Prerelease cards are reprints of one selected card from a Pokémon Trading Card Game expansion with a foil "PRERELEASE" stamp in the bottom right corner of the card illustration.
Information
Wizards of the Coast first produced Prerelease cards when the TCG was first localised, and were given to participants of the early test leagues of what would later become the Pokémon League. Prerelease cards were then only awarded through select sites of the Pokémon League for the next three expansions before Wizards ceased their production. After Pokémon USA acquired the TCG license and fully established the Pokémon Organized Play program, Prerelease events were set up to coincide with the release of the upcoming expansions. Typically held on two weekends before the commercial release of expansions, Prerelease tournaments have continued to be an integral part of the TCG calendar.
Trivia
Officially, there were only 4 Prerelease cards released by Wizards. However, whilst printing a test run of Jungle Clefable cards (a trial of the Prerelease cards for the Pokémon League), several Base Set Raichu cards were erroneously added to the sheet, and therefore also included a Prerelease stamp. The error was corrected and the Raichu cards were apparently given to Wizards employees. Despite this common knowledge within the TCG community, Wizards continued to deny their existence for years.
Luxio was the first Prerelease card to have a "STAFF" stamped version, for the Prerelease event organizers. Cards released thereafter have continued to feature STAFF versions as well as a normal version.
Buck's Training was the first non-Pokémon Prerelease card.
With the release of HeartGold & SoulSilver, Prerelease cards no longer feature the "PRERELEASE" stamp, and instead feature the expansion logo. Also, ever since the release of HeartGold & SoulSilver, all of the cards have been Rare cards in the set.
Starting from the Dark Explorers expansion, all Prerelease cards were actual promotional cards and featured alternate art.
Card lists
Wizards Prerelease cards
No.
Mark
Card name
Type
Rarity
Promotion
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[[Image:RegMarkRaichu.png|x18px|link=Standard format (TCG)|Raichu]]