Images courtesy of The Pokémon Company
The Scarlet & Violet era of the Pokémon Trading Card Game (or TCG) marked the debut of a new era of the card game, the introduction of Tera Type Pokémon, and the return of powerful one-per-deck ACE SPEC cards, with game-deciding effects.
With each and every expansion, new cards are introduced, spawning new archetypes or redefining existing ones — but not all sets are created equal. Some have made immediate splashes in the metagame, while others barely improved a deck or two.
Today, we’ll be ranking all the Scarlet & Violet sets so far, and how they’ve impacted the Standard metagame.
Criteria for Ranking the Scarlet and Violet Pokémon TCG Sets
The lens we’ll use to approach the rankings will be: which cards have made a significant splash in the metagame? This does not include reprints of the same Regulation Mark, but will consider when cards have been reprinted with new ones, making them still legal going forward.
With that said, let’s begin.
12th: Paldean Fates (PAF)
The second special Scarlet & Violet expansion introduced 50 reprinted cards from previous sets, and a load of swanky new printings of Shiny Pokémon, for collectors mainly. For instance, the sought-after shiny Charizard ex Special Art Rare is part of this expansion.
However, competitively speaking, PAF introduced very few cards which impacted the game. An alternate (and optimal) version of Charmeleon is appreciated, as well as Moonlit Hill and Espathra ex.
11th: 151 (MEW)
Another special set, 151 was more of a commemorative holiday expansion as a shout to all the fans of the original Kanto Region Pokémon. As such, this featured all the original 151 Pokémon, ordered by the National Pokédex number, instead of being grouped by type.
The only standout here is Mew ex, which still sees play as a free pivot option and as a means to draw cards in aggressive decks such as Raging Bolt.
Ditto and Starmie see play in certain archetypes, while Erika’s Invitation has become a one-of staple in stall archetypes.
10th: Stellar Crown (SCR)
Despite Stellar Crown‘s initial burst into the scene, it basically only elevated one archetype – Dragapult ex with Sparkling Crystal – into at least A-tier status, solidified by Ryuki Okada’s win with the deck at Dortmund Regionals.
Aside from that, the set provided an easily-splashable Tera Pokémon in Terapagos ex, and a load of support in the form of Area Zero Underdepths, Glass Trumpet, and the Colorless package of Fan Rotom, Noctowl, and Bouffalant.
Crispin remains one of the most underrated Supporters in the format, but the most meta-defining card of the set has got to be Briar, whose mere existence has made players reevaluate their prize map against certain decks or board states.
9th: Obsidian Flames (OBF)
This might be a shocker, considering Obsidian Flames is one of the most hyped-up sets, but when we dig into it deeper, the only cards from the set that see play are Charizard ex, Pidgeot ex, and Cleffa. And while we can argue these cards have been meta-defining, their prevalence in the game did not fully blossom until a few sets later, where the full Charizard-Pidgeot deck finally became fleshed out.
8th: Surging Sparks (SSP)
A set focused on Pikachu ex, it brought much-needed support to the Miraidon ex archetype (such as our mascot and Magneton), which recently took down the Merida Regionals, piloted by Azul Garcia-Griego.
The expansion also spawned two new archetypes in Ceruledge ex and Archaludon ex, which still see decent success in the meta today – with Ceruledge clinching Premier Ball League Hong Kong, and Archaludon taking down Champions League Osaka – both also in the Prismatic Evolutions format.
Milotic ex has proven to be a mainstay in wall decks, and will continue to do so even after rotation, while Latias ex has become a core support Pokémon in big basic decks.
A swath of ACE SPECs have also found their way to decklists, such as Precious Trolley for consistent setups in Dragapult-Iron Thorns, Energy Search Pro in Gholdengo, and Miracle Headset in Snorlax Stall.
7th: Prismatic Evolutions (PRE)
Budew has definitely redefined how the metagame should be approached, that much is clear. Its mere existence has pushed Stage 1 engine decks such as Gardevoir and Dragapult to become metagame frontrunners, while other decks had to adapt, or just dump all their Item cards before being item locked. However, its impact was less felt during the Merida Regionals, where a flock of Miraidon players capitalized on the little bud’s vulnerability to being knocked out by Iron Hands ex, leaving evolving decks with little recourse to catch up on the prize race.
Regigigas has also given decks like Lugia more tools to combat high-HP Tera Pokémon, while Black Belt’s Training fixed math on several archetypes to score key knockouts.
Outside of these three cards, the set has very little to offer that didn’t already exist, as most cards here are just reprints.
6th: Twilight Masquerade (TWM)
The introduction of Munkidori to the format cannot be understated. During the first international Twilight Masquerade-legal tournament, NAIC 2024 in New Orleans, six out of the eight decks in the Top 8 were all Gardevoir, while the remaining two spots were taken up by a deck that directly counters Gardy: Lost Box.
