Paldea Evolved Set Guide

Overview

Paldea Evolved is the second main expansion of Scarlet & Violet and the largest set of 2023. Its 17 Pokémon ex include Meowscarada ex, Skeledirge ex and Quaquaval ex, the final forms of Paldea's three starters, and all four Treasures of Ruin: Wo-Chien ex, Chien-Pao ex, Ting-Lu ex and Chi-Yu ex.

Its 36 Illustration Rares are more than any other 2023 set prints, and they dominate its chase list.

Cards and rarities

Paldea Evolved has 279 cards. Every card shows its number over the printed total along the bottom, as in "001/193", next to the set code PAL.

The printed total is 193, so the 86 cards from 194 to 279 are secret rares. Set completion in TurnZero HQ counts a set against its printed total and keeps the secret rares apart, so finishing the main set and chasing the cards above it read as two separate goals. How set completion works →

Headline Pokémon

The Pokémon ex to know first, each giving up two Prize cards when Knocked Out:

Chien-Pao ex

Paldea Evolved #61

Shivery Chill searches your deck for 2 Basic Water Energy while it's Active; Hail Blade does 60 for each Water Energy you discard.

Chi-Yu ex

Paldea Evolved #40

Flame Surge does 100 and attaches a Basic Fire Energy from your deck to each of up to 3 Benched Pokémon.

Meowscarada ex

Paldea Evolved #15

Bouquet Magic discards a Grass Energy to put 3 damage counters on a Benched Pokémon; Scratching Nails does 220 against a damaged Active Pokémon.

Trainers worth knowing

Two Supporters worth knowing:

Iono

Paldea Evolved #185

Each player puts their hand on the bottom of their deck and draws a card for each of their remaining Prize cards.

Boss's Orders (Ghetsis)

Paldea Evolved #172

Switches one of your opponent's Benched Pokémon into the Active Spot.

The chase card: Magikarp

Magikarp

Paldea Evolved #203

Rarity Illustration Rare

Card number 203/193

Market price, October 1, 2026 $367.06

Illustrator Shinji Kanda

Paldea Evolved's chase card is a Magikarp: the Illustration Rare 203/193, illustrated by Shinji Kanda, at $367.06 on October 1, 2026. It is worth more than three times the next card, the Raichu Illustration Rare at $101.16.

No Pokémon ex makes the top five. The best was the Tinkaton ex Special Illustration Rare at $55.75, sixth, just ahead of Chi-Yu ex and the Iono Special Illustration Rare.

Magikarp is printed twice in the set; the Common was $0.20. The same Illustration Rare was reprinted in the 30th Celebration Classic Collection in 2026.

Every Magikarp in Paldea Evolved

Only the exact version is worth its price. The number at the bottom of the card and the rarity symbol beside it tell you which one you pulled. Reading the number and rarity symbol →

Chase cards and prices

Illustration Rares hold the top five. Tinkaton ex is the first Pokémon ex.

These are each card's headline TCGplayer market price on October 1, 2026. Prices can move a long way, most of all in a set's first months, so treat them as a snapshot. Each card's page shows today's price for every variant and its 90-day chart. How Pokémon card prices work →

What a complete set costs

One copy of every card in Paldea Evolved, bought as singles, cost $1,909.73 on October 1, 2026. That is the second most expensive of the six sets released in 2023.

The three most valuable cards, Magikarp, Raichu and Maushold, come to $560.45, or 29% of the total. Without them the set costs $1,349.28. Of the 279 cards, 201 were under $2.00, together $51.35; the other 78 add up to $1,858.38.

Each card is counted at its cheapest priced variant, a Normal copy rather than a Reverse Holofoil where both exist, at its TCGplayer market price. This is what it costs to buy the set as singles. It is not what opening packs returns, and not what a complete set would sell for, which after fees and the many cards worth cents would be noticeably less.

Playing it

Paldea Evolved carries the G regulation mark, which left Standard on April 10, 2026, so it is no longer Standard-legal as printed. It is legal in Expanded.

A reprint with a legal mark makes older printings of the same card legal again, so check a card's name before you rule it out. Iono, for one, was reprinted in Paldean Fates, also with a G.

Standard, Expanded and deck building rules →

Frequently Asked Questions