By Ellis Longhurst, Contributing Writer

Light up the battlefield with cards from the Pokémon Trading Card Game: Scarlet & Violet—Prismatic Evolutions expansion. This set includes over 175 dazzling Pokémon and Trainer cards, including all eight Evolutions of Eevee as Stellar Tera Pokémon ex, and the effect on the Pokémon TCG promises to be big. Expect to discover colorful strategies and attacks that will reshape the way decks are constructed and the game is played. Read on to find out which cards from the Scarlet & Violet—Prismatic Evolutions expansion are likely to shine the brightest.

Budew Gets the Green Light

Budew is planted at the top of this list for good reason. This Basic Pokémon has a zero Energy cost attack that prevents the opponent from playing any Item cards during their next turn. Up to half of every deck is typically made up of Item cards, so you can imagine how disruptive Itchy Pollen will be!

By using Itchy Pollen on the first or second turn, players can slow down the pace of the game significantly. Decks like Miraidon ex, Lost Box, and Raging Bolt ex will no longer be able to use the Item cards they need to apply early pressure. This buys Evolution-focused decks, like Gardevoir ex and Dragapult ex, the turns they need to set up. In fact, Budew and its Itchy Pollen attack require little investment and can be used by virtually any deck to gain an advantage over the opponent or recover from a slow start. Prepare for a new metagame to grow from Budew.

Budew has already been flourishing at tournaments in Japan. Recently, this Pokémon featured in many different top-performing decks at City Leagues and the Champions League in Osaka too—a tournament with 5,000 competitors! To cope with the abundance of Itchy Pollen, players have altered the way decks are constructed. For example, you may see other Trainer cards substituted for Item cards, and a higher count of Pokémon that have Abilities that can draw cards. Charizard ex decks now often include Charmeleon, Pidgeotto, and the Grand Tree Stadium card to mitigate the impact of Itchy Pollen on Rare Candy.

Roll Out the Red Carpet for Regigigas

Regigigas does not need to use special effects to be a smash hit. This Pokémon has a no-frills attack that will disrupt many of the current top-performing decks. Jewel Breaker simply does a colossal amount of damage to Tera Pokémon—enough to Knock Out any of them (except Tyranitar ex) in a single hit! That’s one way to tone down the brightness of Charizard ex, Dragapult ex, and Terapagos ex. Even Regidrago VSTAR and Raging Bolt ex have reason to fear Jewel Breaker. Their reliance on the Tera Pokémon Teal Mask Ogerpon ex means that Regigigas can take two Prize cards while only risking one.

Regigigas requires loads of Energy to attack, so it will need to be placed in decks that can consistently accelerate Energy onto Colorless-type Pokémon to show its true colors. If you listen to Lugia VSTAR enthusiasts, then Regigigas is the crown jewel of the Scarlet & Violet—Prismatic Evolutions expansion because it fits seamlessly into this archetype and provides a much-needed way to quickly deal with Tera Pokémon ex. Other options are to add Regigigas to a Lost Box or a Water-type toolbox deck that uses Baxcalibur’s Sheer Cold Ability.

The allegiance of Regigigas is a gray area; this Pokémon rocks when it is on the same side of the battlefield as a Tera Pokémon, too. When Pikachu ex and Area Zero Underdepths are in play and enable an extended Bench, Regigigas can be a target for the Ancient Wisdom Ability of Regigigas from the Sword & Shield—Astral Radiance expansion. Decks that feature Terapagos ex and the Eevee Evolutions will also make space for Regigigas because it can be powered up by Glass Trumpet, an Item card that these decks are already likely to include.

Eevee Ex Unleashes the Full Spectrum of Colors

Eevee ex enables the eight Tera Pokémon ex Evolutions of Eevee to shine. Ordinarily, Pokémon ex cannot evolve, but Eevee has always been extraordinary. By using Rainbow DNA, Trainers can play any Pokémon ex that evolves from Eevee onto Eevee ex. This means that when Area Zero Underdepths is in play, there could be up to eight different Evolutions of Eevee on one side of the battlefield!

Looking through the prism of competitive play, it is more practical to build a deck that focuses on two to three Eevee Evolutions with compatible Energy types in their attack costs. For example, Flareon ex, Vaporeon ex, and Jolteon ex may appear in the same deck because they all make use of Fire Energy, Water Energy, and Lightning Energy. Flareon ex will be a common partner for all the Evolutions of Eevee: Its Burning Charge attack does loads of damage to the opponent’s Active Pokémon and accelerates two Basic Energy into play. Don’t be surprised to see a touch of green in an Eevee ex deck, too—Leafeon ex offers a low-cost attack that can Knock Out any Pokémon in one hit!

The perfect ratio of Eevee ex to Eevee for a deck is not crystal clear…and that ratio is just as important to consider as the Evolution color palette when building a deck. As a Colorless-type Tera Pokémon ex, Eevee ex is both an enabler of and a target for Glass Trumpet, thereby creating opportunities for Energy acceleration on the first turn of the game. It can also be searched from the deck using Tera Orb (just like its Pokémon ex Evolutions), satisfies the requirements to use Noctowl’s Jewel Seeker Ability, and is protected from damage from attacks while it is on the Bench. Eevee, however, can evolve during the first turn or the turn it’s played, and is searchable by Buddy-Buddy Poffin and Fan Rotom’s Fan Call Ability to boot. In light of these differences, the ideal composition of each Eevee ex deck will certainly be open to interpretation.

These are just some of the colorful cards that you will find in the new Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—Prismatic Evolutions expansion. With over 175 cards to collect—including 14 brand-new Pokémon ex and two brand-new ACE SPEC cards—there are plenty of other exciting combinations and strategies to explore. Will you shine brightly on the battlefield? 

For more Pokémon TCG strategy and analysis, including a closer look at Eevee’s Evolutions, visit Pokemon.co.uk/Strategy.