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After a “shiny” start of 2024 with the release of the Paldean Fates set, Pokemon TGC is due to double up the fun in March with the release of the first core set of this year, “Temporal Forces”. Announced on the 10th of January, Temporal Forces is expected to include cards from the two Japanese sets “Cyber Judge” and “Wild Force” that have been released in January. It is also possible this set will include cards from “Crimzon Haze”, a set due to release in Japan in March and that is expected to feature Pokémon from Teal Mask DLC like Ogerpon, Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti.
Considering the set is due to release on the 22nd of March, we still don't have a lot of details on it although those included in the official preview are already quite juicy. Here what we know so far:
1) The set will continue to bring more Ancient and Future Pokémon to our games. Among them, the preview and the art feature on the sets already gave away Walking Wake Ex (Ancient) and Iron Leaves Ex (Future) that are the Paradox forms or Suicune and Virizon respectively. The first one features an ability that allows all damage from the Pokémon's attacks to not be affected by any effects on your opponent's Active Pokémon. Moreover, this card has also a main attack that can deal up to 240 damages if the opponent Pokemon is affected by any status condition.
The second one, Iron Leaves Ex, can be switched directly with the Active Pokémon once played. If a player chose to do so, they can also move any amount of Energy from that Pokémon to Iron Leaves Ex to fuel its main attack. Overall, both new Ex cards seems interesting at least for some builds.
Together with these two main Pokemon we also know that the set will include 13 Pokémon Ex and two type shifted Tera Pokémon Ex. We also seen that the Elite Trainer Box will also feature a Rare Illustration Art of Iron Thorns or Flutter Mane. I like this last one in particular as it looks very cool.
2) Temporal Forces will see the return of ACE Specs cards, a type of cards we have not seen since the Black and White era. If you were not playing Pokemon around 2010, you may not know that ACE Spec cards are very powerful cards that are limited to one copy per deck only. To celebrate the comeback of this mechanics, these cards will have a new magenta background that should help differentiate them very clearly from any other card.
The official preview showed two of the seven ACE Specs cards. The first one, Master Ball, is a nostalgic re-edition of the one we had in the Plasma Blast set and will allow a player to search for a Pokemon in their deck to be added to their hand. Although very rich in nostalgia, this card may be less powerful now than it was in the past considering we have other similar item cards like Nest or Great Ball or Supporters like Jacq and Larry.
The second ACE Specs card revealed, Prime Catcher, is on the other hand a new card that lets a player swap their active Pokemon AND the one of their opponent. This action can in fact be quite efficient in a number of circumstances and I feel we will see this card a lot in future decks.
It also rumoured there will be a ACE Spec Special Energy in the set and I can not wait to see it.
3) Temporal Forces will feature the usual range of products that includes single packs, booster bundles and booster boxes, Build and Battle sets and a few special set collections. It seems two new starter decks featuring Koraidon ex (Ancient) and Miraidon ex (Future) will also be released together with the set. If you are looking to buy the Elite trainer Box, you may want to consider the exclusive Pokemon Center one as it will come with two more Booster Packs (11 instead of 9) and a full-art foil promo card featuring Flutter Mane with a Pokémon Center logo. Of course, price will also be higher.
Overall, Scarlet & Violet Temporal Forces seems another great and interesting mix of old and new mechanics that should continue to keep our loved TGC live and fun to play. I quite enjoyed the direction the game took with Paradox Rift with the release of the Ancient and Future cards and I am happy to see more Tera Pokemons added to the mix to increase the fun. The ACE Specs cards will be an interesting addition and I am curious to see if this will be a one-off of if more of these cards are set to come into the game. If like me you can not wait to start planning your decks, I will recommend to take a look here and start pre-ordering your cards at Zatu!