Summary
- Twilight Masquerade expansion introduces new cards like Ogerpon and Loyal Three with unique abilities and lore from Kitakami.
- Fans can choose from various products like booster packs, boxes, and Elite Trainer Box to start their Pokemon TCG collection.
- Competitive players and collectors should look out for strong cards like Dragapult Ex, Teal Mask Ogerpon Ex, and illustration art rares in Twilight Masquerade.
Pokemon TCG has seen a handful of big changes over the past few years, with one of the most anticipated being the return of silver-border cards outside of Japan and the addition of more holographic cards in each pack. With the release of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet for the Nintendo Switch came new cards for the first Pokemon TCG set based on Gen 9, and then the card game started expanding with new thematic releases based on parts of the game, like Paradox Pokemon. Now, Pokemon TCG is officially releasing its newest Scarlet and Violet expansion with Twilight Masquerade, which is based on the first DLC for Gen 9, The Teal Mask. The Best War Games had the privilege of opening a few products from Twilight Masquerade, including an Elite Trainer Box.
Pokemon TCG's Twilight Masquerade combines cards from the Japanese sets Crimson Haze and Mask of Change, and it heavily relies on Ogerpon and its various forms as well as most of the critters from the land of Kitakami. The set also includes some Teal Mask-exclusive Pokemon species, such as Poltchageist, Sinistcha, Dipplin, Bloodmoon Ursaluna, the Loyal Three (Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti), and Ogerpon itself. There are many good cards to pull from this set, both in terms of the actual game and in terms of rarity and looks, and Twilight Masquerade also includes a few new rules and mechanics to keep track of.
Every Product Available From Pokemon TCG's Twilight Masquerade Expansion Explained
There are a few key products to choose from when starting one's collection of Pokemon TCG's Twilight Masquerade expansion. These include:
- Booster packs, each containing 10 cards
- Booster boxes, each containing 36 Twilight Masquerade booster packs
- Build and Battle sets, each containing 4 Twilight Masquerade booster packs and a 40-card deck with one of four unique foil promo cards randomly selected between Tatsugiri, Infernape, Thwackey, and Froslass
- The Elite Trainer Box, containing eight Twilight Masquerade booster packs, 65 card sleeves featuring Ogerpon, 45 Pokemon TCG Energy cards, the player's guide to the Twilight Masquerade expansion, 6 damage-counter dice, a coin-flip die, condition markers for Burned and Poisoned, the Twilight Masquerade collector's box and four dividers, and finally a foil promo card of Teal Mask Ogerpon
- 3-booster-pack blisters including a special Revavroom or Snorlax card
- 1-booster-pack blisters including a special Pupitar or Toxel card and a Pokemon coin
- 1-booster-pack blisters including a Pokemon coin and special cards for Porygon, Porygon-2, and Porygon-Z or Horsea, Seadra, and Kingdra
Pokemon TCG Fan Makes Adorable Custom Father's Day Pokemon Cards
A talented Pokemon player makes incredible custom cards meant to be cute gifts for Father's Day that include Snorlax and Arcanine.
New Special and Noteworthy Rules and Mechanics in Pokemon TCG's Twilight Masquerade Explained
Since Pokemon TCG's Twilight Masquerade focuses on the lore and in-game mechanics of the land of Kitakami and The Teal Mask DLC for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, it doesn't come as a surprise that Ogerpon takes center stage once more. In this case, there are various Ogerpon cards in the set that may be played together thanks to a specific card called Ogre's Mask.
Ogre's Mask allows players to swap their Ogerpon Ex cards for different (or even the same) Ogerpon Ex cards in the discard pile, but retain the original Pokemon's attached cards, damage counters, and other effects. This allows players to have any Ogerpon Ex on the field at any time, which can be invaluable in Twilight Masquerade, especially since one can have up to four copies of each Ogerpon Ex in a given deck due to them having different names.
Another noteworthy mechanic is that of the Loyal Three - Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti. These three Pokemon all have unique abilities tied to their in-game story, and they are respectively Adrena-Power, Adrena-Brain, and Adrena-Pheromone. Although Okidogi is a Fighting-type card and Munkidori and Fezandipiti are Psychic, all these abilities require having a Dark Energy attached to work. In the case of Okidogi, Adrena-Power grants it +100 HP and its attacks deal 100 more damage to the opponent's Active Pokemon.
