Scarlet and Violet: Paldea Evolved

June 9, 2023

193 Card Main Set

Paldea Evolved continued the adventure into Paldea by introducing the Treasures of Ruin as ex cards. There were more Tera ex cards but still weren't a huge focus. The strongest cards in this set weren't full archetypes, but more depth and tech cards that could be printed now that the Base Set was over with.

THE RULES: Any card in the set that was not already in the Standard format at the time is valid for this ranking. For example, Nest Ball and Ultra Ball were both featured in Scarlet and Violet. While Ultra Ball received a "G" regulation mark, it was already in the Standard format since 2022. Meanwhile, Nest Ball hadn't been printed since Sun and Moon, meaning it was reintroduced to the game for Scarlet and Violet. Nest Ball would be valid for ranking, while Ultra Ball would not.

Attack Power represents the amount of damage a card can deal with its attack. Draw Power represents the ability of a card to pull resources from the deck. Support Skills represent miscellaneous effects from Abilities or Trainer cards, as well as a card's defensive capabilities. Most Abilities fall under Support Skills, even those which place Damage Counters, but Abilities like Seasoned Skill or Supreme Overlord do not. The above three rankings help illustrate the abilities of a card, but the three totals have no bearing on a card's placement in the list. A card might be a terrific specialist in one stat and rank #1, while having 0 in other stats. A card might have a fantastic effect but only in a very specific use case, while a slightly weaker effect could be ranked higher if it's more applicable.

Spiritomb shuts down the Abilities of all Basic V in play, so as long as you focus on ex cards in your deck, you can be at a huge advantage if you Bench Spiritomb on Turn 1. Abilities like Genesect V's Fusion Strike System or Lumineon V's Luminous Sign are completely powerless, meaning that you can shut down your opponent from finding any cards.

60 HP is low, but it is single-prize, meaning your opponent would waste a potential 2-prize turn chasing down Spiritomb. One retreat cost is good in case it starts the game Active, and the attack isn't awful. 

Spiritomb is another Basic that is a one-of in many decks for its Abililty, but Spiritomb is on a higher level. If you're playing against a V-heavy deck, Spiritomb might be the most important card in your deck. However, it's useless against ex decks.

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Luxray has okay stats for a Stage 2 but the Ability is what makes it. Swelling Flash means that you don't even need to clog your deck with a Shinx or Luxio and get a Stage 2 for free. When used in combination with Reversal Energy, Luxray was an extremely scary pop-up threat in control or single-prize decks, especially when it could hit Lugia VSTAR for weakness.

Luxray is yet another card that benefits from having a one Retreat Cost, meaning that it can jump in and out of the battle. There isn't much else to say about Luxray - it has a terrific Ability and its numbers are good enough that it found its way into many decks.

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Chien-Pao was the big headliner for Paldea Evolved, and although it didn't tear every deck apart, it's still quite a good card. Hail Blade is a terrific attack in combination with Baxcalibur allowing you to attach as much Water energy as you want. You can easily hit well over 300 damage over and over thanks to Superior Energy Retrieval.

Shivery Chill is a fantastic Ability to get the Energy you need while also thinning the deck. This is the type of Ability that you can use turn after turn to ensure you get as many resources as possible. For once, I can't talk about a low Retreat Cost as 2 Retreat is one of the big caveats of this card. Skater's Park was included in many decks just for this fact.

Although Chien-Pao has very high potential and all of the cards to support it in Paldea Evolved, it's just too high-maintenance.

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Bravery Charm is a simple but effective tool card that gives any Basic Pokémon some extra HP. 50 HP isn't groundbreaking but makes sure that your Basics are clear of any important damage thresholds. For example, a deck may be designed to hit 220 HP turn after turn. Attaching Bravery Charm to a card like Chien-Pao ex would mean that your opponent might not be able to take a Knock Out every turn.

Bravery Charm's weakness is against decks that have nuclear-level attacks like Hail Blade or Inferno X, against which is it nearly useless. It's not worth the space in your deck to make a deck designed around recovering Energy get an extra Energy. Another issue is against cards like Jamming Tower which can negate Bravery Charm. 

I think the best part of Bravery Charm is simply how widely applicable it is. Any Basic can use it, and 50 HP is not bad at all.

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Jet Energy is a fantastic multi-purpose card: it acts as an Energy as well as a Switch. It's really effective at getting stranded Pokémon out of the Active Spot, even when your Ability to play Items or Retreat is removed by cards like Budew or Snorlax.

