Lets jump into rotation for 2020!
It was announced early that the format for the 2020-2021 Season will be Team Up-on. Due to COVID-19, we do not know when we will see a return to tournament play. Though, it is expected that players will need to practice using this new format. As with any new format we see a few sets leaving the format including the cards in those sets.
This week we are going to look at which important cards are leaving the format this Friday, August 28th, 2020 and how this will change the game. Each day, a new list will go out stating which cards are leaving the format and how it will be affected. Starting from Ultra Prism and ending with the Black Star Promos!
We are going to see almost all of the Prism Stars cards leave to the Lost Zone of the Expanded format. Meanwhile, most of the Ultra Beast Pokemon and support will be going back into Ultra Space and far away from the Standard format.
Buckle in! We got a lot of card that are leaving the format thanks to this year’s rotation!
Ultra Prism
Ultra Prism was the set that introduce Prism Star cards to the format. These were card with impressive effect but could only be limited to one copy of the card per deck. Prism Star cards also brought back the Lost Zone because once Prism Star cards were discarded then they are gone from the game. That is because they went into the Lost Zone.
When Ultra Prism started then we also saw a return to Sinnoh. It seems as if the Ultra Wormholes that brought us the likes of Dusk Mane Necrozma GX and Dawn Wings Necrozma GX also gave us some Pokemon from Sinnoh. Some of these Pokemon saw some usage that really brought some unique plays in the game from turning off abilities and skipping your opponent’s turn.
Below are the cards rotation from Ultra Prism.
Pokemon
Leafeon GX
Mow Rotom
Araquanid
Heat Rotom
Glaceon GX
Wash Rotom
Frost Rotom
Shinx (Evolutionary Advantage)
Luxio
Pachirisu
Rotom
Giratina Prism Star
Lunala Prism Star
Dawn Wings Necrozma GX
Lucario
Weavile
Darkrai Prism Star
Magnezone
Solgaleo Prism Star
Dusk Mane Necrozma GX
Magerna
Tapu Lele
Garchomp
Dialga GX
Palkia GX
Fan Rotom
Oranguru
Silvally GX
Pheromosa GX
Xurkitree GX
Celesteela GX
Lunala GX
Solgaleo GX
Trainers
Cynthia
Cyrus Prism Star
Escape Board
Gardenia
Lillie
Looker
Looker Whistle
Mars
Escape Board
Missing Clover
Mt. Cornet
Order Pad
Pokemon Fan Club
Volkner
Lana
Energy
Super Boost Energy Prism Star
Unit Energy GRW
Unit Energy LPM
Thoughts
When it comes to Pokemon, maybe one of the biggest loses here is Pachirisu. That Pokmeon saw a lot of use in Powerful Spark decks as a way to generate Lightning energy on the bench to all Pokemon who knew the Snuggle attack. The deck didn’t win any big tournaments but was always a cheap favorite to build.
To be honest, a lot of the Pokemon that we are losing as part of this rotation have seen their usage drop one year after Ultra Prism release. Some of these cards peaked in usage but slowly were put away into binders. A good example of this was Dusk Mane Necrozma GX who could saw use because it could hit 230 damage. Though Dusk Mane Necrozma GX’s 190 HP is a negative when Zacian is there with 220 HP and could also knockout Pokemon with an attack that hits 230 damage.
Dawn Wings Necrozma GX also saw some play thanks to the useful Invasion ability. Though, decks have just favored to use more Switch instead of trying to fit in the old rush into the active ability with Air Balloon combo. After all, most people would want to use their bench space for cards that will help them draw or hit hard. Also, it can be hard to get all the pieces you will need for the old “Rush In-Air Balloon” combo.
Maybe one big lost for the format to come would be Darkrai Prism Star. Eternatus V and Eternatus VMAX wouldn’t mind having a Darkness Pokemon that can help accelerate energy by simply being put on the bench. Darkrai Prism Star ability, Nightmare Star, could help push energy on to the board and then use Energy Switch to help move it around. Prior to Darkness Ablaze, Darkrai Prism Star saw some usage in Darkbox Decks featuring Weavile GX. Though, Darkness Ablaze is looking to really push Darkness decks into the next level with Ethernatus VMAX. Though, it will have to do it without Darkrai Prism Star after August 28th.
One card that many people may be glad to see go away will be Oranguru. It seems like this card always get made into something that people would want to use. In this case it was used in stall/mill decks. Oranguru had the Resource Management attack that allows you to put three cards from your Discard to the bottom of your deck. Stall/Mill decks would use this as a way to recycle resources and eventually keep themselves from decking out. In the end, they will great a combo of infinite loop of Chip Chip Ice Axe, Bellelba & Brycen-Man and other things to slowly control their opponent’s deck while milling away.
It is worth noting that now finally the following cards are being rotating: Silvally GX, Pheromosa GX, Xurkitree GX, Celesteela GX, Lunala GX (Sun & Moon) and Solgaleo GX (Sun & Moon).
The cards mention above were all hold overs from the previous rotation and should have rotated in 2019. Though, they were all reprinted in Ultra Prism and thus gained another year of usage. Most of them didn’t see much play outside of Solgaleo GX being used in Ultimate Mewtwo-Mew decks as a way to flood the field with all kinds of Special Energy. Personally, I would be sad to see big original Solgaleo GX from Sun & Moon leave. I had plenty of fun yelling out “Sunsteel Strike for knockout” during the first half of the Sun & Moon era.
We are seeing some staples leaving on the Trainer side. One of the biggest losts will be Escape Board. This Item card found a friend with Jirachi from Team Up. You would look at your top five cards using Jirachi. The little Pokemon will fall asleep but then retreat to the bench thanks to Escape Board. It is unsure if this combo will be possible with Jirachi after the rotation of Escape Board. Maybe Scoop Up Net will be enough to keep it alive.
We are seeing some Supporter Staples leaving the format in the form of Cynthia, Lillie and Volkner. The one that will be most missed will be Cynthia. This card saw a lot of play in the early part as one of the best Supporters we had at the time. Shuffle-Draw six was always highly wanted prior to the printing of Cynthia. Though, as we saw cards like Dedenne GX and Professor’s Research enter the game then it also meant seeing less of Cynthia in decks. It is still played in some decks but mostly ones that want to try to preserve their resources or as another Supporter to help with draw.
Volkner was mostly used in Lightning decks to search for a needed item such as Electropower and an Energy attachment for the turn. It isn’t be used in all Lightning decks but it could always find a home in them.
Though, the story of Lillie is a sad one. It went from being played in most decks as a quick draw until eight on turn one or a nice draw until six any other time to not being played at all. This was all thanks to the new “No Supporter during Turn One” Rule that was introduced at the start of Sword & Shield block. Most people played Lillie for that strong draw until eight effect during turn one. Now that it’s usage depends on a coin flip, why play it when you can use other means of draw if you are going to be the one who play the first Supporter.
Super Boost Energy Prism Star saw some play when Solgaleo GX saw some play. Though, Unit Energy GRW and Unit Energy LPM will greatly be missed by Mewtwo & Mew GX Decks. After all, these Special Energy cards allow them to have more ways to pay the energy cost of their multi-colored attacks.
Hopefully you can use this list to have a good idea of which cards are rotating and what can be done to replace them. Best of luck in your upcoming decks in the Team Up to Darkness Ablaze format!
