2025 has been a massive year for Pokemon TCG so far, with January seeing the first batch of products for the hyped Prismatic Evolutions set, and a plethora of more releases to follow, up until the recent Destined Rivals expansion. Although Pokemon TCG‘s Prismatic Evolutions was controversial due to product availability, with the same issue recurring for other sets in a less impactful way, The Pokemon Company is committed to making all new releases more accessible. The game’s hot streak of big launches doesn’t end with Destined Rivals, though, and a new set is now slated to come out on August 1 in Japan, ending an era for Pokemon TCG.
The current format won’t rotate until next year, and as the recent NAIC tournament for Pokemon TCG proves, players are quick to adapt to each new release with existing meta decks and new ones alike. Still, even if the set that’s coming on August 1 is not going to determine what rotates out just yet, meaning it will have to fit in the current meta, it’s a massive departure from the current state of Pokemon TCG for one big reason. Starting on January 20, 2023, Pokemon TCG transitioned to the Scarlet and Violet era of the game, and August 1, 2025, will mark its end with the new MEGA block.
The Scarlet & Violet set first came out on March 31, 2023, outside of Japan.
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Pokemon TCG is Moving Away From Scarlet and Violet Ahead of Pokemon Legends: Z-A
The Pokemon Company just revealed the next set for Pokemon TCG, which, for its Japanese release, will be a dual set, and these are going to be called Mega Brave and Mega Symphonia. Mega Brave and Mega Symphonia will be dedicated to Mega Lucario Ex and Mega Gardevoir Ex, respectively, and they will be the first sets to move away from the Scarlet and Violet era of Pokemon TCG.
Although Pokemon TCG‘s Black Bolt and White Flare dual sets have yet to come out in English, with their release scheduled for July 18, they will presumably be the final ones in the Scarlet and Violet era after a total of 10 main expansions and 5 special sets. Since Mega Brave and Mega Symphonia are coming out in Japan on August 1, it makes sense that they will be released on September 26 in their English versions.
This lines up almost perfectly with the release date for Pokemon Legends: Z-A, which is slated to launch on October 16. The MEGA block is most likely going to last for a while, around one year or slightly more, as the next big block will presumably start with the release of Gen 10 games in 2026. Interestingly, the fact that Game Freak broke away from the 3-year development cycle for the mainline series is what made the MEGA block a necessary transition, as otherwise, the game would have needed several more Scarlet and Violet sets. These are the current Scarlet and Violet sets in the game:
- Scarlet & Violet
- Paldea Evolved
- Obsidian Flames
- 151
- Paradox Rift
- Paldean Fates
- Temporal Forces
- Twilight Masquerade
- Shrouded Fable
- Stellar Crown
- Surging Sparks
- Prismatic Evolutions
- Journey Together
- Destined Rivals
- Black Bolt / White Flare
It’s worth noting that, by comparison, previous eras were a bit longer than that of Scarlet and Violet. For example, Sword and Shield had 12 main sets and 5 special expansions, whereas Sun and Moon had 12 main sets and 4 special expansions.
Why Pokemon TCG’s Mega Brave and Mega Symphonia Are Not Exactly a Spin-Off
It’s unclear how many sets the MEGA block will end up having, considering it may be going until early 2027 at the latest, depending on Gen 10’s release. However, this is not the first time Pokemon TCG moves away from a mainline game for a “spin-off set,” but the MEGA block will most likely have to fill a bigger time gap, possibly adding a total of around 4 or 5 sets under its umbrella. Since Pokemon Gen 10 is slated for 2026, it depends on when exactly it will come out, but presumably toward the end of the year, giving the MEGA block quite some time to expand on Pokemon Legends: Z-A and even its hypothetical DLC. Unfortunately for some fans, this also means saying goodbye to Terastallized Pokemon.