Paradox Rift Set Guide

Overview

Paradox Rift is the fourth main expansion of Scarlet & Violet. It brought in Ancient and Future Pokémon, 17 cards of each, with Supporters that reward one side: Professor Sada's Vitality for Ancient Pokémon and Professor Turo's Scenario for Future ones.

It has 20 Pokémon ex at Double Rare and 34 Illustration Rares, and an Illustration Rare of a regular Pokémon tops its chase list again.

Cards and rarities

Paradox Rift has 266 cards. Every card shows its number over the printed total along the bottom, as in "001/182", next to the set code PAR.

The printed total is 182, so the 84 cards from 183 to 266 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:

Roaring Moon ex

Paradox Rift #124

Ancient. Frenzied Gouging Knocks Out your opponent's Active Pokémon and does 200 to itself; Calamity Storm does 220 if you discard a Stadium.

Iron Valiant ex

Paradox Rift #89

Future. Tachyon Bits puts 2 damage counters on a Pokémon when it moves from the Bench to the Active Spot; Laser Blade does 200.

Gholdengo ex

Paradox Rift #139

Coin Bonus draws a card a turn, two if it's Active; Make It Rain does 50 for each Basic Energy you discard from your hand.

Garchomp ex

Paradox Rift #38

A Tera Pokémon. Hydro Lander does 160 and attaches up to 3 Fighting Energy from your discard pile to your Bench.

Trainers worth knowing

The two Professors' Supporters, one for each side, and one more:

Professor Sada's Vitality

Paradox Rift #170

Ancient. Attaches a Basic Energy from your discard pile to each of up to 2 Ancient Pokémon, then draws 3.

Professor Turo's Scenario

Paradox Rift #171

Future. Returns one of your Pokémon in play to your hand, discarding what's attached.

Mela

Paradox Rift #167

Only after one of your Pokémon was Knocked Out: attaches a Fire Energy from your discard pile and draws up to 6.

The chase card: Groudon

Groudon

Paradox Rift #199

Rarity Illustration Rare

Card number 199/182

Market price, October 1, 2026 $113.76

Illustrator Nurikabe

Paradox Rift's chase card is the Groudon Illustration Rare, illustrated by Nurikabe, at $113.76 on October 1, 2026, nearly twice the next card, the Morpeko Illustration Rare at $60.70.

The best Pokémon ex card, the Altaria ex Special Illustration Rare, was third at $49.01. The set's value is spread out: its top three cards were under a fifth of the complete set's cost.

Groudon is printed twice in the set. The Rare was $0.10.

Every Groudon in Paradox Rift

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 lead, with Plusle and Minun almost level, and Altaria ex 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 Paradox Rift, bought as singles, cost $1,196.80 on October 1, 2026. That is the fourth most expensive of the six sets released in 2023.

The three most valuable cards, Groudon, Morpeko and Altaria ex, come to $223.47, or 19% of the total. Without them the set costs $973.33. Of the 266 cards, 191 were under $2.00, together $53.84; the other 75 add up to $1,142.96.

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

Every Paradox Rift card carries the G regulation mark, which left Standard on April 10, 2026, so the set 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.

Standard, Expanded and deck building rules →

Frequently Asked Questions