The Surging Sparks expansion, Prismatic Evolution won't have individually sold booster packs. Instead, fans will have the choice of purchasing special gift sets in addition to standard Elite Trainer Boxes. Based on Prismatic Evolution's timing at the beginning of the year, it means players will likely get a second special set release in 2025.
While the Pokémon Trading Card Game has had special sets as far back as 2012, they used to be relatively limited in size, with only 20 or 30 cards per set and an average release of maybe one per year. Since 2023, the Pokémon Trading Card Game has released two special sets per year, with some sets having as many as 207 cards. Functionally, these sets allow the Pokémon Trading Card game to publish more cards than ever, forcing both collectors and fans to keep spending money to keep up.
Pokémon's Prismatic Evolution Set Explained
Prismatic Evolution Contains Cards From An Eevee-Focused Set
The Pokémon Company has yet to officially announce Prismatic Evolution – only being revealed by PokéBeach – but its name suggests that it will feature Tera ex versions of Eevee and its various evolutions. The Eevee-related cards will come from the Japanese Terastal Festival card set, a "High Class Set." In Japan, High Class Sets feature booster packs with more cards, guaranteed pull rates, and special god packs that only contain rare and ultra-rare cards. Prismatic Evolution's set list will be filled out by cards released exclusively in Japan in special starter deck products.
Part of the problem is how the Pokémon Trading Card Game is distributed internationally. The Pokémon Company tends to mash multiple Japanese sets and products together to form a larger set for international distribution. Some of these sets turn out fine, like the Stellar Crown cards, for example, but others end up bloated with filler cards. Occasionally, the Pokémon Company shifts the rarity of certain cards for international release, meaning that American pack openers might wind up with a card that's uncommon in Japan as their guaranteed rare card. So, while Terastal Festival is a good set for Japanese players, its international equivalent doesn't have the same special qualities.
Why Gift Sets Are Hurting TCGs
Special Sets Are Oversaturating Pokémon TCG
There are two main problems with special sets like Prismatic Evolution. The first is that they allow the Pokémon Trading Card Game to circumnavigate their standard release cadence of four sets per year. Four sets is a good pace for a game like the Pokémon TCG. It gives players several months to adjust to the metagame and gives collectors a chance to get their hands on chase cards and recover. Releasing more than four sets per year leads to an oversaturation of new cards as new sets constantly hit the market. Magic: The Gathering released ten sets in 2024 alone, which meant that its sets had no time to breathe or find an audience. Even popular sets like MTG's Bloomburrow were seemingly overshadowed as marketing immediately turned to the next set shortly after its release.
The other major issue is how special sets are actually distributed to players. The Pokémon Company releases these sets through an abundance of special gift boxes and multi-pack products, with no option of buying individual card packs at a lower price point. Players typically have to spend a minimum of $20 to get booster packs from these sets, which feels like a money grab for fans. Players could at least opt out of special sets when they mostly featured existing cards with variant art (such as Paldean Fates). Now, these sets contain meta-relevant cards like Fezandipiti ex, a potentially valuable card from Shrouded Fable, which is found in many popular tournament-winning decks.
For reference, Fezandipiti ex appeared in five of the top eight decks at the Louisville Regional tournament earlier in October 2024. It also appeared in six of the eight top decks at the Baltimore Regional tournament.
How Pokémon TCG Can Fix Its Gift Set Problem
Smaller Set List & Individual Booster Packs
Unfortunately, it's unlikely that the Pokémon Trading Card Game will ever fully give up on special sets, because they're too profitable and offer a unique opportunity to release cards with special themes. However, there are several options to help lighten the financial load on players and collectors. One easy solution is to release special sets with booster packs available for individual purchase. While there's still a concern about oversaturation, at least the card game won't prey on children by influencing them (or their parents) to buy the cards at more expensive price points. It's a lot easier to fit special sets like Prismatic Evolution into the budget if they have the same price point as other card sets.
The other solution is to limit the size of special card sets to a more reasonable number. A set with 50 cards is a lot easier to collect than a set with 200 cards, especially when players are forced to buy packs four or six at a time. Smaller sets also mean better pulls, which means it's easier to get a must-have card like Fezandipiti ex in the future.
Special sets are starting to become a problem in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. While they were once a harmless distraction, they're becoming more and more frequent. Even worse, they now contain relevant cards that force players to invest in them instead of focusing on standard releases. If The Pokémon Company doesn't show some restraint, it could find itself in a position like Magic: The Gathering, a profitable card game but with a frequently detached and unengaged fanbase.
Source: PokéBeach
- Created by
- Satoshi Taijiri, Ken Sugimori, Junichi Masuda
- Video Game(s)
- Pokémon GO
- First Film
- Pokemon: The First Movie
- Latest Film
- Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle
- First TV Show
- Pokémon
- First Episode Air Date
- April 1, 1997
