First Scarlet & Violet TCG Sets Announced for Japan: “Scarlet ex,” “Violet ex,” “Triplet Beat!”

By: Water Pokémon Master · Posted Posted onOct 20, 2022 at 9:01 AM · 19 Comments

The first sets of the Scarlet & Violet era will be named Scarlet ex and Violet ex. They will release on January 20th in Japan. They will be “Expansion Pack” sets, which is Japan’s typical term for a base set. These dual sets will re-introduce the Pokemon ex mechanic.

The sets will be accompanied by the release of three 60-card “Starter Set ex” decks. Each deck will feature either Sprigatito and Lucario ex, Fuecoco and Ampharos ex, or Quaxly and Mimikyu ex (Mimikyu ex is previewed above). These types of decks have kicked off recent eras:

Like every year, a new “Premium Trainer Box ex” will be released. In the past these have always contained Trainer cards, Energy cards, premium damage counters, premium status markers, a damage counter case, a coin, and ten booster packs.

 

January 20th will also see the release of a typical lineup of TCG accessories. Koraidon and Miraidon will be featured on a deck box, card sleeves, damage counter case, card binder, and carrying case. Also releasing will be acrylic damage counters and yet another card frame called “Black Ver.2.” There will also be a new “Energy Card Set,” which may be a bulk pack of Energy cards; however, this is speculation.

On March 10th, Japan will see the release of its first Scarlet & Violet subset named Triplet Beat. This will be yet another “Strengthening Expansion Pack” set, which means it’s a smaller set like Battle Region, Dark Phantasma, or Pokemon GO.

A fourth “Starter Set ex” featuring Pikachu ex and an unnamed Lightning Pokemon — presumably a new Pokemon — will also release on March 10th. Accompanying its release include a “Pikachu Special Set” and Pikachu deck box. The Pikachu Special Set will presumably be a blister pack that includes booster packs and Pikachu promo card(s).

A curious fact to point out: the Scarlet ex and Violet ex sets release on the same day as our special SWSH set for the international TCG. January 20th will be a big day for Pokemon TCG fans around the world!

View thread (19 replies)
2023 Starter Set ex Decks:
Sprigatito {G} and Lucario ?? {F}
Fuecoco {R} and Ampharos ?? {L}
Quaxly {W} and Mimikyu ?? {P}

2003 Constructed Starter Decks:
Treecko {G}, Makuhita {F}, and Skitty {C}
Torchic {R}, Electrike {L}, and Poochyena {D}
Mudkip {W}, Ralts {P}, and Aron {M}

Keep an eye out for the full composition of the Starter Set ex decks, it could be a nod to the Constructed Starter Decks that were released alongside the debut of the original ex era.


EDIT: Throwaway trivia – EX Ruby & Sapphire's set numbering of the Basic Energy is {G},{F},{W},{P},{R},{L}. This doesn't correspond to English alphabetical order as was done by WOTC, or the standardized Japanese order (that the EN edition finally adopted starting with their numbering for EX Emerald). It appears to be based on the Constructed Starter Decks, but the Mudkip and Torchic decks have been swapped around. These decks also left another imprint in the English set, as every card sourced from the theme decks was given a G-##-# e-Card ID number, while every card released from the main set had an H-##-# e-Card ID number.
 
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Oh God, I just realized with Terastalizing we are probably going to be drowned in cracked ice holos. My worst possible nightmare might be coming true.

It'd be one thing if they were uniform and symmetrical patterns. But who looks at the chaos of a cracked phone screen and thinks "that's the one, that's our holofoil pattern, I want that ugly mess of triangles alllllll over our card art".
 
ZestyGan said:
I am SO damn excited for a new era, and seeing a modern set have 'ex' at the end of it only cemented it for me- This is gonna be a better era than Sword and Shield.
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I completely agree with this excitement- The fact that the new ex cards are a successor to the originals while also looking like EX cards (my favorite kind of Ultra Rare)... I couldn't be more excited.

I'm going to actively keep up on this one with the new sets and everything. I haven't done that for the TCG in over five years now.
 
It would be pretty cool if "ex" in the set name carries over here, but I doubt it somehow. It also would have been cool if they had done it for the last 3 eras...
 
From that release date of January 20th, I think we can safely say that the Pokémon TCG Company can't reveal any Scarlet and Violet cards until the National Dex numbers for the new Pokémon have been confirmed; that could explain why we've only seen Mimikyu ex, Lucario ex and Magnezone ex.
 
Scoop said:
I completely agree with this excitement- The fact that the new ex cards are a successor to the originals while also looking like EX cards (my favorite kind of Ultra Rare)... I couldn't be more excited.

I'm going to actively keep up on this one with the new sets and everything. I haven't done that for the TCG in over five years now.
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What also helps is if you consider the fact that they could do WHATEVER they want- Water Ceruleadge ex, Grass Cetitan ex, Dragon Farigaraf ex, Lightning Grafaiai ex...man, the possibilities are quite literally endless. If they truly wanted, they could only do 1 ex card for any given Pokemon and still have an infinite amount of potential cards left to do without any repeats- that's just so damn cool. I think that's awesome and I just can't wait to see what they do!
 
ECHOxLegend said:
Oh God, I just realized with Terastalizing we are probably going to be drowned in cracked ice holos. My worst possible nightmare might be coming true.

It'd be one thing if they were uniform and symmetrical patterns. But who looks at the chaos of a cracked phone screen and thinks "that's the one, that's our holofoil pattern, I want that ugly mess of triangles alllllll over our card art".
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I'm hoping the pattern will look more like the FRLG Articuno/Zapdos/Moltres-ex pattern. That looked really good plus fits the ex theme
 
ECHOxLegend said:
Oh God, I just realized with Terastalizing we are probably going to be drowned in cracked ice holos. My worst possible nightmare might be coming true.

It'd be one thing if they were uniform and symmetrical patterns. But who looks at the chaos of a cracked phone screen and thinks "that's the one, that's our holofoil pattern, I want that ugly mess of triangles alllllll over our card art".
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I'm banning you if this turns out to be true

Nintenfreak said:
Bring back Fairy Type cowards!
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Never happening, stay mad forever.
 
I really hope that they bring back the cosmos pattern (or a similarly nice one) for regular holofoil cards in the SV TCG. Regular holos just haven't been the same since Gen 5 when they started with that ugly line pattern. The cosmos holos make for much nicer display on my shelf and just looks better in general. I don't care if line holos are 1/4th of a cent cheaper to make (or whatever reason they changed from the old pattern I genuinely have no idea), if I'm paying more for the cards in S/V, I'd really like a nicer pattern for the regular holos.
 
I'm 100% sure that Triplet Beat will be the set where we'll get the ex starters(and probably Terastalysed too)
 
Could you send imagine the frustration if they keep the pull rate the same on the Star pokemon? A whole new era of collectors will know what true pain is.
 
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