Scarlet and Violet – Paradox Rift

The Actual News:

Hullo readers! Welcome back to yet another article here on Pokemon Aaah!

Before we begin, let me answer that question that you ask. No, the author’s name isn’t a typo (would have to be a big one!). No, it isn’t a prank, either. Yes, you guessed it right, a new writer here on PA!! I’m fancyfinn9, a Pokemon enthusiast like (probably) most of you. I play the TCG, Pokemon GO, and a bit of Unite when I have the time.

I’m a volunteer writer here, new here on PA (that’s why you haven’t seen me here yet!). You’ll probably see me writing around the site in the foreseeable future, unless I manage to get so good at making custom Pokemon cards that I pursue a career in that instead 😁

As I’m a keen TCG player (and a decent one too, ever since I got a Tag Team GX in a random pack!), the recent announcements at the closing ceremony of the Pokemon Championships rather surprised me. It’s been just a few weeks since the news broke, so let’s see how closely you were watching the Championships. And how shall we go about testing your knowledge? With a quiz, of course! It’s not like it’ll be hard, you’ve had plenty of time to revise…

1. What did the Pokemon Company announce at the Championships?

Was it…

a) A new Pokemon game,

b) A new TCG expansion, or

C) A new type of Pokemon card?

Okay, okay. That was a trick question, because both b) and c) are correct! Well done if you got either of those (and if you guessed a), I honestly don’t know what to say… Better luck next time, I guess?)

2. What is the name of the new TCG expansion?

Will it be…

a) Riddle Surf,

b) Theory Float, or

c) Paradox Rift?

That’s a bit of an obvious one, to be honest. If you guessed c), good job! Next time I’ll have to make the other two options less obvious…

3. What kinds of new Pokemon are we getting in the new expansion?

Are they going to be called…

a) Ancient and Future,

b) Strength and Physic, or

c) Fusion and Combo?

What did you think? If you guessed c)… hard luck. It was a).

If you payed attention during the quiz, and/or already knew all this stuff, I could just skip re-announcing all of this. But for the sake of you few who didn’t actually watch the live announcement or still don’t understand what this is all about, let me explain. (Yes, I know that the next expansion will be 151 later this month, but there’s not much to cover in that, except for the silent return of Kadabra, which Nick has already covered earlier this year. So yes, you’re stuck with me telling you all about November’s release.)

Scarlet and Violet – Paradox Rift is a new expansion for the Pokemon TCG, set to release in November. Yes, you might think that new cards can’t really get better. After all, they did only release tera Pokemon last year, and that really shook the playing field. But it only gets better!

Coming to the expansion as a Future Pokemon, we have Iron Valiant ex

First of all, we are getting two brand-new types of Pokemon! Do you remember when Rapid and Single Strike cards came out back in 2021? Well, imagine that, just under the names of Ancient and Future! Ancient Pokemon will have high HP and attacks that deal huge amounts of damage. On the other hand, Future Pokemon will be more tactic-based, with cool abilities and attacks with extra effects.

Roaring Moon ex, one of the new Ancient Pokemon

So far we’ve been teased that we’ll be getting Ancient Roaring Moon ex and Sandy Shocks ex, joined by Future Iron Valiant ex and and Iron Hands ex.

But you simply can’t have an expansion pack with cool new Pokemon but no cool trainer cards to accompany them. And that’s where Ancient and Future Trainer cards come into play!

Ancient and Future Trainers will both support their respective Pokemon type, meaning that if you have an Ancient or Future Pokemon in your deck, you just can’t go wrong with acquiring a few of these new Trainer cards, as they’ll only make your Pokemon stronger. Think of it like the Rapid and Single Strike trainer cards: they would be super-powerful if you had a Rapid or Single Strike Pokemon in play (there are a few exceptions, such as the Tower of Darkness stadium, which allows you to draw 2 cards if you discard a Single Strike card from your hand, but you get the idea).

Not only are we getting two new types of Pokemon, and Trainer cards to make them even more powerful, but Technical Machines will be making a comeback! We last had TMs in the TCG during the Diamond and Pearl days, and those were all the way back in 2007. Does anyone even remember that??

Yes, this is what TMs looked like. They definitely need to redesign it.

There are currently 25 different TM cards (in the English version – but the Japanese have 52 to work with!), and if you have a think into it, we might end up seeing some Ancient and Future TMs as well.

Currently, we’ve been told that the following Pokemon will be featured in the Paradox Rift expansion:

• Roaring Moon ex (Ancient)
• Sandy Shocks ex (Ancient)
• Iron Valiant ex (Future)
• Iron Hands ex (Future)
• Garchomp ex (Tera)
• Mewtwo ex (Tera)
• Brute Bonnet (Illustration Rare)
• Iron Moth (Illustration Rare)
• Armarouge ex
• Gholdengo ex

And while not all the cards have been announced yet, so far we’ve been told that we are going to have:

• 20 ex cards (seven of which are tera)
• 34 illustration rare Pokémon
• 15 special illustration rare Pokemon and Supporters
• 28 ultra rare full-art etched Pokemon ex and Supporter cards
• All this topped off with 7 hyper rare gold etched cards

One expansion that I’m definitely looking forward to!

One of the many pack designs for Paradox Rift – this one stars one of the new Tera Pokemon!

Scarlet and Violet – Paradox Rift will be hitting stores on the 3rd of November this year, and it’s coming with its very own Elite Trainer Boxes, priced at $60 each. The Roaring Moon boxes are already sold out on the Pokemon Center site – probably because it’s an Ancient Pokemon, which as I mentioned has huge HP and powerful attacks – but you can still pre-order yourself an Iron Valiant one, if you don’t want to wait until they drop.

If we put this new expansion aside for a moment, the closing ceremony at the Pokemon Championships also mentioned ACE SPEC cards returning to the game. I don’t know about you, but I almost forgot these even existed! These are item cards, so powerful that you can only have a single ACE SPEC card in your entire deck. The current (re-)release date for these cards are set for sometime next year (that’s 2024, for you guys in the back). Anyone for Ancient/Future ACE SPEC TMs? Or is that bringing it too far??

And that… is it for now. So, how did you like it? Do you think I could improve in any way? What did you think about that specific paragraph? I’m on the Pokemon Aaah! Discord, so shoot me a message there. Wait, you’re not in the Discord?? Well then, what are you waiting for?!

And that’s me, fancyfinn9, the new PA! TCG correspondent signing off for now. See y’all next time!

(Wait, is that even a title?? Has a sort of ring to it… let me ask Nick about that…)

Image credits: The Pokemon Company