Know The Rules: Rotation Introduction
Pokemon TCG can be a wonderfully simple game to play, but there are certain mechanics and gameplay procedures that increase the difficulty of managing the game. “Know The Rules” is a series of articles that dives into the more complex and confusing parts of playing Pokemon!
In this article, we are going to be focusing on Rotation, which happens each year during the Championship Season. Rotation is a process in which older cards are “removed” from competitive play in the standard format.
HOW IT WORKS:
Each Pokemon card contains a regulation mark (see photo above) which is used to determine if it is legal in standard competitive play. As of this article (June 2024), the current format allows cards with “F” “G” and “H” regulation marks. anything “E” or lower is no longer legal for standard play.
These cards are not useless, as they can still be played in other formats such as GLC (Gym Leader Challenge) or Expanded, but for the purposes of the World Championships, cards that have rotated can no longer be used in Standard tournaments.
WHY ROTATE:
Rotation serves many purposes. The first is that it keeps the game healthy by rotating cards and problematic card combinations. This means that the format is consistently being changed and refreshed.
The second purpose that rotation serves is to make the standard format more accessible to new players. By rotating older cards out of standard format, it means that new players have easier access to the cards that are currently legal because they will come from the newer set releases.
The final purpose is that rotation challenges players to continue to evolve the game, creating new archetypes and strategies and making the game ever-changing and exciting.
META Shift:
Along with the standard rotation which happens yearly, there are constantly changes to the META with new cards being introduced in new set releases which create new archetypes and bring about interesting combinations with existing cards. The beauty of Pokemon TCG is that the standard format is constantly being refreshed and changes with each new release.
WHEN IS THE NEXT ROTATION:
Rotation for 2024 was on April 5th, which means we will not see the next rotation until 2025. This rotation will see all “F” Regulation cards rotated out of standard format. This will mean the end of the V/VSTAR mechanic as well as Radiant Pokemon in standard.
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