Pokémon TCG: Rotation 2025 - Everything You Need to Know!

If you've been playing Pokémon TCG competitively for some time, you already know what we'll be talking about today. But, if you're still out of the loop and don't know how Pokémon TCG rotations work, here's a quick summary: every year, the Pokémon Company removes a few sets from the Standard card pool to encourage players to use new cards. This is called rotation.

In the past, we covered the 2023 rotation and the 2024 rotation as well.

Because of the pandemic, 2022 was an exception: all sets from 2020 to 2022 were valid in this rotation. But, as we mentioned, it was an exception.

In the 2025 rotation, the "third part" of Sword/Shield will rotate out of Standard, and many other sets (starting with Scarlet/Violet's base set and including any other sets that are released after it) will be available!

This means all sets from Sword/Shield: Brilliant Stars to Sword/Shield: Silver Tempest will no longer be valid in Standard!

Please note that this rotation only applies to the western side of the world. The east (Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, and many other countries) has their own, different schedule.

The Pokémon Company still hasn't confirmed when, exactly, the 2025 rotation will be valid, but most of us believe it will be April 11th, 2025. In digital platforms, like Pokémon Live, it will be March 27th, 2025.

According to the new Pokémon Company rules, all cards with an F on their left bottom corner will rotate out.

So, here are the sets that will rotate out. I'll separate them into two parts: base sets, and special sets (collectible sets).

Base Sets

- Sword/Shield: Brilliant Stars - also called Sword/Shield 9.

- Sword/Shield: Astral Radiance - also called Sword/Shield 10.

- Sword/Shield: Lost Origin - also called Sword/Shield 11.

- Sword/Shield: Silver Tempest - also called Sword/Shield 12.

Special Sets

- Sword/Shield: Pokémon GO - also called Sword/Shield 10.5.

- Sword/Shield: Crown Zenith - also called Sword/Shield 12.5.

FAQ

1. What about Promo cards that come in Triple Packs, Quad Packs, Elite Trainer Boxes, Premium Boxes, and similar? Will they rotate out as well?

If they have an F, they will. Yes, even Promo cards.

2. What about arts with different illustrations, like, for instance, Rare Candy PGO 69 from the Pokémon GO set? Could I use it in my deck instead of the current Standard illustration, Rare Candy sv1 191, from Scarlet/Violet's Base Set?

Yes, as long as it is valid in Standard! It is the same case as Dusk Ball MD 80 from Diamond/Pearl, which was reprinted in Scarlet/Violet: Surging Sparks, but was changed later on. So, if you want to use it, you can.

Here we added key cards that will not be available in Standard in 2025. These cards are either competitive, rare, essential recursive Pokémon, or relevant for budget decks.

Radiant Pokémon will most likely be the biggest losses for us players, in particular Grotle BRS 7 and Radiant Charizard PGO 11.

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Note: you can still use Professor's Research BRS 147 and Boss's Orders BRS 132 in 2025 if you use Professor's Research (Professor Sada) sv1 189, Professor's Research (Professor Turo) sv1 190, and Boss's Orders (Ghetsis) sv2 172, which all have the letter "G" instead of "F".

Stadium

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Note: you will still be able to use this card because of Choice Belt sv2 176, from Scarlet/Violet: Paldea Evolved, but it won't make any sense because Pokémon V, overall, will rotate out!

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Note: Both Scarlet/Violet's Base Set and Paldean Fates include reprints of this card, so you can use it in Standard in 2025 without any issues!

Special Energy

Note: Just like its regular version, this card's Gold Full Art version, Double Turbo Energy ASR 216 will also rotate out. After all, it is from Astral Radiance, which is also an "F" set!

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Which card will you miss the most? Tell us all about it in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!