The Pokemon TCG 2026 Standard Rotation is Going to Hit Hard
Photo credit: The Pokemon Company International
Life has many certainties, like death and taxes. Oh, and Pokemon TCG Standard rotation. Every year without fail the Standard rotation happens, and with it some decks get stronger, some get weaker, and some go away entirely.
This year’s Standard rotation – taking effect on April 10, 2026 for in person play and earlier on March 26, 2026 for Pokemon TCG Live – has been officially announced, and it’s going to hit the Pokemon TCG in a big, big way. With the entire “G” block of Pokemon cards rotating out and becoming no longer legal for Standard play, the Pokemon TCG meta as we know it will essentially be unrecognizable.
2026 Pokemon TCG Standard format rotation biggest losers
The biggest and most visible loser from the Standard format rotation is the legendary Gardevoir ex.
Originally released in the Scarlet & Violet base set, Gardevoir ex has dominated the Pokemon TCG meta like no other deck in recent years. No matter what changes the game throws its way, Gardevoir ex only seems to get stronger. Indeed, we haven’t seen a deck with this kind of staying power since the heyday of Mew VMAX for anyone who remembers that hyper powerful and popular deck.
Psychic decks are likely to struggle a bit following the loss of Gardevoir ex’s “Psychic Embrace” ability. They may be forced to rely more heavily on Mega Gardevoir ex for energy acceleration, yet using a turn to attack to accelerate energies is not exactly an apt replacement for doing so on a whim from your discard whenever and however you want.
C’est la vie, Gholdengo ex
If the name of the current series of Pokemon cards didn’t give it away, the Pokemon TCG Standard format is increasingly heading more and more in the direction of powerful Mega Pokemon ex. These Mega Pokemon ex have enhanced HP, often do a ton of damage via attacks, and also give out three prize cards when they are knocked out.
Into this playing field, Gholdengo ex is just a little too strong. With a damage output that’s virtually uncapped, Gholdengo ex has shown its proficiency at slinging one hit knockouts against even big HP Pokemon – something which probably isn’t sustainable for a balanced format with all of these Mega Pokemon running around.
Au revoir, Charizard ex
The other big Pokemon deck kicking the bucket with 2026’s Standard rotation is the infamous Charizard ex. Although not exactly dominant in the meta ever since Dragapult ex was a thing, it’s still been among the top tier for some time. That “Infernal Reign” (pardon the pun) is about to come to an end in April, however, when this legendary deck will no longer be playable.
I guess Charizard enthusiasts will have to actually start playing Mega Charizard X if they want to succeed, and that deck will also change in a big way without being able to lean so heavily on Charizard ex.
Also worth mentioning is the loss of Pidgeot ex – a powerful search engine that paired very easily with other Stage 2 decks like Charizard ex to unlock unparalleled consistency.
It’s been real, Ancient and Future decks!
Although these decks haven’t exactly been mainstays in the meta as of late, it’s still worth mentioning the fact they are rotating out just because they once played a big role in the game. Ancient and Future Pokemon made their debut in the cult classic Pokemon pack, Paradox Rift. Believe it or not, there was a time when these decks were quite popular, with arguably the strongest of them being Ancient Box.
Well, the core cards that make these decks possible ranging from Sada’s Vitality, to Iron Hands, and even to Roaring Moon ex are all going away with the 2026 rotation. Admittedly it’s a sad day to see them go but in this case it’s more of a case of these decks not aging so well rather than them being too strong the way you could argue the previous three were.
While the purely Ancient focused decks haven’t seen much play lately, this also does basically mean the end of more meta relevant strategies like Raging Bolt ex and decks that like to tech-in Iron Hands for extra prize cards.
In a game where you can already get three prize cards from knocking out a Mega Pokemon, having a card like Iron Hands ex around that adds an additional prize to that could be something of a problem, so it’s probably for the best that card rotates out.
Key Trainer cards rotate out in 2026
While the above decks are the overall biggest losers from the rotation – becoming either illegal to play or essentially entirely unusable – a few key cards rotation out could impact the strategies of other top meta decks.
Technical Machine: Evolution
TM Evolution is a noteworthy Trainer card leaving the game in 2026. This card has become a massive boon to Evolution decks and especially stage 2 decks that will do anything to get their board set up a little earlier. Losing this card from the game means decks like Dragapult ex or Marnie’s Grimmsnarl ex losing a little bit of consistency.
However, this isn’t necessarily a loss that will impact a single deck – more just a check on the increasing power of Evolution decks as a whole, helping make basic Pokemon decks potentially more viable once again than they have been in some time.
At the same time, decks like Dragapult ex that actually have very strong stage 1 Pokemon in their evolution line won’t feel this impact at all as those decks tend not to run the TM in favor of just manual evolution.
Iono
The Iono supporter is so Iconic that there’s literally a meme about it (Iono to one, Boss’s Orders for game). However, this longtime staple will fully rotate out of the game in 2026, and leave a pretty big hole as I’m not aware of any other Supporter that can easily disrupt the openent’s hand. After all, Judge is also rotating out, meaning players will have to increasingly rely on Professor’s Research and Lillie’s Determination rather the powerful combination of hand disruption and draw that’s been a core part of the TCG for years.
As a direct result of this, you could see the Unfair Stamp ACE SPEC card rise in popularity for decks that can afford to run it will gain a distinct “upper hand” (pardon the pun again) over those that no longer have easy access to Iono.
Arven
Arven’s been a pretty key supporter for ages, and he will be rotating out. While many decks like to run Arven to find key tools like TM: Evolution and necessary items that include Pokemon search items and Rare Candy, it’s most frequently run in Stage 2 decks that need both.
