The main catch with U150 is that no Basic Pokemon can have HP higher than 150, forcing you to play creatively with smaller Pokemon, rather than relying on the usual heavy hitters. Inspired by Magic the Gathering's Commander, it is a 100-card singleton (meaning only one of each non-basic energy card is allowed) format and uses an expansive card pool that takes most cards from every set ever printed. One of the most radically different formats from the normal TCG is U150. Among the most popular are Pauper, which only uses common and uncommon-rarity cards, formats that limit cards to only specific generations (Unova, Kalos and Alola being the big three), and Theme Pool that uses any card printed in a preconstructed theme deck. The Pokemon TCG has a massive community that have made dozens of their own formats. The Pokemon Company has confirmed that there are no plans to bring it over to the upcoming Online replacement, Pokemon TCG Live, marking the probable end of the format. While Legacy is a popular format because of the inclusion of powerful and nostalgic cards from the HeartGold & SoulSilver era, its time is limited. Unlimited is an unofficial format that allows any card from the entirety of the Pokemon TCG's history, right the way back to Base Set through to today, while Legacy is a currently digital-only format using cards from 2012 at the very earliest. The list of Legacy expansions is:Īny Black-star promo cards from these erasĪn important thing to note is that some parts of the Pokemon TCG community use 'Unlimited' and 'Legacy' interchangeably. Unlike Expanded, which grows with each new expansion released, Legacy only uses a specific set of expansions that will never be added to or expanded. That doesn't mean you can't play it on paper, it just means there is no formal support for it. Instead, Legacy is popular on the current digital version of the game, Pokemon TCG Online. Legacy is a format that, while acknowledged by The Pokemon Company, isn't considered a format for organised play. When Standard rotates each year, The Pokemon Company simply says the Expanded format "will remain unchanged", leaving open the potential for a rotation in the future. In terms of play experience, Expanded is seen as a more complex format that is a lot more aggressive, prioritising disruptive and fast plays more than anything else.Īlthough Expanded has never rotated since its introduction in 2016, that doesn't mean it never will. As well as the Standard-legal sets listed above, it also includes:īlack-star Promo cards numbered BW01 and upīlack-star Promo cards numbered XY01 and upīlack-star Promo cards numbered SM01 and upīecause it doesn't rotate, Expanded needs to make greater use of card bans to maintain the health of the format. Unlike the unofficial Unlimited format, which allows cards from any point in Pokemon's history, Expanded still tries to curate the experience by having a limited card pool.Įxpanded uses cards from any Black & White Base Set onwards, including black-star promo cards released during that time. For example, Great Ball was printed in Evolving Skies, making any other copy of it – such as from EX FireRed & LeafGreen – also Standard-legal.Įxpanded is the primary eternal (non-rotating) format for official organised play. It is important to remember that, if a card has been reprinted in one of the expansions listed above, older versions of it are also legal. This means cards from:īlack-star Promo Cards with a number higher than SWSH01Įxpansions become Standard-legal two weeks after they are released. When these championships are unable to go ahead, as has been the case for the last couple of years thanks to Covid, the Pokemon Company tends to announce its own, specific date for rotation.Īs of September 10, 2021, the current Standard only includes any cards with a D or E regulation mark in the bottom left-hand corner.
Instead, rotation normally happens around the same time as the World Championships, held in August each year. Unlike Magic, Pokemon doesn't rotate its Standard format with the release of a specific expansion each year.
In a Standard deck, you can only use cards from the most recent releases – once an expansion has rotated out of Standard, any deck with their cards still in will no longer be legal. Much like in Magic The Gathering's Standard format, Pokemon TCG expansions will only remain legal in Standard for at most a couple of years, before rotating out and being replaced. Of the four official formats, Standard is the only one that rotates. This is arguably the "purest" Pokemon TCG experience you can have, as all the normal rules are in effect with no change or deviation: 60-card decks with no more than four of any non-basic energy card, with six prize cards offered up by each player. It's the format that sees the most play, and almost all organised tournaments are built around it.