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The Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion Destined Rivals launches later in May 2025. Here’s our overview of the set, so you know what to expect, and our picks for the best cards based on a varying criteria.

The coolest Pokemon Trading Card Game Destined Rivals cards 2t6r3x

Is it weird to just say aesthetics? The Illustration Rare cards featuring trainers with their star partners are inherently compelling. Even other special partner cards look good. Heck, we’re big fans of the Elite Trainer Box with its flat black-and-red design and would have loved card treatments to match.

But even outside of looks, there are fundamentally cool cards in here. Lots are built around the Team Rocket faction, with underhanded tactics and their signature creatures. Thankfully, this time it isn’t relying upon indicating creatures are “mistreated” by giving them low HP and making them nearly useless? You still see some bad sportsmanship, though. Spidops likes to gang up on you. Houndoom burns and confuses simultaneously. Ampharos punishes opponents’ evolution with damage counters. Hypno mind-controls the opposing bench to swipe at its active pal. That’s not mentioning the dark faction’s, uh, Darkness Pokemon? Nidoking poisons for eight times the usual amount. Arbok has an ability to stop other abilities from entering play and swings its tail for a bunch of splash damage. There’s Muk, Crobat, Weezing, Sneasel… truly a lot to choose from here.

There’s also a dedicated Team Rocket Energy card, providing two Darkness or Psychic energy. With it, the super-strong Mewtwo ex can hit hard! The downside: you have to get at least three Rocket cards on the bench before it can hit at all. Even some out-of-type options use it well, like Moltres ex, which is happy to use it to fuel its normal attack, but can also Thanos-snap its foe to the discard pile with one.

There are 11 Team Rocket Trainer cards in the set, most with effects that you’re used to, but slightly better with the faction restriction. The Stadium lets you draw two cards a turn, offering the foe nothing unless it’s a mirror match. Its Great Ball always catches something, but evolution or basic is a coin flip. Its dedicated Transceiver lets you choose which one of these you want from your deck. Our favorite combo, though? That’s Team Rocket’s Wobbuffet and Orbeetle. Orbeetle lets you move around damage counters at will, while Wobbuffet’s attack transfers counters from one bench creature to the opponent.

The most interesting Pokemon TCG Destined Rivals cards 3b4n5g

The set’s focus on trainer’s Pokemon means that each essentially gets its own theme deck, cards designed to work together for a particular strategy. The Team Rocket collection is larger, and we hope that it might get more in the future. But the rest? This is probably what we’re getting.

Gold and Silver protagonist Ethan and recent companion Arven might be the headliners. Arven has a Mabosstiff, a Toedscruel and a Greedent, with no particular energy required and a dedicated sandwich item for efficient healing. It’s flexible, but may need an external centerpiece. Ethan’s party would only look nostalgic if you accidentally caught and used a ton of Fire types, with only a Pinsir and Sudowoodo with colorless attack options. He gets a dedicated Trainer to search for Pokemon and energy, and his Typhlosion’s attack needs you to have adventured as much as possible (into the discard pile) to really hit. His Ho-Oh is the star, speeding up your energy ramp and managing a decent attack in a pinch.

Gym leaders Misty and Marnie as well. Misty stays within her Water type and is the only one to not get a dedicated Trainer card to assist, so there’s not a lot her Lapras and Gyarados can do to get your attention. The art’s fun, at least? Marnie similarly sticks to the darkness, running the Grimmsnarl, Scrafty, Liepard and Morpeko lines. They’re not fancy, but they’re built to quickly attack and get a lot of energy cards attached, so we could see someone making good use of them.

Hoenn champion Steven and Sinnoh champion Cynthia round out the selection. Cynthia’s all about getting her Garchomp out and dealing a ton of damage while refilling your hand in the process. Her other Pokemon are essentially unplayable and don’t have a lot of synergy, but that Garchomp might be good enough to play anyway. Steven’s works a bit better, with a dedicated defense boost from Carbink, stadium card Granite Cave and an energy acceleration sweeper in his Metagross ex.

The most meta-relevant Pokemon TCG Destined Rivals cards 383e3f

Because of the trainer’s connection, a lot of cards in this set don’t work universally. But hey, some do? Team Rocket’s Petrel is a functional reprint of Skyla, a popular er card that lets you search for any Trainer card you want. That’ll be welcome for a lot of decks, no matter the strategy. The new Shaymin shields much of your bench from your opponent’s attack damage, but that would need to be a counter to a particular strategy to become competitive. There’s a new Rapidash with card draw, but a Stage 1 is a hard sell as a utility. Finally, Yanmega ex loads itself up with energy to attack when it swaps in, but then has to ship that energy to a benched creature. It could deal the final blow, or it could set up another fighter really quickly.

The cutest Destined Rivals cards 1l4n5d

It’s tougher to find these in this set! After all, so much of the cards are Pokemon at work, either as elite fighters for champions or prisoners of an evil gang. But they’re here if you look! Growlithe is sticking out its tongue in the woods. It’s hard to tell what Cetoddle and Breloom are up to, but they’re certainly having a good time. Even Misty’s Psyduck is having a rare no-migraine day and loving a lounge by the pool.

The Pokemon Trading Card Game Scarlet & Violet: Destined Rivals expansion launches May 30, 2025.

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Scarlet & Violet: Journey Together, the new Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion set, focuses on the return of specific trainers’ Pokemon and their particular game strategies. Looking to find the best cards of the set? We’re here as always to help break it down.

The coolest Journey Together cards 4b6r1w

We see a couple of entries in our favorite category, “legendaries you can get as uncommons,” in Virizion, Articuno and Regice. Pulling a cool creature more times in a pack is just good, and though these three lack the sort of powerful attacks you’d want for a constructed deck, they each have some really handy moves for a limited format. Seeing as we’d love to see more attention to that format in the Pokemon TCG, it’s great that they’re at a rarity that means they’ll get pulled in that context more often!

