What is Rotation?

Each year, the cards legal in the Standard format (i.e. tournament play) are updated, with older cards "rotating" out of legality unless they are reprinted later on. You can easily track which cards are legal by looking at the letter in the bottom left of the card. Currently, cards with "H" or later are Standard-legal.

Typically, a block of cards are legal for 3 years. However, this does mean cards printed towards the end of the block are legal for less total time than those printed earlier. Rotation occurs around late March or early April each year internationally, and a few months prior in Japan.

Preparing For Rotation

Sometimes, a deck's primary attacker will rotate out, leaving it unplayable as an option. In other cases, the Pokémon remain legal, but key Trainer cards for the strategy rotate out instead, plummeting the deck into non-viability. Some players will try to adapt their strategy around the new card pool, while others use rotation as a chance to build something entirely new. Japan's Champion League Fukuoka is the first major event post-rotation, sporting over 7000 players yearly and offering an early preview of what decks may be top contenders once our own rotation occurs.

Rotation Resources

This site is launching shortly after a rotation takes place. In the future, this page will be updated with rotation-oriented resources, such as a list of important cards rotating out, a list of important cards that remain legal, and a prediction on what decks may be good post-rotation.