By Ellis Longhurst, Contributing Writer

Advance your gameplay with cards from the Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—Paldea Evolved expansion. This set introduces powerful Pokémon, Trainer, and Energy cards that will take your deck to the next level. New Pokémon ex with awesome Abilities promise to change the game by giving a boost to established archetypes or challenging them to take a step up. There are plenty of exciting new strategies to explore and develop.

Read on to find out which cards from the Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—Paldea Evolved expansion will progress to the battlefield.

All Hail Chien-Pao ex

There is no better Pokémon to break the ice than Chien-Pao ex. This Pokémon’s Hail Blade attack does 60 damage for each Water Energy the player chooses to discard from it. By discarding six Water Energy, Chien-Pao ex can Knock Out any Pokémon V or Pokémon ex in one hit! That’s a lot of resources for one attack, but players shouldn’t have cold feet about discarding Energy to Hail Blade. Scarlet & Violet—Paldea Evolved re-introduces Superior Energy Retrieval, which puts Basic Energy cards from the discard pile into your hand, and Super Rod, which shuffles Pokémon and Basic Energy cards from the discard pile into the deck.

Chien-Pao ex might have gotten a frosty reception if it weren’t for the new Baxcalibur. Its Super Cold Ability enables players to attach Basic Water Energy to their Pokémon as often as they like during their turn. By using Chien-Pao ex’s Shivery Chill Ability, a robust draw engine, and Baxcalibur’s Super Cold, players should be taking a Knock Out with Hail Blade turn after turn. That’s sure to send a chill down the spine of any opponent!

Just in case Chien-Pao ex needed even more backup, top Trainers at the 2023 Taiwan Championships included a variety of other Water-type Pokémon in their decks, including Radiant Greninja, Starmie V, Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR, and Kyogre. This is only the tip of the iceberg for what the Chien-Pao ex and Baxcalibur combination can achieve. Keep your eyes peeled for this partnership at the upcoming Pokémon TCG North America International Championships.

Feather Your Deck with Squawkabilly ex

Don’t let Squawkabilly ex fly under your radar. This Pokémon has an Ability to crow about! Players may use Squawk and Seize on their first turn of the game to discard their hand and draw six cards. Having the capability to find the cards you need to set up your strategy at the start of the game can mean the difference between victory and defeat. You know what they say…the early bird catches the win.

Squawk and Seize can be beneficial in many ways. In decks that rely on evolved Pokémon, this Ability will help to find Basic Pokémon or Supporter cards like the new Clavell. It may even provide the crucial extra Energy that Arceus V needs on the first turn of the game to start attacking as soon as possible. Lost Box decks might find a space on the Bench for Squawkabilly ex to keep digging for cards like Escape Rope or the new Jet Energy to pivot Comfey after Comfey to get the most out of Flower Selecting.

Longtime fans of the Pokémon TCG may notice the similarity between this Ability and Dedechange, the Ability of Dedenne-GX from the Pokémon TCG: Sun & Moon—Unbroken Bonds expansion. The very important difference between these two Abilities is that while Squawk and Seize must be used on the first turn, the timing is otherwise up to the player, whereas Dedechange must be activated by playing Dedenne-GX from the hand to the Bench. This means that Squawk and Seize can be used if Squawkabilly ex starts the game already in play or if it is put onto the Bench by Item cards like Battle VIP Pass or, thematically, Nest Ball.

Dedenne-GX was a popular choice for players competing at tournaments—it even featured in the winning deck of the Masters Division at the 2019 World Championships. Time will tell if Squawkabilly ex can soar to the same heights.

Ting-Lu ex Has Cracked the Code

Ting-Lu ex is ready to lay claim to the battlefield. When this Pokémon is in the Active Spot, all of the opponent’s damaged Pokémon have no Abilities, except for Pokémon ex. Oh dear, that could cause a problem for many established and emerging archetypes. For example, Gardevoir ex decks would not be able to draw extra cards using Radiant Greninja’s Concealed Cards or Kirlia’s Refinement, and Chien-Pao ex couldn’t take advantage of Baxcalibur’s Super Cold.

It is easy to fawn over Ting-Lu ex, but this Pokémon needs help to activate its Cursed Land Ability as quickly as possible. Consider using Hawlucha’s Flying Entry to put damage counters on the opponent’s Benched Pokémon, and Radiant Alakazam’s Painful Spoons to move damage counters around as needed. In addition, Stadium cards like Gapejaw Bog or the new Calamitous Snowy Mountain are passive ways to increase the number of damage counters on the opponent’s Pokémon.

