Black Bolt and White Flare expansions for the Pokémon TCG announced for international release from July 18th
The next Pokémon Trading Card Game expansion in the Scarlet & Violet Series has been officially announced in a press release by The Pokémon Company International. Scarlet & Violet—Black Bolt and Scarlet & Violet—White Flare will release internationally as a split expansion from July 18th. The set will primarily contain cards from the Japanese expansions of the same name, which release there next month on June 6th.
Black Bolt and White Flare are, as the names suggest, based primarily on Generation V, and will between them include cards featuring all 156 Pokémon originally introduced in the Unova region. Every single Pokémon card introduced in this expansion will also have a full art variant of illustration rare or better rarity. These expansions also introduce a new rarity of cards called Black White rare, which feature Pokémon against a stark solid monochromatic black or white background with elaborate Holofoil patterning. The only two cards introduced so far with this rarity from the Japanese announcements are Zekrom ex and Reshiram ex from their respective sets. Each expansion will include multiple separate parallel foil sets, featuring either a rainbow Poké Ball or Master Ball pattern, or a nostalgic foil pattern based on the original Black & White Series cards. Basic Energy cards featuring the original Black & White Series designs will also be included in the sets.
Players and collectors can expect these sets to include the following:
- A total of over 340 new cards, with over 170 cards in each set
- More than 135 illustration rare cards, including:
- More than 65 illustration rare cards in Black Bolt
- 70 illustration rare cards in White Flare
- 1 illustration rare or special illustration rare card for each Unova Pokémon, split between the two sets
- More than 5 special illustration rare cards per set
- 6 Pokémon ex per set
- Serperior ex, Zekrom ex, and Meloetta ex in Black Bolt
- Reshiram ex and Keldeo ex in White Flare
- 8 ultra rare Pokémon and Supporter cards per set
- 1 special illustration rare Supporter card per set
As usual, Scarlet & Violet—Black Bolt and Scarlet & Violet—White Flare will be available for players of the Pokémon TCG Live app one day ahead of the physical release, on July 17th. Players should expect this new set to receive a Battle Pass of its own, though the contents of this are of course yet to be announced.
Scarlet & Violet—Black Bolt and Scarlet & Violet—White Flare will be available across the typical variety of formats for Special Expansions, and will release in three waves. The first wave, releasing July 18th, will include:
- Elite Trainer Boxes of each set, featuring their respective mascot Pokémon against similarly coloured backgrounds. As usual, these Elite Trainer Boxes will include nine boosters together with the usual assortment of energy cards, card sleeves, and other gameplay accessories. The Scarlet & Violet—Black Bolt Elite Trainer Box additionally includes an illustration-rare style promo card of Thundurus. while the Scarlet & Violet—White Flare Elite Trainer Box features one of Tornadus. As of writing, there has been no announcement confirming the typical special Pokémon Center online stores version for either Elite Trainer Box, and it's possible that these will not be produced for these sets.
- Binder Collections for each set, including 5 booster packs, and a nine-pocket album featuring Zekrom or Reshiram respectively.
- An Unova Poster Collection, including 2 booster packs of each set, promo cards of Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott, and a full-size two-sided poster.
- Unova Mini Tins, each of which contains 1 booster pack of each set, plus an art card and a sticker card matching the art of the tin.
The second wave, coming out two weeks later on August 1st, will include:
- Tech Sticker Collections for each set, including 3 booster packs, an illustration rare style promo card featuring Reuniculus or Gothitelle respectively, and a sticker sheet.
- An Unova Victini Illustration Collection, including 2 booster packs of each set, and three separate promo cards featuring Victini, including an illustration rare style promo card, a premium parallel Poké Ball card, and an oversize illustration rare style foil promo card.
The final wave will release on August 22nd, including:
- Booster Bundles for each set, each of which includes 6 booster packs from that set.
Product Gallery
Click each image below to view the product image at a larger size.
Booster Packs
Wave 1 - Elite Trainer Boxes, Binder Collections, Poster Collection, Unova Mini Tins
Wave 2 - Unova Victini Illustration Collection
Wave 3 - Booster Bundles
