Pokémon TCG Rotation, Regulation Marks, and how it all Works

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Last Updated On: January 20th, 2024

• Pokémon Level: Beginner
• Best for: Players

So, you’ve just got your hands on some new Pokémon cards and you’re looking to make a deck with them. But how do you know if they’re eligible in the Pokémon TCG rotation for the year?

This is something that threw me for a loop when I started playing Pokémon. I had these amazing cards from old sets like Stormfront I wanted to use during my matches, but couldn’t add them to my deck as they didn’t have the right regulation marks.

To help you jump into playing Pokémon and understanding the different formats, I’ve outlined everything you need to know about the Pokémon TCG rotation below — including what regulation marks are, why regulation marks exist, and the key differences between the Standard and Expanded formats, too. We’ll also touch upon other common markings on Pokémon cards before wrapping up!

Table of Contents

Overview: Pokémon TCG Rotation

When it comes to competitive Pokémon, one of the most important groups to be aware of is Pokémon Organized Play. This group, affectionately known as POP, is part of The Pokémon Company and they manage the official Play! Pokémon competitive circuit.

Every time the Championship Series comes along (essentially, every time the World Championships happens, which is annually around August), POP removes old expansions from the Pokémon Standard rotation. This applies to both the trading card game and Pokémon TCG Live.

If you’re unfamiliar, Pokémon TCG Live is the digital version of the Pokémon trading card game. It functions in practically the same way as the Standard TCG and has tournaments with competitive players, too.

Essentially, if a card/set/expansion is no longer in the Pokémon TCG rotation, it is not eligible for play in a Standard format. This means that you cannot bring said cards to any official, organized matches or tournaments.

That being said, there are a few exceptions.

The Standard format is not the only Pokémon format that exists. There are several others, which include: Expanded, Limited, Sealed Deck, Constructed, Legacy, and Theme.

Some formats, like Legacy and Theme, aren’t technically official formats — they used to be featured in the digital game and they revolve around old sets and pre-made decks, respectively. The Expanded format, however, is seen in an official capacity.

The Expanded format includes a much larger pool of cards that fans can build decks from, bypassing typical regulation marks. At the time of writing, Expanded tournaments allow cards from the Black & White era (2012) and onwards. There is no standard rotation in the Expanded format, although there could be one in the future. The ban list is also interesting; don’t plan on bringing any spare cards that appear on that list!

While the Expanded format does present its own unique perks and challenges, I’ll be predominantly focusing on the Pokémon Standard rotation here today and jumping into the importance of regulation marks in more depth.

Understanding Regulation Marks

In the simplest of terms, a regulation mark is an identifying symbol that indicates when a card was introduced and whether it’s eligible for tournament play.

Regulation marks are always bold letters inside little boxes that can usually be found on the bottom left-hand corner of cards. At the time of writing, the list of regulation marks goes from A to G, with H being introduced later in 2024.

A card does not become legal for tournament play immediately when a set releases.

According to official documentation, there is a waiting period of two weeks after the launch date before a card can be played in an official match. So, when H regulation mark cards release (this should be in March with the Paldea Adventure Chest), fans will need to wait a fortnight before building a deck with them.

Interestingly, some cards without regulation marks are still eligible in current-day matches. This is rare, but if a new, legal version of an older card exists (and it’s in line with current rules) it can be used in matchplay. See the image below for a current example of this.

The older Rare Candy card (on the left) would still be allowed into a tournament as the newer Rare Candy card (on the right) is the same and has an eligible regulation mark. This doubles rule doesn’t always apply, so make sure to check the official rulebook before adding older cards into your deck.

Why do Regulation Marks Exist?

If you’ve never played a trading card game before, you may be wondering why cards can even go out of date or fall out of the Pokémon TCG Standard rotation.

The simplest way of answering this for Pokémon is by first pointing to the number of Pokémon cards out there. There are roughly 15,000 cards in existence at the time of writing (after all, the TCG has been releasing sets since 1996) and every new expansion brings new mechanics, stronger Pokémon with higher stats, and interesting abilities.

This brings us to a term called power creep.