From a visuals perspective, we love to see different art styles and approaches on even the normal cards, and there’s a ton of that to appreciate in Journey Together. We especially like the Metapod, Karrablast, Cubone, Kecleon, Ludicolo and Iono’s Voltorb. The Illustrator Rares are always great, but we like that there’s something interesting to look at without cracking a ton of packs just to get one.

The most interesting Journey Together cards b205l

The new Meowscarada line is intriguing, as it uses all-colorless attacks. The final evolution in particular, though, is what makes it worth a look. Its power lets it swap into the active spot whenever it wants, and then slap an opponent’s ex Pokemon for 180 damage with just two energy.

There’s also an effort to make burn more of a viable strategy. Magmortar increases your burn damage by 30, while Volcanion ex makes for a strong attacker but also can use its power to burn the opponent every turn it’s out in front. Finally, though its Stage 2 status makes it unlikely to see play, Ludicolo uses its Vibrant Dance ability to give all your creatures 40 more HP, and that’s a fun idea.

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The set’s Tapu Koko ex makes for an effective sweeper. Its Linked Lightning attack deals a base 60 plus 20 for each of your benched creatures, and it does it at just two energy, meaning you can get that 160 up and running fairly quickly. The flexible Brock’s Scouting er lets you pull either two Basics or one evolution from your deck. A new special energy card shows up, too, and it’s a versatile one. Spiky Energy provides just one colorless, but it also deals 20 recoil damage to the opponent if it attacks you. Handy!

Alcremie ex might be a good bench utility despite its evolved status, as its ability can heal anything for 30 once a turn. Toedscruel is similarly intriguing, as it lowers all your retreat costs by two and can effectively let you swap around your Pokemon at will. A beneficiary of that strategy could be Magearna? If you move it into the active spot, place an energy on another creature and then move it back out to attack, you can use its ability to get 90 HP healing along the way.

The cutest Journey Together cards 3v6n64

There’s a decent pool of options for cutest cards in this set, a welcome change from the last few expansions. It’s not hard to make Sprigatito cute, but the one here lounging in its bed certainly qualifies. Togedemaru is also an easy mark. The sleeping Komala is a friend, and so is Skwovet chowing down. In of Illustrator Rares, Lillie’s Ribombee captures a moment well, and Furret is just a good little bud.

The latest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion, Scarlet & Violet: Journey Together, launches March 28, 2025. Check out our Pokemon TCG archive for more about the game, including an overview of this latest set.

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Trainer’s Pokemon have long been a feature of the Pokemon Trading Card Game, tracing back to the first generation’s Gym Heroes expansion. Still, it’s been a while since we’ve seen them in quite this number! Journey Together is built around four trainers from recent generations: N, Iono, Lillie and Hop.

Iono, the Paldea gym leader, has previously been the reason for a jump in demand for Pokemon TCG releases, so her inclusion here makes sense. Her iconic partner, Bellibolt, gets a starring role as her ex with a big 230-damage attack. That said, it’s maybe better as a ing creature. Its ability lets you play as many energy to Iono’s Pokemon as you want, which is amazing, and its attack can only be used every second turn. But maybe it’s a finisher.

Weirdly, we think Iono’s Voltorb might be better unevolved? The Electrode has some normal moves and an explosion that takes it out and is a coin flip whether it takes the opponent with it. Voltorb, conversely, has an attack that increases in damage by 20 for every electric energy on your Iono’s Pokemon. Also, the art is just way cooler. It’s ed by a Kilowattrel that can discard an energy to draw up to six cards every turn, and a Stadium card, Levincia, that lets you retrieve those energy to your hand.

Hop, the companion character from Sword & Shield, may seem like a sort of boring choice given his cadre of creatures. But in practice, that’s sort of fun? The whole group is helped by effects and Trainer cards to make some otherwise-middling attacks a bit better. Hop’s Snorlax is key to the whole group, with an Extra Helpings ability that increases attack damage by 30. The Postwick stadium does the same thing, and though you can’t use multiple Extra Helpings effects at the same time, it can stack with Postwick. And his own Tool card, Hop’s Choice Band, once again increases damage by 30 while also decreasing energy cost by one.

Hop’s Zacian ex is his sweeper, with a one-energy attack that can do 30 to the active opponent and a bench target at the same time and a four-energy attack that again only works every two turns. His Corviknight can also deal damage to the active and bench simultaneously. And his Dubwool can move something to the active spot when it’s played.

Lillie’s Journey Together Pokemon largely seem built to bring back the idea of Fairy Pokemon to the TCG without, you know, actually bringing them back. Lillie’s Clefairy gives all Dragons a Psychic weakness, restoring the role of Fairy type as the foil to that dominant opposition. Well, it was dominant in the video games? With its double energy type requirements, dragons haven’t exactly been in charge of the card game recently, especially without Double Dragon Energy. She also gets the benefit of Lillie’s Pearl, a Tool card that makes her Pokemon pay out one fewer Prize card.

Lillie’s Ribombee lets you lure out basics from the opponent’s hand, which combos well with Clefairy’s attack: Full Moon Rondo, which does 20 extra damage for each creature on both benches. But truly, that attack is basically the only usable one in the bunch! So it’d be hard to build a deck around just it.

The star of the Journey Together collection clearly is N, though. The Black & White character ties Hop for the most representation in the set with 13 distinct cards, and they’re all across the energy and power spectrum. His iconic partner, Zoroark, is here, though it really could use some help. Its Ability lets you discard a card to draw two every turn, and its two-energy Night Joker attack lets you use a benched N’s Pokemon’s attack. That attack could be Virtuous Flame, a 170-damage move from Reshiram that otherwise requires four energy of two additional types. Or Powerful Rage, its other move, that attacks for double its current damage.

It could also be an attack from N’s Darmanitan, which can use Back Draft and deal 30 damage for each energy in the opponent’s discard pile. That could be effective later in the game? And since that attack in particular is colorless, it solves a bit of N’s energy problem: you need to build around Zoroark and feed it darkness energy, but that likely means not running the types for Reshiram to attack on its own, so there are going to need to be times when someone else can attack in a pinch.

