The Pokemon Trading Card Game’s latest set is a celebration of the original Pokemon and ComicBook.com has the scoop on which cards you’ll want to grab. This week, the Pokemon Trading Card Game released Scarlet & Violet – 151, a new set focused on the Pokemon that first appeared in Pokemon Red and Blue. One reason for the set is to celebrate the return of Kadabra to the Pokemon Trading Card Game, with the Pokemon getting its first card in over 20 years due to a now resolved dispute between The Pokemon Company and mentalist Uri Geller. The new set also comes with a ton of new Illustration Rare and Secret Illustration Rare cards, many of which are sure to be collector’s items.
Keep in mind that Scarlet & Violet – 151 isn’t a normal set and players won’t be able to purchase individual booster packs from stores. Instead, Scarlet & Violet – 151 cards will be available in products like Elite Trainer Boxes, Booster Bundles, and Premium Collections, all of which will be released in the coming months.
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Here’s a look at the top new cards from the Scarlet & Violet – 151 set.
Alakazam ex (Secret Illustration Rare)
Market Price: $23.93
Alakazam ex has a powerful move that allows it to attack even when it’s on the Bench. Because it’s a Stage 2 card, it’s a little more difficult to set up, but it might have a place in some Psychic decks built around control. This Alakazam ex Secret Illustration Rare is one of three Alakazam ex cards in the set, joining a Full Art card and a normal Rare card.
Mew ex (Full Art)
Market Price: $24.10
Mew ex’s Restart ability will almost assuredly appear in many decks thanks to its Restart ability, which allows players to restock their hand until they have three cards at any point in time during a round. Genome Hacking might have some usefulness to copy an opponent’s attacks, but it seems pretty situational and unreliable. While Mew is one of the featured Pokemon in the set, the Full Art card is the most sought after due to the lack of a traditional Secret Illustration Rare for the card. Instead, Mew ex’s Secret Illustration Rare card will be released as a promo card in the Mew Premium Collection later this year.
Charizard ex (Full Art)
Market Price: $24.59
Another month, another Charizard ex card. This Charizard ex syncs up nicely with the other Charizard ex card, in that the Obsidian Flames Charizard ex allows players to ramp up this Charizard ex’s Explosive Vortex attack. With Charizard ex becoming one of the dominant cards of the metagame, expect this one to make some appearances in decks soon.
Erika’s Invitation (Full Art)
Market Price: $35.88
The standard “waifu card” of the set, Erika’s Inivitation has an interesting ability that pulls a Basic Pokemon from an opponent’s hand and forcibly puts it in the Active Spot, presumably so that a player can pick it off with their much more powerful Pokemon. However, the card’s ability is a bit risky unless players have a card that allows them to freely look at their opponent’s hand. However, Erika is a fan-favorite Pokemon character, so this card is going to be a hot item regardless of how much the card impacts the metagame.
Venusaur ex (Secret Illustration Rare)
Market Price: $36.14
Venusaur ex’s Secret Illustration Rare is the cheapest of the three starters in this set. It’s a bit of a debate how powerful this card will be – its Tranquil Flower ability provides consistent healing every turn, although it can be negated by the always prevalent Path to the Peak card. Meanwhile, Dangerous Toxwhip both poisons and confuses a Pokemon, which can be handy provided a Pokemon isn’t able to evolve or some other way to quickly clear out the effects.
Blastoise ex
Market Price: $38.03
Blastoise ex’s Solid Shell ability gives it the ability to negate some damage from attacks, while Twin Cannon can deal up to 280 damage for 2 Water Energy and discarding two energies from your hand. This is definitely a strong Water-type Pokemon that should be viable given the number of search and draw options available right now and several Water-type cards that are are already viable.
Zapdos ex (Secret Illustration Rare)
Market Price: $44.84
All three Legendary birds in this set have the ability to retreat for free provided they have at least one energy of their type attached. What makes Zapdos ex particularly powerful is its ability to deal damage to both an active Pokemon and a Benched Pokemon that’s already damaged. It also helps that this card is particularly gorgeous to look at.
Erika’s Invitation (Secret Illustration Rare)
Market Price: $53.98
Erika’s Invitation makes its second appearance on the list, with the even rarer Secret Illustration Rare selling for even higher prices on the market currently. While this card is rare, expect prices to go down a bit once a new “waifu card” hits the market. The Iono Secret Illustration Rare card for instance has dropped in value by nearly 50% over the last six months, so you might be able to find this card for a more affordable price eventually.
Charizard ex (Secret Illustration Rare)
Market Price: $111.24
Charizard ex’s Secret Illustration Rare is once again the most expensive card in the set. This card completes a series of illustration cards featuring the Charmander evolutionary line and is also one of the coolest Charizard cards to look at ever. Incredibly lucky fans will be able to pick up all three Charmander evolutionary line variants in a single pack, as “God Packs” are indeed available as part of the international release.
