Have you ever wondered what it could be like if Pokémon had a Base Set-on format, with a ban list? Wonder no longer! The Eternal format aims to be exactly that—a pseudo-Unlimited format, but without all of the complete brokenness of the official Unlimited format.

Because of the limitations of PTCGO, all games in the Eternal format will be played using Untap.in.

Format Description

In the Eternal format, all cards released from the original Base Set through the most recently released, tournament legal set are legal, excepting those which appear on the list of banned cards below.

Banned Cards

The following cards (and any alternate printings of these cards) are banned in the Eternal format:

Other Restrictions and Rules
In addition to the official rules concerning deck construction limitations imposed on the Expanded format (e.g. Professor Sycamore, Professor Juniper, Professor’s Research cannot be in the same deck), there are a few additional deck construction limitations in the Eternal format.

• A deck may contain either Crushing Hammer or Energy Removal 2.

• A deck may contain up to 4 copies in any combination of the following cards (of any print):

  • Clefairy Doll

  • Mysterious Fossil

  • Claw Fossil

  • Root Fossil

  • Robo Substitute Team Flare Gear

  • Lillie’s Poké Doll

• Cards in a deck must always be played with the text of its newest print in mind, including any changes to card designations or other card restrictions. For example, this means that Master Ball G1 116 may be used in place of the Ace Spec Master Ball card from Plasma Blast, but it must still be treated as an Ace Spec and its effect is now “Search your deck for a Pokémon, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Shuffle your deck afterward.” Follow any official errata.

• For any card effect referring to a Trainer card printed on a card before Diamond & Pearl base set, any sub-class of Trainer card is affected, including Supporter cards, Stadium cards, and Trainer (Diamond & Pearl / HeartGold & SoulSilver era) or Item (Black & White onward) cards.

• Any card printed in or after Black & White base set that refers to an “Item card” and any card printed in the Diamond & Pearl era or HeartGold & SoulSilver era that refers to a “Trainer” card can target any Trainer card printed without a “Supporter” or “Stadium” card designation as if that card were an Item card (provided that the target Trainer card does not have a newer print that designates it as a Supporter or Stadium card). (See this Compendium Ruling.)

• Any card from the Diamond & Pearl era or HeartGold & SoulSilver era that is designated as a Supporter, Trainer, or Stadium card can be targeted by the effects of cards printed before Diamond & Pearl base set and in and after Black & White base set that target Trainer cards, even if that card has not been reprinted with the current Trainer card designation. Treat Trainer cards from before Black & White base set not designated as Supporter cards or Stadium cards as Item cards.

• Any cards from the Diamond & Pearl or HeartGold & SoulSilver era that target “Trainer cards” should be read as targeting “Item” cards.

• Any Pokémon printed before Black & White base set that refers to itself by name should be interpreted as saying “this Pokémon.” For example, Gyarados HS 123’s Thrash attack reads, “Flip a coin. If heads, this attack does 30 damage plus 20 more damage. If tails, Gyarados does 20 damage to itself.” This should be interpreted as, “Flip a coin. If heads, this attack does 20 more damage. If tails, this Pokémon does 20 damage to itself.” (In short, follow this Compendium ruling.)

• When the effect of a card printed before Black & White base set tells you to remove damage counters from your Pokémon, interpret that as to "heal" your Pokémon. This means that the effects of these cards would be prevented by effects like Bronzong NXD 76's Heal Block ability.

• If not otherwise printed on the card, always treat Weakness as x2 and Resistance as -30.

Entry Requirements

Entry is free for all participants. You must be on the JustInBasil Discord Server in order to participate as this makes communication between participants and the tournament organizer simpler. You can join the JustInBasil Discord Server here.

You must submit a legal deck list prior to the end of tournament check in. Submitting an obviously illegal deck list will get you dropped from the tournament.

Prizing

Prizing for the tournament will be dependent on participation in the tournament and will be announced on the JustInBasil Discord around the start of the tournament, once the official number of participants is known. Prizing (with 8 participants) will be as follows:

1st Place: 8 SIT Codes
2nd Place: 4 SIT Codes

Notice: Players who fail to be present on the Discord server during the course of the tournament will be ineligible to receive any prizing they might have otherwise won.

Structure

The structure of phase 1 will be Swiss, with 30-minute best-of-1 rounds. The number of Swiss rounds will be determined by the official Pokémon Tournament Handbook's guidelines. There must be 9 or more participants for a top cut. Top cut, if there is one, consist of 50-minute best-of-3 rounds. The tournament will have open deck lists, with deck lists becoming visible to other players at the start of round 1.

Players who fail to check in will receive a round loss. Players who fail to check in for two subsequent rounds in a row will be disqualified. All incomplete games at the end of a round will be recorded as ties.

All games should be sent as Standard format with match timers enabled.

Penalties

Always be respectful when conversing with tournament staff, other tournament participants, and other non-participating members of the JustInBasil Discord server. Failure to maintain proper sportsmanlike behavior will result in disqualification.

Also, because of the nature of these alternate formats, it is possible that you or your opponent may accidentally include illegal cards in your deck. Please review the Illegal Deck Process article on justinbasil.com to familiarize yourself with what to do in such a situation.