Pokemon TCG Rotation Guide: The 2026 Standard Rotation and the End of the G Era

1. How Rotation Works

Every year Play! Pokémon removes the oldest cards from Standard. The Pokémon Company describes the aim as keeping the competitive environment healthy and letting new players compete with recent cards.

2. Regulation Marks

The regulation mark is the small letter in the bottom-left corner of a card. It, not the set symbol, decides Standard legality.

Which sets carry which mark:

• G: Scarlet & Violet, Paldea Evolved, Obsidian Flames, 151, Paradox Rift, Paldean Fates, plus G-mark reprints in later sets.
• H: Temporal Forces, Twilight Masquerade, Shrouded Fable, Stellar Crown, Surging Sparks and most of Prismatic Evolutions.
• I: Journey Together (28 March 2025), Destined Rivals, Black Bolt and White Flare, Mega Evolution (26 September 2025) and Phantasmal Flames.
• J: Ascended Heroes (30 January 2026) onward.

2.1 The Reprint Rule

A card from a rotated set stays legal if a card with the same name and the same text has a legal regulation mark. That's why an old Boss's Orders still works: Mega Evolution reprinted it with the I mark.

Be careful with reprints that kept the old mark. Several cards were reprinted after the G block but still carry the G mark, so they rotated anyway:

• Professor's Research in Journey Together and Black Bolt (both G-mark prints)
• Earthen Vessel, Professor Sada's Vitality, Techno Radar, Roaring Moon ex, Iron Hands ex and Gholdengo ex in Prismatic Evolutions
• Judge in Destined Rivals (G). Judge only survived because of its J-mark print in Perfect Order.

Also note that a new card with the same name but different text doesn't save the old one. Ascended Heroes has a J-mark Miraidon ex, but it's a different card from the Scarlet & Violet Miraidon ex with Tandem Unit, which rotated.

3. The Sets That Rotated

3.1 Scarlet & Violet (SVI)

Released March 2023. Main losses: Miraidon ex (Tandem Unit), Gardevoir ex (Psychic Embrace), Arven, Nest Ball, Electric Generator.

Arven and Nest Ball were in a huge share of decks. Miraidon ex and Electric Generator were the core of Lightning decks.

3.2 Paldea Evolved (PAL)

Released June 2023. Main losses: Iono, Super Rod, Chien-Pao ex, Baxcalibur, Squawkabilly ex, Mimikyu (Safeguard), Superior Energy Retrieval, Reversal Energy, Bravery Charm.

Iono was the main comeback card of the era: each player puts their hand on the bottom of their deck and draws a card for each of their remaining Prize cards.

3.3 Obsidian Flames (OBF)

Released August 2023. Main losses: Charizard ex (Darkness, Infernal Reign) and Pidgeot ex (Quick Search).

Charizard ex with Pidgeot ex was one of the most successful decks of the G era. Both cards are G-only.

3.4 151 (MEW)

Released September 2023. Main losses: Mew ex (Restart, Genome Hacking), Alakazam ex, Zapdos ex, Erika's Invitation.

The 30th Celebration set (September 2026) has a J-mark Mew ex, but it's a different card with different text (Memory Helix), so the 151 Mew ex is not legal.

3.5 Paradox Rift (PAR)

Released November 2023. Main losses: Roaring Moon ex, Iron Hands ex, Iron Valiant ex, Gholdengo ex, Professor Sada's Vitality, Techno Radar, Earthen Vessel, Counter Catcher, Technical Machine: Evolution.

Ancient decks lost Professor Sada's Vitality, their Energy acceleration, and Future decks lost Techno Radar. Prismatic Evolutions reprinted several of these, but with the G mark, so the reprints rotated too.

3.6 Paldean Fates (PAF)

Released January 2024. Most of the set reprints earlier G cards as shiny versions, and those keep the G mark, so they rotated.

4. The Trainer Engine After Rotation

The biggest change wasn't a single Pokémon. It was the loss of the search and draw cards most decks shared.

4.1 Search

4.2 Draw: Professor's Research Is Gone

Professor's Research (discard your hand, draw 7) rotated. It was reprinted in Journey Together and Black Bolt, but both prints carry the G mark. As of October 2026 there's no H, I or J Professor's Research, so it's Expanded only.

One draw Supporter that is legal now is Lillie's Determination (Mega Evolution, I mark): shuffle your hand into your deck and draw 6 cards, or 8 if you have exactly 6 Prize cards left.

4.3 Disruption: Iono Out, Judge In

Iono has no H, I or J print and rotated. Judge (each player shuffles their hand into their deck and draws 4 cards) survived: Perfect Order (27 March 2026) reprinted it with the J mark, two weeks before the rotation.

