Now let s first have a look at the old playable sets in standard format and compare it to the newly announced format.

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1 Hello Pokémon Trainers As many of you might know the Pokémon TCG is entering its rotation period for the season. A lot of changes will be applied to your decks. New cards will be available and old ones will no longer be valid. This can cause a lot of confusion and frustrations if players don t understand how their decks will be impacted, so I will try and set out everything you need to know about the upcoming rotation, including which important cards will fall away and which ones you can acquire to fill the gaps. Let s get started. What is the rotation in the Pokémon TCG and why is it needed? Every year Pokémon prints 4 to 5 new expansions. (Roughly 1 expansion every 2-3 months.) For example, in 2017, we opened with the Sun & Moon base set (Feb 2017), Guardians Rising (May 2017) & Burning Shadows (July 2017), with Shining Legends arriving roughly around October 2017 and Crimson Invasion expected Late With these new sets being included, older cards become either unusable due to strength or mechanics. To keep the game balanced Pokémon makes use of Standard and Expanded formats. Standard format generally keeps cards in play for roughly 2 years. So, a card that has been printed in the new Burning Shadows set will roughly be playable for the next 2 years. Now keep in mind this is only an estimate time period and there are other variables that can extend this period which we will discuss later. So which cards can I use in standard format at league? Now let s first have a look at the old playable sets in standard format and compare it to the newly announced format. So, for the period, (From left to right) Primal clash was the oldest set and Steam Siege was the newest print towards the end of the season, which was more or less last year this time in By this diagram alone, we could more or less anticipate that the sets rotating out will be from Primal Clash to Ancient Origins, due to them being the oldest sets and more or less 4 sets rotating every year as history has told us. However, this is a rule of thumb and does not always apply to every rotation.

2 As for the season, we got confirmation that the new rotation effective on 1 September 2017 are as follows. As expected 4 sets rotated out and are no longer valid from 1 September 2017 in standard format. This is incredibly important to new trainers as well as parents who invest for cards to be playable in standard format. Cards are marked on the bottom right corner with an icon that indicates which expansion they are from. For example, all legal cards for our current standard format for 2018 will have one of these icons. Promo Cards One last icon set I would like to mention is the black star promos. These are special promo cards you get from boxes or tins. Recent promos include the Tapu Bulu tin or the Tapu Koko GX box. Their icon at the bottom right corner is marked with the promo star and a number. Every year Pokémon has a cut-off number as to which promo cards can be used. This year until rotation in 2018 all XY Promos from number 67 and up may be used. Sun and moon has their own promos and are all currently legal. It is also at this point that I would like to mention on a side note and to advise juniors and parents to not buy or trade cards that are no longer in standard rotation, no matter how shiny or prestigious they might look, unless you are a collector and have an interest in old cards. Trades made by juniors will be overseen by league owners, judges and league leaders to make sure trades are fair.

3 What does it mean when a card gets reprinted? There are exceptions though to older cards being played in standard format, if the same card was reprinted in an expansion that is currently part of the standard format. Let s look at two examples, starting with the trainer card: Team Flare Grunt. As can be seen from the above example, two cards with the exact same text and name but they come from two different expansions as indicated by their set icons in the bottom right. The card to the left is from the XY base set, a set that has rotated out more than a year ago already. However, the card to the right was reprinted in Generations, a set that is currently legal, which means players are allowed to use their old XY base set Team Flare Grunt in standard play. Please be advised that in order to use an old card in the case of this reprinting example, both old and new cards must have the same effect in text and the same name. The same goes for the black promo cards. A card might be rotated out because it was printed in Ancient Origins, and as we know now, AO is no longer legal come September, but a specific card from that set might have been reprinted in a promo box. Which is the case for Hoopa EX- Promo XY71 and as we discussed earlier, Promo cards XY 67 and up is legal, which will make all Hoopa EX cards still legal for this coming rotation, even though Hoopa EX s set is rotating out. Another example is the trainer Super scoop up. It was rotated out last year and we were not allowed to use it in standard format this year (left card). However, in the new Burning Shadows, there was a reprint (right side card) with the same text, effect and name, which means we are allowed to use our old Super Scoop Up from 2 years ago when Burning Shadows becomes legal.