In of Trainers, N has two helpful ones. N’s Castle is a Stadium that negates his retreat costs, and Item card N’s PP Up lets you play an extra energy from the discard pile. He also has a smattering of other Pokemon that don’t synergize particularly well, like Joltik and Purrloin and Klinklang.

While more Trainer’s Pokemon are on the horizon in sets, these are likely the only ones for these specific trainers anytime soon, so it’s highly doable to judge whether they’ll be strong enough to play as a group. In our estimation, that’s… basically everyone but Lillie. Sorry, Lillie? There’s not a lot of room for deck-building creativity, as the other three sort of have one viable configuration and strategy, but still.

The latest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion, Scarlet & Violet: Journey Together, launches March 28, 2025. Stay tuned to Siliconera for a breakdown of the set’s best cards, or check out our Pokemon TCG archive for more about the game.

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The Pokemon Company announced that the Pokemon TCG Prismatic Evolutions cards will be resold in Japan. The latest expansion pack in the popular card game experienced an availability issue due to its high demand. [Thanks, Hobby Watch!]

The two sets of Pokemon TCG booster packs that will return to Japan are the “Terastal Fes ex” and “Battle Partners.” These are the Japanese equivalents to the Prismatic Evolutions set that include creatures from the latest Pokemon Scarlet and Violet games. The Terastal Fes ex packs include 10 cards per pack for 550 yen (~$3.53) and Battle Partners offering 5 cards per pack for the price of 180 yen (~$1.15.) Both card sets can be expected to receive its re-release in Japan sometime from late February to April 2025 and onwards.

As a reminder, the Pokemon Company intends to solve this availability issue for international players as well. However, the new print of cards will only be available in Japan for the time being. More information about the international prints of the Pokemon TCG Prismatic Evolutions will appear in the future. The next Pokemon TCG expansion was recently announced, and it is the called Scarlet & Violet Journey Together.

The Pokemon TCG Prismatic Evolutions expansion pack will be resold in Japan with new card prints starting to appear sometime between late February and April 2025.

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Whether you’ve managed to get your hands on packs of the new elusive set or not, there are a lot of Pokemon TCG Prismatic Evolutions cards you might want! As always, though, it depends on why you want them. It’s probably the card game with the highest percentage of collectors that never play, but hey, some of us do! Anyway, let’s get into it, shall we?

The coolest Pokemon TCG Prismatic Evolutions cards 96b4b

The first card we need to mention is the full-art Palafin ex. It's drawn by Tetsuo Hara, the co-creator of Fist of the North Star, and it shows a wild spirit that's not common in Pokemon TCG art. And there's no big manga connection, but we've really enjoyed the works of recent TCG debut Yukihiro Tada. The latest is a cycle of Ogerpon ex cards, and we're big fans of the head-on approach and sharp color work.

We also appreciate the continued trend of legendary creatures at lower rarities to make pack openings a bit more fun. Shaymin, Regigigas, Heatran, Suicune and Groudon all fit the bill this time around.

The most interesting Prismatic Evolutions cards 3l3o42

A first in the TCG, Eevee ex can evolve into another ex card as if it were a normal Eevee. While we sort of wish that were true with all basic ex cards, as it opens up depth and possibilities, it definitely fits into the appeal of Eevee. The ex versions of Flareon, Vaporeon and Jolteon in the set complement this, with each sporting an attack that uses their three types of energy to do massive damage. The other evolutions have three-energy-type attacks too, but they don't overlap in the same way, making them a bit tougher to play together.

The most meta-relevant Prismatic Evolutions cards 4h1en

A new Festival Lead , Seaking, could see some use? Its attack, Rapid Draw, is a one colorless energy move that deals 60 damage and lets you draw two cards. And the ability letting you use it twice a turn? Tempting.

On the subject of card draw, Amarys is a new er that lets you draw four cards instead of the usual three. The cost? You'll have to discard your hand if you have five or more cards at the end of the turn. But since this game is usually about expending resources more than stockpiling them, that's probably worth the risk. Similarly, Larry's Skill makes you discard your hand, but if you're already empty? You get the Pokemon, er and Basic Energy of your choice.

Let’s also cover the new ACE SPEC offerings! ing a suite of reprints is Max Rod, which grabs five Pokemon or energy from your discard, and Treasure Tracker, which fills your hand with Tool cards. Given how strong ACE SPEC cards are, these might not be popular options, but we're sure they have a niche.

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Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Eeveelutions take center stage in of being adorable, but there are a few little pals ing them. The Buneary and Slowpoke are endearing? But yeah, you're probably here for all the Eevee prints. Our favorite is the Elite Trainer Box promo, which shows it asleep on a rug surrounded by toys.

The latest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion, Scarlet & Violet — Prismatic Evolutions, is available in stores starting January 17, 2025. If you’re looking for it on shelves, you might need to be patient; The Pokemon Company International has acknowledged that high demand for the set may lead to shortages, but it says it’s working to print more as quickly as possible. For more on the Pokemon TCG, including an overview of this expansion, check out our archive.

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Surging Sparks, the Pokemon Trading Card Game’s latest physical expansion, has more to offer than just cover star Pikachu. Here are some cards from the set that drew our eye, organized by why you might care!

The coolest Surging Sparks cards 2b4ki

Much like the creature itself, the card for Tera Tatsugiri ex offers a lot but looks on the surface like not very much. Its three-energy attack, Cinnabar Lure, seems like a simple search: look at the top ten cards of your deck and put Pokemon there on your bench. But hey, that can be any Pokemon, no matter the evolution stage.

And it may just be vibes-based for us, but we think the new Bruxish is pretty cool. With 110 HP and an ability that deals 30 damage back every time it’s hit, it’s great as an early-game stall. We like adding a bit of indecision to our opponents’ minds on turn one, setting us up to drive the game’s narrative.

