2023 was a huge year for card games across the board (pardon the mild pun).
Magic: The Gathering celebrated its 30th anniversary, Yu-Gi-Oh reached its own quarter of a century milestone and we even had the launch of one of the biggest (and most exciting) new trading card games TCGs) in many years: Disney Lorcana.
The Pokemon Trading Card Game (which is now more than two and a half decades old itself and still going strong) certainly didn’t rest on its laurels, however.
Some massive new features came to Pokemon, shaking up the game in new and interesting ways; we saw the introduction of Tera Pokemon and Paradox Pokemon, as just two big examples.
Perhaps the biggest event in the world of the Pokemon TCG was the release of the incredible Scarlet & Violet: 151 set, which took players back to the origins of the game and focused on the 151 Pokemon which made up the very first Pokedex (in both the trading card game and the original Game Boy video games!).
For trading card games, time never stops still of course, which means that there’s plenty more on the horizon for Pokemon in 2024.
What upcoming Pokemon TCG Sets In 2024 sets and products do we know about right now though?
Let’s find out, as we check out all upcoming Pokemon sets!
1. Paldean Fates Set (January 26th – February 23rd)
The first set release for 2024 is the Paldean Fates set, which is being released in three waves of products from January 26th to February 23rd.
As a smaller set than usual, Paldean Fates will not have individual booster packs as part of its product range, much like Crown Zenith in 2023.
Instead, booster packs will only be available as part of other boxes, packs and collections; you may, if you shop around, find smaller retailers who break some of these collections down and sell booster packs individually, however.
The main thing is that individual boosters are not part of the ‘official’ range, which also means that booster boxes won’t be made available.
Many collectors do like to grab themselves a booster box whenever a new set launches. Though this is a bit of a blow to that type of fan, it’s worth noting that you’ll still be able to get bundles of booster packs in different ways.
So, what will be available and when?
The First Wave
The first wave features an Elite Trainer Box, which are always useful to pick up and come highly recommended by us long term Pokemon TCG fans at Card Gamer.
Though not suitable for first time players looking to take their first steps into the game, for players looking to get their hands on a decent selection of cards from a set, as well as a bundle of useful accessories and even a set guide, it’s hard to beat the value you get from an Elite Trainer Box.
Inside the Paldean Fates Elite Trainer Box (or ETB) are nine Paldean Fates booster packs, a promo card, a small bundle of energy cards and accessories including damage dice, plastic status tokens, card dividers (handy when using the ETB’s box itself for storing cards) and Paldean Fates card sleeves.
The promo included is an exclusive, full art, foil Mimikyu card. Though the Mimikyu itself is part of the Paldean Fates set, the full art promo variants tend to be some of the most desirable and highly sought after cards!
The first wave on January 26th will also see the release of Tech Sticker Collection packs, of which there will be a choice of three.
You’ll be able to choose from Fidough, Greavard or Maschiff (yes, they’re all dogs for some reason!), and each pack contains three Paldean Fates boosters and a sticker that’s intended to be stuck on ‘tech’, hence the name.
So you Pokefans can now adorn your laptops and tablets with your favourite canine Pokemon!
The Second Wave
Due on 9th February, the Paldean Fates second wave will launch, featuring Tins, Mini Tins and Premium Collection boxes.
Mini Tins are the most basic of the second wave products, featuring just two Paldean Fates boosters and a sticker that matches your chosen one of five mini tin designs.
The Paldean Fates Tins and Premium Collection boxes are much more tailored in what they offer, with a choice of specific Pokemon in each as well as a bundle of booster packs.
You’ll be able to choose from Tera Charizard ex, Great Tusk ex or Iron Treads ex when you purchase a tin. If you’re in the US, this will also have five booster packs. If you’re outside of the US, it’ll only contain four booster packs, as well as being a slightly different shaped tin!
Meowscarada ex, Quaquaval ex or Skeledirge ex are the choices of Pokemon in the Premium Collection boxes. It’s also worth noting that you also get the Basic and Stage 1 forms of your chosen Pokemon, giving you a way to fully evolve them in game!
Premium Collection boxes also have an oversized version of the chosen Pokemon and eight Paldean Fates booster packs.
The Final Wave
The final wave, hitting retail on the 23rd of February, only consists of the Paldean Fates Booster Bundle.
This is simply a box of six Paldean Fates booster packs and will usually be sold for just about the same price as you’d normally buy individual booster packs for!
However, with no official way of buying single boosters, if all you’re looking for is a taster of the set and the thrill of opening several packs, this is probably going to be just what you need!
Though there are no boosters, Paldean Fates is an exciting set; it focuses heavily on Shiny and Baby Shiny Pokemon (you can check out our guide to Baby Shiny Pokemon here), with colour schemes and foil treatments that make even the most commonplace Pokemon stand out!
