Japan's Extra Regulation format, the local equivalent of Expanded, banned Medicham V effective February 20, 2026. The announcement posted January 16 on the official Japanese TCG site and included no explanation for the decision, an unusual move for a card that had barely registered on the competitive scene up to that point.
What Yoga Loop actually does
Medicham V is a Fighting-type Basic with 210 HP. Yoga Loop costs two Energy, places two damage counters on one of the opponent's Pokémon, and if that attack knocks the target out, the player takes another turn immediately, skipping the usual end-of-turn checkup. The attack can't be used on consecutive turns, a built-in brake meant to stop it from chaining on its own.
On its own, Yoga Loop is a slow, two-damage-counter attack that rarely finishes anything. The card's second attack, Smash Uppercut, costs three Energy for a plain 100 damage that ignores Resistance, a normal rate that doesn't explain a ban either.
Two months of silence, then the real answer
Nobody outside Pokémon knew why Japan pulled the card, and reporting at the time described Medicham V as "a card almost no one was using" that got the ban anyway. That changed March 12, when the international Expanded ban followed, effective April 10, 2026, with an actual statement attached: combined with other Abilities and effects that place damage counters on the opponent's Pokémon, Yoga Loop could be chained through a full deck built around exactly that combo, using the extra-turn clause to win quickly once the setup was in place.
Two damage counters isn't much from Yoga Loop alone, but a deck stacking additional damage-counter effects on top of it changes the math. Enough counters from other cards, and Yoga Loop's own two become the last push needed for a knockout, which then grants another turn, which can repeat the pattern against a fresh target. The ban targets that specific engine, not Medicham V's raw stats.
Why the delay matters more than the ban itself
A card getting banned isn't unusual. A card getting banned with zero explanation, staying unexplained for two months, and then getting the real reason only once a second, international ban followed is the part worth remembering. Japan's ruling arrived as a fact with no reasoning attached; the reasoning showed up only when the rest of the world needed the same rule.
For anyone tracking Standard and Expanded legality on cards they're holding, this is the same category of update covered in our 2026 Standard rotation breakdown, format-legality news that changes what a card can be played with, not what the card itself is worth as a physical object. Medicham V didn't get any rarer or scarcer from this, it just can't be played in Expanded anymore.
That distinction is worth holding onto whenever a ban headline lands. A card losing tournament legality in one format doesn't touch its print run, its rarity, or its illustration, the things that actually move a collector's price. Expanded specifically is also a much smaller competitive scene than Standard, so a ban here has a narrower practical effect than a Standard-format ban would, even before accounting for how rarely Medicham V saw play to begin with.
Frequently asked questions
- When was Medicham V banned?
Japan's Expanded-equivalent format banned it effective February 20, 2026, announced January 16 with no stated reason. The international Expanded ban followed, effective April 10, 2026.
- What does Medicham V's Yoga Loop attack do?
Yoga Loop costs two Energy, places two damage counters on one opponent's Pokémon, and lets the player take another turn if that attack knocks the Pokémon out. It can't be used two turns in a row.
- Why was Medicham V actually banned?
Pokémon's official statement said Yoga Loop, combined with other Abilities and effects that place damage counters, could be chained to take extra turns and win quickly, and the ban was meant to weaken that deck style.