Aside from the Legendary monkey, though, the expansion also provided Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex, and Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex, all of which have carved their own niches in decklists – most notably Teal Mask becoming the most played Ogerpon variant due to the prevalence of Raging Bolt and Regidrago.
Iron Thorns ex and Dragapult ex were also printed in this set, which formed new archetypes. Meanwhile, Bloodmoon Ursaluna exis still a premier closer in several decks.
Handheld Fan, Jamming Tower, Secret Box, Unfair Stamp, and Legacy Energy are also all amazing tech cards and deck mainstays, leaving this set just shy of our top five.
5th: Shrouded Fable (SFA)
The third special set, which set the stage for the World Championship metagame, catapulted the previous binder bulk Regidrago VSTAR into superstar status as the deck to beat.
The main culprit? Kyurem, whose Trifrost attack wiped out all the tiny Basic decks running the meta.
SFA also contained Fezandipiti ex, one of the most powerful support Pokémon in the meta, and is Card Gamer’s top pick for our favorite Pokémon TCG card in 2024.
Night Stretcher is also a great Item card for any deck, and this has been its only printing.
Dusknoir and Dusclops with the Cursed Blast ability also allowed Charizard and Dragapult to manipulate prizes in their favor and enabled them to blow up boards, not allowing opponents a single turn to set up. Dusknoir and Fezandipiti ex are highly divisive cards, which makes this set an easy pick for one of the most influential among all the Scarlet & Violet expansions.
4th: Paradox Rift (PAR)
The release of Ancient and Future trait Pokémon in the game has definitely shaken up the mechanics of the game, allowing additional tags to be printed again on certain Pokémon (and Trainers!) and gives them interactions with specific support cards.
Iron Valiant ex and Roaring Moon ex both had their fair share of the limelight, while Iron Hands ex still continues its chokehold over vulnerable Basic Pokémon due to its Amp You Very Much attack.
The ever-prolific Earthen Vessel saw its first printing here, which was one of the few ways to search multiple Basic Energy out of the deck in one go. Counter Catcher, which was last printed in Crimson Invasion, was finally reprinted in this set, and helps decks that fell behind early to come back.
Technical Machine: Evolution is still great in an item lock metagame, while Professor Sada’s Vitality allowed turbo decks to take big KOs even on their very first turn, going second.
3rd: Scarlet & Violet (SVI)
The foundational set of the Scarlet & Violet era had huge shoes to fill. After all, it was the start of a new generation! It delivered on these huge expectations with deck-defining cards such as Miraidon ex and Gardevoir ex, which have spawned their own archetypes and are still at the top of the meta two years after their printings.
Arven provided most decks a crucial way to set up, while Electric Generator was the lynchpin of Miraidon decks – giving birth to the saying “You live or die by the Generators.”
Being the first set of this generation, the Trainer cards had to be decent. Nest Ball was reprinted, after last being seen during Sun & Moon, while we finally received Regulation G versions of Professor’s Research, Rare Candy, and Ultra Ball, solidifying their place in Standard for two more rotations.
2nd: Paldea Evolved (PAL)
In terms of Pokémon, PAL was a letdown for the most part. The one that still sees play today is Squawkabilly ex, a core component of many turbo decks. However, Chien-Pao ex was the metagame bogeyman for a while, and many have strong feelings for the deck still today.
Superior Energy Retrieval also saw a reprint from Plasma Freeze, and Super Rod, last printed in BREAKthrough, gave a form of recursion to decks.
A Regulation G Boss’s Orders was also released, which remains one of the most powerful modern cards the Pokémon TCG has ever had.
The standout though is definitely Iono, which equalized the playing field by punishing decks that can’t close out the game fast enough.
1st: Temporal Forces (TEF)
This was the expansion that heralded Charizard ex‘s reign of terror over the metagame.
While Charizard existed prior to this set, the release of Buddy-Buddy Poffin gave a much-needed boost to Stage 2 decks, especially combined with Arven and Rare Candy.
Prime Catcher and Hero’s Cape were also the ACE SPECs most used in these Charizard decks, as demonstrated by Tord Reklev during EUIC 2024 in London.
The set also brought a plethora of Ancient cards such as Roaring Moon and Great Tusk, with Ancient Booster Energy Capsule, which formed the deck we now call Ancient Box.
Boxed Order and Eri proved to be the final missing pieces to make stall a legitimate metagame contender, as demonstrated by Azul Garcia-Girego in his Stockholm Regionals win with Snorlax Stall, featuring three copies of the Item disruption Supporter.
More Scarlet and Violet to Come
Scarlet & Violet has carried several archetype-defining Pokémon which may very well continue to rule the metagame until their rotation, while seeding the pool with cards that may one day become tier one contenders in their own right. And the ride isn’t over – we still have several Scarlet & Violet sets on the horizon, with Journey Together and Destined Rivals releasing in March and May, respectively.
Keep on top of all the new Pokémon TCG releases by bookmarking our 2025 release schedule here.
