Ruling Legality of Reprinted Cards

[GodzardX]

I'm a little confused with the formats since I haven't joined any competitive TCG matches ever since I came back to TCG. In Standard, there are sets that are rotated right? But what if I have a card from an older set but was reprinted in a set that's currently in standard? Can I use that card in Standard?

For example, I have an XY base Xerneas. It's the same card but with different art from the STS Xerneas. Will I be able to use that card in place of the one from STS? Or should I need to have the proper card from the set currently in Standard rotation?

 

[bbninjas]

Moved from the TCG Help to the Ask a Professor forums as the OP is asking more of a rulings question. ~bbninjas

 

[My Little Keldeo]

If a card has been reprinted in a set that is currently legal in Standard, then any print of that card may be used, even if the older print is from a set that is not legal. This applies to Expanded as well. For example, the Volcanion deck which I played this past weekend at Florida Regionals included two copies of Switch from Base Set. Since Switch has been reprinted several times over the years, including in multiple Standard-legal sets, this was a perfectly fine thing to do, and I got to show off my old-school cards.

Be aware however that some reprinted cards have received erratas, meaning their effect was changed, either drastically or only slightly. For most of these cards you will need to have a current print to the side of your playing field as a reference, though you can include old ones in your deck. This is almost always for Trainer and Energy cards. This is not the case for Xerneas XY, which you have posted.

Also, you cannot use a Base Set Computer Search in Expanded. You must use the Boundaries Crossed ACE SPEC print.

 

[TheGuardian118]

Just as a follow up, what would you put on the deck list that is submitted at some of the bigger tournaments?

Using the Xerneas above example, would you put:

1 Xerneas XY 96/146
1 Xerneas STS 81/114

OR

2 Xerneas STS 81/114

I'm assuming the first one since each one does indeed have a different number. However, since the XY set is rotated out that means that the team reviewing the decks need to know each and every Pokémon that was reprinted exactly the same, which makes me thing the second would be what the team reviewing the deck lists would prefer.

I know it doesn't matter for trainers or energy since you don't need to put the numbers or set normally.

Edit: If this is something that should be a new thread, please let me know so I can do so next time. It just seemed like a natural follow up to this question so I added it here.

 

[My Little Keldeo]

Pokemon from different sets must be listed separately on a decklist, even if they are two prints of the same card. This even applies to tw prints of a card from the same set, such as a regular art and full art version of a Pokemon-EX . You still list the set abbreviation and collector number of the rotated card if you are using it on your deck (Xerneas XY 96 in our example). The tournament staff will more than likely know that the card has been reprinted by memory (keep in mind most of us Professors are competitive players ourselves ), and if there is any question this is something that can easily be looked up without disrupting the tournament.

This only applies for Pokemon. Trainer and Energy cards do not require the set abbreviation and number on the decklist. Going back to the Switch card I mentioned, if my deck included one copy of Switch from Base Set and one copy from XY, I would simply list them together as "2 Switch" on my decklist.