The most meta-relevant Surging Sparks cards n4f5j

We’re expecting to see a lot of use of Latias ex. The Skyliner ability removes retreat costs from Basics, enabling a lot of strategies with quick-switching or active-only abilities. Some trainers could make the cut, too. Tera Orb is an Item-level search for a Tera creature, so if any strategy emerges for one, it’s a logical deck inclusion. Surfer is a two-in-one er, switching out your Active and drawing cards while you do, making it good to draw almost always. Lisia’s Appeal brings the tried-and-true effect of pulling an opponent into the active slot, with the kicker of also making them confused.

There are eight ACE SPEC additions in the new set, and at this point there’s enough variety that only some stand out from the pack. Energy Search Pro lets you grab one of each Basic Energy type in one go, which seems appealing! Megaton Blower is a good counter to decks that rely on Special Energy, as it makes an opponent discard all of those in play, as well as Tool and Stadium cards. And Miracle Headset is a general-use reliable option, letting you retrieve two ers from your discard pile.

The most interesting Surging Sparks cards 4p5o2q

We’re wondering if the new Sylveon ex could be the centerpiece of a deck strategy. Its Tera attack, Angelite, lets you move two opponent bench fighters and all attachments back to the deck, and you can use it every second turn. You’d have to protect it — though 270 HP and a second attack that provides damage reduction is no slouch — but that could really shut down strategies that take a bit of build-up.

Similarly experimental is this set’s Togekiss. As always, the effort to get a Stage 2 out is probably not worth the result, but the Wonder Kiss ability gives you a 50-percent shot at an extra prize for each knock-out. There’s probably some fun shenanigans you could manage if you paired it with the 151 print of Chansey. If you want to get really weird, you can do that too. Tyme is out here making opponents guess HP.

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After a few sets with a shallower card pool, it’s nice to see Surging Sparks return with a lot of options for those looking for endearing little buddies. Marill and Togepi top our list, both in fields of grass and flowers but each bringing their own flavor of contentment to the proceedings. Tandemaus and Maushold are both hamming it up! And it’s not a special art or anything, but Fuecoco just sitting there is enough for us. In of Illustrator Rares this time around, our favorite is Slakoth. The card’s an empty field of grass with one li’l tired bud laid out in the middle. Relatable.

The latest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion, Scarlet & Violet: Surging Sparks, releases November 8, 2024. For more information about the TCG, including an overview of the Surging Sparks set, check out our archive.

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The newest Pokemon Trading Card Game set, Scarlet & Violet: Surging Sparks, has a centerpiece to match the company’s holiday sales ambitions, but with internal competition making its debut, the stakes are pretty high for this expansion. So does it have what it takes to keep the game charging forward?

The cover star for Surging Sparks is Pikachu, a reliable standby that seems ever-present, but hasn’t actually fronted a TCG expansion since Celebrations three years ago. It’s here in its Tera form, making for a card that looks cool if not particularly viable for decks.

It brings with it a batch of Lightning-assisting prints! Tapu Koko searches for Pokemon, Magneton explodes itself to hyper-charge your energy acceleration and Clemont’s Quick Wit offers mass healing. We suppose you could use these with Pikachu, but there are likely better centerpieces to use all these boosts. For example, the new Kilowattrel ex! Any attack that just gets stronger with every energy has a lot to offer.

Taking more of a center stage in the set itself is an offering of Dragon-types. Though some appear in their off-type, like Archaludon and Latias, actual TCG Dragons like Alolan Exeggutor and Tatsugiri benefit from a Tera-type version. It makes sense that we’d see them and they’d potentially be good! After all, dragons in the card game have already been relying on multiple energy types, so the jump to three for a Tera attack isn’t that huge.

We’ve said it before and we hope to keep saying it: getting some high-powered legends at uncommon rarity is just good! This time, we’ve got Registeel, Xerneas, Latios, Ho-Oh, Victini and Wo-Chien. We also get a bit more for the Ancient and Future factions. Gouging Fire, Flutter Mane and Koraidon the Ancient lineup, while Iron Crown and more Iron Bundle and Miraidon variants add to Future. Nothing about them looks particularly game-changing for them, but after being burned so many times in the past by types that come and go quickly, it’s fun to see some sustainability for once.

After a few years of generally trying to get people to play more evolutions, Surging Sparks offers some reinforcement to a Basic-based strategy. Lively Stadium boosts HP totals for them, while Gravity Mountain decreases HP for Stage 2s. Perhaps most importantly, Latias ex has an ability that removes retreat cost from all Basics. Old-heads like us have fuzzy feelings thinking about rotating around Scythers in those OG Haymaker builds, and the prospect of doing that again with all sorts of modern strategies just hits our nostalgia.

Given the theme, it’s also sort of expected to see a boost for Tera Pokemon. The non-ex Terapagos is handy, as a colorless Basic with a one-energy attack to search for three different energies and load up a fighter all at once. New Trainers help quickly search for them and retrieve bulk energy of different types. Still, it feels like the design team still wants those three-energy attacks to be a high barrier to justify the powerful effects.

As Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket preps for its global launch in a few days, we’re intensely curious about the future of the original game. The flash of Surging Sparks, with its much-loved cover star, will probably do quite well this holiday. But what about after that? Stay tuned, we suppose!

The latest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion, Scarlet & Violet: Surging Sparks, releases November 8, 2024. For more information about the TCG, check out our archive.

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The latest Pokemon TCG set, Stellar Crown, brings the world of The Indigo Disk to cardboard, so what are the best cards to pick up? The expansion offers different options for different audiences.

The coolest Pokemon TCG Stellar Crown cards 2q2e2h

Would you believe it if we said the Illustrator Rares are cool again? We say that almost every time, but hey, it’s still true. The art takes aesthetic risks that seem to be too much for The Pokemon Company on its standard-issue versions, and we love to see that. This time, we in particular like the high-wattage look of Zeraora, Joltik and Galvantula, as well as Gulpin eatin’ a whole cake.

In of gameplay, we really like the new Raging Bolt card. One-prize attackers really shine when they have no ceiling, stacking damage with each additional energy until they can take out the biggest foes. Its Thunderburst Storm attack lets you target that damage anywhere you want, chipping away at ers and damaged retreaters as much as you’d like. (Also the art looks rad.)

