Standard format (TCG)

The Standard format of the Pokémon Trading Card Game is one of two formats used for officially-sanctioned Play! Pokémon events along with Expanded format. It was called the Modified format prior to the 2013-2014 season. This format only allows the most recently released cards to be used, dating back to a determined cut-off point.

The Standard format was introduced in 2001 as the Modified format. Tournaments in the 2001-02 season were played to only allow cards from the Team Rocket through Neo Genesis expansions, rotating out cards from the Base Set, Jungle, and Fossil expansions. Cards from these older sets could only be played in the Unlimited format. As new expansions are added to the card pool, Play! Pokémon has continued to perform a rotation roughly every year to keep the game fresh. Only the 2009-10 and 2022-23 tournament seasons did not feature a rotation. New cards are added to the current Standard format as follows:

• Main expansions: two weeks after the release of their Sleeved Booster Pack, Booster Display Box, or Booster Bundle, whichever comes first.
• Special expansions: two weeks after the release of their Booster Bundle or Elite Trainer Box, whichever comes first.
• Promotional cards: the first or third Friday of the month following release.
• New prints of already-legal cards: immediately upon release. Reprints from future sets obtained through Prerelease Tournaments may also be used as soon as they are obtained.

If a Standard-legal card is a reprint of an older card, all prints of the card are typically able to be played in a Standard-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.

Standard is one of the formats playable in Pokémon Trading Card Game Live. Prior to its discontinuation, it was also used in the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online.

Contents

Collapse all Hide

Close table of contents

• (Return to top)
• Regulation marks
• Foreign language cards
• List of Standard formats
  • Japanese formats
• Banned cards
• In other languages
• External links
• References
• See also

Contents

Regulation marks

In 2017, Mega Powers Collection was released as part of the Sun & Moon Series, which included new Full Art prints of cards from the previous XY Series. To prevent the said cards from staying legal in the Standard format for longer than intended, the Yellow A symbol was introduced and marked on these cards. Yellow A Alternate cards have the same card number and expansion symbol of the original print with the exception of the letter 'a' added to the card number. As such, these alternate prints are only allowed in the same formats as the original prints.

Asian expansions, on the other hand, addressed potential card legality issues such as the above by introducing regulation marks on cards from the beginning of the Sun & Moon Series. The regulation mark is a letter symbol found right next to the expansion mark of each card that identifies whether it is legal to use in tournament play. The letter starts with in Collection Sun and Collection Moon, and moves to the next letter upon each rotation. Subsequent prints of cards such as alternative art prints introduced in later sets retain their original regulation mark, ensuring their rotation regardless of any future prints. Basic Energy cards do not bear any regulation mark and are always legal for use in tournament play.

Regulation marks were later introduced on cards released by The Pokémon Company International in the Sword & Shield Series. The first set featuring regulation marks was Sword & Shield, whose regulation mark is in order to match Asian releases. The Standard format was also modified to link legality to regulation marks rather than expansion releases. The changes took place from 2022 season, which specifies cards marked , , or later as legal cards. The yellow A system was also eliminated in favor of regulation marks, though a handful of Sun & Moon Series promotional cards released after Sword & Shield continued to use it. The , , and regulation marks can be viewed in the Play! Pokémon Access app, but they cannot be specifically searched for and are otherwise not recognized in TPCi regions.

Some cards receive new regulation marks when they are reprinted. For example, Ultra Ball has prints with the , , , and regulation marks, in addition to older prints that predate the system. If a Trainer card has a print with a legal regulation mark, any print of that Trainer card is allowed to be used in its place, regardless of which mark is actually on the card. However, a Pokémon card with a rotated regulation mark cannot be used in place of a functionally identical Pokémon card with a legal regulation mark.

Foreign language cards

Prior to the 2009-2010 tournament season, foreign-language prints of cards could also be played without limit, as long as the user provided a local-language reference outside the deck. Starting with the 2009-2010 season, however, sanctioned events began to require players to play with cards printed in English or an region's local language (for example, players in the United States are restricted to English cards only, whereas players in Canada can also use cards in French). Some American players who had invested in Japanese versions of cards which were generally less expensive, voiced their displeasure with the change of rules, and as a result, the rules were amended for the 2009-2010 tournament season to allow up to 10% of a player's deck (six cards) to consist of foreign-language cards. Beginning in the 2010-2011 season, Play! Pokémon followed through with their initial plan to allow only English and local-language cards in premier events.

