Pokemon Surging Sparks Booster Pack + Box Review

The last Pokémon TCG set of a year is usually something at least a bit peculiar, part because it is the set that closes another great year of our beloved game and part because it releases just before Christmas making it a nice present to have under the tree. The last set released in 2024, Scarlet and Violet Surging Sparks, was actually a really good and super enjoyable set due to a card list filled with Electric and Dragon-type Pokémon, Tera Pokémon ex, and of course more ACE SPEC cards. For once, I made a good call and pre-ordered a couple of boxes as Christmas presents and we had so much fun opening this set and playing with the new cards. Let's have a look as you cannot ignore the buzz of this set...

Right out of the booster pack - Set overview

Surging Sparks is up the eighth expansion for the Scarlet & Violet Series of Pokémon the Trading Card Game. Following on the previous set, this expansion is largely linked to the DLC for the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet video games and therefore is focused in adding more Stellar Tera Pokémon ex into the game.

Overall, there are 191 cards in the main set including 8 ACE SPEC cards, nine Stellar Tera Pokémon ex and nine Pokémon ex. Additionally, there are 23 Illustration Rare, 21, Ultra Rare, 11 Special Illustration rare, and 6 Hyper Rare Gold Etched cards. The cards of this set cover those released in the Japanese expansions “Super Electric Breaker” and “Paradise Dragona” expansions, as well as the Stellar Tera Type Starter Sets.

As usual, Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Surging Sparks Booster box includes 36 Booster packs, each of them featuring 10 cards (4 Commons, 3 Uncommons, and 3 foils of which at least one is Rare or Higher). Each booster pack also includes 1 Energy card and 1 code card that can be used to redeem a booster pack to play online.

What are the best Cards to pull from Surging Sparks?

Without any doubt, the absolute chase card of this set is Pikachu EX Special Art and its golden etched version. Pikachu is such an iconic Pokémon that a new card is always bound to take centre stage in a set. However, in this case its terrastallized version is not only an amazing card to collect but also a really good card to add to your deck. This is due to a combination of its ability “Resolute Heart” that allows Pikachu to survive an attack that will otherwise knocked it off and its terrifying 300 damage-attack “Topaz Bolt”.

The next two cards that will make everyone's day are the Special Illustration of Latios and Latias ex. This pair of connected art cards has been beautifully illustrated to show the two legendary siblings soaring through the skies. Among the two, Latias EX is particularly rare and it is also quite game relevant due to its ability that allows your Basic Pokémon to retreat for free.

In terms of gameplay one of the most interesting cards of the set is Ceruledge ex. Its first attack in particular, Abyssal Flames, only costs one energy to activate but it can deal 30 damages plus 20 for each energy card in your discard pile. This condition can easily turn the tables late game when all the Pokémon your opponent knocked-off (and their energies) will come back to haunt them. Alternatively, cards like Brilliant Blender, Earthen Vessel, Ultra Ball, and Professor's Research can help in sending some additional energy cards to your discard pile to charge up your Ceruledge ex.

Why you should collect Surging Sparks?

Opening Surging Sparks Booster boxes can be an electrifying experience. The thrill of potentially pulling a super-collectible Pikachu ex alone is more than enough to justify the hype for this set but you should probably be quite happy also if you pull a Latias ex or a Milotic ex as both these cards are still valued over £75 on the secondary market. Overall the set has a good collectible value even after a few months from its release and considering that today is competing with the super-collectible Prismatic Evolutions set.

In terms of gameplay, the last set of 2024 was not bad at all with some very decent cards that found their way in the competitive scene. Pikachu ex and Ceruledge ex are obviously the two cards more relevant for the metagame for the reasons mentioned above but we also have a few other cards that offer new alternatives and options to existing decks. In summary, both collectors and players should be quite pleased by Surging Sparks and you should catch the opportunity to get some more packs while everyone is distracted by more recent sets....

That concludes our thoughts on Pokémon Surging Sparks. Do you agree? Let us know your thoughts and tag us on social media @zatugames. To buy Pokémon Surging Sparks today click here!