Another valuable use of Jet Energy is that you can cycle cards in and out of the Active Spot to use Abilities like Zero to Hero or Tachyon Bits while not wasting deck space on endless Switch-type cards. Of course, most cards can use at least one Colorless Energy to attack, so this card is still useful there. For any decks that can use any sort of Energy, you might as well include 4 of this card in your deck.

Jet Energy is another card that has a useful effect and is easy to include in most decks.

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Mimikyu was handed down the infamous Safeguard Ability for Scarlet and Violet, meaning it is completely impervious to damage from V and ex Pokémon. This means that this card can be placed in the Active, forcing your opponent to set up a single-prize attacker to take out Mimikyu. Some "Big Basic" ex decks can be absolutely stopped in their tracks by this card and lose the game on the spot. Against other decks, you just don't have to Mimikyu.

If your opponent manages to scrape together a single-prize attacker, Mimikyu might still be able to survive with 70HP and 7 Damage Counters for just two Energy. If your opponent has a dedicated single-prize attacker, Mimikyu is done for, but if they are forced to use a Basic, Mimikyu can fight. One Retreat Cost is good, as usual.

Mimikyu is fantastic for control decks once your opponent's board is full of multi-prize attackers and can slowly destroy their field. It's even a good fit in some offensive ex decks to slow the tempo of the game if you need it. Mimikyu being a single-prizer means that you can force your opponent to take 7 Prizes by otherwise throwing ex cards at them.

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Super Rod is back in Paldea Evolved and helps free up space in your deck. Instead of having a card to recycle Pokémon and a separate card for Energy, you can use one card to do both in one swoop. This means that you don't need as many recovery cards in your deck and only need one card to do the job in a pinch. 

Shuffling 3 cards back into the deck is pretty great as well for an Item card, meaning that only one or two Super Rods are all you need in your deck. Super Rod also means that you can be much more aggressive with the cards that you discard as you can always get them back. This allows you to play more Ultra Balls and Professors' Research in your deck.

Every deck has Pokémon, and almost every deck has Energy, so Super Rod is a no-brainer. 

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Reversal Energy is one of the most absurd comeback cards seen in the Pokémon TCG, being a Triple Rainbow Energy for an Evolved Single-Prize card as long as you are behind on Prize Cards. Even if these conditions aren't fulfilled, Reversal Energy can still be a single Colorless Energy.

What makes Reversal Energy so strong is that you can build an entire deck around it. You can set up a control deck that runs the opponent out of cards, not caring about Prizes, like Wugtrio. Another option is to build an offensive deck that falls behind at first and storms back with Reversal Energy. 

While it isn't quite as applicable as Super Rod or Bravery Charm, Reversal Energy has such an explosive effect that, even if a deck only has a small use case for Reversal Energy, it will find its way in.

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Squawkabilly ex is the real deal. While it took a few months for this card to take off, Squawk and Seize became vital once the big Stage 2 decks like Charizard ex and Dragapult ex popped up. Turbo decks with Miraidon and Teal Mask Ogerpon needed as big of a Turn 1 as possible in order to overwhelm Evolving Basics.

Discarding your entire hand isn't great, but 6 cards is well worth it, especially when decks like Regidrago VSTAR could make use of the Discard Pile. Remember that Professor's Research does the same thing but one card better, so being able to practically use two Supporters a turn is awesome. The fact that searching for Pokémon is often easier than searching for Supporters makes Squawkabilly ex even more enticing.

160 HP is pretty bad, which does make this card a two-prize liability, but Squawk and Seize is so good that your opponent should be out of the game before that becomes an issue. Even Motivate is a pretty decent attack in a pinch, especially since discarding your hand will get some Energy in the Discard Pile to attack.

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Iono is one of the best Supporter cards ever made. This card allows you to get a brand new hand of 6 cards at the beginning of the game and destroy your opponent's hand at the end of the game. The mere existence of this card in the Standard format means that you can't sit on a good hand in case your opponent plays Iono. 

Even worse is that Iono shuffles your hand onto the bottom of your deck, so you won't get any of those cards back. Iono is great when you play her but awful when your opponent uses the card. Iono is one of the best comeback cards ever, as you can limit your opponent to a one-card hand while you catch up and take your last remaining Prize Cards. 

While you need to be a little careful giving your opponent a big hand at the start of the game, as well as giving yourself a small hand while you're close to winning, Iono's drawing and disruptive effects are so absurd that those drawbacks are practically negligible.

Pokémon card image © Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/ GAME FREAK.

See Also:

Card Artwork from Pokémon TCG Card Database, Pack Artwork from Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet-Paldea Evolved Sleeved Booster Pack (10 Cards) | Pokémon Center Official Site, used for review purposes.

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