4 Alternate Art Cards. There are special premium boxes available that feature, alternative art work of selected cards. If the card in question has rotated out, the alternative art print does not make it a reprint and is therefore not playable in standard format. An example of such a set is the Best of XY English prints, that feature full art cards. This box will be available November Some of those alternate art cards like N and Karen will be playable, but the other s like Shaymin and Blacksmith will not be allowed as per standard rotation rules. Make sure when you do invest in those boxes that you understand what you are buying as market retail price can go from $80 and up. Expanded Format & Banned Cards Outside of the usual standard format, there is another format Pokémon make use of called expanded format. This format usually includes way older sets that have rotated out of standard. Expanded is rarely used in South Africa but sees a lot of play in the United States and UK. The reason why Expanded does not see a lot of play is because it is a format that is a bit more volatile and very difficult to balance, due to some cards and mechanics that are unintentionally stronger due to newer cards. So, a card that was printed 3 years ago, might be very powerful now due to a new trainer that came out in one of the new expansions. A lot of times old cards are used in ways that Pokémon did not intend and might actually even be banned. Certain cards are banned by Pokémon in all formats due to being too powerful and essentially breaks fair competitive play. Currently no cards are banned in Standard. The banned list is updated quarterly. (For a list of all band cards please refer to The Expanded format for the 2018 season will consist of all standard format cards and include older expansions such as: Black & White and any expansions released afterward Black Star Promo cards numbered BW01 and up, XY01 and up, and SM01 and up Cards from the following product are also legal: Generations Double Crisis Dragon Vault Black & White Trainer Kit XY Trainer Kit XY Trainer Kit Bisharp & Wigglytuff XY Trainer Kit Latias & Latios XY Trainer Kit Pikachu Libre & Suicune Sun & Moon Trainer Kit Lycanroc & Alolan Raichu McDonald's Collection 2011 and later.

5 Notable Cards That are Rotating Now that we know which sets are rotating out, let s have a look and see which notable cards are rotating out. Please be advised, that these are only some of the notable cards that will no longer be legal that saw some play. Full set lists can be found at Reprinted cards we do not lose include; * Escape Rope * Weakness Policy * Exp Share.

6 Reprinted cards we are not losing - Latios EX - Ultra Ball - Wally

7 Reprinted cards we are not losing - Machamp EX - Hoopa EX - Energy Recycler

8 Too be honest, this was a mini expansion and not much is a lost here. The two stadiums above are replaced to an extend with Alolan Dugtrio and Po Town. A final note regarding the rotation and deck building Sadly, with the loss of VS Seeker, the way that we are going to approach building decks will change. Thicker supporter lines will be run, which will slow down the format considerably. Keep in mind Garbodor is doing well in the format currently, which means item cards cannot be played at the pace we once could. On the draw support side, Sycamore remains a staple, but I would experiment looking at the newer draw support cards that might assist you in not losing cards that you might need, especially supporters you cannot get back. For example, you sycamore and you draw a further 3 Sycamores. Cards like Shauna might see play due to this and N will still remain big. Lysander is out, but as most know Guzma is in. Most decks will run 2-4 depending on their needs. The standard 4 ultra-balls will remain per deck as well. If you are a returning player or just started playing, I cannot stress enough the importance of investing in good trainers. They are good bang for buck and they are cards that will be in most of your decks for a good couple of years. I ll finish off with a list of trainers I would advise new and returning players to invest in as soon as possible. Guzma Ultra-Ball Prof Sycamore N Shauna Field Blower Max Potion Acerola Super Scoop Up Max Elixir Aqua Patch (Water Decks) Choice band Rare Candy (Evolution Decks) Nest Ball Brigitte Super Rod Rescue Stretcher Escape Rope Prof Kukui