Bradaction
TCG player - 34th Brisbane Regional Championships,
- 40
- Posts
- 5
- Years
- Australia
- Seen Jan 10, 2021
Hi all.
I remember back when I starting playing the Pokemon Trading Card game way back in December of 2016. I attended my first tournament around the time of March or April the following year and for a beginner as myself, I found many terms like Standard, Expanded, Out of Set, Rotated, Rotation, and Legal that overwhelmed me and confused my brain. It didn't make any sense and it took me almost a year to fully understand.
So, I have decided to write this post to explain what all of those terms mean, and what is a format, and why it is vital to consider when building a good deck.
Standard
The TCG Standard Format varies from year to year but typically contains the newer cards and gets rid of the older sets. The standard Format is just that, the standard format for most events. Standard Events mean that during those events you can only use cards in the Standard Format. This can be found on the Pokemon website and varies from year to year. We are currently in the 2019/20 Format. This format is what is used for the Pokemon World Championships. Some examples are;
2001-2 - Team Rocket to Legendary Expansion
2006-07 - EX Deoxes to Diamond and Pearl
2019-20 - Ultra Prism On
Expanded
Expanded is very similar to standard it contains all the new cards, but also some older card, going back normally two to three expansions from the standard format. Expanded Events are less common - with only certain regionals and locals having them -Regional Collinsville and Regional Dallas are two expanded events that happened this year. Some examples of expanded formats include
2019-20 - Black & White Onwards
These are the main formats, there is legacy that is pretty much just the online game, but every year before or after worlds these formats 'rotate' removing the oldest cards from the format, and adding the newer cards.
Anyway, really hope this clears things up for you, just check the pokemon website for the current format. :)
I remember back when I starting playing the Pokemon Trading Card game way back in December of 2016. I attended my first tournament around the time of March or April the following year and for a beginner as myself, I found many terms like Standard, Expanded, Out of Set, Rotated, Rotation, and Legal that overwhelmed me and confused my brain. It didn't make any sense and it took me almost a year to fully understand.
So, I have decided to write this post to explain what all of those terms mean, and what is a format, and why it is vital to consider when building a good deck.
Standard
The TCG Standard Format varies from year to year but typically contains the newer cards and gets rid of the older sets. The standard Format is just that, the standard format for most events. Standard Events mean that during those events you can only use cards in the Standard Format. This can be found on the Pokemon website and varies from year to year. We are currently in the 2019/20 Format. This format is what is used for the Pokemon World Championships. Some examples are;
2001-2 - Team Rocket to Legendary Expansion
2006-07 - EX Deoxes to Diamond and Pearl
2019-20 - Ultra Prism On
Expanded
Expanded is very similar to standard it contains all the new cards, but also some older card, going back normally two to three expansions from the standard format. Expanded Events are less common - with only certain regionals and locals having them -Regional Collinsville and Regional Dallas are two expanded events that happened this year. Some examples of expanded formats include
2019-20 - Black & White Onwards
These are the main formats, there is legacy that is pretty much just the online game, but every year before or after worlds these formats 'rotate' removing the oldest cards from the format, and adding the newer cards.
Anyway, really hope this clears things up for you, just check the pokemon website for the current format. :)