We’re now into the DLC era of Scarlet & Violet’sPokemon TCGrun. The previous set,Temporal Forces, which was released in March, was focused on the Paradox versions of historical legendaries, and now, the latest set, Twilight Masquerade, heavily features a brand-new Pokemon, Ogrepon, and its multitude of different variations.
Report: Pokemon TCG Sales Have “Tanked” Since The Release Of Scarlet And Violet
Scarlet and Violet’s latest sets were called “relatively bad”, “lazy”, “a lot less special and interesting”, and “dull” by store owners.
Ahead of its release on May 24, The Pokemon Company was kind enough to send us some products over to check out, and we have some thoughts.
Emerald Green Dream
As I’ve previously alluded to, nobody opens Pokemon Cards because of how the packaging looks. However, it’s hard to deny that The Pokemon Company has knocked it out of the park once again.
This time around, the company has opted to release a single Elite Trainer Boxrather than a pair, as has often been the case in the Scarlet and Violet era. In contrast to the slightly more understated Walking Wake ETB we received for Temporal Forces, Twilight Masquerade features a bold emerald green box emblazoned with the set’s focal Pokemon, Ogrepon.
This time out, the pack art features Blood Moon Ursaluna, Ogrepon (of course), Dragapult, and Sinistcha, three new Pokemon, and one which debuted inPokemon Sword and Shield.
The Pulls From 49 Packs
If you look back at my pulls fromrecent early hands-on openings, they’ve been middling at best. Twilight Masquerade seems to have bucked that trend.
My Elite Trainer Box and Build and Battle Kit provided me with two full art cards, Blood Moon Ursaluna ex and Scream Tail ex, an AR, Heliolisk, an Ace Spec Trainer and two exs. Not a bad return from 15 packs.
Twilight Masquerade seems to have bucked that trend.
The Booster Box was even better. I got the standard three AR cards, with both Applin and Dipplin, plus a really nice Wattrel card, another full art in Luxray ex, two Ace Spec Trainers, a Perrin full art and a bunch of ex. But the luck didn’t stop there. I also pulled one of the four Ogrepon ex SAR cards in Wellspring Mask Ogrepon and one of the beautiful white background Tera cards in Cornerstone Mask Ogrepon ex. Not a bad return, especially when you compare it to my paltry pulls from Temporal Forces.
Thoughts On The Set
Set Details:
At the risk of sounding like a boomer, I think Twilight Masquerade leans too heavily into Ogrepon. While I appreciate it has a handful of different forms, it appears in the set 13 different times, 14 if you include the Elite Trainer Box Promo, meaning it’s basically unavoidable. Don’t get me wrong, some of the Ogrepon cards, namely the SARs, are pretty great looking, it’s just a lot.
That being said, Ogrepon (and Sinistcha) aside, the art on many of these cards is fantastic. Taking the ARs specifically, Pinsir, Infernape, Froslass, Hisuian Growlithe, Tatsugiri, Probopass, and Chansey are all bangers, with a handful of others looking fantastic. I also love the Greninja, Blood Moon Ursaluna and Lana’s Aid SARs, and Perrin’s SAR linking to the Growlithe AR is a nice touch, so there’s definitely been no slacking from the Pokemon TCG art department.
There’s definitely been no slacking from the Pokemon TCG art department.
It also shouldn’t go unnoticed that this expansion’s size is significantly lower than some of the earlier Scarlet and Violet sets, which is a good thing. Sets like ScVi Base and Paldea Evolved featured 258 and 279 cards, respectively. Twilight Masquerade clocks in at 226, between 30-50 cards down on its predecessors. While not quite as low as the Sun & Moon days, which made master sets more attainable for collectors, it’s a step in the right direction.
Maybe I’m a little down on Twilight Masquerade as, for my money, theScarlet and Violetgames are not great, and thus, I didn’t dive into the DLC. This has meant I have very little attachment to these Pokemon. I can’t help but feel, though, a higher concentration of older Pokemon would have helped things out. As has often been the case, there are some genuinely wonderful cards in the set; I’m just not sure it’s for me.