4.4 Recovery

Super Rod (PAL) rotated. Night Stretcher (Shrouded Fable, H) is still legal: it puts a Pokémon or a Basic Energy card from your discard pile into your hand. Super Rod shuffled up to 3 into your deck instead.

5. Archetypes That Ended

5.1 Charizard ex (Darkness)

Charizard ex (Infernal Reign) and Pidgeot ex (Quick Search) are both Obsidian Flames, G only. The deck also leaned on Arven. There's no legal print of either card.

5.2 Ancient Box

Roaring Moon ex, Professor Sada's Vitality, Earthen Vessel and Ancient Booster Energy Capsule all rotated, including their Prismatic Evolutions reprints. Ancient Booster Energy Capsule was also reprinted in Temporal Forces, but that print kept the G mark.

5.3 Miraidon ex (Tandem Unit)

Miraidon ex (SVI), Electric Generator and Iron Hands ex all rotated. The J-mark Miraidon ex in Ascended Heroes is a different card with no Tandem Unit Ability.

5.4 Chien-Pao ex / Baxcalibur

Both are Paldea Evolved, G only, along with Superior Energy Retrieval.

5.5 Gardevoir ex (Psychic Embrace)

Gardevoir ex (SVI) rotated. Psychic Stage 2 decks now have Mega Gardevoir ex (Mega Evolution, I mark), which evolves from Kirlia and has 360 HP, but it's a very different card.

6. What Stayed: the H, I and J Core

6.1 H-Mark Staples

• ACE SPEC cards returned in Temporal Forces. Prime Catcher (TEF), Unfair Stamp and Hyper Aroma (TWM) and Hero's Cape (TEF, +100 HP) are all H.
• Buddy-Buddy Poffin (TEF): up to 2 Basic Pokémon with 70 HP or less onto your Bench.
• Dragapult ex (TWM): a 320 HP Stage 2. Phantom Dive does 200 damage and puts 6 damage counters on your opponent's Benched Pokémon.
• Terapagos ex and Area Zero Underdepths (Stellar Crown).
• Noctowl (Stellar Crown) and Fezandipiti ex (Shrouded Fable) for draw and search.
• Night Stretcher (Shrouded Fable).

6.2 Reprints That Kept Staples Legal

• Boss's Orders (I): Mega Evolution (26 September 2025), and again in Ascended Heroes.
• Ultra Ball (I): Mega Evolution, and again in Ascended Heroes.
• Rare Candy (I): Mega Evolution.
• Judge (J): Perfect Order (27 March 2026).
• Energy Search (J): Perfect Order.

Journey Together didn't save any of these. Its only reprint of a G-era staple was Professor's Research, and that print is G.

6.3 Trainer's Pokémon

Journey Together (I) brought back Trainer's Pokémon, such as Lillie's Clefairy ex, N's Zoroark ex, Hop's Zacian ex and Iono's Bellibolt ex. These are separate cards from the Supporters they're named after. Iono's Bellibolt ex being legal doesn't make the Iono Supporter legal.

7. Mega Evolution

Mega Evolution Pokémon ex came with the Mega Evolution set on 26 September 2025, with the I mark, so they were already legal before the rotation.

• Normal evolution: they evolve from their usual previous stage (Mega Lucario ex from Riolu, Mega Gardevoir ex and Mega Venusaur ex as Stage 2s). Evolving doesn't end your turn.
• 3 Prize cards: when a Mega Evolution Pokémon ex is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 3 Prize cards.
• High HP: Mega Lucario ex has 340 HP, Mega Gardevoir ex 360 and Mega Venusaur ex 380.

With 3-Prize Pokémon in the format, two Knock Outs on Megas can be enough to win a game, which changes how players map out their Prize cards.

8. Rotation Checklist (G Mark)

Any card below is no longer legal in Standard unless a same-name, same-text H, I or J print exists. None of the cards in these tables have one as of October 2026.

8.1 Key Pokémon That Rotated

8.2 Key Trainers and Energy That Rotated

Full Metal Lab (TEF, H) is still legal, but it isn't an HP boost: it's a Stadium that makes Metal Pokémon take 30 less damage from attacks.

9. Conclusion

The 2026 rotation removed the G block's shared engine: Arven, Nest Ball, Iono, Super Rod, Earthen Vessel and Professor's Research. Boss's Orders, Ultra Ball and Rare Candy survived through I-mark reprints in Mega Evolution, and Judge through its J-mark reprint in Perfect Order.

Data current as of 8 October 2026.

Related Guides

• Pokemon TCG Standard vs Expanded — where rotated cards remain legal
• How to Build a Pokemon TCG Deck — rebuilding a deck after rotation
• Pokemon TCG Beginner Guide — starting fresh in the post-rotation format
• Prismatic Evolutions Chase Cards — the chase cards affected by the rotation