Noob question on formats and such in the Pokemon TCG

[WolvenKnightmare]

So I've been sorting through my old collection of Pokemon cards, and although they're cool, is there really any benefit to keeping them besides that?

Being a Magic the Gathering player, I'm used to eternal formats and Modern as playgrounds for all/most cards released (with a ban list of course), but I haven't really seen any support for that with Pokemon besides collecting really old cards from the Jungle sets and stuff. Also has power creep made a lot of those cards, like from, say, the Holon Phantom set outclassed entirely (to the point an extended/more inclusive format wouldnt do much)?

 

[donavannj]

Pokemon themselves had experienced some serious power creep over the years, but a lot of Trainer cards have been nerfed in various ways (including making subtypes) because a lot of the early ones were insanely powerful.

Officially, there are two formats. One's roughly equivalent to Standard in MTG, but the difference is that the format isn't rotated out with a new set, it only is changed out yearly after Worlds has happened, usually in early September. IIRC, it's officially known as Standard. It consists of sets released since Boundaries Crossed including Boundaries Crossed itself (and any cards from past sets that have a matching reprint in a current set).

There's also Expanded, which is kind of like how Extended was in MTG (or at least I think that's the direction it will go), but it also will probably only be changed out once a year (it's new this 2014-15 organized play season, and we don't know whether it will be shifted forward or just left where it is for its earliest cutoff point for the format). It currently includes all Black & White and all XY sets.

Lastly is Unlimited, which is not used at any official tournaments. Leagues can choose to allow Unlimited, though. It allows all cards which were playable in organized play at one point, but I think its ban list includes all cards that were banned in the past for being gamebreaking and cards that are banned because newer versions of the cards have drastically different effects and card typings (this last one mostly applies to Trainer cards, which have a few different subtypes now).

 

[milkykou]

Is there a current list with all the banned cards? I have old gen 1 and original print cards that i kind of want to use but im unsure if they can still be used. (i know 2 tournaments i went two didnt like double colorless but idk if it was banned or not.)

 

[Wings Don't Cry]

That's odd, double colourless has never had any problems at any of the tournaments I've been to. As far as I know the playable cards from gen 1 are:
-double colourless,
-switch,
-computer search(limited to 1),
-full heal,
-pokeball,
-energy search(made redundant by professor's letter),
-rainbow energy

 

[milkykou]

That's odd, double colourless has never had any problems at any of the tournaments I've been to. As far as I know the playable cards from gen 1 are:
-double colourless,
-switch,
-computer search(limited to 1),
-full heal,
-pokeball,
-energy search(made redundant by professor's letter),
-rainbow energy

ah so original pokemon from there cant be played anymore like kadabra or raichu?

 

[donavannj]

That's odd, double colourless has never had any problems at any of the tournaments I've been to. As far as I know the playable cards from gen 1 are:
-double colourless,
-switch,
-computer search(limited to 1),
-full heal,
-pokeball,
-energy search(made redundant by professor's letter),
-rainbow energy

Thing is, the old Computer Search is not legal at all because the card type changed. It went from a generic Trainer (which would be equivalent to a Trainer - Item card in the modern rulesets) to a Trainer - Ace Spec, which has different rules than the standard Trainer - Item card class.

The only ruleset it'd be allowed in is Unlimited, which has no official tournaments being run for it, so it's effectively banned.

I'm pretty sure the original Double Colorless is fine because it's functionally equivalent to the currently legal one (at least, I'm 90% certain there's a currently legal print of Double Colorless Energy).

And Rainbow Energy requires that you have a reference handy that is approved by a judge.

ah so original pokemon from there cant be played anymore like kadabra or raichu?

Okay, so, you need to ditch thinking of it being restricted by what generation a Pokemon is from. Rather, you need to think of it as being restricted by what set a particular card is from, and whether the card text and card type matches that of a card from a currently legal set.

I'll quick define what a set is: it's a collection of cards released at the same time that has a specific number of cards in it, and all cards that are part of it have a special symbol on the card. On older cards, it was located just off the bottom right corner of the card art on Pokemon cards, while on trainer cards, it was in the bottom right of the card text box. On newer cards, that symbol is in the bottom right hand corner of the card next to the card's rarity symbol. The Pokemon Company International releases a new set once every four months to expand the card pool players can play with as well as to keep money flowing to keep the TCG around and profitable.


Back to defining what's play legal: Basically, anything from the set Boundaries Crossed and any of the sets newer than Boundaries Crossed are legal for tournament play right now. Anything that's an exact copy of a card released in any of those sets from an older set is also legal (the older card can have different art, though). It is not restricted by what generation a Pokemon is from in the slightest. There's a completely different reason you don't see any Kadabra cards anymore, and it apparently ties back into a lawsuit.

Does this help clarify things a bit?

EDIT: Oh! I forgot! There is one card that has been banned recently that was released sometime in the last two years. It's called Lysandre's Trump Card.