.live will show you what is out there.

Here is a great video by GLC TV about PTCGL playable GLC decks. They seem to have great knowledge about the format and have compiled a good list.

🐞 Patched bug in PTCGL

A funny bug happened to not disable Palossand GX for GLC and it was legal for a short period of time. This has been patched without a client downtime. I did not manage to try it, but it looks like a fun card to play either way (discarding 13 cards of your opponent and dealing 60 damage per Pokémon discarded). 🏖️

Also, at least in German, PTCGL still states cards from XY and up being legal. I hope we are getting those old sets at some point… it limits expanded and now even GLC.

The Future

Imagine the Raid Format or others from the Pokemon Alternative Play Handbook being implemented. There is so much that a Pokemon card game client could achieve.

Imagine teaming up with a buddy in a 2v2 or cooperating 4v1 against the AI.
Pack battles would sound a lot of fun too: Redeem 4 packs of any set and battle against another player who just did the same.

GLC is also not too far from Budget Build Battles by TripleBTCG, a canadian who lives in Australia. You absolutely have to check out his Youtube channel and Twitch streams, if you are into off meta decks or interested in different formats.

It always makes me happy to see progress in Pokemon TCG Live. 😇

I am hoping the best for the TCG Live client. I know it is not perfect and we all like to call it names. Even if PTCGL would be replaced, Pokemon seems years away from a good replacement. Trainer Trials feels like the first real game-mode and feature being added, and I would really like to see a continous pace. 🏃