2. Combined Powers Premium Collection (Late February 2024)
You may remember the beautiful, but very expensive, Pokemon Trading Card Game Classic set from late 2023.
A true collector’s item, it featured a minimalist, yet cleverly designed and functional board with storage and accessories; the set also included some exclusive new cards featuring Legendary Pokemon.
Lugia ex, Ho-Oh ex, and Suicune ex were three Legendaries in that set which were exclusive at the time of launch, but less wealthy and patient collectors must be breathing a sigh of relief – as all three of those cards are now being released as part of the Combined Powers box set, for much less than $300!
Inside the Combined Powers set, you’ll find foil variants of the three aforementioned Legendary Pokemon, as well as an oversized foil Lugia ex, three Pokemon Tool cards, a Mr. Mime card and eleven booster packs.
The Mr. Mime card is also one that was originally found in the Pokemon Trading Card Game Classic set; it’s a card that’s deliberately styled, like many of the cards in that set, to look like one of the very first Pokemon cards from the 90s!
So this is a great set for collectors who didn’t manage to get their hands on the Pokemon Trading Card Game Classic; here’s hoping that we see more of the cards in that set make their way to more affordable collections.
3. Mabosstiff ex Box (Late February 2024)
It seems that 2024 is going to be a year that the Pokemon TCG gives some love and attention to its Dog Pokemon, because here’s another with a whole box to itself: the Dark type Mabosstiff ex!
Along with a Mabosstiff ex foil promo card (plus an oversized version of the same card), you’ll also find a Maschiff card (the Basic form of Mabosstiff), four booster packs and a Pokemon TCG Live code card.
Both Maschiff and Mabosstiff look like fantastic cards for players using Dark decks; each have attacks that only use one Dark Energy, with two Colorless Energy making up the rest of the cost of each.
Mabosstiff in particular can deal up to 220 HP damage with its Proud Fangs attack too – which, given the Energy cost, is excellent!
4. Houndoom and Melmetal ex Battle Decks (February 23rd, 2024)
Ah yes, here we are with another canine deck, as a Houndoom ex Battle Deck arrives in February.
Alongside this is a definitely-not-a-dog Melmetal ex deck, however, so it’s not just man’s best friend getting all of the fun!
These are great choices for players who know the basics of Pokemon, but still consider themselves fairly new or inexperienced.
Ex Battle Decks feature ready to play, 60 card decks based around the type of its ‘main’ Pokemon; for Melmetal, that’s Metal (unsurprisingly!) and for Houndoom, it’ll be primarily based around Dark type Pokemon.
Not only do these decks make great starting points for beginners, but they’re also excellent for more experienced players who want a cost effective way of trying out new types, combos and strategies.
5. Paldea Adventure Chest (March 1st, 2024)
The Paldea Adventure Chest is a slightly unusual product, though there’s no denying just how lovely it looks!
Inside this nicely packaged collection are seven foil promo cards, six Pokemon TCG Booster Packs, a sheet of tech stickers (so if you also picked up the Paldean Fates Tech Sticker packs, your laptop or tablet is going to get some more Pokemon decoration!), a mini portfolio folder, a squishy Pikachu toy and a Pokemon TCG live code card.
Those seven foil promo cards are the highlight of the set, in the humble opinion of us Pokefans here at Card Gamer; inside this box you’ll find these cards: Maushold ex, Pawmi, Pawmo, Pawmot ex, Pikachu, and Sprigatito ex.
Those cards aside, the Paldea Adventure Chest is unlikely to be particularly appealing for collectors or older Pokemon fans.
It’s also worth noting that the price of the Paldea Adventure Chest may well put it out of reach for the younger fans it’s aimed at, given that it’s going to cost $52.99!
6. 2023 World Championship Decks (March 1st, 2024)
World Championship Decks have been a staple release of the Pokemon TCG for many years.
These sets include the exact same decks that were used to win the biggest Pokemon tournament in the previous year; in this case, it’s the decks used by the winners of the 2023 World Championships, which were held in Yokohama, Japan.
If you’re fairly new to Pokemon, you may assume that buying these decks will give you a huge edge when playing Pokemon with your friends; though that is likely to be the case, there’s a few things that make them less than suitable for anything but the most casual play and, perhaps, much more experienced players.
You won’t be allowed to use these in any local, official tournaments, for example; with card backs that don’t match the original design, they’re deliberately made to stand out, so you can’t use the cards when building other decks.
There’s also the fact that, though these are very strong, world class decks, the strategies they use are often pretty complex and won’t necessarily be obvious or easy to use by anyone except highly experienced players.
It’s certainly fun to try them out and see just how the most successful players won the prestigious World Championship tournaments, but the practicality and usability of these decks is often limited.
