Pokémon TCG’s Silver Tempest release builds hype before Scarlet and Violet’s launch

Silver Tempest, the next Pokémon TCG expansion under the Sword and Shield banner, is launching today.

Featuring the chilly Alolan Vulpix and the majestic Lugia as its poster Pokémon, Silver Tempest is the second-to-last Sword and Shield TCG set. Many players expected it to be the final set thanks to the impending launch of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet on Nov. 18, but it will be followed by Crown Zenith, the very last Sword and Shield set.

According to TCGPlayer, some of the best pulls from Silver Tempest will be the three new Radiant Pokemon: Radiant Jirachi, Radiant Alakazam, and Radiant Tsareena, each of which has a unique ability and a special shiny coloring. Three new VSTAR Pokémon are also joining the lineup, including front-page star Alolan Vulpix VSTAR. Other popular cards will likely include full-art versions of V Pokémon as well as full-art cards and Trainer Gallery cards that players have come to love over the course of Sword and Shield’s expansions.

As with previous expansions, Silver Tempest will feature booster packs, booster boxes, Elite Trainer Boxes, booster bundles, and more for those who want to pull as many cards as possible. The Elite Trainer Box for the set features Alolan Vulpix and comes in a standard version as well as a Pokémon Center-exclusive version that includes two extra booster backs, additional card sleeves, and a special coin.

This set is arriving just before the release of Scarlet and Violet, the next main-series games in the Pokémon franchise. As the starting point of generation nine, the two games will include a new open-world setting, new characters to meet, and plenty of new Pokémon to catch. The Pokémon Company has been slowly releasing new information about all of the game’s new mechanics, but players won’t have to wait much longer to see it for themselves when the games hit store shelves on Nov. 18.