Certain cards in the Pokémon Trading Card Game can get banned from official competitions for being too powerful or broken.
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It doesn’t happen often and, to be fair, the game is incredibly balanced because every card can be powerful if used correctly. When cards overstep the mark, however, The Pokémon Company has no choice but to ban them from official events.
For now, no cards are banned in Standard format, but that could change if a card is released that’s insanely powerful.
As for the Expanded Format, these cards are banned in all officially-licensed Pokémon card tournaments:
- Archeops (Black & White—Noble Victories, 67/101; Black & White—Dark Explorers, 110/108)
- Delinquent (XY—BREAKpoint, 98/122, 98a/122, and 98b/122)
- Forest of Giant Plants (XY—Ancient Origins, 74/98)
- Ghetsis (Black & White—Plasma Freeze, 101/116 and 115/116)
- Hex Maniac (XY—Ancient Origins, 75/98 and 75a/98)
- Lusamine (Sun & Moon—Crimson Invasion, 96/111 and 110/111; Sun & Moon—Ultra Prism, 153/156)
- Lysandre’s Trump Card (XY—Phantom Forces, 99/119 and 118/119)
- Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick (XY—Primal Clash, 133/160 and 158/160)
- Puzzle of Time (XY—BREAKpoint, 109/122)
- Unown (Sun & Moon—Lost Thunder, 90/214)
- Wally (XY—Roaring Skies, 94/108 and 107/108; Generations, RC27/RC32)
No cards are banned in the Unlimited format, though.
