We opened a box of Pokémon TCG Paradox Rift early and unearthed treasures from Area Zero

The Pokémon TCG is releasing some of its most anticipated Scarlet and Violet cards just in time for the holiday season, dropping Paradox Rift on Nov. 3. In the hunt for treasures locked within Aera Zero, we opened a full booster box early and unearthed some amazing pulls. 

Coming off the back of Pokémon 151, a hyped-up special set focusing on the original lineup of Pokémon from Red, Green, and Blue, Paradox Rift is a standard set that introduces a number of new Pokémon to the TCG for the first time. This includes the Paradox Pokémon you can only find in Area Zero and some other interesting Pokémon ex like a Fighting Tera Type Hoopa ex and Water Tera Type Garchomp ex. 

Unlike the previous two sets, Paradox Rift will not be defined by a single card—partially because there is no Charizard to chase this time around. Instead, the Special Illustration Rare variants for Paradox Pokémon like Roaring Moon and Iron Valiant are the real prizes, along with a few fan-favorite Trainer cards. 

I’ve had some decent luck when opening 151 and Obsidian Flames, and it looks like this early box of 36 packs from The Pokémon Company has also treated me well, even if I didn’t quite make it to the deepest corners of the Great Crater of Paldea. 

Our best pulls for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Paradox Rift

Within the first three packs, I pulled what would end up being my best card of this Paradox Rift box—a Special Illustration Rare Tulip. This is one of three solo-Trainer cards that are at the top of the set’s chase list alongside Mela and Rika, though there are also SIRs for Professor Sada’s Vitality and Professor Turo’s Scenario that are great too. 

The IR and SIR offerings in this set are absolutely stunning and include some incredible Pokémon like Loudred, Minior, and Yveltal along with many other Legendaries in my personal favorite rarity. I did pull a number of other Paradox Pokémon in their common and regular holo variants too, which is a nice bonus if you just want to have a few copies regardless of rarity. 

Paradox Rift also has a lot of really good, easier-to-pull cards in the Double Rare ex slots like Roaring Moon, Gholdengo, Garchomp, and more. These cards are either popular Pokémon that fans just want to pull or have some relevance in early projections for competitive play. 

I managed to pull a few of those cards, though not the SIR chasers for Roaring Moon ex and Gholdengo ex that are arguably going to be the biggest pulls for this entire set. 

The remainder of my pulls were rather lackluster, with a few additional Pokémon ex like Hoopa and Bombirdier. The best card I got out of my final few packs was a full art Armarouge ex, which has a nice flame pattern behind its model, and full art Parasol Lady. 

Overall, I am really happy with my pulls and a big fan of Paradox Rift compared to the last few SV sets. I will be looking to grab some other Illustration Rares like Steelix, Joltik, Snorunt, and Mantyke—and maybe a few of the SIRs like Tapu Koko ex too when the full set launches on Nov. 3.