The sections below cover the most common reasons a card or deck can’t be used, including format restrictions, cards you do not own, banned cards, cards not currently supported for active play, and invalid decks.
A deck may be invalid in Pokémon TCG Live if it does not meet one or more deck-building requirements.
A valid deck must:
- Have exactly 60 cards
- Include at least 1 Basic Pokémon
- Not include banned cards
- Not include cards that are illegal for the selected format
- Only contain cards you own in Pokémon TCG Live
- Follow any additional rules for the selected format or game mode
If your deck is invalid, Pokémon TCG Live will show a warning that explains why. You cannot set the deck as active until you make it valid by editing the deck.
Format restrictions, banned cards, and illegal cards
Pokémon TCG Live allows players to play in different formats and game modes, each with its own rules. This section explains how the Standard and Expanded formats, along with the Trainer Trials game mode, affect which cards can be used in Pokémon TCG Live. Cards that are usable in one format or game mode may not necessarily be usable in others.
If a card is no longer legal in the Standard format, this is usually because it has rotated out. Players can either substitute the illegal card or continue with their existing deck by switching gameplay to the Expanded format, provided the deck is otherwise valid, as rotation has no effect on the legality of cards in Expanded.
Some cards are banned from the Expanded format and are not legal to include in decks when playing in Expanded. For example, Oranguru (Sun & Moon—Ultra Prism, 114/156) is banned from the Expanded format. Other Oranguru cards may still be included.
Including a banned or illegal card in a deck makes the deck invalid.
Cards you do not own in Pokémon TCG Live
When building or editing a deck in Pokémon TCG Live, you may be able to add cards that are not currently in your own collection. You can exchange Trade Credits for individual cards in the Deck Editor to add them to your collection.
Cards not supported in Expanded
Some cards that are legal in the Expanded format may still be unavailable for active play in Pokémon TCG Live.
Pokémon TCG Live does not currently support all Expanded-format cards for active play. Backward compatibility plans are ongoing, and phased support for additional Expanded-format cards is expected to begin in 2026.