List of Standard formats

• 2001-02 — Team Rocket to Legendary Collection
• 2002-03 — Neo Genesis to Skyridge
• 2003-04 — Expedition to EX Hidden Legends
• 2004-05 — EX Ruby & Sapphire to EX Emerald
• 2005-06 — EX Hidden Legends to EX Holon Phantoms
• 2006-07 — EX Deoxys to Diamond & Pearl
• 2007-08 — EX Holon Phantoms to Majestic Dawn
• 2008-10 — Diamond & Pearl to Unleashed
• 2010-11 — Majestic Dawn to Black & White
• 2011-12 — HeartGold & SoulSilver to Dark Explorers
• 2012-13 — Black & White to Plasma Freeze
• 2013-14 — Next Destinies to Flashfire
• 2014-15 — Boundaries Crossed to Roaring Skies
• 2015-16 — XY to Steam Siege
• 2016-17 — Primal Clash to Burning Shadows
• 2017-18 — BREAKthrough to Celestial Storm
• 2018-19 — Sun & Moon to Unbroken Bonds (regulation mark or later in Asia)
• 2019-20 — Ultra Prism to Rebel Clash (regulation mark or later in Asia)
• 2020-21 — Team Up to Chilling Reign (regulation mark or later in Asia)
• 2021-23 — Cards with a regulation mark or later, through Crown Zenith
• 2023-24 — Cards with a regulation mark or later, through Paldean Fates
• 2024-25 — Cards with a regulation mark or later, through Prismatic Evolutions
• 2025-26 — Cards with a regulation mark or later, through Ascended Heroes
• 2026-27 — Cards with a regulation mark or later

Japanese formats

Prior to the introduction of regulation marks, Japan did not follow the same rotation as other regions. Instead, announcements would be made prior to events to inform players which cards would be legal, and old sets were rotated out informally.

Pre-regulation mark formats include:

• Expansion Pack to Wind from the Sea
• Gold, Silver, to a New World... to Base Expansion Pack
• Pokémon Card★VS to Rocket Gang Strikes Back
• ADV Expansion Pack to Offense and Defense of the Furthest Ends
• Flight of Legends to Cry from the Mysterious/Temple of Anger (Events allowing Intense Fight in the Destroyed Sky were cancelled due to earthquakes)
• Space-Time Creation to Lost Link (This later became the Hall of Fame format)
• HeartGold Collection/SoulSilver Collection to EX Battle Boost (Legacy format)
• Black Collection/White Collection-on (Expanded format)
• Collection X/Collection Y to Fairy Rise

Banned cards

Cards are rarely ever banned in Standard. The following list is a list of every card that has been banned from a Standard format. This list does not include cards banned only in specific tournaments, such as Pikachu on the Ball being banned from the 2022 World Championships despite being otherwise playable in Standard.

No.	Card name	Type	Description
—	Ancient Mew		Banned from all sanctioned play, including the 2001-02 and 2002-03 Modified formats, due to its runic writing.
24	_____'s Pikachu		Banned from all sanctioned play, including the 2001-02 and 2002-03 Modified formats, due to inability to enforce if it is actually a player's birthday. In Japan, the clause "This card cannot be used at official tournaments." is written on the card, preventing the need to explicitly ban it.
25/111	Sneasel		Banned from the 2001-02 and 2002-03 Modified formats due to its high damage output and no Weakness or Retreat Cost.
14/111	Slowking		Banned from the 2002-03 Modified format effective January 1, 2003 due to a mistranslation making its Mind Games Pokémon Power too powerful.
99/119	Lysandre's Trump Card	Su	Banned from the 2014-15 and 2015-16 Standard formats effective June 15, 2015 due to eliminating a win condition, providing a way for one to draw through their deck without consequence, and prolonging the length of games.
74/214	Mismagius		Banned from the 2020-21 Standard format due to its Mysterious Message Ability comboing with Dusk Stone and Reset Stamp to consistently destroy an opponent's hand on the first turn. A new SM Promo Mismagius card was created to replace the banned card.
186/236	Bellelba & Brycen-Man	Su	Banned from the 2020-21 Standard format to reduce the strength of decks designed to win by milling an opponent's entire deck. A new SM Promo Sabrina & Brycen card was created to replace the banned card.

In other languages

Language		Title
Danish		Standard
Dutch		Standaard
Finnish		Standardi
European French		Standard
German		Standard
Indonesian		Standar
Italian		Standard
Norwegian		Standard
Brazilian Portuguese		Padrão
Russian		Стандартный Формат Standartnyy Format
European Spanish		Estándar
Swedish		Standard

External links

• Current Standard Legal Card List at The PokéGym

See also

Pokémon Trading Card Game formats Modified and Standard formats: 2001-02 • 2002-03 • 2003-04 • 2004-05 • 2005-06 • 2006-07 • 2007-08 • 2008-10 2010-11 • 2011-12 • 2012-13 • 2013-14 • 2014-15 • 2015-16 • 2016-17 • 2017-18 • 2018-19 • 2019-20 2020-21 • 2021-23 • 2023-24 • 2024-25 • 2025-26 • 2026-27 Formats without Rotation: Unlimited • Hall of Fame • Expanded Other formats: Limited (Sealed) • Theme • Legacy • Raid Cube • Gym Leader Challenge • Casual modes (TCG Live) Releases with unique rules: Extra Rule cards Pokémon Rumble • Everyone's Exciting Battle • My First Battle

This article is part of Project TCG, a Bulbapedia project that aims to report on every aspect of the Pokémon Trading Card Game.