Banned and Legal Pokémon Cards

The short answer

Each format has its own card pool. These are the rules as of October 9, 2026, from The Pokémon Company International's published banned list and the current Standard rotation.

Basic Energy is legal in every format. The other deck building limits, such as four copies by name and one ACE SPEC, apply in all three. Every deck building rule →

Standard and regulation marks

Standard is the format of most tournaments and of Pokémon TCG Live's ranked play, and it uses regulation marks instead of a banned list. The mark is a single letter in a small box at the bottom left of every card printed since Sword & Shield. Once a year, The Pokémon Company International rotates the oldest mark out, and every card carrying only that mark leaves Standard.

That means some well-known kinds of card are out of Standard entirely: every Radiant Pokémon carries mark F, and every Prism Star card and Black & White ACE SPEC carries no mark. Where to find the regulation mark →

Reprints and old printings

An old printing is legal wherever a printing of the same card is. If a Trainer from 2013 is reprinted in a 2024 set with a legal mark, your 2013 copy can go in a Standard deck too. Master Ball is an example: the Plasma Blast printing from 2013 is the same ACE SPEC Item as the Temporal Forces one.

The catch is what counts as the same card. A shared name is not enough for a Pokémon: the HP, attacks and Abilities have to match. Every set prints a new Pikachu, and a Base Set Pikachu is a different card from any of them. Trainers and Energy are usually reprinted with the same text, so the name is a good guide for those.

The Expanded banned list

Expanded allows cards from the Black & White series onward, which is more than a decade of cards, so it needs a banned list for combinations Standard never sees. As of October 9, 2026, these cards are banned: 27 cards under 26 names, since two different Unown cards are on it. A ban names specific printings, listed beside each card, and covers any reprint of the same card.

Many of these disrupt an opponent's hand or Abilities (Hex Maniac, Reset Stamp, Red Card) or let a deck draw and search through itself too easily (Shaymin-EX, Puzzle of Time). Medicham V is a recent one: Japan banned it from its own Expanded format in January 2026, and it is on the international list too.

Shaymin-EX

Roaring Skies #77

Roaring Skies. Banned in Expanded.

Reset Stamp

Unified Minds #206

Unified Minds. Banned in Expanded.

Medicham V

Evolving Skies #83

Evolving Skies. Banned in Expanded.

Bans change between sets, and the official list is the one that counts at a tournament. Check The Pokémon Company International's banned card list before an event.

Unlimited

Unlimited allows every card from 1999 on, and the official list bans none. It is a casual format, played with the old cards you own rather than at sanctioned events. Oversized cards and cards with a different back, such as World Championships deck cards, are not legal in any format.

Checking a deck

The TurnZero HQ deck builder checks every card against the format you choose. For Standard it reads the regulation mark, counting a reprint's mark for an older printing, and for Expanded it reads each card's Expanded legality from the card data. A ban can take effect before card data catches up, so check the official list before a tournament too.

Frequently Asked Questions