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We’re intrigued by Kofu, a new card-draw Trainer. The effect is simple enough: put two cards from your hand onto the bottom of your deck, then draw four. It trades the third card draw of a standard friend er for filtering to find what you want! But what makes it most interesting is that there’s a power referencing it. Food Prep, found on Veluza and Crabominable, decreases attack cost by one for each Kofu in the discard. Veluza in particular is most intriguing, since it’s a Basic and could theoretically just attack for 110 damage for free!

Stadium card Area Zero Underdepths was clearly built with Terapagos ex in mind, but could have wider implications too. It expands the bench to 8 as long as you have a Tera in play, allowing for extra bench-multiplied damage for attacks like Unified Beatdown but also giving you room to play a bunch of effects. Terapagos in particular might want to use that space for Bouffalant, which shields 60 damage from colorless Basics if you have two in play.

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New er Crispin really only works in dual-energy setups, but it offers both energy search and acceleration and could be a staple in a lot of decks. It lets you search for two different Basic Energy cards, putting one in your hand and one on a Pokemon.

Running any ACE SPEC card is generally better than running none at all, but Stellar Crown introduces a few more options to let you find the best for your build. Deluxe Bomb puts 12 damage counters on an attacking foe once, useful both as damage and deterrent. Sparkling Crystal makes a Tera Pokemon’s attacks cost one energy of any type less, which is especially useful for those new three-type attacks but generally helpful for acceleration regardless! And Grand Tree, the new Stadium of the bunch, lets each player search for and evolve creatures, even twice in a row, once per turn.

The cutest Pokemon TCG Stellar Crown cards 5l631m

It’s something of a cadre of usual suspects in this set, but that works for us when they put the effort in! Among our favorites are the ever-adorable Fidough, an Alcremie baking up some treats, a starry-eyed Wooloo and an Eevee enjoying nature. In of unusual suspects, the real-world medium of the new Chewtle suits it well! Some Illustrator Rares of note: a sleepy Bulbasaur, a pastel Milcery and a Dachsbun living out its baked goods dreams.

The latest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion, Scarlet & Violet — Stellar Crown, launches September 13, 2024. For more on the Pokemon TCG, including a full overview of this new set, check out our archive.

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After a few sets celebrating its first DLC adventure, the Pokemon Trading Card Game is moving onto the second half of The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero with its latest expansion. Scarlet & Violet — Stellar Crown introduces the world of The Indigo Disk to Pokemon TCG, with Blueberry Academy characters and the legendary Terapagos making debuts. So what does it have to offer? Let's dig in.

Terapagos is clearly the centerpiece of the set, as the legend is the focus of all the set visuals. It feels like perhaps the world of the second DLC adventure only gets a few cameos, so that a subsequent release can focus on those elements. That makes sense to us, as Terapagos brings with it a new type of Tera Pokemon that would really need effort to build a deck around. These ex variants have super-strong attacks that require three different energy types.

Lapras seems like a viable one to us, as a Basic with the ability to search and attach all energy in the top 20 cards of your deck. Galvantula is a harder sell, as its three-energy move is a 180-damage attack that does stop the opponent from playing Items next turn but makes you discard all the energy to do it. Truly, a lot of these creatures may see play exclusively to use their not-special attack instead.

The Terapagos ex itself may be the most intriguing, which is a rarity to see! Usually the face of the set has a big, flashy attack, but it’s rarely a competitively viable one. Its Crown Opal attack does 180 damage (yawn), but it prevents damage from “Basic non-Colorless Pokemon.” So it’s vulnerable to a mirror match — Terapagos is itself Colorless — but it’s protected from a lot of threats in a professional scene that has always shied away from the effort and uncertainty of relying on evolutions.

We mentioned in our coverage of the previous set, Shrouded Fable, that it was nice to see powerful legends and mythics at uncommon rarity. After all, one of the biggest problems of CCGs in general is how much of a pack is instant garbage in most contexts! So making uncommons interesting and fun lowers that percentage a bit. Among those appearing in Pokemon TCG Stellar Crown: Koraidon, Celebi, Diancie, Tornadus, and… Mewtwo! Those of us who have been playing the game since the last millennium can just how wild and fun it was to pull a Mewtwo in a pack, and now that pleasant memory resurfaces a bit more frequently. Excellent.

Speaking of nostalgia! Stellar Crown also features Venusaur and Blastoise, with the former built around shutting down the opponent and healing up while the latter’s about taking hits and dishing them out. The Venusaur strategy could be assisted by the new Hydrapple, which lets you play an extra energy every turn and heal a bit when you do, and a Cradily that flips a coin from the bench every turn to inflict a status effect of your choice. (Of course, that’d be a lot of evolutions to play.)

Even though this is an Area Zero-focused set, don’t expect to see a lot of Ancient and Future appearances. There’s one each, for Iron Boulder and Raging Bolt? Though the factions made some serious appearances in this year’s world championships, it may be a one-time thing as we may be nearing the end of them in the TCG.

The three-energy Tera scheme introduced in Stellar Crown seems to be the new big thing for Pokemon TCG, so we’d expect to see more of these creatures in sets to come. After all, they’ve got to keep doing something until a new game debuts! And hey, we’ve seen worse ideas. It’s a bit of a shame that they never made the type-changing version as relevant as we’d hoped, though.

The latest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion, Scarlet & Violet — Stellar Crown, launches September 13, 2024. For more on the Pokemon TCG, check out our archive.

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Looking to grab some packs of the latest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion, Scarlet & Violet — Shrouded Fable? This summer’s special set is small and specialized, so it’s an especially good idea this time around to know what you’re getting into before you buy. So here’s our attempt to help: a rundown of the best Shrouded Fable cards, regardless of what criteria you’re using.

The coolest Shrouded Fable Pokemon cards 66484l

If you’re interested in Shrouded Fable, it has to be about the Loyal Three and Pecharunt, taking center stage here. This whole set is about Okidogi, Munkidori and Fezandipiti, and poisoning their food with mind control. (You know, when we type it out like that, it seems like a weird theme for a game kids play?)

