Pokemon TCG 2024 Rotation Strategy Guide

The Pokemon TCG 2024 standard rotation is coming up fast. Here’s what you need to know to survive it.

*Updated January 13, 2024

When is the Pokemon TCG 2024 Standard Rotation happening?

For in-person Play! Pokémon events, the Standard format rotation will go into effect on April 5, 2024.

To help get players into the mindset of playing without “E” mark cards, however, Pokemon TCG Live will rotate earlier on March 21, 2024. According to Pokemon, this will “give players an official platform to test out the new Standard format before participating in any in-person events”.

What cards are rotating out?

All cards with “E” regulation marks will no longer be allowed in Pokemon standard play or official Pokemon sanctioned tournaments (Regionals, League Challenges, Cups etc).

Admittedly, there are a lot of cards with that regulation mark. To help you out, we’re going to be looking at the cards rotating out with the biggest impact in the article below.

What cards are legal to play in Pokemon TCG Standard now?

Cards with “F,” “G,” and “H” regulation marks will be legal to use (as will any future regulation marks that may be released).

Pokemon TCG 2024 Standard Rotation – Biggest Impact

Mew VMAX will leave the game

Despite what seems to have been even Pokemon’s best efforts to quell this powerful deck, Mew VMAX is so strong of an archetype in the Pokemon TCG that it has been one of the very best Pokemon decks since its release in Fusion Strike.

With “E” block cards leaving the game, however, Mew VMAX will finally meet one challenge that it cannot overcome – rotating out.

This deck is so legendary it’s almost hard to believe it’s going to finally be gone, and part of me feels that (like John Wick) its going to come back from the grave.

Battle VIP Pass is gone

Speaking of Fusion Strike, one card that inevitably defined the standard game that also debuted in Fusion Strike is Battle VIP Pass. Battle VIP Pass will be rotating out next season, and many many decks that have come to rely on this card to bolster their benches quickly will feel its loss.

While my favorite deck, Giratina VSTAR, will surely feel the hurt of losing this card, I’m actually kind of excited for this one to be gone. Back before it became so common to run Battle VIP Pass, you used to have to work at getting your board set up, and decks that get really powerful from having a full bench were less likely to get stacked early on.

I think ultimately Battle VIP Pass being gone is going to be good for the game, making games a slower, more fun experience again.

Rapid Strike Inteleon/Urshifu will no longer be a deck

The 2023 Pokemon standard format was really interesting, acting like sort of a bridge from the old Pokemon VMAX world into the new one where two-prize Pokemon dominate.

Part of the fun has been seeing legendary and legacy Pokemon archetypes like Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX dominating tournaments along hyper powerful VSTARs and Pokemon ex.

One of the strongest decks of the current format, however, will be leaving the game forever, and that’s the Rapid/Strike Inteleon/Urshifu deck.

Saying goodbye to Rapid Strike Urshifu feels like a big moment as the card has been a powerful force for a long time, once dominating the Pokemon TCG before Mew VMAX took over as BDIF for a while.

We’ll have to learn to get along without it.

Powerful Trainers Cards leaving the format

While these cards rotating out won’t have the same kind of impact as the other cards higher up on this list, they will still remove some interesting strategy options for many players.

Cross Switcher

Cross Switcher has been used in interesting ways in many different decks. Being able to switch out one of your opponent’s Pokemon and switch in yours is a powerful effect. However, it takes having two of these item cards in your hand in order to make it work.

Path to the Peak

Path to the Peak leaving the meta is going to be huge. It’s been a massive buff for any deck that happens to not have a main attacker with an ability, as it shuts down all abilities from two prize Pokemon. While this is going to help make Pokemon decks with abilities stronger and undoubtedly weaken powerful decks like Giratina VSTAR, it could also make gameplay more interesting, forcing players to look for alternative ways to counter popular meta decks.

Escape Rope

Escape Rope is another powerful trainer card leaving the standard format. Forcing your opponent to switch out their active Pokemon and enabling you to switch yours can come in clutch in certain scenarios, making this a very widely used card in many decks.

Goodbye, Evolving Skies

Lastly, it’s worth noting that the phenomenal and popular Evolving Skies deck will be leaving the format. While Evolving Skies focused decks have dipped largely in popularity overtime, it’s still worth mentioning because of how epic that set was. Crystal Cave, Stormy Mountains and Duraludon VMAX will all be leaving the standard format for good, as will another mainstay on the competitive scene: Umbreon VMAX.

Another notable loss is Flaaffy – a powerful lightning energy accelerating supporter Pokemon used primarily by the popular Miraidon ex deck.