That said, these sets are great value for money if you’re able to make use of the decks; they often contain cards that are incredibly expensive to buy in single form.
You’ll also get a themed deck box, playmat, coin and pin in each box, as well as the fairly standard Pokemon TCG Live code card too.
There are four decks available, each of them exactly matching a specific winner’s deck.
Colorless Lugia was used by the Gabriel Fernandez from Brazil, the Senior Winner at the tournament.
Lost Box Kyogre belonged to Shao Tong Yen, the Taiwanese Junior Winner.
Mew’s Revenge was used by US player Vance Kelley, the Masters Winner at the World Championships.
Lastly, the fourth deck is Psychic Elegance; this deck was used by Norwegian player Tord Reklev, the Masters Runner-Up.
7. Ninetales and Zapdos Deluxe ex Battle Decks (March 22nd, 2024)
The ex Battle Decks we’ve already covered are very new player friendly; Deluxe ex Battle Decks are, however, a bit more tuned for use by expert players.
Pitched between ex Battle Decks and World Championship Decks in terms of complexity, they’re also packaged with the usual, useful accessories to make them usable straight out of the box.
Featuring a choice of Fire type Pokemon Ninetales ex or Electric type Pokemon Zapdos ex sets – the latter of which also features the excellent Miraidon ex card – these boxes also have a Pokemon coin, a themed playmat, damage counters and condition markers, a strategy sheet and a Pokemon TCG Live code card.
Usefully, that code card unlocks the full deck in Pokemon TCG Live, so you can take it online and test it out against numerous opponents!
8. Temporal Forces (March 22nd, 2024)
Following on from Paradox Rift at the end of 2023, Temporal Forces is the next main set release for the Pokemon TCG.
Due to launch on March 22nd, 2024, there’ll also be booster packs, booster boxes and, just like Paradox Rift, a choice of two different Elite Trainer Boxes.
Each will contain booster packs, a bundle of basic Energy cards, card dividers, damage dice (as well as a six-sided die to use instead of a coin), plastic status tokens and a set guide book.
Each box has its own exclusive, foil promo card and deck sleeves too – the Walking Wake box, pictured above, features a full art Flutter Mane card and sleeves that match the overall theme, Pokemon and colour scheme on the box.
The Iron Leaves Elite Trainer Box is pretty much the same as the Walking Wake version.
However, as expected, the colour scheme and Pokemon match the Iron Leaves theme.
The exclusive, full art, foil promo card included in the Iron Leaves ETC is the Electric type Iron Thorns Pokemon.
More products will of course be added to the range when Temporal Forces is released.
As soon as further set details for Temporal Forces are revealed, we here at Card Gamer will share them with you!
9. Iono Premium Tournament Collection (April 5th, 2024)
A hugely popular Supporter, Iono has seen some of her alternate art variants absolutely skyrocket in value.
So it’s great to see that she’ll be the focus of a Premium Tournament Collection box, which will contain all sorts of Iono-themed accessories, along with several booster packs and four Iono cards; one of which is a full art variant!
So, what exactly will you find in the Iono Premium Tournament Collection?
Inside this oddly shaped box, which almost resembles a milk carton (mirroring the design of previous Premium Tournament Collections), you’ll find six booster packs, a digital content code for Pokemon TCG Live, 65 Iono card sleeves, a deck box (featuring the same design and colour scheme as the sleeves), a large Iono coin in striking metallic pink and black, burn and poison condition tokens and 6 damage dice.
You’ll also find 3 foil Iono Supporter cards with standard art, plus the aformentioned full art, foil Iono card too.
10. Grafaiai ex Box (April 5th, 2024)
Releasing on the very same day as the Iono Premium Tournament Collection, the Grafaiai ex box is perhaps somewhat less exciting.
Unless you happen to be a fan of lesser known Pokemon Grafaiai of course!
Inside the Grafaiai ex box, you’ll find a foil Grafaiai ex card, an oversized version of the same card, a holographic Shroodle card (which you can evolve into your Grafaiai ex!), four Pokemon TCG booster packs and a Pokemon TCG Live digital code card.
As there’s only a single copy of both Grafaiai ex and Shroodle, it’s not the most practical set that you can buy if you want to base a deck around these particular Pokemon, but there is of course the chance to find more in the included booster packs.
11. Twilight Masquerade (May 24th, 2024)
The Twilight Masquerade set was released on the 24th of May, 2024.
Twilight Masquerade is based on the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Switch game DLC, The Teal Mask, and as such it’s very much based around the mask wearing Pokemon, Ogerpon.
The set features four different Ogerpon ex cards, each of which is a Tera Pokemon ex. Though that sometimes means that a Pokemon’s type is different to the one you’d usually expect, here it’s the mask that Ogerpon wears which changes its type, and in each case it’s the type you’d expect.