And they get a ton of art treatments. The base ex versions look nice on the table together, with their binding mochi motif and consistent visual style. There are two separate full art versions of each, and Pecharunt ex even gets a gold version. Their regular forms from the last expansion get Illustrator Rare variants, too. Given the quantity of these and the set’s small size, you’re bound to quickly pull at least a couple of these in boosters.

The most meta-relevant Shrouded Fable cards 444x2x

We’re not sure this will be a big set for the competitive scene, but we could see some cards seeing play! Like Bloodmoon Ursaluna, which is a 150 HP Basic with a three-energy attack and an ability to get two extra energy cards from your hand onto it when it hits the bench. Its attack, Mad Bite, starts at 100 and adds 30 for each damage counter on a foe, so it can two-hit almost anything and really wreck opponents if you’ve got some damage manipulation.

United Wings decks get a new option in Dartrix, for what that’s worth? And Iron Moth and Slither Wing arrive fashionably late for Future and Ancient decks, respectively. But we’re not sure either will make a huge splash, honestly.

New er Cassiopeia, appropriately, is a Computer Search of sorts. Searching your deck for any two cards could be huge! The drawback is that you have to empty your hand first, and we know competitive types love to keep resources in reserve, but you do have the option of holding onto those two finds once you have them.

Finally, there are three new ACE SPEC options: Dangerous Laser, which burns and confuses the opponent; Neutralization Zone, which protects normal creatures from ex and V foes; and Poke Vital A, a 150-damage heal.

The most interesting Shrouded Fable Pokemon cards 2h2b4k

Usually we’re talking about game mechanics in this section, but since Shrouded Fable is such a collector-based set, we’re finding most interesting just how many powerful Pokemon that would usually be rares are found in the uncommon slot. Decidueye, Iron Moth, Sylveon, Slither Wing, Yveltal, Genesect and Kyurem could all have been rares in other sets. That does make opening a pack feel a bit more fun.

In of interesting gameplay mechanics, it’s a bit tougher to find, but we like thinking about strategies with Revavroom ex. This Tera creature is a big beefy attacker like you’d expect, but its second attack? Shattering Speed, a 250-damage attack that discards itself. Note that it doesn’t knock itself out, so you could potentially tank hits or transfer a bunch of damage to it, then have it disappear from play in a boom without giving your opponent any Prizes. It’s probably too much effort to set up, but it’s an intriguing idea.

The cutest Shrouded Fable cards 6x65v

A set primarily themed around using dark powers to possess creatures and make them evil might not seem like the best one for those seeking cute li’l buddies. And… that’s true! There’s both a smaller card pool and a smaller segment of friendly pals than in most releases. Still, there are a few cards of note. You’ve got your Rowlet, your Horsea, your Axew and your Eevee, all at their default very high levels of cute. That’s about it, though!

The Pokemon Trading Card Game: Scarlet & Violet — Shrouded Fable special set launches in various boxed products starting August 2, 2024. Elite Trainer Boxes will be available on August 23. For more on the Pokemon TCG, including our overview of this set, check out our archive.

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The Pokemon Trading Card Game Shrouded Fable set is 2024’s special summer release, which means it’s largely only available as part of special boxed collections. Like 151 and Pokemon Go before it, it’s meant to be primarily for collectors. It builds around the story of Scarlet and Violet’s expansion adventures, and chooses as its centerpiece the new Pecharunt and its darkness-possessed legendary minions.

Given that this premise isn’t “mobile game phenomenon” or “Kanto nostalgia” levels of broad appeal, Shrouded Fable has its work cut out for it. It feels like The Pokemon Company knows that, as it’s introducing a Poke Ball foil pattern in the set to make it feel a bit more special. We're not sure that will be enough for a lot of players to invest, but for now, we’ll just break down what’s here and leave it for you to decide for yourself.

So first? Yeah, Pecharunt and the Loyal Three are here. Base versions of the Three showed up in Twilight Masquerade, so the ones here are all about being poisoned and mind-controlled by Pecharunt. Okidogi poisons itself to power up. Munkidori delivers ex-level strength but only offers one Prize when it falls. Fezandipiti watches on and offers card draw when the opponent downs its teammates. Meanwhile, Pecharunt manipulates from the shadows, switching out its team for free with poisonous side effects.

You can extend its power beyond its three usual subjects with Binding Mochi, a new Tool card that powers up poisoned attackers by 40. With all this poison going around, it’s a good reminder that special conditions go away on the bench and Pecharunt’s switching means you should be able to keep things in control. Still, that damage is going to add up no matter how careful you are. A non-ex version of Pecharunt also shows up as a promo in Shrouded Fable products, instead chaining and punishing poisoned opponents. So, weirdly, Pecharunt might be a Pecharunt counter.

In addition to the Scarlet & Violet DLC characters, Shrouded Fable also sees appearances from other “dark” characters from the franchise’s history. Team Plasma leader Colress shows up on a Trainer card, as does Team Flare scientist Xerosic. And she isn’t exactly evil, but she’s certainly all about the poison, so Janine, a gym leader and Koga’s daughter, gets a er card that accelerates energy while poisoning your own party.

Rounding out the set are a selection of creatures, most of whom fit the theme of darkness and poison. You’ve got Houndoom, Sneasel, Dusknoir, Toxicroak, Crobat, Malamar and more in here to make sure you get this set’s vibe. There’s even an Electric Tera-type version of everyone’s favorite pollution machine, Revavroom!

And hey: that new foil pattern ain’t nothing. It features a hexagon grid with Poke Balls in each hex, and it’s a nice enough look without getting in the way of legibility.

Shrouded Fable, as a set, is on the smaller side, clocking in at 64 cards before the secret rares kick in and 99 all told. This isn’t unprecedented — special sets have been small in the past — but after 151’s full Kanto Pokedex and Paldean Fates’ ludicrous lineup of shinies, it’s definitely an adjustment. But hey, that does make it easier to collect! So perhaps it’s a fun full set project.

