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Though Pikachu has been the face of Pokemon for almost 30 years, it isn’t always the mascot for thePokemon TCG. It’s often put on the backburner for other ‘mons, like Charizard and Rayquaza when the expansion calls for it, but Scarlet & Violet: Surging Sparks is the electric mouse’s time to shine.
Continuing our trip through Paldea and beyond to investigate the Tera Pokemon, Surging Sparks gives Pikachu a lot of love, but also offers plenty of crystallised Tera Pokemon, and a load of Dragons to boot. Here are two of the cards, including the star itself, you’ll be able to collect when Surging Sparks launches on November 8.
Kecleon
In the Pokemon TCG, setting up your early turns is essential to winning. You need time to build up your Pokemon and get energy into play, and failing to do so could easily result in a wipe.
Kecleon’s offensive potential isn’t anything to write home about – dealing 30 damage to any of your opponents’ Pokemon, whether they’re active or on the bench, is fine, but it isn’t going to win you games. But it’s thatabilitythat makes it appealing.
With Expert Hider, there’s a 50/50 chance your opponent’s attacks just outright don’t affect it. Though 70HP does mean it could just be KO’d immediately, and it won’t prevent other effects like poison or burn damage, Kecleon buys you much-needed time to build up your bench and rebuild after your previous active Pokemon got knocked out. The Pokemon TCG is a race, and Kecleon helps you close the distance.
This is a slightly confusingly worded ability, but it counts each individual attack, not each instance of damage. Anything that adds additional damage multiple times is still just one attack, but it does make big attacks that rely on coin flips harder to pull off and funnier when they fail.
For example, Houndstone ex’s Horrifiyng Fang could wrack up huge amounts of damage through the coin flips, only to have it not deal any of it by failing Kecleon’s.
Pikachu ex
The poster child of Surging Sparks, Pikachu ex looks stunning in the multicolour crystallised style the TCG uses for its Tera Pokemon. If you were wondering what you’d need time to build up with a Kecleon, it’s this.
Like most Tera Pokemon, Pikachu’s attack requires you to have three different types of energy (Grass, Electric, and Metal). What’s more, Topaz Bolt then requires you to discard three of the attached energy whenever you use it, requiring you to constantly top Pikachu up if you want to keep the damage coming.
The upside is that it deals 300 damage, which can knock out almost anything. It can take out aRegidrago VSTAR, a Raging Bolt ex, a Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, and it can even deal with a Radiant Geninja. It can’t wipe out the chunkiest threats likeDragapult exand Charizard ex, but that’s where the ability comes in.
Equip Pikachu with Defiance Band to deal 30 extra damage and Dragapult and Charizard are mincemeat too.
Resolute Heart effectively gives Pikachu a free extra life. If it would be one-shot KO’d, it instead has its HP reduced to ten instead. you may only attack once each turn, so this gives you plenty of time to either swap Pikachu out for some healing, or Topaz Bolt your opponents’ Pokemon out of existence before they can deal any more.
Together, Kecleon and Pikachu could make for a mean one-two punch. Use Kecleon to stall your opponent as you build up energy on a Pikachu, swap them out, and blast your opponents’ active Pokemon away. If anything goes wrong, Pikachu can tank a hit and Kecleon can keep things ticking over until you may rebuild.
Pikachu ex is one of the cards you can expect to have tones of alt-art and secret rare versions of when Scarlet & Violet: Surging Sparks launches on May 18, 2025.
Pokemon TCG
Collected by children and adults alike for more than two decades, the Pokemon TCG contains thousands of cards of your favorite Pokemon, trainers, and more.
