What is better than watching basketball and opening packs of Pokémon cards? Not much, and it gets even better when, after cracking an entire booster box of the Pokémon TCG: Paldea Evolved set early, I walked away with some gold.
Now, depending on what you are opening a Pokémon TCG product for, you will have different cards to chase. But there are some pulls that just end up being instant wins.
Paldea Evolved is the second set in the Scarlet and Violet series that launched earlier this year and officially releases on Friday, June 9. This means anyone who grabs a pack will get a guaranteed three holos as they delve into more Pokémon making their debut in card form, such as all four of the Treasures of Ruin.
For anyone who wants an early look at some pulls, here’s what I was able to nab out of 36 packs of Paldea Evolved thanks to a box provided by The Pokémon Company.
Our best pulls from Pokémon TCG: Paldea Evolved
If you are a collector, there are clear highlights for you in Pokémon TCG: Paldea Evolved, such as the various first printings of Scarlet and Violet characters like Iono and Dendra. Specifically the Special Illustrator Rare versions for those two, Grusha, and Giacomo.
Iono is also likely going to end up being a heavily used competitive card too, so if you are interested in pulls that will hold value, it might be worth gunning for her Full Art of SIR specifically.
Related: All Pokémon TCG: Paldea Evolved money cards
While I missed out on some of those trainers, I did manage to pull the Full Art variant of everyone’s favorite companion Clive—I mean Director Clavell. No idea how I mixed those two up.
I was pumped to pull Ting-Lu since I enjoy running Fighting Energy-themed decks. And thankfully I was lucky enough to pull the Double Rare and Gold Rare Ting-Lu ex, so I have a good start to working on my next build. Now I just want to get that awesome Special Illustration Rare art.
I also pulled almost every variant of Quaquaval ex outside of the Gold Rare. While it isn’t my favorite starter from this generation, the Special Illustration Rare for the Water/Fighting type is my favorite of the bunch. I also pulled a Double Rare Meowscarada ex—don’t mind me while I cry about not pulling a single Skeledirge.
Speaking of Illustration Rares, I also got a handful of others like Paldean Wooper, Rookidee, and Nacli that are all great. And, while I didn’t grab Iono, I did get a Full Art Bellibolt ex too.
Don’t discount lower rarity stuff from Paldea Evolved either, as this set is loaded when it comes to the competitive side. Many cards you can pull at common like Baxcalibur, Jet Energy, Reversal Energy, and Super Rod all show great promise—along with Iono and others.