Earthen Vessel
Earthen Vessel was huge for the Pokemon TCG when it came out, letting any deck search for two of any basic energy, whenever they wanted. While not every deck runs it, many top tier ones do, leaving quite a big hole especially for decks that rely on having energies in the hand to accelerate multiple in a turn, like the powerful Mega Charizard X ex.
Powerful Special Energy cards will no longer be available
In addition to the key Supporters and Pokemon cards leaving the game in April, a few powerful Special Energy cards will also rotate out, leaving a pretty big gap in their wake.
Luminous Energy
Arguably the most impactful loss in the Special Energy category is the versatile Luminous Energy. This card has been very handy for decks that run more than one energy type as it essentially works as a catch-all for any single energy.
The deck that will feel this card’s loss the most will be Dragapult ex – a deck that this energy massively helps make more consistent.
Jet Energy
Jet Energy feels like it’s been around forever, and I remember how much it helped out Lost Zone decks back in the day. Today it’s not massively popular but it’s still handy for decks that can afford to run it. But those decks will have to look elsewhere for switching cards after April 2026.
Pokemon TCG 2026 Standard Rotation Biggest Winners
As you can see so far, 2026’s Standard Rotation feels like a really big one, and I suppose that makes sense given 2025 literally saw an end of an era with Scarlet of Violet wrapping up to make way for Mega Evolution.
With that being said, it’s not all losses, as certain cards rotation out also create an environment where different decks can really thrive. Let’s look at which decks benefit the most from the rotation.
Mega Lucario ex and fighting decks
Fighting decks should get a pretty sizeable boost post rotation thanks to Gardevoir ex finally being gone. While Mega Gardevoir ex could end up becoming somewhat popular, I doubt it will have the same dominance as Gardevoir ex did.
One deck that could end up becoming a top contender is the Mega Lucario ex deck that came out in Mega Evolution. While this deck has seen limited play competitively to date due to an unfortunate weakness to Psychic decks, it has a lot of powerful mechanics and support built-in that aren’t very reliant on “G” block cards.
The upcoming Mega Zygarde ex that will be releasing in Perfect Order also could fair pretty well into the post rotation format with its fighting typing and insanely powerful attacks. You can take advantage of cards like Fighting Gong to subvert the loss of Earthen Vessel to search out energies and Premium Power Pro to enhance attack damage all thanks to its typing.
Dragapult ex
While Dragapult ex does take a decent-sized hit by losing Luminous Energy, ultimately it’s one of the few existing Stage 2 decks that loses the least from the upcoming rotation. It doesn’t rely heavily on Rare Candies, Arvens, or TM Evolutions given its powerful Stage 1 that lets you draw. Luminous Energy also feels like it can be fairly easily replaced by running cards like Crispin again to make energy acceleration easier.
However, the upcoming Nighttime Mine that is releasing in Ascended Heroes feels even more deadly than ever into Dragapult ex. If that anti-Tera type tech becomes popular, you could even see Dragapult ex drop in popularity. As it stands right now, however, Dragapult ex seems to come out of rotation relatively unscathed.
Grass decks
Going into 2026, Stage 2 Grass decks actually feel like they might stand a chance. Many of the changeups coming with rotation that harm existing Stage 2 decks won’t have much of an impact on Grass decks, if any at all. Already Grass decks have access to the insanely powerful Forest of Vitality, meaning that losing Arven to search out Rare Candy cards or a TM: Evolution to expedite evolution has virtually no impact.
Searching out energies is also a non-issue for Grass decks that typically run Bug Catching Set to find both Pokemon and energy cards.
Stage 2 decks like my beloved Hydrapple ex or even the upcoming Mega Meganium ex could do quite well into a post rotation format.
Fire decks
Fire decks are also looking pretty solid going into 2026, although they will change in how they are built significantly. One key advantage that they have at their disposal is the powerful Firebreather supporter.
In the absence of Earthen Vessel, Firebreather can offer a huge advantage to fire decks who will essentially have all the energies they need from playing this card just once. This could work really well into a Ceruledge ex deck that will now have plenty of basic energies to discard via Lunatone as well as into a post rotation Mega Charizard X ex deck that will want energis on hand to accelerate via Oricorio ex.
Basic Pokemon decks
And finally, there’s the basic Pokemon decks. Of all the decks in the Pokemon TCG, Basic Pokemon may actually benefit the most from 2026’s rotation. Evolution Pokemon decks like Gardevoir ex, Gholdengo ex, Dragapult ex, Charizard ex and beyond have essentially dominated the meta for a long while. With so many consistency cards that help evolution decks get set up leaving the game, however, basic Pokemon decks could once again rise to the top.
This is especially true given the soon-to-be released Meowth ex card – a basic Pokemon ex that lets you search out a Supporter from your deck and add it to your hand. While that will work in a plethora of decks, it particularly helps aggro basic Pokemon decks that like to move fast. Being able to access powerful search like this without needing to set up an evolution Pokemon like Pidgeot ex will be a pretty big deal.
Tera Box could also fair well post rotation. Without Pidgeot ex around, the strongest search card is arguably Noctowl and its Jewel Seeker ability, one that fits well into just about any Tera Box deck. If Tera Box gets too out of hand, however, players might just start running four Nighttime Mine Stadium cards to slow it down. But as we’ve seen with similar counter Stadium strategies in the past like Temple of Sinnoh, they’re not always the most reliable at fully shutting decks down since players can just up the number of Stadiums in their decks to stop the counter.
There’s no way to sugarcoat it: 2026’s rotation is going to massively change the Pokemon TCG Standard format. Stage 2 Pokemon decks take the biggest hit, and several top decks forever leave the game. However, creative deck building and problem solving could see fringe strategies rise to the top, and it’s becoming more likely than ever that Mega Pokemon ex might finally dominate the playing field now that players can no longer lean so heavily on older Pokemon ex.
