US Nationals has just concluded and a new season has begun for TCG players! That means we finally know which TCG sets will be getting rotated to start off this new season!
In order to promote a healthy playing environment and encourage players to try out new strategies in the TCG, Pokemon announces which sets will be legal in the upcoming TCG season in the form of a rotation. We now know that for the 2016-2017 season that the format will be Primal Clash-on. That means that cards printed after Primal Clash and Black Star Promos #26 and above will be legal in the 2016-2017 TCG format.
We will see a lot of sets being rotated out with the changing of the format. A lot of popular decks will be rotated out such as Fairy variants involving Aromatisse, Night March, and anything that uses the Sneaky Bite Crobat line.
TCG players are also in an interesting situation as we have not seen an English version for Premium Champion Pack. This set was release in Japan earlier this year where it reprinted a lot of cards that would be rotated out thanks to this rotation. At the time of this article, there has been no news about when or if we will get Premium Champion Pack. Also, we have not heard about if Japan will have one more new set before the release of the set that will contain Generation 7 Pokemon.
In the past, Japan tends to delay their set containing the upcoming new generation Pokemon. This creates a gap in the English TCG release schedule. So in order to keep the English release schedule constant, a reprint set is created to keep American players interested in the game. This situation tends to happen every eleven sets and we are due for one. We may see Premium Champion Pack be used as a base for this potential reprint. This would keep many cards in the formation and hopefully make it easier to collect certain staple cards.
Below is a list of cards that will rotated. An asterisk has been placed next to cards that have been reprinted in Premium Champion Pack that could potentially be used in an English reprint set.
XY Base Set
M Venusaur Ex
Chestnaught
Delphox*
M Blastoise EX
Greninja*
Emolga EX
Trevenant*
Skarmory EX
Aromatisse*
Dunsparce
Cassius
Muscle Band
Roller Skates
Shadow Circle
Flashfire
Charizard EX (Stoke)
M Charizard EX (Fire)
Pyroar*
Magnezone EX
Toxicroak
Forretress
M Charizard EX (Dragon)
Dragalge
Kangaskhan EX
M Kangaskhan EX
Miltank*
Lopunny
Blacksmith
Fiery Torch
Pal Pad
Protection Cube
Starling Megaphone*
Trick Shovel
Sacred Ash
Furious Fists
Heracross EX
M Heracross EX
Seismitoad EX*
Beartic
Dedenne
Lucario EX*
M Lucario EX*
Mienshao
Landorus
Hawlucha EX
Hawlucha*
Dragonite EX
Noivern*
Battle Reporter
Korrina*
Fighting Stadium*
Focus Sash
Tool Retriever
Training Center
Mountain Ring
Herbal Energy
Phantom Forces
Manectric EX*
M Manectric EX*
Joltrik*
Crobat*
Gengar EX*
M Gengar EX*
Lampent*
Pumpkaboo*
Malamar EX
Bronzong*
Heatran
Shield EX
Dialga EX
Florges EX
Slurpuff
AZ
Battle Compressor*
Dimension Valley*
Head Ringer*
Jamming Net
Lysandre’s Trump Card
Robo Sub
Steel Shelter
Target Whistle
Xerosic*
Mystery Energy
Black Star Promos
Charizard EX
Chestnaught EX
Delphox EX
Greninja EX
Champion Festival
Metagross EX
M Metagross EX
Trevor
The 2016-2017 Play! Pokemon season will start on July 11th, 2016. The Primal Clash-on format will be effective on for tournaments on September 1st, 2016. Meanwhile, new sets will become legal for tournament play on the third Friday after they are released in the United States. The Expanded format will remain unchanged but it will be monitored to ensure that a healthy playing environment is kept.
Good luck to all TCG players in the 2016-2017 format and to those competing at Worlds in San Francisco next month!
