Pokémon Trading Card Game. Veteran investors, collectors, and players will be excited to buy new sets with original art and never-before-seen Pokémon once the games come out on November 18. But those looking to jump into the Pokémon TCG should also be pumped about Gen 9, as the games could serve as a great entry point to the scene.
For those not already involved in the Pokémon TCG, the game can appear to have a high barrier of entry. In the United States, the Pokémon TCG has been running since 1999 when the Base Set was released; since then, over 90 sets have come out with hundreds of cards in each of them. Whether someone wants to collect, invest, or simply play the Pokémon TCG, the game’s long history and bountiful card count feels like a wall that’s impossible climb, as trying to obtain even a singular card from each set would be a hard objective to accomplish.
However, the truth of the matter is that the Pokémon TCG is so much larger than its older sets, and the release of a new generation of main series games serves as a reminder of this. Those looking to enter the Pokémon TCG need not bother themselves with trying to collect the rarest, most obscure cards from over twenty years ago. Instead, they can focus on more modern decks. Indeed, with the release of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, there will come a wave of new cards that will hold value both monetary and personal, making them a perfect gateway into the Pokémon TCG.
Why Scarlet & Violet Will Be Great For TCG Beginners
To give an example of a modern card that holds value, one only needs to look to the Incandescent Arcana for the Pokémon TCG, there will almost definitely be cards more valuable for both monetary and personal reasons with the release of Gen 9.
Furthermore, the release of a new Pokémon generation means that the sets from the generations preceding it will start to phase out. This is great news for those entering the Pokémon TCG scene because sets from the Sword and Shield and Sun and Moon series will still be in high supply by the time Gen 9 comes out. The high supply and greater demand for Scarlet and Violet cards will mean prices for cards from the past two generations will likely fall, making them cheaper for newer Pokémon TCG fans to invest in. However, the value of these cards will only increase with time as their supply dwindles. Such a pattern can be seen in a card like Mewtwo GX from 2017’s Shining Legends, whose value has occasionally dipped but has reached up to $369 with time, according to Price Charting. This means that those looking to the Pokémon TCG are coming in at an optimal time with the release of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet right around the corner.
Sources: Poké Japan, Price Charting
