Team Rocket invades thePokémon TCGwith the release ofDestined Rivals, although the new set may not have the strength to impact the game significantly. Set for release at the end of May,Destined Rivalsis the much-awaited secondScarlet & Violetcard expansion featuringTrainer’s Pokémon cards. While the set features popular trainers like Cynthia fromPokémon Diamond and Pearland EthanfromPokémon Gold and Silver,Destined Rivalsis probably best known for reintroducingTeam Rocket’s Pokémonto the game.
Nearly half ofDestined Rivalsis dedicated to Team Rocket, with 83 cards tied to the popular villainous team. Many Team Rocket cards follow a villainous theme, focusing on disrupting or delaying. Because of the sheer plethora of cards,there are bound to be a few viable decks that will emerge fromDestined Rivals.Still, it feels like the Trainer’s Pokémon gimmick is a bit undercooked, as most of the impactful cards in the set have nothing to do with Team Rocket or any other cards found within the set.
What’s In The Destined Rivals Elite Trainer’s Box
Box Includes Card Packs And Special Mewtwo-Themed Card Sleeves
We received an Elite Trainer’s Box as part of our review material for the set. Like other Elite Trainer’s Boxes, theDestined RivalsETB contains nine booster packs, a promo card featuring Team Rocket’s Wobbuffet, plus card sleeves, damage dice, box dividers, and Poison and Burn markers. The ETB obviously has a Team Rocket theme, with a large R emblazoned on the box and sleeves featuring Giovanni and Team Rocket’s Mewtwo.
Personally,I would have liked the sleeves to match the red and black coloring of the box and dividers,but everything else in the pack matches what you’d find in other Elite Trainer Boxes. The complete list of Elite Trainer’s Box content is as follows:
Card Highlights From Destined Rivals Elite Trainer Box Pulls
Pulls From Our Packs Include Team Rocket’s Meowth And Ethan’s Adventure
The new set contains over 60 Secret Rare cards, ranging from gorgeously illustrated Illustration Rare cards to the more bland Full Art cards. The set highlights are the Special Illustration Rare cards tied to Pokemon ex cards.Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex and Team Rocket’s Moltres ex will likely be the most sought-after cards,although another card may shoot up in price if tied to a powerful deck.
Regarding our card pulls, we ended up with two alternate art cards - a Full Art version of Ethan’s Adventure and an Illustration Rare version of Team Rocket’s Meowth. We also pulled Cetitan ex and Team Rocket’s Crobat ex, for four “hits” out of nine packs.Not the worst pull rate for an Elite Trainer’s Box,although the actual cards aren’t among our personal chase card goals.
How Destined Rivals Will Shape Pokémon TCG Pocket
Team Rocket Decks Might Emerge In Tournaments But They’ll Need Some Help
The biggest deck potentially coming out ofDestined Rivalsis Team Rocket’s Mewtwo, which can deal up to 280 damage in a single turn. That’s enough to one-shot a lot of weaker Pokémon ex cards, although not enough to take out Stage 2 heavy hitters like Team Rocket’s Crobat ex or Cynthia’s Garchomp ex. Team Rocket’s Mewtwo has a significant drawback -a player needs to have at least three other Team Rocket Pokémon in playto attack. Luckily, some cards can help with that, including Team Rocket’s Koffing (which pulls out additional Koffing cards whenever they’re damaged).
Still, no deck immediately stands out inDestined Rivals. This follows a trend inJourney Together, featuring Trainer’s Pokémon cards. While there were some nice synergies, only a few cards from that set found their way into meta-relevant decks, and none of the cards became the main driver of a powerful deck. While someone is going to attempt to make a Team Rocket deck happen,the issue with these Trainer’s Pokémon cards is that there are no more synergies really on the way to boost their power output.While some cards in future sets will likely help, the only Team Rocket cards coming out anytime soon are in this set, and that’s limiting.
In the end, I thinkDestined Rivalshas a bit more potential thanJourney Together, but the biggest cards in this set will likely only serve to accentuate the current dominant decks. There’s some fun to be had with Team Rocket’s frustrating and delaying tactics, but in the end, this set is a rather underwhelming finish to what’s likely the last normalPokémon TCGset of theScarlet & Violetera.Trainer’s Pokémon ended up being more of a shiny distraction than a true game changer,but that’s to be expected with Mega Evolution on the horizon for this fall.
