Pokémon TCG Japan: Clay Burst Preview: Full Art Treasures

The next two sets of the Scarlet & Violet era are arriving on April 14th in Japan. The two sets, Snow Hazard and Clay Burst, will largely focus on the Treasures of Ruin Legendary group from the region of Paldea introduced in Scarlet & Violet. In this expansion, all four Treasures of Ruin (Chien-Pao, Ting-Lu, Chi-Yu, and Wo-Chien) will receive Pokémon ex. This set follows Pokémon TCG Japan’s Scarlet ex and Violet ex and the subset Triplet Beat which were released in early 2023, kicking off the new Paldea-themed series block that will presumably run for the next three years. Snow Hazard and Clay Burst will merge with Triplet Beat as the basis for Scarlet & Violet – Paldea Evolved, the second English-language expansion set of the Generation Nine era, which will release on June 30, 2023. The Pokémon ex mechanic, the main mechanic of this new era, continues in Snow Hazard and Clay Burst, as does the layout of the Secret Rare section, which includes Illustration Rares, Special Illustration Rares, Full Art ex, Full Art Trainers, Special Illustration Rare Trainers, and Gold cards.  Today, let’s take a look at another Illustration Rare revealed for Clay Burst featuring the Legendary Treasures of Ruin as Full Art ex cards.

Just like how Snow Hazard featured Wo-Chien ex and Chien-Pao ex, Clay Burst continues the Treasures of Ruin focus with Chi-Yu ex and Ting-Lu ex. Ting-Lu is the true set mascot of Clay Burst in that the set’s name is based around it and it also receives the Gold Hyper Rare ex slot. However, both of these Legendary Pokémon also got Special Illustration Rare ex cards which you can see here and here. These Full Arts are considered to be higher-level hits than their standard ex cards but not as exciting or rare as the Special Illustration Rare exs.

Japanese sets often give us early ideas of what the English-language sets may include, so be sure to keep an eye on our coverage. You can stay tuned for previews of Scarlet & Violet cards as well as updates on everything Pokémon TCG right here at Bleeding Cool.