The Pokemon Trading Card Game: Scarlet & Violet — Shrouded Fable special set launches in various boxed products starting August 2, 2024. Elite Trainer Boxes will be available on August 23. For more on the Pokemon TCG, check out our archive.

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The new Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion set, Twilight Masquerade, brings the world and characters of Kitakami to the TCG. But which cards are the set’s best? We’ll try to break it down.

The coolest Pokemon TCG Twilight Masquerade cards 71m5b

We’ve been, perhaps, a bit harsh on Tera Pokemon around here, but it’s undeniable that the new Greninja ex is quite cool. And useful! For one energy, it can deal 170 damage and search for any card in your deck, and its second ability is a good contingency choice for when you need to hit two bench targets for 120 instead. Now… is the new type relevant? Not particularly. But it doesn’t hurt anything either.

In of coolest pulls, though? Those are always the Hyper Rares. This set’s selections to get the gold treatment are Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, Bloodmoon Ursaluna ex, Buddy-Buddy Poffin, Enhanced Hammer, Rescue Board and Luminous Energy. The gold looks special with anything, but it’s particularly funny for us to see it applied to street food.

The most meta-relevant Pokemon TCG Twilight Masquerade cards c96b

The pool of ACE SPEC cards is expanding by six with this new set, adding options for players. Legacy Energy is a nice addition for decks that could use a rainbow energy, with the bonus of decreasing the opponent’s prize card reward for knocking a Pokemon out. Hyper Aroma lets you search for three Stage 1s, which would likely need a specific build, but that many searches as an Item has potential.

Speaking of lots of searches! Fellow ACE SPEC Secret Box costs itself and three discards, but gets you an Item, Tool, er and Stadium of your choice. Rounding out the selection is Survival Brace, which lets you survive a one-hit KO; Unfair Stamp, which responds to a knockout with an asymmetrical hand re-draw; and Scoop Up Cyclone, a card that could see use if nothing else as a way to re-play enters-the-field utilities but might get you out of other jams from time to time.

Adding to the ranks of bench utilities is Drakloak, bringing back the old Pidgeotto ability to filter through and draw cards every turn. We also see some potential in Boomerang Energy, which is a colorless energy that reattaches itself when you discard it as an attack cost. Right now, we’re not sure there’s a viable enough of it, but maybe there’s one on the horizon.

The most interesting Pokemon TCG Twilight Masquerade cards 5b5u5w

We’re most interested to see what shenanigans players can formulate with the Ogerpon variants. The Ogre’s Mask card lets you essentially hot-swap the different ex cards from a Teal Mask variant that really needs grass energy to the others that only need one of their type to operate. With type switching not being a huge part of the competitive metagame and these moves not immediately showing their synergy to us, we’re not sure this’ll be great? But it’s certainly a creative attempt.

Also, though we’re not sure it rises to the level of competitive quite yet, the Festival Grounds suite of cards is purpose-built to provide a budget combo deck of its own. Creatures with the Festival Lead ability can attack twice when that stadium is in play. That sounds pretty great, yeah? Well unfortunately, most of the attacks available to them are really weak. But combining Dipplin’s longtime-favorite Do the Wave attack with the color-sharing Thwackey and its Boom Boom Groove ability to search for any card every turn? That might work.

The cutest Pokemon TCG Twilight Masquerade cards 2d6r4c

Grookey just hanging out and having a good time is a definite mood-booster, as is a sedentary but still highly relatable Bellibolt. Eevee and Shinx are always safe bets, but their portrayals here do look quite nice.

We also like when the card art experiments with medium and style. The Ducklett works well for the character, and a knitted Sandygast brings whimsy to a species that can honestly be pretty disturbing when you think too long about it.

As always, the Illustration Rare cards have a much better opportunity to show personality. Hisuian Growlithe hams it up for the camera. Eevee pile up in a living room. Applin play a strange variant of Where’s Waldo in which Waldo is everywhere.

The latest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion, Scarlet & Violet: Twilight Masquerade, launches May 24, 2024. For more information on the TCG, check out our overview of the set or our Pokemon TCG archive.

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As we head into the warmer months of the year, many places around the world are preparing for lots of festivals, celebrating community and culture with food, games and entertainment. It’s perhaps fitting, then, that the new Pokemon Trading Card Game set uses this setting as its focus. Scarlet & Violet: Twilight Masquerade is about masks, feasts and teamwork. Like bright colors? Or maybe just a fan of able content as a concept? This set might have something for you.

The heart of this set — which you may have predicted — is Ogerpon, the masked Pokemon that serves as the center of the story in The Teal Mask. All four mask variants are here, as are basic and ex forms. The big version can even swap masks into its other forms, though we’ll have to see if that ends up being worth it as a cornerstone of a deck build.

Its foes, on the other hand? Yeah, we can see them making an impact. Okidogi, Munkidori and Fezandipiti are all high-HP, one-prize basics with abilities that power them up if you attach darkness energy. If the energy types line up with a strong strategy, they’ll make an appearance as utility or sidekick fighters, for sure. In particular, a lineup of Munkidori on the bench, each moving three damage counters to the other side of the board every turn? Yikes. You better be ready to one-hit KO.

The Future and Ancient subtypes, introduced in Paradox Rift, get a few reinforcements too. Iron Leaves can help Future decks retrieve fallen fighters from the discard pile. Iron Bundle lets you hit-and-run, swapping the opponent’s active when you do. But the real catch here is Iron Thorns ex, with an ability that shuts down the abilities of non-Future heavy hitters.

On the Ancient side, Walking Wake’s double-edged attack won’t make many waves in competitive play, and Scream Tail ex’s opponent-delaying niche is extremely narrow. Brute Bonnet may be the most viable, with guaranteed poison and an attack that adds more injury to injury.

