Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—Paradox Rift is the fourth expansion of cards from the Scarlet & Violet Series of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. It was released on November 3, 2023.
Blurb
Uncover the Anomalies of Area Zero!
Dive into the clouds and explore a land that appears to be unbound by time! With ferocious attacks, Ancient Pokémon like Roaring Moon ex and Sandy Shocks ex appear alongside artificial Future Pokémon like Iron Valiant ex and Iron Hands ex. Meanwhile, Garchomp ex, Mewtwo ex, and others Terastallize to gain new types, as Armarouge ex, Gholdengo ex, and more Pokémon ex join the fray. Adventure awaits as timelines collide in the Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—Paradox Rift expansion!
The set was first previewed on August 11, 2023, when the Canadian Pokémon Center website briefly showed off one of the Elite Trainer Boxes for the set featuring Iron Valiant.[citation needed] More information about the set was revealed during the closing ceremony of the 2023 Pokémon World Championships on August 13, 2023.[1]
Two new variants of cards are introduced in this expansion: Ancient and Future, which are both available as Pokémon and Trainer cards. Both card variants feature unique text icons on the top right corner of the artwork, and unique backgrounds adorning the right half of the cards: Ancient cards have a layered strata background, while Future cards have a pixelated background. Ancient Pokémon cards tend to have direct attacks that deal a large amount of damage and are difficult to Knock Out. Future Pokémon cards tend to have Abilities and attacks with extra effects, allowing for craftier strategies. Ancient Booster Energy Capsule can bolster Ancient Pokémon defensively and enable Brute Bonnet's Ability, while Future Booster Energy Capsule can empower Future Pokémon's attacks and reduce the cost of Iron Jugulis's second attack.
Additional strategies are available to other Pokémon in the set. Tsareena ex can add damage counters to an opponent's Pokémon and reduce their remaining HP below 30, which prevents that Pokémon from attacking while Vanilluxe is in play. The treasures of ruinWo-Chien, Chi-Yu, Chien-Pao, and Ting-Lu each have attacks that can each accelerate Energy from the discard pile to the player's Benched Pokémon. Simisage, Simisear, and Simipour each have the Monkey Trio Ability, which reduces their attack costs while all three are in play. Paradox Rift also includes Technical Machine cards, first reintroduced in the Japanese Raging Surf subset after being last seen in the Rising Rivals expansion. Technical Machine cards as of this set are categorized as Pokémon Tool cards.
The pack artworks for the Paradox Rift expansion were illustrated by N-DESIGN Inc. The Scarlet & Violet—Paradox Rift logo was designed by Gwen Machan.[2]
