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The official 2024 rotation for thePokemon TCGmarks a paradigm shift in the way the game will be played on a competitive level. As with past rotations, plenty of hallmark decks and fundamental strategies throughout the past year will be extinguished.
In the wake of it all, the Pokemon TCG’s talented playerbase will devise fresh meta-changing decks, and more than a few current middleweight cards will become champions in their own right. Join us as we embark on a journey through the projected aftermath - we’ll tell you everything there is to know about the Pokemon TCG’s next big day.
What Is Standard Rotation?
Every year, in the lead-up to theChampion Series season, The Pokemon Company announces the next Standard Rotation. On the day of the event,numerous sets of cards will be delisted from competitive play, marking them as ineligible in matches between players attending official Pokemon TCG events.
The placement of these removed sets within the chronology of the Pokemon TCG’s history is always further back than the sets that will remain eligible; put another way,the removal applies to the oldest batch of sets that remained legal in the previous Standard Rotation.
Why Do Sets Rotate Out Of Standard?
From a competitive standpoint, the Pokemon TCG, like all other trading card games, would simplygrow stale without enforced rotations. Sure, ‘power creep’ - the tendency toward stronger cards through the years - would make all sorts of much older cards less viable.
At the same time, various cards that havedominated the competitive scene for a long timemay prove just as mighty for a long time to come.
If powerhouse cards like Mew VMAX were permitted to carry forward indefinitely, the Pokemon TCG’s ‘meta’ would become stagnantbecause decks would be built either with Mew VMAX as the centerpiece or as counters specificallyforMew VMAX all the way through to 2026 or later. The card is, frankly, just that good. And Mew VMAX is hardly alone.
This isn’t good for the playerbase, becausethe excitement of devising new strategiesbased on present legality conditionsis a big part of the fun. If you’re never facing fresh challenges in what you’re able to and can’t include in your decks, the whole exercise becomes mundane.
On another, equally pertinent level, there’s also the little fact that if players had nigh-permanently indomitable decks, The Pokemon Company’s profits would plummet. And, while few of us would be financially affected by this, all of us would eventually feel the burn; they’d stop supporting the Pokemon TCG if the Pokemon TCG stopped making money.
How Does Standard Rotation Work?
For the Pokemon TCG,Standard Rotation goes into effect on July 13, 2025. The exact date shifts annually, but the practice itself is a fixture of the game. From this date forward,all cards from sets dating back before the new cutoff point must be removed from decks at official events.
The Pokemon TCG Live is giving players a head start on the Standard Rotation, or less of a heads-up, depending on how you look at it -on Pokemon TCG Live, Standard Rotation will occur on May 21, 2025.
In the past few years, The Pokemon Company has made the process of memorizing which cards are removed from viability relatively painless. The letter markers at the bottom-left of the cards denote the general era of a few specific sets. In the case of the 2024 Standard Rotation, all cards withregulation mark ‘E’ and back are gone; all cards withregulation mark ‘F’ forward remain legal.
As of this writing, that means the sets with ‘F’ and ‘G’, though the Temporal Forces expansion set will use ‘H’ and launches in English on March 22, so we’ll be seeing loads more ‘H’ marks in the months to come.
There is anExpanded Format, which sees relatively limited play (predominantly on Pokemon TCG Live), but includesall sets from the Black & White era onward. This won’t change in 2024.
What Is The 2024 Standard Rotation?
Sets leaving in the April 2024 rotation:
Crown Zenith contains plenty of cards from the ‘F’ and ‘G’ regulation marks, as well as certain older cards. The older cards are rotating out, per the current convention of all ‘E’ cards exiting in April.
(Most of) Crown Zenith
151
Paradox Rift
Paldean Fates
TheTemporal Forcesset has not yet launched for English audiences, but if you’re reading this at any point from July 19, 2025 onward, that will no longer be the case. Furthermore, and while it goes without saying,all sets debuting after Temporal Forces will also be legalfor competitive play.
Can I Still Play Cards From Before Brilliant Stars?
While these sets are rotating out of play in 2024, that doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy them in the aforementionedExpanded Format. Nor is anyone in an expensive business suit and a briefcase coming to your house and absconding with your older cards -you can keep playing them casually with friendsto your heart’s content!
Still in love with that so-called Inteleon engine? Can’t say goodbye to Fusion Strike Urshifu? Don’t pack ‘em all away yet. Just don’t bring ‘em with you to the regionals!