In of gameplay, Twilight Masquerade is more of a supplemental release than one that introduces new ideas. There are more ACE SPEC options now! New and reprinted Trainers fill in the gaps in recent sets’ possibility spaces! We’re seeing a much higher quantity of sidekicks to add to an existing deck than we are centerpieces worth building around. We’re sure one of these cards will break out in a way we’re not anticipating, of course. But nothing about this expansion is meant to stand alone, and that makes sense, because it doesn’t.

While this is nothing new, this set in particular had us thinking about the timing of The Pokemon Company’s TCG pipeline. It’s honestly impressive how quickly the turnaround is from cards’ release in Japan to their international one — it varies, but this one’s about a month — and that’s nice for some consistency between regions’ metagames.

But what about aligning with the video games? This set’s built around The Teal Mask, an add-on that launched last September, and we do have to wonder whether this regional focus would have landed a bit more effectively while eager players were still working through this mini-adventure. This may have resonated particularly strongly with us this time, given the setting itself is built around a festival.

Still, there’s a lot to like about the set’s aesthetics, regardless of timing. The look of all the packaging is built around Ogerpon’s signature teal, which is striking. New Pokemon like Sinistcha and Dipplin reinforce the food and fun theme. And hey, Thwackey’s here to keep the beat! It’s a fundamentally fun and pleasant set, a good fit for these warmer months of the year.

The latest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion, Scarlet & Violet: Twilight Masquerade, launches May 24, 2024. For more information on the TCG, check out our Pokemon TCG archive.

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Manga author and Nichijou series creator Keiichi Arawi announced on social media that he helped create a Japanese commercial for the Pokemon TCG. The short 30 seconds long animation introduces the Pokemon TCG Battle Academy set.

Characters in the commercial are portrayed in the distinct style of the Nichijou manga and anime. Various Pokemon creatures are also featured in the commercial, and these include Pikachu, Sprigatito, Greninja, and Lucario. The video includes no voice lines nor music, and instead opts for using minimalistic sound effects and text in Japanese.

The text shows a character interested in getting into Pokemon cards, but expresses not knowing how to play them. The video showcases the Battle Academy set, which includes items and 4 different decks, as well as rules and guides for easy learning.

You can check out the new Pokemon TCG commercial drawn by Nichijou creator Keiichi Arawi here:

The Pokemon Trading Card Game Battle Academy is a two-player starter set designed to introduce players into the game. The set originally released on July 2020 and has received several revisions and new editions ever since.

The latest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion, Scarlet & Violet: Temporal Forces, will launch on March 22, 2024.

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The new Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion, Temporal Forces, has a lot of interesting cards to check out. But which are the best Temporal Forces cards? As always, it depends on what you’re seeking, so we’ll break it down category by category.

The coolest Temporal Forces cards 6k243s

This answer is the easiest: Ancient and Future Pokemon. The Pokemon Company knew from the start of development that these would be the centerpiece cards of the set, and were unafraid to put some big, flashy moves on ‘em. There are two different printings of Iron Valiant, with one focusing on precise attacks and the other trying to build up a big combo by stacking your draw pile. Iron Boulder ex’s Repulsor Axe fires a warning shot of sorts, dealing 60 damage but adding another 80 if it takes a counterattack. Raging Bolt ex’s Bellowing Thunder deals 70 per discarded attached energy on your team, guaranteeing the final blow against whoever you need.

The best move isn’t flashy at all, though: Flutter Mane has an ability, Midnight Fluttering, that shuts down all other abilities when it’s out front. We’ve seen this sort of thing work very well in other forms, and as a basic with an all-colorless attack option, this is cool even outside of a theme team.

The most meta-relevant Temporal Forces cards 1f195g

We’re probably headed to a competitive scene in which each deck has an ACE SPEC card, and this initial batch gives you a few options to decide which fits your deck of Pokemon cards best. Awakening Drum, which draws cards for each Ancient you have in play, and Reboot Pod, which attaches energy from the discard to each Future, have a clear purpose. And… with the history of these card types, that purpose likely isn’t in a high-level tournament deck. Same with Neo Upper Energy, which s Stage 2 play.

That leaves four viable possibilities for every deck. Master Ball is the no-brainer option, searching for any Pokemon without er restrictions. Prime Catcher lets you switch in whoever you like from both benches, and will likely be the winning play when you deploy it.

The two Tool options are more situational, but could save you from your opponent’s risk calculations in a pinch. Hero’s Cape adds 100 HP, and Maximum Belt lets you deal 50 extra damage to Pokemon ex. As soon as the game starts moving to whatever super-powerful dominant creature type replaces ex, it’ll lose a lot of appeal, but for now? Might be worth it.

The most interesting Temporal Forces cards 2x1a37

We have our eyes on the new Relicanth. It’s going to take a deep dive (ha!) into past sets’ card libraries to find good targets, but the Memory Dive ability lets Pokemon use any attack its previous evolutions know. There are some moves that scale with damage taken, or just generally need more investment than s’ low HP totals would buy time to manage. Memory Dive could make Relicanth a useful bench utility.

The Perilous Jungle Stadium card could also a few decks. It increases poison damage by 20 each time, and we’ve seen similar effects work well in the past. This is meant to aid Darkness decks in the same way its counterpart, Full Metal Lab, does for Metal. The latter reduces damage to steel-types by 30, essentially reinstituting the ability they once had through energy effects.

The cutest Temporal Forces cards 1j1nk

You know, we’ve gotta say: if you’re here for cuteness, Temporal Forces may not be the set for you. After expansions like Paldean Fates, though, maybe your wallet could use a breather?

That said, hey, Yamper is here, looking just as Yamper as ever. This version of the Pokemon card doesn’t have the best actual utility other than being quickly replaced by Boltund for its energy acceleration attack, but looking at it in the art, it doesn’t seem to mind its role very much.

Other notable adorables: Marill and Azumarill enjoying their chill afternoons, Illustration Rare Litten sleeping on a bookshelf, and Deerling presented in a painterly style.

The newest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion, Scarlet & Violet: Temporal Forces, launches March 22, 2024. For more Pokemon TCG coverage, including an overview of the set, check out our archive.

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