Select retailers will begin selling the Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—Paradox Rift Build & Battle Box starting October 21

The latest Pokémon Trading Card Game expansion, Scarlet & Violet—Paradox Rift, arrives November 3, 2023, but you can visit your local game store to play with it early! Starting October 21, 2023, select retailers will begin selling the Scarlet & Violet—Paradox Rift Build & Battle Box, giving fans a chance to have a Prerelease battle and experience the latest expansion before its official release date.

The Prerelease format allows players to compete using a 40-card deck with four Prize cards set aside at the start of play, as opposed to a 60-card deck with six Prize cards. This format is perfect for introducing new players to the exciting world of the Pokémon TCG with quick, fun games, and it also gives seasoned players a window into all that Scarlet & Violet—Paradox Rift has to offer. Due to a limited card pool and the variance of cards that can be acquired in a Build & Battle Box, Prerelease events are also a great opportunity to flex your creative deck-building skills.

Each Build & Battle Box includes four Scarlet & Violet—Paradox Rift booster packs, a 40-card ready-to-play deck featuring key cards from current and prior sets, as well as one of four unique foil promo cards to boost your Prerelease deck. Depending on which promo card you get, you could add the red-hot Chi-Yu, ice-cold Iron Bundle, tricky Xatu, or the indominable Aegislash. Whichever promo you do end up with, it will certainly shape your Prerelease strategy!

Out of the lava and into the…fire? Chi-Yu majestically leaps from a river of lava and is ready to bring the heat with its Flare Bringer attack. This attack doesn’t do damage, but if you’re able to get Fire Energy into the discard pile, it can easily power up your next attacker and set your board up for some Prerelease mayhem. It can be a powerful attacker on its own, too, if one of your Pokémon goes down—its Megafire of Envy attack does 140 total damage if any of your Pokémon were Knocked Out by damage from an attack during your opponent’s last turn.  

Getting around your opponent’s Active Pokémon is often difficult in Prerelease format due to a limited number of cards like Boss’s Orders and Escape Rope, but Iron Bundle changes all that. Its Hyper Blower Ability allows you to switch out your opponent’s Active Pokémon to the Bench. If you do, though, you’ll have to discard Iron Bundle and all attached cards.

If you’re looking for Iron Bundle to gift some pain, its Refrigerated Steam attack makes it so that if the Defending Pokémon is an Evolution Pokémon, it can’t attack during your opponent’s next turn. Evolution Pokémon are normally much stronger in Prerelease format due to their high HP, so timing this attack can turn around even the most one-sided game. It can even completely stop a Pokémon ex in its tracks!

Energy acceleration is a huge advantage in any match of the Pokémon TCG, and Xatu does that and more. This Psychic-type Pokémon has the Clairvoyant Sense Ability, which allows you to attach a Basic Psychic Energy from your hand to one of your Benched Pokémon. And that’s not all—if you attached Energy to a Pokémon in this way, you draw two cards.

Between extra Energy attachments and drawing a couple of extra cards, Xatu is bound to be one of the strongest Pokémon in Scarlet & Violet—Paradox Rift Prerelease events. Its Super Psy Bolt attack would normally be difficult to use, but having multiple Xatu in play can quickly fulfill the Energy cost while also building a huge hand. Attaching multiple Energy cards and growing your hand size is uncommon in Prerelease format so the future is looking bright if you find Xatu in your Build & Battle Box.  

If you’ve ever been lucky enough to find a powerful Pokémon V or Pokémon ex in your Build & Battle Box, you know that it can be a huge advantage even if they give up two Prize cards instead of one. This time around, though, there’s a great counter to Pokémon ex in Aegislash—its Mysterious Shield Ability prevents all damage done to it by Pokémon ex and Pokémon V.

This type of Ability is commonly found on defensive Pokémon, but Aegislash can still chip in plenty of offense with its Hard Bashing attack, which does 120 damage for just two Energy and ignores all effects on the opponent’s Active Pokémon. That number is perfect for taking one-hit Knock Outs against the previously showcased Prerelease promo cards, so keep that in mind as you battle.

There are variations among Build & Battle Boxes, so you can add your own creative twist when building your deck. Whether you’re heading to a local game store or just playing with a friend, have some quick and fun battles using cards from the new Scarlet & Violet—Paradox Rift expansion!