*UPDATED* Order all your Sword and Shield boxes and packs at Cherry NOW!
Rest in peace fairy type Pokemon 😞 These pokemon will now be printed as Psychic.
The Pokemon Company announced a bunch of changes as we move into the Sword and Shield era of the TCG plus dropped a brand new trailer for February's set!
Check out the video below and the new developments and get your orders in at Cherry now!
Rule Change: First Turn
At the start of the XY Series, a rule was introduced to prevent the player who goes first from attacking on the first turn. Starting on February 21, 2020 (the date that Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield becomes legal for tournament play), there will be an additional restriction: the player who goes first cannot play a Supporter card on the first turn.
Weakness and Resistance
For over a decade (all the way back to the Diamond & Pearl Series), Resistance has meant that a Pokémon takes 20 less damage from attacks of the listed type. However, Pokémon introduced in the Sword & Shield Series have a Resistance of -30 instead of -20. For example, Zacian V has a -30 Resistance to Grass-type Pokémon. Any Pokémon from a previous series that has a -20 Resistance will continue to be treated that way—follow what's written on the card.
Type Rearrangement
The Fairy type, which was introduced in the XY Series, will no longer be supported in the Sword & Shield Series. Pokémon that are Fairy types in the Pokémon video game series will now generally be represented as Psychic-type Pokémon in the Pokémon TCG.
Card Errata
Several cards will be issued errata, effective February 21, 2020:
Energy Retrieval
(Shining Legends, 59/73; Sun & Moon, 116/149; XY—Evolutions, 77/108; XY—Ancient Origins, 99/98; XY—Primal Clash, 126/160; Black & White—Plasma Blast, 80/101; Black & White, 92/114; Legendary Collection, 107/110; Base Set 2, 110/130; Base Set, 81/102)
Minor text change:
“Put up to 2 basic Energy cards from your discard pile into your hand.”
Lum Berry
(EX Emerald, 78/106; EX Ruby & Sapphire, 84/109)
Minor text change:
“At the end of each turn, if the Pokémon this card is attached to is affected by any Special Conditions, it recovers from all of them, and discard this card.”
Pal Pad
(Sun & Moon—Ultra Prism, 132/156; XY—Flashfire, 92/106)
Minor text change:
“Shuffle up to 2 Supporter cards from your discard pile into your deck.”
Sitrus Berry
(EX Unseen Forces, 91/115)
Minor text change:
“At the end of each turn, if the Pokémon this card is attached to has 3 or more damage counters on it, heal 30 damage from it and discard this card.”
Hyper Potion
(Skyridge, 127/144)
Major text change:
“Heal 120 damage from 1 of your Pokémon that has at least 2 Energy attached. If you healed any damage in this way, discard 2 Energy from it.”
Quick Ball
(Diamond & Pearl—Majestic Dawn, 86/100; Diamond & Pearl—Mysterious Treasures, 114/123)
Major text change:
“You can play this card only if you discard another card from your hand. Search your deck for a Basic Pokémon, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.”
These are considered official errata, so all versions of these cards will be legal for use in tournament play (but older ones will be played as if they had the updated text).
Plentiful Professors
The card Professor's Research will debut in Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield. From now on, instead of giving the card a new name each time, the name Professor's Research will be used. If the card is updated in the future, the new professor's name will appear in the upper-right corner of the card, but the card name will remain Professor's Research.
Pokémon Checkup
A new term called Pokémon Checkup will replace the phrase “between turns,” but it works the same way. After a player's turn is complete, you'll enter Pokémon Checkup before going to the next player's turn.
Recover
Back in the Black & White Series, the term “heal” was introduced. For example, the card Potion says, “Heal 30 damage from 1 of your Pokémon.” Prior to that, it would have said, “Remove 3 damage counters from 1 of your Pokémon.”
For the Sword & Shield Series, a similar term will be introduced for effects that remove Special Conditions. Going forward, this term will be “recover.” As an example, the card Pokémon Center Lady has been updated in Sword & Shield to say “Heal 60 damage from 1 of your Pokémon, and it recovers from all Special Conditions.” It still has the same effect, but now the word “recover” can be associated with Special Conditions just like “heal” is associated with damage.
Reminder Text Removal
In the past, Abilities that could be used during your turn included the reminder text “(before your attack)” to clarify that attacking was the last thing you could do in a turn. Starting with Sword & Shield, that reminder text won't appear anymore. In some cases, that reminder text could cause the text to be incorrect, since there are some Abilities that can be used during the effects of attacks. For example, if you use Persian-GX's Slash Back-GX attack and switch it with Heatran-GX, Heatran-GX's Burning Road Ability activates when it becomes Active, even though that happens during the attack. To prevent this confusion altogether, this reminder text will be removed in the Sword & Shield Series.