Put simply, Pokémon have been getting stronger with every expansion. Even their basic stats like HP are stronger nowadays than they were with initial sets. As an example, check out the cards below. They’re all Basic Lapras cards from 1999, 2022, and 2023, respectively, but the difference between them is substantial.

Despite Lapras being a fairly inconspicuous Pokémon with middling abilities, there has been a huge buff to its general HP and ability set over the years. The Obsidian Flames Lapras above is an Uncommon card that wouldn’t be a particularly remarkable pull, but it has a stacking attack, 110 HP, and a whopping 100 damage attack alongside this.

You can see greater examples of power creep with Legendary Pokémon or different Pokémon card variants like ex Pokémon. The introduction of Pokémon variants and interesting mechanics like Tera types let standard Pokémon cards become even more powerful than the cards that came before them.

Without regulation marks to keep the competitive scene fresh, two key issues would arise:

1. It would feel impossible for new players. How would you know where to begin if there are 15K-ish cards to pick from and you can only take 60 of them into a match? Players who’d been there since the beginning would have a massive advantage and the scene would be unbalanced.
2. Some cards would never be viable. One of the best things about competitive play is the strange and creative decks formed using underrated cards. Without regulation marks to keep play in balance, players who could afford the highest-value, powerful cards would have a significant advantage.

While it can be annoying to pick up a great card and see that it’s no longer playable, regulation marks are still necessary in the long run as they keep the competitive circuit in Pokémon accessible, fun, and lively.

The same can be said for other games that experience power creep, too, like Magic: The Gathering. While power creep does look different from game to game, it is present in many of them and is certainly not just a Pokémon-specific issue.

Current Pokémon TCG Legal Sets

To help you out with your deck-building, I’ve pulled together the current list of legal Pokémon sets. Bear in mind that this article was written in January 2024 — if you’re reading after a new Pokémon video game has launched or during the 2025 World Championships, there will have been some significant changes.

As of right now, cards with E, F, and G regulation marks are eligible. This will change on the 5th of April this year — from this point onwards, cards with F, G, and H will be eligible. In regards to Pokémon TCG Live, they will become eligible earlier on the 21st of March, and cards marked with H will be introduced in March this year.

Keep in mind some of the cards in the sets listed below will not be eligible. For example, the set Astral Radiance mainly consists of F regulation mark cards, but others are not eligible in the Pokémon standard rotation any longer.

I’ve only included the English language expansions and sets here, but it’s safe to generally assume the regulation marks will be the same for the Japanese language expansions and sets, too.

Note: ineligible marks are italicized for easy reading. Regulation mark ‘E’ cards won’t be eligible for much longer.

It’s important to note any cards reprinted with a regulation mark of F or later are still legal in most cases, and the doubles clause mentioned earlier (with the Rare Candy example) is also still relevant.

Being aware of regulation marks is incredibly important for competitive players, and can also be relevant for collectors, too. Out-of-rotation regulation marks signify older cards — which can in turn signify greater value.

To be clear, regulation marks themselves are not the reason for increased value, as an older card may be valuable due to its rarity, set or character popularity, or even physical traits like misprints. They’re a great way to isolate older cards and review them for potential value, however.

What are the Other Markings on Pokémon Cards?

Regulation marks aren’t the only symbols on Pokémon cards. Below, you can see a breakdown of all the essential symbols and bits of information on a card.

It’s important to note the qualities shown above — like set symbols, card number, and Energy type — will not normally affect a card’s eligibility for play. The information is better at determining how powerful a card is for battle and whether it’s valuable or not, though.

Final Thoughts

Regulation marks serve an important role in preventing power creep and keeping the game fun for as many players as possible.

If there’s one thing to take away from this article, it is to double check your cards’ regulation marks and local tournament rules before putting together a deck to battle with.

Otherwise, be prepared for disappointment after picking out a perfect deck, selecting cards you feel truly excited about, and then determining they can’t be used during your match. Trust me — it happened to me with an amazing Psychic/Fighting deck that I built during my first month of playing and I couldn’t believe it!

How do you feel about regulation marks? Is there any part of the Pokémon TCG standard rotation you’d change? I’d love to hear your thoughts!