I have a lot of mixed feelings about Pokemon Prismatic Evolutions right now, and most of them don’t have anything to do with the actual cards in the set.
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Scarlet & Violet’s Eevee-filled Prismatic Evolutions, its fourth special expansion, releases today, and the hype surrounding it is the highest for any Pokemon TCG set in years. We all knew it would be in high demand, but it wasn’t until I started hearing about heavy allocations, local game store break-ins, and at least one shop refusing to sell it because of overly aggressive customers, that I realized just how hot it actually is. Prismatic Evolutions may end up being the most sought-after modern Pokemon set ever, and it’s not hard to see why.
Eevees Everywhere You Look
Eeveelutions are the core of Prismatic Evolutions, which introduces Eevee and all eight of its evolved forms as Stellar Tera-Type Pokemon ex for the first time. All eight Eeveelutions are here as Rare cards, Double Rare ex cards, and Special Illustration Rares – one of which is largely responsible for driving the entire Pokemon market into a frenzy right now.
If you’re into the Pokemon TCG hobby at all you’re likely already aware of Moonbreon, the chase card from 2021’s Evolving Skies, which has defied all logic and reason to become the most valuable card of the entire Sword & Shield generation. Prismatic Evolutions features its own Stellar Tera-Type Moonbreon; it’s destined to be a big money card, which has driven the market for the new set to truly outrageous heights.
As Umbreon’s Dad, I was as down for the hunt as anyone. I love Umbreon (and its inferior Eevolved brethren) so a special set built entirely around it has my name all over it. After opening a variety of Prismatic Evolution product, I’m afraid to say it simply isn’t worth the hype.
Prismatic Evolutions might have gone a little too all in on Eeveelutions, which is something I never thought possible. The 180-card set includes just 131 cards in the standard collection, many of which are reprints, followed by 12 Full Art Trainers, 32 Special Illustration Rares, and five Hyper Rare gold cards. There are no regular Illustration Rares in the set, which has a massive effect on the quality of pulls.
In place of Illustration Rares, Prismatic Evolutions includes a parallel set of cards featuring Poke Ball and Master Ball insignias. It’s fun to look for these in your packs, but they aren’t nearly as exciting to pull as IRs – and they aren’t nearly as cool as the Japanese version featured in 151.
Possibly The Worst Pulls I’ve Ever Had
I’d heard talk about the set’s poor pull rates over the last couple of weeks, but it wasn’t until I got it in my hands that I understood the problem. Without the more common Illustration Rares to find, it feels like the packs are overall much lighter. There are 32 SIRs, but the chance of pulling one – especially the one you want, like Umbreon ex – is incredibly low. It gives the feeling that the set has terrible pull rates, and that’s kind of true.
I opened almost every product currently available for Prismatic Evolutions, including the Elite Trainer Box, the binder collection, the poster collection, a tech sticker collection, a surprise box, and a mini-tin. Across 27 packs, I pulled three ACE SPECs, three regular ex (including Espeon ex), two Full Art Trainers, one SIR Trainer, two Master Balls (Regigigas and Dreepy) and seven Poke Balls.
That’s a small sample size, but it’s pretty consistent with what’s been reported elsewhere. I got plenty of Eeveelutions – at least one of each Rare – but none of the interesting, exciting, or valuable Pokemon everyone is hoping to pull.
A Weaker Pack Opening Experience
For a special expansion, the ratios don’t feel quite right. Between Full Arts and SIRs there are nearly as many trainer chase cards as SIR Pokemon, and without that nice half step of Illustration Rares to fill in the gaps between big pulls, opening packs feels disappointing.
Again, 27 packs isn’t a lot. It’s not like I expected to pull an Umbreon ex from my first ETB. But with such low pull rates (estimated at 1/1696 packs for any specific SIR), the limited supply, and the absurd asking price ($17 per pack on TCG Player) I just can’t recommend anyone go for this set right now.
The Pokemon Company International shared a statement earlier this week promising to print more product as quickly as possible, which will definitely help drive prices down and help get more packs into player’s hands, and more of the cards you want on the secondary market. Until then, I’m going to try to resist FOMO and pretend Prismatic Evolutions doesn’t exist. As exciting as these cards are, it’s just not worth the cost right now. This isn’t the most exciting set to open unless you’re extraordinarily lucky, and that’s just not the kind of Pokemon release I like.
Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet Prismatic Evolutions Elite Trainer Box
The Pokemon TCG’s Prismatic Evolutions expansion centers around Tera forms of Eevee and all eight of its evolved forms. Inside the Pokemon Center-exclusive version of its Elite Trainer Box you’ll find 11 booster packs from the expansion as well as a foil promo Eevee card and everything else you need to play the TCG.