The new Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion, Paradox Rift, takes what may have been the coolest element of Scarlet and Violet and builds it into this year’s holiday set. Thinking about dipping in and checking it out? Here’s what you need to know about the new set.

You may already have guessed this from the name of the set, but Paradox Rift’s main theme is the new “Paradox” Pokemon. Split into “Future” and “Ancient” descriptors, the two titles don’t convey mechanics directly but allow for tribal Trainer cards and other effects to target them. For example, Professor Sada’s Vitality lets you attach energy cards from the discard pile to Ancient Pokemon and then draw three cards too. It’s a great card if you’re already running those monsters, and an incentive to try.

Each group is built around a theme. Ancient creatures are hardy, high-HP and high-damage creatures that aren’t particularly cunning. Future, on the other hand, is all about being maneuverable and tricky, moving from hand to bench to active and back again as much as possible. If you’re forced to stop, though, you’ll lose attacks and other opportunities.

Digging into this set’s Future and Ancient mechanics did make us kind of sad that the existing Koraidon and Miraidon cards weren’t tagged with their descriptors. Groups like this often have a lot of trouble with viability, and those would have certainly helped! And it would have been a fun teaser to have them printed that way a few sets before it meant something, much like their in-game presence teased that too. Ultimately, we hope that these new card categories are supported a bit better in future sets than last era’s Battle Styles ones were after their debut.

Speaking of time: it’s been almost 15 years since we’ve seen a Technical Machine card in the TCG. Their return in Paradox Rift, besides having us especially aware of our mortality, brings interesting new combat options. They’re Tool cards that allow you to surprise someone with a one-time attack before they get discarded, and the four debut options could be intriguing. Blindside can deal 100 damage to anyone with damage counters, spoiling an opponent’s attempt to retreat to safety on the bench. Evolution helps you search for Stage 1 and 2 cards to build up options on your bench, and Devolution can KO an opponent by reverting them to the last stage. There’s also Turbo Energize, which speeds up your energy ramp.

And on the subject of energy ramp: the four final legendaries of the set are also back here, this time in non-”ex” form and with moves that attach energy from the discard pile. Useful! Their second moves are all sort of situational, so they’re best used as a utility, but still. We like useful. Despite them all being dual-type Dark species in the game, none of them actually help Dark decks. Maybe we’ll see an option for that later.

If you’re not into the newest generation at all, there might weirdly still be options here to catch your eye? There’s a whole pack of older legendaries here for no other reason than that they’re usually powerful and useful cards. Palkia! Zekrom! Latios! Deoxys! Groudon! And even Mewtwo and Hoopa, though their Tera forms do make them more logical inclusions.

In past set reviews, we’ve harped on The Pokemon Company’s insistence on locking fun illustrations behind the super-rare full-art cards while filling most packs people actually open with boring renders or stock art. Given that? It’s nice to see the Paradox Rift set take a few steps in the right direction. There are larger numbers of creative portraits for creatures like Toedscool, Blitzle and Ferroseed. There’s more experimentation with medium and color! Maybe not the off-model whimsy of the game’s earliest sets, but again: we’ll celebrate some incremental progress.

The latest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion set, Scarlet & Violet: Paradox Rift, officially launches November 3, 2023. For more Pokemon TCG coverage, check out our archive. Stay tuned to Siliconera for a breakdown of the set’s best cards.

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