First up and pictured above is Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, which is a Grass type, next is the Fire type Hearthflame Mask Ogerpon ex, fiollowed by Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex (Water type) and lastly, the Fighting type Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon ex.
Additionally, a new Trainer card, the Item Ogre’s Mask, has debuted in this set.
Given how this card specifically requires Ogerpon ex to be of any use to players, it’s unlikely that this card will appear in future sets, unless all of the Ogerpon ex cards also make a further appearance down the line.
Six new Ace Spec cards are also featured in Twilight Masquerade, such as the Hyper Aroma card shown above, demonstrating that this new card type is already much better supported and diverse than when it first appeared back in 2012. Check out our full Twilight Masquerade card list to see all of the cards in the set!
12. Shrouded Fable (August 2nd, 2024)
The Japanese Night Wanderer set is releasing in June, and when it heads West, these cards will be part of the Shrouded Fable expansion. Shrouded Fable, just like Night Wanderer, features Pokemon from the Mochi Mayhem mission, which is part of the DLC for Nintendo Switch game, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
The big stars of the show for this mission are Pecharunt and its minions, The Loyal Three, who consist of: Okidogi, Munkidori and Fezandipiti. All four of these Pokemon will feature in this set, and you can see three of them (Munkidori, Pecharunt and Okidogi) on the booster packs in the above image.
For a thorough preview of what cards you can expect in Shrouded Fable, check out our full list of cards from the Japanese Night Wanderer set here. In terms of English cards, we’ve seen some special, woodcut style illustration rares that’ll be released as Promos, such as the above Greninja ex. These feature as showcase cards in three different Collection Boxes, which will have the complete evolution chains of Greninja, Kingambit and Kingdra; each has one Japanese woodcut style illustration rare in the box.
The Pecharunt card (another Special Illustration Rare Promo card) is included in the Shrouded Fable Elite Trainer Box, and we’ve pictured it above. Note that we’re also expecting to see Pecharunt and The Loyal Three as ex cards too, but their English versions have yet to be revealed.
We know that there will be three new Ace Spec cards included in the Shrouded Fable set; given that some of the Japanese cards have also been revealed, we’re hoping to see the first ever Ace Spec Stadium card making its way to the West too.
Pictured above is the Ace Spec Stadium card that we’ve seen in the Japanese Night Wanderer set; though it’s in Japanese, we know that Neutral Center prevents damage by Pokemon ex and Pokemon V, if they’re attacking a Pokemon without a rule box.
It also cannot be retrieved from your discard pile once it goes there; even if card effects or Pokemon abilities would otherwise allow you to retrieve cards from your discard pile.
For more details on the Shrouded Fable set’s cards when they’re revealed, check out our Shrouded Fable card list.
13. Stellar Crown (13th September, 2024)
Given that Shrouded Fable is a smaller set, you won’t be waiting long to get your hands on a bigger selection of cards, as the Stellar Crown set will be released on September 13th. Though we haven’t seen many cards revealed yet, we know that most of the cards in Stellar Crown will have already made an appearance in Japanese set, Stellar Miracle.
Which means we have a good idea about the new features and mechanics that Stellar Crown will be bringing to the Pokemon TCG, with the most exciting being the introduction of Stellar Pokemon. Though we don’t have any English language Stellar Pokemon to share just yet, take a look at the Terapagos ex card below!
It appears that Stellar Pokemon are also classed as Tera Pokemon ex; this means that they can’t be damaged when they’re Benched. Something else you can also see that’ll be a feature of Stellar Pokemon is that they’ll have powerful attacks, but that these will require a combination of Energy types, which will require some clever, creative play if you’re going to use them effectively!
The Terapagos ex card shown above, for example, needs 1 Grass, 1 Water and 1 Lightning Energy for its Crown Opal attack, which deals 180 HP damage and also (here’s the best part!) prevents all damage done to Terapagos ex by attacks from Basic, non-Colorless Pokemon. As the vast majority of ex cards you’ll encounter will most likely be Basic and have an Energy type associated with them, this should see the meta game being shaken up quite a bit when Stellar Crown arrives.
Keep your eyes firmly focused on our Stellar Crown card list, which we’ll make sure to update as more cards are revealed for this exciting set.
As is always the case, we will continue to update this list with new information and images as soon as we have them, and we’ll direct you to our card lists for more comprehensive looks at each set too!
For now, that’s all of the 2024 Pokemon releases we know about. There’ll be more to look forward to of course, but while you’re here it’s well worth checking out our guides to the best trading card sleeves, best Commander deck boxes (which are also suitable for Pokemon cards!) and the best trading card binders.
That way, you’ll be fully armed with all of the accessories you need, to ensure your new Pokemon cards remain safe and secure, regardless of whether or not they’re being used, transported or stored!