Ting-Lu ex’s Land Scoop attack also puts 2 damage counters on 1 of the opponent’s Benched Pokémon. However, this attack can be tricky to power up. Intrepid players may venture into using the Gutsy Pickaxe Item card to try to attach extra Energy to Ting-Lu ex each turn. A more reliable method is Koraidon ex’s Dino Cry Ability…as long as there are Fighting Energy cards in the discard pile.

For those players who find that it is only Pokémon V who prove to be an antler in their side, the Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—Paldea Evolved expansion offers a Basic Pokémon with similar Ability to Ting-Lu ex—Spiritomb.

Iono Is Trending

You heard it here first—Iono is the next big thing. This energetic Supporter card is the crossover between Marnie from Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield and N from Pokémon TCG: Black & White—Noble Victories that you never knew you needed. When Iono is played, both players shuffle their hand and put it on the bottom of their deck, then draw cards equal to their remaining number of Prize cards. This provides players with a way to disrupt their opponent and make a comeback in the mid- or late game.

Iono can be played to a potentially game-changing degree alongside Path to the Peak when your opponent has one or two Prize cards remaining, but it’s also more flexible in nature. Unlike other hand-disruption cards like Roxanne, Iono can be used in the early game to refresh your own hand. It follows that this Supporter card would be well suited to decks that can draw cards through the Abilities of Pokémon in play, or decks that give up Prize cards early because they are slow to set up.

Trainers around the globe have already liked and subscribed to the Iono hype. Four copies of this Supporter card have appeared in a variety of decks at Pokémon tournaments where the card has already been tournament-legal, including the Gardevoir ex deck that earned 2nd place at the 2023 Japan Championships. Expect to see a lot of Iono on stream (just the way she likes it!) at the 2023 North America International Championships and 2023 World Championships.

Fans of Grass-type Pokémon may also consider a collaboration between Iono and the new Forretress ex. Using its Exploding Energy Ability, this Pokémon accelerates 5 Basic Grass Energy onto the battlefield, then gets Knocked Out. Take control of the game by powering up Pokémon like Venusaur VMAX or the new Wo-Chien ex and then forcing your opponent into a lower hand size with Iono.

Go Backwards to Go Forwards with Reversal Energy

If it is a change in fortune that you seek, look no further than Reversal Energy. Similar to the classic Scramble Energy from the EX Dragon Frontiers expansion, when this Special Energy card is attached to an Evolution Pokémon that does not have a Rule Box, it provides 3 Energy of any type. One of the rules of the Pokémon TCG is that players may only attach one Energy card to their Pokémon every turn, and most Energy cards only provide one Energy, so Reversal Energy seems like it would create a huge advantage. However, there is a catch—this Special Energy card provides 3 Energy only when the player has more Prize cards remaining than their opponent does.

Don’t let that scramble your thoughts on Reversal Energy, though! Decks that rely on Stage 2 Pokémon can make good use of this Special Energy card because they often give up Prize cards while setting up in the early game. In particular, top Trainers around the globe have used Reversal Energy to boost the damage done by Gardevoir’s Brainwave attack in the popular Gardevoir ex archetype.

Reversal Energy enables the new Luxray to shine, too. When the player has more Prize cards remaining than their opponent, Luxray’s Swelling Flash Ability means it can be played directly from the hand onto the Bench. With a Reversal Energy attached, this Pokémon is instantly ready to launch a powerful attack. Lugia VSTAR and Palkia VSTAR beware! Wild Charge can achieve a one-hit Knock Out on these Pokémon because of their Weakness to Lightning.

Conversely, the new Special Energy cards in Scarlet & Violet—Paldea Evolved create new opportunities for Lugia VSTAR decks. Archeops’s Primal Turbo Ability makes it easy to power up Pokémon like Luxray and Radiant Charizard using Reversal Energy or Luminous Energy. Primal Turbo can also put Therapeutic Energy into play to protect Pokémon from Special Conditions.

These are just some of the exceptional cards you will find in the new Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—Paldea Evolved expansion. With over 190 new cards to collect—including 15 brand-new Pokémon ex—there are plenty of other exciting combinations and strategies to explore. Are you ready to take your game play to the next level?

Look for more Pokémon TCG strategy and analysis at Pokemon.com/Strategy.