Expanded format (TCG)
The Expanded format (Japanese: エクストラレギュレーション Extra Regulation) of the Pokémon Trading Card Game is one of two formats used in officially-sanctioned Play! Pokémon events. It was added to the Standard format in the 2014-2015 season. It allows a greater number of expansions than Standard format but is not as unpredictable in card combinations as Unlimited format. Currently, the Expanded format allows use of all cards printed from Black & White onwards, minus a short ban list. Regions that did not receive cards prior to regulation mark 
instead allow all cards with any regulation mark, minus a separate ban list.
Expanded is one of the formats playable in Pokémon Trading Card Game Live. In this game, it is called the Expanded (Beta) format and only allows cards printed from Sun & Moon onwards. While all cards from the Black & White Series and XY Series can be collected in the game, only those that have been reprinted in later series are currently usable. Additional support for older cards was announced to begin in waves in 2026.[1] Version 1.42.0, released September 10, contained the first wave by adding support for cards included in 30th Celebration's Classic Collection. Prior to its discontinuation, the Expanded format was also used in the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online. Pokémon TCG Online always supported every card in the full Expanded format.
The rulebook allows for the Expanded format to undergo rotations, but none have ever occurred. New cards are added to the format at the same time as Standard, usually two weeks following their official release.
If an Expanded-legal card is a reprint of an older card, all prints of the card are typically able to be played in an Expanded-legal deck. Some cards significantly differ in wording between older prints and newer prints (e.g. Pokémon Fan Club from Aquapolis compared to its Ultra Prism iteration); those cards cannot be used in sanctioned tournaments unless they have received official errata.[2] In Japan, cards released prior to the ADV Expansion Pack are explicitly disallowed.[3]
Play! Pokémon requires players to play with cards printed in their region's official language (for example, players in the United States are restricted to English cards only, whereas players in Canada can use both English cards and French cards).
As of 2026, there has not been an official Expanded tournament in Play! Pokémon regions since before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the format remains not yet fully supported in Pokémon TCG Live. The ban list continues to be maintained alongside the release of new expansions, but it is unknown if Play! Pokémon will return to meaningfully supporting the format. In Japan, the Extra Regulation format does still see occasional tournament support. A single regional-level tournament, the Champions League Aichi May, annually runs an Extra Regulation side-bracket along with the main Standard Regulation event.
List of Expanded formats
- 2014-15 — Black & White onward
- 2015-16 — Black & White onward
- 2016-17 — Black & White onward
- 2017-18 — Black & White onward
- 2018-19 — Black & White onward
- 2019-20 — Black & White onward
- 2020-21 — Black & White onward
- 2021-23 — Black & White to Cosmic Eclipse, and all regulation marks
- 2023-24 — Black & White to Cosmic Eclipse, and all regulation marks
- 2024-25 — Black & White to Cosmic Eclipse, and all regulation marks
- 2025-26 — Black & White to Cosmic Eclipse, and all regulation marks
- 2026-27 — Black & White to Cosmic Eclipse, and all regulation marks
Expanded (Beta) format
The Expanded (Beta) format, used in Pokémon Trading Card Game Live, uses cards from Sun & Moon onward, plus all prints of the following cards from the Black & White and XY Series:
| Cards allowed in the Expanded (Beta) format Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format. Cards listed with a green background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Card | Type | Mark | English Expansion |
Rarity | # | Japanese Expansion |
Rarity | # | ||
| N | Su | Noble Victories | 
|
|
92/101 | Red Collection | 
|
|
066/066 | |
Rayquaza
|
|
Dragons Exalted | 
|
|
85/124 | Dragon Blade | 
|
|
037/050 | |
| Plasma Energy |  E
|
Plasma Storm | 
|
|
127/135 | Plasma Gale | 
|
|
067/070 | |
| Genesect
|
|
Plasma Blast | 
|
|
11/101 | Megalo Cannon | 
|
|
010/076 | |
| Gardevoir
|
|
Primal Clash | 
|
|
105/160 | Tidal Storm | 
|
|
050/070 | |
 Gardevoir
|
|
Primal Clash |
|
|
106/160 | Tidal Storm |
|
|
051/070 | |
| Gardevoir Spirit Link | I | Primal Clash |
|
|
130/160 | Tidal Storm |
|
|
065/070 | |
Greninja
|
|
BREAKpoint | 
|
|
41/122 | Rage of the Broken Heavens | 
|
|
030/080 | |
Cards released from Sun & Moon onwards may also be played using their prints from the Black & White and XY Series, if any exist.
Banned cards
Certain cards[4][3] are banned from the Expanded format due to the large number of available cards causing unintended combos. Several of these bans are in response to strategies that allow the player going first to win before their opponent performs an action.[5] Strategies involving hand disruption have also been a cause for bans.[6] All prints of the following cards are banned:
Indonesian, Thai, and Chinese Extra Regulation
Cards were not regularly printed in the Indonesian, Thai, Traditional Chinese, or Simplified Chinese languages before regulation mark with the Sun & Moon Series's First Impact, All Stars Collection, and Storming Emergence catch-up sets. These langauges' Expanded formats have a separate ban list owing to the absence of cards from earlier series.[7][8][9]
| Cards banned from the Expanded format Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format. Cards listed with a green background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Card | Type | Mark | English Expansion |
Rarity | # | Japanese Expansion |
Rarity | # | ||
| Max Potion | I |
|
Guardians Rising | 
|
|
128/145 | Sun & Moon | 
|
048/051 | |
| Acerola | Su |
|
Burning Shadows | 
|
|
112/147 | Facing a New Trial | 
|
047/049 | |
| Marshadow | 
|
|
Shining Legends | 
|
|
45/73 | Shining Legends | 
|
|
046/072 |
| Mismagius |
|
|
Unbroken Bonds | 
|
|
78/214 | Double Blaze | 
|
|
039/095 |
| Bellelba & Brycen-Man | Su |
|
Cosmic Eclipse | 
|
|
186/236 | Tag All Stars | 
|
152/173 | |
Likely due to being banned from the Standard format, Mismagius and Bellelba & Brycen-Man were not printed in Simplified Chinese and therefore do not appear on that language's ban list.[10] The Expanded (Beta) format does not use this ban list despite similarly using an -onwards card pool.
In other languages
| Language | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| Danish | Udvidet | |
| Dutch | Uitgebreid | |
| Finnish | Laajennettu | |
| European French | Étendu | |
| German | Erweitert | |
| Indonesian | Luas | |
| Italian | Esteso | |
| Norwegian | Utvidet | |
| Brazilian Portuguese | Expandido | |
| Russian | Расширенны Rasshirenny | |
| European Spanish | Expandido | |
| Swedish | Utökadе | |
References
- ↑ 2026 Pokémon TCG Standard Format Rotation Announcement | Pokémon.com, Jan 9, 2026
- ↑ Pokémon TCG Tournament Handbook, section 4.1.3. Retrieved Feb 25, 2026
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Extra Regulation Rules (Japanese)
- ↑ Pokémon TCG Banned Card List (English)
- ↑ Team Up ban list announcement
- ↑ Cosmic Eclipse ban list announcement
- ↑ Regulation rules (Indonesian)
- ↑ Regulation rules (Thai)
- ↑ Regulation rules (Traditional Chinese)
- ↑ Regulation rules (Simplified Chinese)
See also
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This article is part of Project TCG, a Bulbapedia project that aims to report on every aspect of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. |