Introduction

In the Pokémon Trading Card Game, there are two† formats used at officially sanctioned Play! Pokémon Events. These formats are Standard and Expanded. In the Standard Format, cards from approximately the last year and a half to two and a half years (approximately Battle Styles onward) are legal for play. The Expanded Format expands the field of available cards back to the Black & White expansion, which released in English in April 2011.

This guide focuses on the Standard format. In addition to being the most popular format to play, it’s a great place to start for a new deck builder because the Standard format has a smaller pool of cards to build with, meaning there are fewer cards that you need to be familiar with when constructing your deck. Although this guide focuses on the Standard Format, many of the principles of deck building in it carry over to the Expanded Format.

When referring to specific cards, this guide makes use of the standard Set Abbreviations. You can see a list of these abbreviations in Appendix I: Set Symbols and Abbreviations.

What is the Standard Format?

For the 2024 Season, beginning April 5th, 2024, the Standard format consists of the cards with the “F” regulation mark and later from the following sets:

In addition to cards from the sets above, all Black Star Promo cards with the “F” regulation mark and later are also legal for play in the Standard format. Each card legal in the Standard format will have a “F” regulation mark or later on the bottom left of the card.

All of these cards are considered part of the Standard format and are legal for play in events that take place using the Standard format. As you work on becoming familiar with the many cards in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, focus on these cards as they’ll be most important to you in your deck building.

What is Rotation?

Once each year, a handful of sets rotate out of the Standard Format, meaning that those sets become no longer legal for play in the Standard Format. This Rotation typically happens in late March to mid April, typically two weeks after the release of the first major set of the year, excluding any mini sets. Prior to rotation, The Pokémon Company International (commonly referred to as TPCi) announces which cards will remain legal in the Standard format for the following year.

Rotation means that many cards that were familiar to players and commonplace in decks are no longer available for the purpose of building decks in the Standard Format. Cards that are no longer legal for play in the Standard Format are said to have Rotated from the Standard Format and Reprints are printings of older cards with a new regulation mark. When cards that were previously included in set that has rotated are reprinted in a set that is currently legal in the Standard Format, the new print of the older card often makes older printings of the same card legal in the Standard Format again.

Why Does the Standard Format Rotate?

As a new player, the idea that cards you own will rotate out of the Standard format can be intimidating, but Rotation helps keep the game healthy and feeling fresh by cutting out old and tired strategies and cards that have long worn out their welcome. Because these old cards leave the format, strategies that wouldn’t have been possible before come seemingly out of nowhere, changing up the landscape of deck building. Cards that before would have seemed underwhelming can thrive in an environment where another card would have covered it with its shadow.

Additionally, Rotation makes the game more accessible for newer players—when deck building for the Standard format, you won’t find yourself needing to buy difficult-to-find twenty-year-old cards to keep competitive in the game. Newer cards are generally much easier to get hold of—many players have them in their trade binders at Pokémon League and both local game shops and vendors online often have them readily available for purchase in their shops. This means that, because the Standard format rotates, the cost of entry for the Pokémon Trading Card game is relatively low—and this low cost is further helped by the existence of universal Staple Cards—cards that go into nearly every deck.

† A third officially-sanctioned format, Unlimited, does exist. In this format, all cards printed since the first set, Base Set, are legal. Cards that have been reprinted since their first printings must use the newest wordings of their effects when played. Although the Unlimited format is officially sanctioned, the Unlimited format is not used for official events. No cards are banned in this format.

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