Munkidori's Adrena-Brain allows players to move up to three damage counters on one of their Pokemon onto one of their opponent's, effectively healing up to 30 damage from a Pokemon and dealing 30 damage to any opposing Pokemon, even benched ones. Lastly, Fezandipiti's Adrena-Pheromone makes it so it is not damaged by attacks once per turn if the player flips a coin and gets heads. While very strong, all these abilities require a Dark-type Energy, but that can be bypassed with the new Legacy Energy Ace Spec card, which counts as all Energy types at once.
Pokemon TCG Twilight Masquerade: The Best Pulls For Competitive Play and Collectors Explained
There are many good cards in Pokemon TCG's latest expansion, and Twilight Masquerade offers ample selection when it comes to competitive play as well. In fact, multiple cards from this set can be effectively used in tournaments and competitive events, and some have already been used with success in the Japanese meta, considering these cards have been available in Japan for a while now. There are multiple outliers that players should be happy to pull, and these include some Pokemon Ex as well as rarer cards, like full art cards, illustration art rares, special illustration art rares, and Gold Cards.
This list counts rare cards, some of the best-looking cards in the expansion (as subjective as that may be), and also the strongest cards from a competitive standpoint.
- Dragapult Ex - decks with it in Japan are getting great results, and it's a very strong card to have. It may not be the rarest, but Dragapult Ex is one of the best pulls in Twilight Masquerade, and it can also come as a full art rare.
- Teal Mask Ogerpon Ex, Hearthflame Mask Ogerpon Ex, Wellspring Mask Ogerpon Ex, and Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon Ex - these cards are all great, but especially Energy-acceleration decks with Teal Mask Ogerpon Ex, Wellspring Mask in Ogerpon or Lugia decks, and Cornerstone Ogerpon in control decks where a wall Pokemon can make the difference. A special illustration art rare version of these cards exists, and they are some of the best pulls in the expansion.
- Greninja Ex - Tera Fighting with good Water-Energy attacks makes Twilight Masquerade's take on the iconic Pokemon Greninja a great card to have. A special illustration art rare version of this card exists, and it's one of the best pulls in the expansion.
- Bloodmoon Ursaluna Ex - The Teal Mask's Bloodmoon Ursaluna is a good basic Pokemon Ex card that can be used in the late stages of a game thanks to its Seasoned Skill, which makes Blood Moon cost 1 less for each Prize the opponent has taken. A special illustration art rare version of this card exists, and it's one of the best pulls in the expansion.
- Sinistcha Ex - this card has Re-Brew, which can be a potentially lethal attack if combined with cards that allow to discard multiple Grass Energy cards at once, such as the recently released Raging Bolt Ex. A special illustration art rare version of this card exists, and it's one of the best pulls in the expansion.
- Scoop Up Cyclone - Ace Spec - this card can essentially act as a life-saver by removing a Pokemon and all Energy attached to it from the field and putting those cards in the player's hand. This can also be a good card to combo with other cards to then use those saved Energy cards on a different Pokemon, for example.
- Survival Brace - Ace Spec - this card is particularly good in combination with Pokemon that have low max HP in order to give them an extra turn in case they would be knocked out in one hit)
- Legacy Energy - Ace Spec - it's an incredible card because it allows Pokemon it is attached to to use one Energy of any type, and if they are knocked out, the opponent takes one fewer Prize Card)
- Tatsugiri - Illustration Art Rare - Tatsugiri is one of the best cards of the expansion thanks to its Attract Customers ability, and while the base card is uncommon, there is an illustration art rare version of it that is going to be one of the best pulls of the expansion)
- Carmine - Special Illustration Art Rare - while the normal Carmine Supporter card is uncommon, it has a Special Illustration Art Rare version that will likely be highly valued thanks to the base card being a different version of Professor's Research with pros and cons)
- Finally, any Ace Spec, Illustration Art Rare, Special Illustration Art Rare, or even Gold Cards are all great pulls from Twilight Masquerade, and they're likely to be the most sought-after cards from the set. Especially the Gold Card version of Teal Mask Ogerpon Ex, Bloodmoon Ursaluna Ex, and Enhanced Hammer may be some of the most valuable considering their wide applications in competitive Pokemon TCG.
Pokemon TCG Scarlet & Violet 151 Pokemon Center Elite Trainer Box
One of GameStop's bestsellers, this Pokémon Trading Card Game box throws it back to the original 151 Pokémon and provides trainers with everything they need to get started playing this popular game. The box contains 11 booster packs (each containing 1 Basic Energy and 10 cards) full-art foil promo cards, dice, markers, and even a competition-legal coin-flip die. Players will love traversing the iconic Kanto region to battle, capture, and discover new Pokémon. Plus, they can try to spot the elusive Mew Ex.
Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info