Lost Zone in Pokémon TCG: How does it work?

If you own some cards from the Lost Origin set, you might’ve come across those Pokémon and Trainer cards that mention the term “Lost Zone.” 

The Lost Zone in Pokémon TCG is an advanced gameplay mechanic that every player must understand, especially those who want to play Giratina VSTAR deck and the Lost Zone Box.

So, for this guide, we’ll share everything about the Lost Zone, how it works, and other important stuff that you need to know if you want to use it in future matches.

The Lost Zone refers to a place containing cards that are no longer in play. Unlike the discard pile, cards in the Lost Zone can’t be recovered by any card effect in existence, and you can put them face up in a pile. 

Each player can have a Lost Zone pile that is separate from the other zones on their playmat, like the Deck, Prize Cards, and Bench. In other words, players can’t share a single Lost Zone in a game.

Several cards in Pokémon TCG interact with the Lost Zone, particularly those from the Lost Origin set of the Sword & Shield series.

Before a card can be sent to the Lost Zone, it must be triggered by a specific card effect first, such as Colress’s Experiment and Comfey.

While putting cards in the Lost Zone literally means sacrificing cards that you will never use again in a match, some Pokémon cards can benefit from it, like this Cramorant that can attack for free as long as you have four or more cards in the Lost Zone:

Another example of Lost Zone-hungry cards is this Giratina VSTAR that one-shots anyone with its VSTAR Power, Star Requiem:

For the upcoming 2025 Pokémon TCG Standard Rotation, all cards that interact with the Lost Zone will no longer be legal for the format. 

The new rotation will start on April 11, 2025 for Play! Pokémon events, which bans all cards with the “F” regulation mark. Unfortunately, the cards in Lost Origins bear the F regulation mark, so you won’t be allowed to play them in Standard format tournaments.

Nevertheless, you can still build decks and enjoy matches involving the Lost Zone by playing in other formats like Expanded and Unlimited.

Implementing the Lost Zone won’t be possible in Pokémon TCG Pocket, considering the 20-card limit per deck in the game. But if the developers eventually come up with the wild idea of introducing the Lost Zone in Pokémon TCG Pocket, it may become a game-breaking feature that requires lots of adjustments for many players.

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