Pokemon TCG Scarlet & Violet

Our first Scarlet & Violet set will release in English on March 31st, 2023! Usually the set would have released a month earlier in February, but they’re probably trying to make space for Crown Zenith‘s special release in January.

Our English set will feature 198 cards before secret rares. This means it will be a combination of Scarlet ex and Violet ex‘s 156 cards plus its three “Starter Set ex” decks.

For the first time ever, English cards will use the same silver borders used in Japan! According to TPCi, “This change both frames Pokemon TCG artwork in its originally intended border and further unifies the game on a global level.”

A Trainer’s subcategory (Item, Supporter, Stadium) will be moved to the top left of the card to be more visible in players’ hands. Currently it’s located on the top right of Trainer cards.

The name of the Energy will now be featured on the top of the card alongside a new subtype tag for Energy. The Energy symbol currently featured on Energy cards will now appear on the bottom right of Energy cards. This change makes the amount and type of Energy attached to each Pokemon clearer for each player.

Set symbols will now be replaced by set codes, just like in Japan. The code includes the set (SV1) and the language (EN).

It seems our card rarities will also match up with Japan’s. You can see Koraidon ex and Miraidon ex have Japan’s “Double Rare” rarity, which is called “RR” over there. However, our rarities will still be represented as images.

Price increases have also been announced. According to TPCi, “Due to global inflation impacting the cost of materials and production, Pokemon TCG products will see varying MSRP increases in select markets with the launch of the Scarlet & Violet series. For example, the price of a booster pack will increase from $3.99 to $4.49 USD.”

“In an effort to continue providing a positive Pokemon TCG experience and value, each pack of Pokemon cards will now feature three guaranteed foil cards per booster – all cards with a rarity of Rare or higher will now be foil.”

“In addition, certain products will come with additional items. For example, the Elite Trainer Box will include an additional booster pack and full art promo card.”

The booster pack artwork has also been revealed. It confirms a Water-type Gyarados ex will appear in the set as a Terastalized card.

As posted before, Scarlet & Violet bring back the TCG’s original Pokemon ex mechanic, which ran from 2003 to 2007. Pokemon ex evolve from their normal pre-Evolutions, unlike 2012’s Pokemon-EX (uppercase), which were always fully evolved Basic Pokemon. Though Pokemon-EX were inspired by Pokemon ex, both are entirely different mechanics. This means cards that target “Pokemon-EX” do not work on “Pokemon ex” and vice versa.

The big new mechanic of the Scarlet & Violet games is Terastallization. This gem-like transformation causes a Pokemon to become its Tera type. This is usually one of the Pokemon’s normal types (like a Fire-type Arcanine), but it can also be a completely different type (e.g. a Flying-type Pikachu). Terastalized Pokemon wear a crown to indicate their Tera type.

As such, some Pokemon ex in the Scarlet & Violet block will feature a Terastal effect box to indicate they’re Terastalized. Pokemon with this Terastal effect don’t take damage from attacks when they’re on the Bench. This is seen on Arcanine ex below. Its artwork is crystalized to show it’s Terastalized. It’s also wearing a Fire-type crown to indicate its Tera type is Fire.

There will almost certainly be Pokemon ex in the future that feature a Tera type different from its normal type (e.g. a Water-type Charizard). New blocks tend to start off “simple” in terms of mechanics and power because the allure is the new Pokemon. Later, the blocks start to spice mechanics up after all the new Pokemon have debuted.

You can see all the Japanese cards revealed so far in this news story from last night, which features several more that weren’t revealed in English today.