Pokémon TCG Paldea Cards: What's in the Scarlet and Purple Set

The Pokemon Trading Card Game will release its Scarlet and Violet sets in early 2023, and here's everything fans will expect from the Paldea series.

The Pokémon Trading Card Game will release its 9th generation series early next year, based on new Pokémon from Scarlet and Violet. While the Paldea Collection was announced earlier this year, and players had a vague idea of ​​what they would contain, until now no images had been released showing what promo cards each release would contain. Pokémon TCG: The Paldea Collections is scheduled to launch on January 6, 2023, and will offer players several new options for the cards they can add to their decks.

Although technically, Japan's Pokemon TCG Scarlet and Violet promotional bonus is the first purchasable Gen 9 card, Pikachu and the three Paldea starting Pokémon, the Paldea series is Scarlet and Violet's first set real suit. Often referred to as a preview, the series allows players to experience the content of the Pokémon TCG in the coming months as more sets are released, such as the Scarlet and Violet Base Sets planned for March 2023. The article reveals the final images of the Paldea Collections, giving fans a deeper look at what's included.

Everything Included In Pokémon TCG's Paldea Collections

According to a new post on PokéBeach, when purchasing the Pokémon TCG Paldea Collection, players can choose to center their starter on whichever Pokémon Scarlet and Violet they think is the best: Quaxly, Fuecoco, or Sprigatito. This means there will be some variation between each set, although the majority of the Paldea collection is the same regardless of the original theme. However, according to Poké Beach, the starter cards featured in each set will be new versions of Pokémon that have not yet been revealed in Japan.

In addition to the selected new starter cards, players will also receive promo cards for two other Pokémon starter cards reprinted from the Crimson and Violet sets. Players will further expand their collection with four booster packs, as well as a code card that can be used in Pokémon TCG Online or Pokémon TCG Live. Each Paldea set includes a cute metal pin corresponding to the chosen starting Pokémon.

The Paldea collection also includes a giant foil promo card for Pokémon Crimson and Violet Legends Koraidon and Miraidon. Poké Beach speculates that this means there will actually be six different Paldea series to choose from, although only three are shown in the new images. This builds on how the previous Galar Collections releases allowed players to choose which starter Pokémon and Legends they wanted to buy.

The Pokémon TCG Paldea Collections Have Special Legendaries

The Legendary Pokémon included in Paldea Collections are not regular versions of Koraidon and Miraidon. Instead, they are beta versions of Koraidon ex and Miraidon ex. The beta version of the cards did not include HP, phase, or type information, which Poké Beach says is likely because the cards were printed earlier this year, and included missing information about special Pokémon before the official reveal of Crimson and Violet, leading to concerns about Leaked Gen 9 Legendary Pokémon.

These Scarlet ex and Violet ex Pokémon TCG entries will bring back a long forgotten feature that hasn't been seen in years. In general, ex cards have higher stats than non-ex cards in terms of attack and HP levels. While these special cards don't include HP, (when they're released as part of the Scarlet and Violet Base Set) they do have some pretty powerful attacks. Koraidon ex has the Wild Impact move, while Miraidon ex has the Photon Blaster attack, both of which deal 220 damage and block the Pokémon attack on the next turn after the player uses the move.

First revealed at this year's World Championships, these Pokémon TCG SV cards will usher in a new era of ex-types. Two ex-type legend cards also have special abilities: Koraidon ex's Dino Cry is used to attach discarded Basic Power cards to Basic Pokémon, while Miraidon ex can utilize Tandem Unit, which allows players to search their deck for two Basic Pokémon to add to their bench. Although Magnezone ex, Mimiku ex, and Lucario ex were also teased at the same World Championship, fans will have to wait until the Pokémon TCG launches later to get their hands on these other new ex-type cards.

The return of ex-type cards to the Pokémon Trading Card Game world will have significant implications for the game's overall metadata and player strategy, as these new powerful Pokémon will have the potential to create very powerful new decks. That means the current list of the best Pokémon cards for competitive play could change as ex-types start proliferating player decks. Under current rules, players can only have four copies of any particular front card in their deck, but that's still a pretty hefty amount. It's also worth noting that when a player's ex-type Pokémon is knocked out, their opponent receives two prize cards.

While adding a new generation of Pokémon to a Pokémon TCG will always have some impact on how fans play the game, the reintroduction of the former type to the game is certainly the biggest shakeup the fighters have seen in quite a while. These new Paldea sets will usher in a whole new era of competition, and with the physical release of Gen 9 just beginning, players will have plenty of new options for picking favorite cards to build Pokémon TCG decks. While little is known about specific future releases, these Paldea Collections will be great additions to the Pokémon trading card game that fans are sure to love.

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