Paldea Evolved set review

After a stellar debut in Scarlet & Violet, it’s time to head back to the sunny Paldea region for its second expansion, Scarlet & Violet: Paldea Evolved. With more ex Pokémon , more alt-arts, and more of your favourite monsters from this new region, this is certainly keeping the Paldea train going strong!

As an expansion, Paldea Evolved is mostly offering more of what was introduced in Scarlet & Violet, rather than immediately trying to reinvent the wheel all over again. Of course, that means lots and lots more ex cards, which are both hot cards to collect, and also powerful ones to run in your deck. As a quick refresher, ex Pokémon are a lot stronger, but if they’re knocked out, your opponent takes two prize cards instead of one.

Headlining the expansion are the final stages of all three starters as ex Pokémon, with Skeledirge ex, Meowscarada ex, and Quaquaval ex all proving to be powerful new additions to the game. Their pre-evolutions appeared in Scarlet & Violet, finally giving you the chance to complete the full lines.

We’ll also get to see the four Treasures of Ruin, with Chi-yu ex, Chien-Pao ex, Wo-Chien ex, and Ting-lu ex. These are some of the most visually stunning regular cards in the set – ex is all about having Pokémon  reach out of the card frame, and these certainly do that with style. Chien-Pao’s ability to search for two water Energy cards per turn, and Ting-Lu’s to completely shut down your opponent’s abilities, are also going to pack a punch!

Paldea Evolved brings even more Paldean favourites to the game, with Pokémon like Orthworm, Farigiraf, Dudunsparce, and, my personal favourite, Clodsire ex, all expanding on the world we first encountered in Scarlet & Violet. For the trainer cards, we also have some of the most popular from the video game, such as Home Economics teacher Saguaro and the gym leaders Grusha and Iono up for grabs.

Of course, a big part of every Pokémon TCG release is its huge number of full-art secret rares, and Paldea Evolved has somehow managed to raise the bar in that department. To go with your Quaquaval, Skeledirge, and Meowscarada, you can also find full-art versions of their previous two stages here – my favourite being Fuecoco ‘helping’ while out on a shopping trip. There’s some really incredible and out-there art, like the black background of full-art Magikarp, and the stunning lighting on Orthwrom and Paldean Tauros.

Your golden secret rares this time, are, unsurprisingly, the starters – Meowscara, Skeledirge, and Quaquaval all look gorgeous on that starry golden backdrop, and they’re joined by Chien-pao and Ting-lu, as well as the Superior Energy Retrieval and Superior Rod cards for good measure. One thing’s for sure, you’re getting some of the best cards in the expansion if you just happen to find a golden rare!

You don’t have to own any of Scarlet & Violet to get into Paldea Evolved, and Magic Madhouse has more than enough products on offer to help you dive in. Alongside the regular booster pack and Booster box, you can also get the more eco-friendly cardboard booster pack, and the Elite Trainer Box (complete with all three starters adorably framed on the box).

The Build & Battle Stadium to have your own prerelease event at home. Each Build & Battle Stadium includes two Build & Battle Boxes, which includes three booster packs, a 23-card ‘Evolution pack’ to help flesh out your deck, and an exclusive foil promo card.

There’s also the Checklane Blisters, which are a fantastic way of getting the Pokémon you like most without any of the faff. Each includes specific cards, a number of booster packs, and a special Quaxly-branded flip coin – essential to play the game. This expansion’s Checklanes are the Pawmot line (one Pawmi, Pawmo, and Pawmot, with one booster pack), Arbolivia (Smoliv, Dolliv, Arbolivia, and one booster pack), Smoliv (One Smoliv, one booster pack), and Growlithe (Growlithe, and one booster pack).

There are two more blister packs up for grabs too, though these don’t come with a flip coin. Instead, they come with more packs – perfect for if you’ve already got more coins than you know what to do with! Here, you can get three packs and either Tinkatink or Varoom, two Paldean all-stars!

Paldea Evolved is the perfect way to build off of Scarlet & Violet. Before we start getting experimental in the upcoming Obsidian Flames (due out later this summer!), it’s building up the strong foundation of Scarlet & Violet with some wildly impressive cards you’ll want to collect, trade, and play with.

Don’t forget to preorder your packs and singles through Magic Madhouse today!