Pokemon Standard Rotation 2024 – Biggest Winners and Losers

There are so many cards in the Pokemon TCG that it can be a little overwhelming to figure out how exactly rotations will impact things. The best way to do it, however, is to look at the top performing decks right now and figure out which are going to be the biggest winners from the rotation (which will get stronger as a result) and which will get weaker. When analyzing these lists, we’ll ignore the two decks mentioned above (Mew VMAX and Rapid Strike) that are rotating out fully, and focus on the ones that are to remain.

We won’t mention the impact that decks will feel from losing Battle VIP Pass as that card has become a staple in every deck, so every deck should feel its loss somewhat equally.

Winner: Chien-Pao ex

Chien-Pao ex was once a top, top tier deck. Lately, it’s fallen out of favor due to other decks just being better. However, rotation is likely to change all that. With fewer decks to choose from, Chien-Pao ex suddenly looks a lot stronger. Also, Chien-Pao relies on virtually no cards from the “E” block that’s rotating out.

Loser: Miraidon ex

Miraidon ex will likely remain a viable option for players. However, it’s going to lose a lot of power with Flaaffy from Evolving Skies rotating out. It will instead have to rely solely on Energy Accelerator in order to get the energies it needs to power up its attackers, while Iron Hands ex will likely be almost impossible to use.

Loser: Gardevoir ex

Gardevoir ex is losing Fog Crystal, as well as two powerful attackers: Gardevoir from Chilling Reign and Zacian V from Celebrations. While Gardevoir ex is also helped by the fact that Path to the Peak will no longer be able to hinder it, without these two attackers it loses a tremendous amount of relevancy in the current meta. After all, while Gardevoir ex can deal an impressive amount of damage, it’s not enough to OHKO opposing VSTAR or ex Pokemon.

One new card coming out in Paldean Fates, however, will bolster Gardevoir ex. Called Moonlit Hill, players can discard cards and heal their Pokemon. While this will help Gardevoir ex with its matchup against Lost Zone decks, it probably won’t be enough to save Gardevoir ex from virtual extinction after rotation.

Loser: Giratina VSTAR

Giratina VSTAR as we know it today is going to end after the 2024 rotation. But if you are a Giratina VSTAR player, don’t fear: it’s not all bad news. In many ways, Giratina VSTAR will evolve as a deck. It likely won’t be as competitive as it is today, but it will still remain in the top ten, and in some ways it will get stronger.

Giratina’s main loss is due to Path to the Peak, but that’s also its main gain. To be so cutting edge competitive, Giratina has had to run several copies of Path to the Peak to shut off abilities from other strong decks. However, Path to the Peak has also somewhat hindered its own ability. For example, Lumineon V is no longer included in this deck to assist with pulling the all important Colress’s Experiment supporter.

Players will be forced to incorporate two Prize Pokemon with abilities like Lumineon V that could ultimately increase this deck’s consistency and help it rise once again to the top of the heap.

Winner: Charizard ex

Charizard ex will see a few cards leave its roster, like Level Ball and Celebrations Mew. However, without Path to the Peak to slow it down, it will likely burn all the brighter.

Loser: Snorlax Stall

Snorlax Stall is going to lose several key cards. While these aren’t necessarily going to cut it to the quick, it’s likely it will fall out of favor as a top Pokemon deck. Without Cross Switcher, for example, players will have considerably less ability to offset their opponent’s board.

Loser: Roaring Moon ex

Right now, the strongest Roaring Moon ex deck relies on Galarian Moltres from Chilling Reign to accelerate energies. Players will have to look elsewhere for a strong secondary attacker, however, as that Moltres will be rotating out along with the rest of the “E” block cards.

Winner: Lugia VSTAR

With all of these changes from 2024 rotation, it’s quite likely we will see a resurgance in popularity of Lugia VSTAR. Without Path to the Peak to hinder it, and with so many other strong decks rotating out or taking hits, Lugia VSTAR passes through the gauntlet relatively unscathed by the changes, with a plethora of secondary attackers to handle most situations.

Loser: Entei V with Iron Valiant

The popular Iron Valiant focused Entei V deck is likely to not survive rotation, given its reliance on the powerful attack, Yoga Loop via Medicham V. It’s quite likely that players will find another way to build this deck using most of the existing mechanics, but the loss of Medicham V is hard to overcome.

Neutral – Lost Zone Box

Lastly, we have Lost Zone Box. This deck has been a pesky powerhouse since its release in Lost Origin, and it’s likely to remain a top tier deck well after rotation. Its main hit is that it’s going to be losing the Kyogre mechanic from Celebrations. However, Kyogre isn’t the backbone of this deck’s strategy and more of a convenient late game play (if it works out). I’m sure Lost Zone players will find another attacker to work with.