Talk:Orphaned card

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• Should we add ex-orphans?
• Lucario Spirit Link?
• Future orphans
• Needs clearer criteria

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Should we add ex-orphans?

Such as Crobat BREAK. This card was orphanded for about a month, until Sun & Moon (TCG) came and with it was a Crobat. PeridotEX (talk) 13:25, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

Lucario Spirit Link?

Lucario Spirit Link (https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Lucario_Spirit_Link_(XY_Promo_211)) was released as a Promo, after Lucario EX and M-Lucario EX were rotated out. It's even identified as an orphaned card its page. I've never made an edit before and don't have its picture, otherwise I would add it --The Last Sheikah (talk) 17:57, 20 August 2017 (UTC)

Future orphans

Should the cards that might be orphaned in the future be added too?

For example, there is Choice Belt, and it was reprinted with the G regulation mark. Since the central gimmick of the Scarlet & Violet series are Pokémon ex, there probably won't be any Pokémon V with the G, H, or I regulation marks. --C.Ezra.M (talk) 14:26, 14 October 2023 (UTC)

I think it would be useful to keep tabs on them, possibly via trivia on the card pages. I wonder if it's best to wait until after the actual rotations happen however. A lot of things can change in between rotations (a new updated wording in H regulation perhaps?) ^Maverick_Nate 07:43, 16 October 2023 (UTC)

What about a section for limited format? Those are typically for things like sealed tournaments or prerelease tournaments where only one set is allowed. The Choice Belt reprint would fall under that since nothing within those sets would benefit from it at all. ^Maverick_Nate 08:11, 17 October 2023 (UTC)

Needs clearer criteria

After Spiritomb (Paldea Evolved 89) was added to this article, I thought that we need to set clearer criteria to consider a card orphaned. "[If a card] has little or no practical use due to restrictions placed on the pool of legal cards by the tournament format" feels too vague. Spiritomb can be played within the game's rules, though it is no longer used by players as a consequence of there being no Pokémon V in the format.

I'd suggest the following:

1. Is the card a Pokémon?
   • If true:
     • Is it an Evolution Pokémon (including BREAK) or LV.X, but it cannot evolve (or level up) from a non-orphaned card? Orphaned.
     • Does it have an attack or Ability that still has an effect in the format? Not orphaned!
       • Under this criterion, Spiritomb (Paldea Evolved 89) is not orphaned, but if a future Regulation I-K format has no Tera Pokémon, Team Rocket's Mimikyu (Destined Rivals 87) would be orphaned.
   • If false (Trainer or Energy):
     • Does the card have no effects that function within the format? Orphaned. (Additionally, restrictions on attaching a card are counted as effects.)

Debatably, only shuffling the deck could be considered an effect that warrants the orphan status (for Electrocharger). If a card can be attached to another under just the game rules (like Lucario Spirit Link), it doesn't count as an effect and is not an argument against the orphan status. Let me know your opinions on this. C.Ezra.M (talk | contribs) 15:48, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

I think my issue with this definition is that it leaves some cards that share PAL Spiritomb's "technically playable but not really" nature on the list. Greninja (SWSH Promo 305), for example, could not evolve from a Pokémon included in the 2021-23 Standard format... but, as the article explicitly states, you could still use it! Just put it into play with Evomancy or Bubble Pod. It's a roundabout way to have to use it, sure - but you can still put it into play, you can use its attacks, and you can use Coordinated Shuriken.

PAL Spiritomb absolutely deserves a mention in the article, at the very least, because its Ability is completely useless in the 2024-25 Standard format. Even if you don't consider it a "proper" orphaned card, the fact remains that one of its aspects does nothing. Lief Katano (talk) 23:27, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

Considering the number of Evolution cards on the list that can be played indirectly, I feel like we should be lenient with the criteria. It may be helpful to divide the list between strict orphans (cards that cannot be put into play at all) and de facto orphans (cards with significantly reduced utility due to the rotation of other cards with explicit interactions). Evolution Pokémon that can be played indirectly, No Removal Gym, Lucario Spirit Link, Spiritomb PE, and Choice Belt would fall under the latter category. -- Apopheniac (talk) 00:30, 4 May 2025 (UTC)

Bit of a necro, but it came up on Discord so I figured I'd add my two cents here. I concur with the idea of splitting the page between cards that are absolutely, definitively useless and cards that can technically be played but not in the intended way (whether that's cheating an Evolution into play or Choice Belt doing nothing other than "being able to be attached to something").

Regarding Spiritomb, I still don't quite agree with putting it into the latter category. Its Ability is useless, but it still has an attack. Maybe a section for cards with partially-useless effects? I can't think of other examples off the top of my head, though. Is No Removal Gym "partially-useless" since bumping a Stadium is an effect? I'm tangenting now, but today's reveal of Regulation J Tera Koraidon ex and Miraidon ex at least confirms Team Rocket's Mimikyu won't be a similar situation. RotomAmiti (talk) 22:52, 4 December 2025 (UTC)

Since there seems to be a consensus based on Discord discussion, I split the page into two sections based on whether or not cards can be put into play. This criteria consistently addresses both Pokémon and Trainers and would allow us to objectively evaluate future orphans.

I don't think there's a significant difference between Evolution Pokémon that must be played indirectly and Trainer cards that can be played to no direct effect; both could still affect the game state when put into play (for Trainers: No Removal Gym can bump another Stadium, Lucario Spirit Link could be used to trigger e.g. Garbotoxin) even if there's little reason to use these cards instead of others, and in all these cases, the cards have an explicit interaction defined by the card's text that cannot be fulfilled because the other requisite card/s did not exist in the format. From this perspective, Spiritomb should qualify for the second category, as although it can still be put into play, there are no longer valid targets for the interaction described by its Ability.

I think it's desirable for us to take a more inclusive view on this. Since the topic of this article isn't officially defined, readers can take their own interpretations of what ought to qualify. The current split allows us to acknowledge that there are cards that the vast majority would agree count as orphaned and that there are cards whose status may be more contentious. Since this topic is effectively a curio, we may as well mention edge cases for readers who may be interested. -- Apopheniac (talk) 20:58, 5 December 2025 (UTC)