Best Pokémon cards in Prismatic Evolutions you need to pull

Releasing on Jan. 17, as the English counterpart to Terastal Festival ex, Prismatic Evolutions is one of the most anxiously awaited Pokémon Trading Card Game sets to drop in recent memory—and it’s already incredibly hard to get hold of.

Alongside the new Umbreon ex that many hope will become Moonbreon 2.0, there are a handful of cards to watch when ripping packs. Here are the best Pokémon cards in Prismatic Evolutions you need to pull.

Best cards to pull from Pokemon TCG Prismatic Evolutions

With striking Eeveelution cards and plenty of competitively viable tech, this PTCG set has something to get excited about whether you’re a player or collector.

Interestingly, some of the best cards on offer are Basic Pokémon, which appear fairly standard at first glance. Cards like Regigigas and Budew look unassuming, but they will likely be staples of the competitive meta as the year unfolds.

Espeon ex

Every Eeveelution (as well as Eevee) has an ex card in this set, and Espeon ex is the most impressive out of the entire collection. As well as being a strikingly beautiful card that will appeal to collectors, it looks lethal from a competitive angle.

Psych Out is a fascinating move. As well as dealing 160 damage, it discards a random card from your opponent’s hand, leading to a disruptive style of play. It can also be used with one Psychic Energy and two Colorless, opening up the field for various ways to obtain the required Energy.

Amazez utilizes devolution, which is relatively rare in the PTCG. In return for a Grass Energy, Psychic Energy, and Dark Energy, Amazez devolves each of the opponent’s evolved ‘mons, shuffling the highest-stage card back into their deck.

While 160 damage isn’t the biggest number up for grabs in the line of Eeveelution cards, this card’s gameplay style is beautifully disruptive. We’ll likely see this pop up in a handful of competitive decks post-Rotation this year.

Regigigas

While it’s tempting to look exclusively at full-art, rare cards when thinking about the best cards to pull in an upcoming set, make sure you don’t ignore the competitively viable Basic critters. Regigigas might not look flashy, but this card could be a beast in a match with the right setup.

It has the attack Jewel Breaker, which deals a base 100 damage in return for four Colorless Energy. If the opponent’s Active is a Tera Pokémon, though, this whacks an extra 230 damage on top, which could potentially Knock Out a fully evolved foe.

Getting four Energy onto a Pokémon can be time-consuming, but the Energy requirement here is Colorless, making it more tolerable. Setting this up on the Bench and then dropping it in for 330 damage could be a game-changing move.

Even with Rotation happening on April 11, Tera Pokémon will still be a dominating force in the Pokémon TCG. Any attacks that deal more damage to Tera ‘mons are important to watch out for when you’re deck-building.

Treasure Tracker

The best ACE SPEC in Prismatic Evolutions will really depend on which deck you’re running with, but from a general perspective, Treasure Tracker is looking impressive. This is less of a must-have for collectors and more targeted at players in particular.

This Item ACE SPEC allows you to search your deck for up to five Pokémon Tools, reveal them, and then add them straight to your hand before shuffling your deck. This could potentially cut your setup time in half if you rely on particular Pokémon Tools like Binding Mochi or Bravery Charm.

Any sort of deck search is valuable to an extent, but pulling this in the mid-to-late game and theoretically setting up your entire bench with a useful Pokémon Tool makes it an invaluable ACE SPEC.

Tyranitar ex

Tyranitar cards in the Pokémon TCG don’t always encapsulate the size and ferocity of the Armor Pokemon, but Prismatic Evolutions has hit the nail on the head with this tank of an ex card.

The Grind attack is simple yet effective, dealing 50 damage for every Energy attached to Tyranitar ex. If you have access to a piece of easy Energy acceleration tech in your deck list, this could stack up to Knock Out an opponent quickly.

Tyrannical Crush deals 150 damage for three Energy, with two of those Energy cards being Colorless. Alongside the damage, it also discards a random card from the opponent’s hand, leading to more of a disruptive style of play.

On top of these solid attacks, Tyranitar ex also has a base HP pool of 340, making it tricky for an opponent to take out in one go.

Umbreon ex

The list wouldn’t be complete without the card that started the comparisons between the infamous Evolving Skies and Prismatic Evolutions. Umbreon ex is a kaleidoscopic gem of a collector’s piece, but it’s also one of the most viable Eeveelutions for tournament play.

Moon Mirage is a simple enough attack, dealing 160 damage and applying Confusion to the opponent’s Active Pokemon.

Onyx is where Umbreon ex shines, though. In return for discarding a Lighting Energy, Psychic Energy, and Dark Energy, this move allows the user to draw one of their Prize Cards, leading to a unique win condition for the match.

Umbreon ex has a decent health stat with 280 HP on offer, so with the right support and Items, this card could lead to a quick and easy win via the Onyx move. It’ll be interesting to see which cards it synergizes with once the full special set releases.

Other cards to watch for in Prismatic Evolutions

While the cards we’ve listed above are the most important pieces to keep an eye out for, there are plenty of other valuable hits to get excited about in Prismatic Evolutions. Some hold the potential to be immensely valuable down the line, while others will be necessary pulls for competitive play.

Budew is looking like a must-have for players despite seeming unassuming at first glance. This tiny 30 HP friend has the attack Itchy Pollen that costs zero Energy and deals 10 damage. Itchy Pollen also prevents the opponent from using any Items from their hand during the next turn.

While some decks can thrive without Items, plenty rely on the card type to set up during the early stages of a match. Despite having only a sliver of HP to work with, Budew can theoretically stall and offer immense control, especially thanks to the lack of Energy costs.

The other Eeveelution Special Illustration Rare cards are also worth keeping an eye out for. Based on early pack openings, the pull rates for this set look brutal, but if you manage to get a Sylveon ex or Flareon ex, for example, sleeve it and take good care of it.

It’ll be fascinating to see which Eeveelution ex cards end up falling into meta decks. Alongside our initial picks, Glaceon ex and Leafeon ex seem to hold the most potential. The former has access to an almost instant Knock Out move, while the latter has Energy-efficient damage and healing.

If you’re hoping to pick up Prismatic Evolutions cards on release day, it’s worth seeing whether your local game store has any plans to stock the set. Some retailers are not stocking it at all, while others have limited supplies up for grabs, so it’s best to check beforehand to avoid any disappointment.