Every year, Play! Pokemon removes a handful of older expansions from the list of Standard-legal Pokemon TCG cards in order to make way for new ones. While this means that your favorite cards might not be legal in the Standard format anymore, it does keep the meta fresh.
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The transition into the 2025 Standard format allows some underappreciated cards to shine, while some high-power decks will find themselves without staples they need to function. It’s a perfect time to build a new deck with your favorite cards, and to make it big with a new, meta-defining deck.
What Is Standard Rotation?
The Standard Rotation is an annual event in which several sets worth of cards fall off the list of cards legal for competitive play. Cards that “rotate out” can no longer be used in sanctioned events designated as Standard format, including League Challenges, League Cups, and Regional Championships.
The cards that are no longer legal are identified by the regulation mark on the bottom left corner of the card, next to the expansion symbol. Instead of rotating out whole sets, Play! Pokemon began rotating out by regulation mark starting in the 2022 Standard Rotation, with the earliest regulation mark that was legal the previous season leaving the rotation.
Why Do Sets Rotate Out Of Standard?
There are several reasons why the Pokemon TCG rotates out cards, but the three main ones are that it minimizes power creep, it keeps the meta fresh, and it helps The Pokemon Company to sell more cards.
Most TCGs suffer from some power creep, where each new set is a little more powerful than the previous one. This encourages players to keep buying new cards in order to keep up with the more powerful decks their friends and opponents are building.
By rotating out earlier cards, game companies don’t need to design cards that are powerful enough to draw people away from their old favorites, because those cards won’t stick around for very long. They also don’t need to design around cards that were too strong several years ago, because those cards don’t exist in the same format.
While players might be sad to see their favorite cards rotate out, they’ll be happy to find that everyone else is playing new decks, too. If you’re tired of every match being against Lost Box, Lugia VStar, and Charizard ex, seeing all three lose key pieces and become less common will be a breath of fresh air.
Finally, if your deck from the XY era was still legal and strong enough to compete against newer cards, why would you spend money on building another deck? The Pokemon Company would either be forced to power creep decks like that out of the game, or it would start losing money and stop supporting the game.
How Does Standard Rotation Work?
The Standard Rotation happens every year, and the 2025 Standard Rotation will go into effect on April 11, 2025. Starting that day, cards with regulation marks D, E, or F, as well as cards without regulation marks, must be removed and replaced in your deck before registering for a sanctioned event.
The Standard Rotation takes place earlier on Pokemon TCG Live, giving you a chance to test out new decks before any in-person events. The Pokemon TCG Live Standard Rotation goes into effect on March 27, 2025.
Keeping track of which cards are rotating out is pretty simple: starting with Sword & Shield in 2020, Pokemon cards are printed with a regulation symbol on the bottom left corner. The first five sets of the Sword & Shield era were printed with regulation mark D, which rotated out in 2023, then E rotated out in 2024, and this year it’s F’s turn to rotate, leaving G and H cards legal for tournament play.
This year it’s especially easy to figure out which cards are rotating out, because cards printed prior to regulation mark G also have yellow borders. These borders were retired with the release of Scarlet & Violet in 2022, which was the first set to feature the regulation mark G. As a result, cards with yellow borders will no longer be legal.
Older versions of cards that have been reprinted with regulation marks G or H are still legal, regardless of regulation mark and border. So you can still use your Poke Ball from the 1999 Jungle expansion, since it was reprinted in Scarlet & Violet, which is regulation G.
What Is The 2025 Standard Rotation?
Sets Leaving Standard On April 11, 2025
- Brilliant Stars
- Astral Radiance
- Pokemon GO
- Lost Origin
- Silver Tempest
- Crown Zenith
SWSH Black Star Promos will also rotate out.
Sets Legal In The 2025-26 Standard Format
|
Standard Sets 2025-26 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Scarlet & Violet |
Paldea Evolved |
Obsidian Flames |
151 |
|
Paradox Rift |
Paldean Fates |
Temporal Forces |
Twilight Masquerade |
|
Shrouded Fable |
Stellar Crown |
Surging Sparks |
Prismatic Evolutions |
The McDonald’s Collection 2023 cards have the regulation mark G, and all SVP Black Star Promos are G, H, or I. So all of these cards remain legal.
Journey Together, which releases on March 28, 2025, will be legal on April 11, when the Standard Rotation takes place. All sets after Journey Together will also be legal for the 2025 Standard format.
Can I Still Play Cards From Before Scarlet & Violet?
The great thing about owning physical cards is that you can keep them, and keep playing with them until the ink wears off. The Pokemon Company isn’t going to send agents to your house to confiscate your cards, and you can still play with them in alternate formats.
The Expanded format allows you to play cards dating back to 2011’s Black & White expansion, although Play! Pokemon hasn’t allowed Expanded tournaments to be sanctioned in several years. You could also use them for your Gym Leader Challenge deck, Raid Challenge event, or Poke Catch games.
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