The coming year means there’s another rotation looming on the horizon for the Pokémon Trading Card Game (or TCG). This means that some of our older cards will no longer be legal to play in the Standard format, which uses the past two years of cards as its card pool.
Though it might be too early to predict what decks are going to be at the top when old cards rotate out, we can safely assume some of the most powerful cards will remain as staples in the formats to come. With one to two sets remaining, it might be time to pick up copies of these cards before their supply dries up and make them harder to find.
Let’s go over some staples which will see play for 2025.
What Is Rotation?
Rotation is a term in card games where older cards are phased out, to freshen up the metagame and to provide newer cards an avenue to shine. Otherwise, old format staples will continue to be used and will become more expensive, unless the game decides to power creep these older cards into obscurity.
In Pokémon TCG, the current Standard format uses cards with the Regulation Mark F, G, and H, located on the bottom left of the card. If a card has been printed or re-printed with these marks, it also means older copies of it may be played, as they are functionally the same.
For the upcoming rotation, Regulation F cards will surely rotate out, leaving Regulation G and H as playable cards, together with the upcoming Regulation I cards, expected to be released sometime in March or April.
When Pokémon TCG gets its rotation in 2025, cards such as Radiant Charizard, PokéStop, Lumineon V, Snorlax, and Forest Seal Stone will all say goodbye.
So now that we know the concept of rotation, let’s go over some staples to keep in hand!
Iono, Professor’s Research, and Boss’s Orders
It would be cheating to include these three card as most, if not all, decks play at least several copies of these core Supporters. Just having a playset in your binder will ease up deckbuilding in the future, especially if you’re a new player. Professor’s Research lets us dig deep when we need more cards, while Boss’s Orders and Iono are both game-winning cards in their own rights.
Nest Ball and Ultra Ball
In the same vein, most decks run a combination of Nest Ball and Ultra Ball to grab the Pokémon they need. It’s handy to keep a playset of each as well.
10. Latias ex (Surging Sparks)
Part of the most recent set, Latias ex provides some much-needed pivot options for decks that rely on big basics, such as Miraidon ex and Raging Bolt ex. It also prevents our heavy retreat support Pokémon such as Brute Bonnet being trapped in the active spot, causing us massive tempo loss. As big basic decks will continue to show up, Latias ex will continue to see play in these shells.
9. Mew ex (Pokémon 151)
One of the few competitively viable cards from this special commemorative set, Mew ex is a great pivot for when you active Pokémon gets knocked out, as it has a free retreat cost. So we can just instantly promote Mew ex, see where our draws land, and then retreat into our attacker for the turn. Its Restart ability also allows us to draw until we have three cards in hand, which makes it handy for aggressive decks that operate on a low hand size.
8. Noctowl (Stellar Crown)
As more Tera Pokémon are released, Noctowl stocks may keep on going higher. It allows us to search for any two Trainer cards when we evolve it, as long as we have a Tera Pokémon in play. As it comes as a rare, it wouldn’t hurt to grab a 2-2 Hoothoot–Noctowl line, or even 4-4, if you want to future-proof yourself.
7. Squawkabilly ex (Paldea Evolved & Paldean Fates)
A necessary evil in some decks, Squawkabilly ex‘s Squawk and Sieze ability is a great way to get out of a bad hand, should we start the game with one. As it’s only active on turn one, we should dump as many resources as we can through Ultra Ball, use up all our Nest Balls, and more, before we use the ability.
6. Counter Catcher (Paradox Rift)
A powerful card when behind, Counter Catcher continues to impress players for its ability to gust up a benched liability and grab two Prize Cards when behind. Some decks will run at most two copies.
5. Night Stretcher (Shrouded Fable)
Another flexible card, Night Stretcher just allows us to grab any Basic Energy card or Pokémon we need from the discard pile. If we look at it that way, we can think of this as extra copies of those cards, which allows us to play more aggressively, as we can grab these cards again should our main attacker get KOd.
4. Buddy-Buddy Poffin (Temporal Forces)
A godsend for evolution decks, Buddy-Buddy Poffin is the lynchpin of many a strategy, as it allows us to fill up our bench with the exact basics we need so we can evolve them next turn. Most decks that use this card run four copies to maximize the odds of drawing into one.
3. Arven (Scarlet & Violet, Obsidian Flames)
The one defining consistency Supporter of the format at the moment is Arven, with most decks just needing that one extra card to pull off their turn. When decks play Arven, they’ll oftentimes include one copy of several Items, such as Night Stretcher, Counter Catcher, Earthen Vessel, Nest Ball, or even a cheeky Technical Machine Devolution.
If we look at Arven in that lens, it acts as extra copies of most cards we need, as Items oftentimes let us grab the exact missing piece we need. With that said, Arven’s usefulness depends on the strength of Item cards in Standard, and the upcoming Budew from the Prismatic Evolutions set in January may dampen Item-reliant strategies.
2. Fezandipiti ex (Shrouded Fable)
The winner of Card Gamer’s favorite card of 2024, Fezandipiti ex is the breakout staple of the year. With the ability to draw three cards whenever the opponent KOs one of our Pokémon on their turn, it helps us get back in the game, or even cement our lead even further. Once again, Fezandipiti ex will continue to see play until the day it rotates – possibly sometime in 2027.
1. Earthen Vessel (Paradox Rift)
A highly sought-after card, Earthen Vessel has proved useful in most decks, as it’s a surefire way to grab our Basic Energy cards from the deck without increasing our energy density. Being an Item card, it can even be fetched by the all-ubiquitous Arven! As it’s also only been printed in Paradox Rift and has the Ancient tag, it might not see reprints in base rarity in the foreseeable future, so it’s a great time to grab these before copies dry up.
This wraps up our Pokémon TCG coverrage for the year. As 2025 begins, we’ll continue to investigate the upcoming Prismatic Evolutions format, identify standout decks, prepare for rotation, and keep our readers posted on the latest in the world of the Pokémon TCG.
Check out our guide to the top five Surging Sparks decks here.
