The following cards, and any alternate printings they may have, are now banned in the Eternal format, effectively immediately.
Eevee SSP 143, Boosted Evolution Eevee, seems innocent enough on the surface. However, in conjunction with a handful of Eeveelutions from the Platinum—Rising Rivals expansion and cards like Po Town, it’s possible to activate a handful of comeback cards, like Iono, Counter Gain and Counter Energy, on turn one.
Not only does this make it fairly easy to use exceptionally powerful attacks like Moonlight Shuriken or Angelite on the Eevee player’s first turn, it also enables early game hand control strategies similar to that of the infamous Amulet Lock, which doesn’t make for engaging gameplay.
Because other, less problematic, yet still powerful Eevee exist in the the cardpool, the loss of this particular Eevee is not much of a loss to the format as a whole.
Giovanni G2 18 is also innocent at first glace. However, when combined with any of a handful of cards like Thorton, it creates situations where it is possible to loop evolution and devolution to abuse effects like that of Giant Fan on Shiftry NXD 72.
To avoid situations like the example that ultimately devolve into watching your opponent play a game of solitaire, Giovanni is now banned in the Eternal format.
Iron Valiant ex PAR 89 has been a primary instigator in a handful of donk strategies in the Eternal format. Because it so easily combines with the very high quantity of cards with switching effects and attacks that allow Pokémon to attack on the first turn going first, Iron Valiant has been on the format’s red list since it was first printed in Paradox Rift.
Now, to ensure the format doesn’t devolve into a turn one donkfest, Iron Valiant ex now moves from the Eternal format’s red list to its official ban list.
Meloetta ex BLK 44 is perhaps the most obvious addition to this list. Its Live Debut Ability is strong, but reasonable in the Standard format.
However, when coupled with the large variety of Technical Machine cards—both of the Tool and non-Tool variety—Meloetta ex has access to a wide (and widening) pool of available options available to it before the opponent even gets a chance to have a turn. This makes this a far more formidable threat than even Latios-EX and Pheromosa-GX before it, earning it a quick spot on the format’s ban list.
Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX BST 88 has proved itself especially potent in the Eternal format meta, being a Pokémon that, in terms of consistency and deck building space, is functionally a Stage 1, with a number of partners and tools like Garbotoxin Garbodor, Cessation Crystal, and Lost City, to make any Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX deck that could eventually get setup impossible to counter for any deck not solely focused on big basics. Similar to its former partner-in-crime Dragapult ex, this card—and, by extension—deck has forced the meta to warp around it.
Multiple attempts at reining in this deck’s power level—including the banning of Green’s Exploration—have proved to be insufficient and unsuccessful. This card was originally scheduled to be banned alongside Dragapult ex in the Surging Sparks ban list update, but after a brief stay of execution, now joins its dragon friend on the list. Especially now that similar but fairer decks exist in the format in the forms of Greninja ex and Salamence ex, it’s time for this card to say sayonara.
Additionally, the following cards, and any alternate printings they may have, are unbanned from the Eternal format, also effective immediately.
Meganium LOT 8 now, and finally, finds itself removed from the ban list. Meganium’s problematic partners have proved themselves to have been sufficiently weakened by the banning of Green’s Exploration, making it a prime time for Meganium to return to the Eternal format.
This unbanning, though not at linked to the upcoming release of Pokémon Legends: ZA (in which Chikorita happens to be an option as a First Partner Pokémon), is a happy cooincidence that just happens to give us more Meganium in our lives.