Rotation for 2017 has been announced! You can check out the details of the Pokemon announcement here. The short version is that only cards from Primal Clash onwards will be legal for tournament use.
I'll give you a brief rundown of what this will mean for you and the notable cards we lose in standard format.
What is rotation?
Rotation occurs most years and it is where the cards that are eligible for use in standard tournaments are updated. Older cards may still be able to be used for expanded tournaments but in New Zealand we don't have any sanctioned expanded tournaments, although some leagues do play the format for fun.
If you don't go to tournaments and only play at home with your friends, I wouldn't really worry about rotation, just keep playing with the cards you like. Rotation only matters if you're going to tournaments.
So from 1 September 2016, if you're turning up to your local league, you will be expected to have a deck made up of cards from the Primal Clash expansion and onwards. If you don't know what cards are legal, ask your local tournament organiser, judge or store owner and they should be able to help you out. Alternatively, throw us an email if you have any questions and we'll try help out.
So does this mean I can't use my old cards?
No, of course not! As mentioned before, there is an expanded format where you can use all cards from the black and white series and onwards, but if you're playing casually at home or with your friends, if you all agree to use any cards, then it's absolutely fine to keep using your old cards. This only changes what cards can be used at tournaments.
Also, if a card has been re-printed (come out again) in a set after Primal Clash, you can still use the old version. For example, VS Seeker was printed in Phantom Forces, which was before Primal Clash, so it would be rotated, but it was bought out again in Roaring Skies (which is after Primal Clash) as a secret rare, which means you can still use the old Phantom Forces print of it in a tournament.
What sets are legal?
The new sets that are legal for tournaments are:
- Primal Clash
- Double Crisis
- Roaring Skies
- Ancient Origins
- Breakthrough
- Breakpoint
- Generations
- Fates Collide
- Steam Siege
Plus any set that is released from now.
So what cards are we losing?
Below is a list of the main competitive cards we lose this rotation. There are other cards we'll lose that saw a little bit of play, but this is just a list of the main cards we may miss.
XY
Flashfire
Furious Fists
Phantom Forces
- Joltik
- Pumpkaboo
- Lampent
- Manctric EX
- M Manectric EX
- Crobat
- Bronzong
- Dialga EX
- Aegislash EX
- Battle Compressor
- Head Ringer
Some of these cards may be reprinted in upcoming sets, so we may not lose all of them from Standard, but at the moment, these are the main cards worth mentioning that get rotated.
Final Notes
Remember that this rotation doesn't come into effect until the 1st September, so you still have plenty of time to have fun at tournaments with your cards that are going to be rotated.
Rotation is meant to keep the game fresh and keep it changing so one deck doesn't dominate for years at a time (flash back to Darkrai EX which dominated the game for almost 3 years). So don't worry about rotation, if it's the first one you experience, it can be a little scary, but you'll get used to what cards are legal so don't stress!
If you have any further questions about rotation, flick us an email on info@cardmerchantnz.com and I will try to help you out!
All cards have been linked to an online copy, so if you're not sure what it means, click the name in orange to see what it does. Not sure what some words mean? Check out our glossary here!
