Scarlet & Violet: Paradox Rift - Top 10 Best Pokémon in the Set

As Scarlet & Violet: Paradox Rift will be released soon, I decided to list down below the Pokémon that might be very relevant in this set.

Besides new ex Pokémon (be it basic, evolution, or Terastal mechanic Pokémon), we also have the new "Pokémon Paradox", which in this set got more highlight, and got closer to what was shown in the VGC.

10 - Altaria ex

Altaria ex gets this position because it is a complement to Regidrago VSTAR SIT 136, as it increases the Dragon Pokémon options it can create. It can now copy Altaria's attack, Light Pulse, deal 140 damage and even prevent effects from the defending Pokémon. If you're battling against decks with Eiscue ex sv3 42, whose attack, Scalding Block, is meant to disable the enemy Pokémon from attacking the next round, Altaria ex goes right over that. Regidrago VSTAR SIT 136, as it copies the attacks from a Pokémon in the discard pile, including their effects, won't suffer Eiscue ex sv3 42's downside.

Another useful situation is against Giratina VSTAR CRZ GG69, which can use its VStar attack, and Regidrago VSTAR SIT 136, when copying Altaria ex, isn't affected by it.

9 - Bombirdier ex

Bombirdier ex comes in with an interesting first attack, Fast Carrier, which is a sort of Battle VIP Pass FST 225: you can use this attack even if you're "first to play" - "going over the rule" and being able to attack on that turn. Like so, you'll search for three basic Pokémon and place them on your bench, accelerating your game setup.

Its second attack, Shadowy Wind, is a way to retreat strategically. After it has done its main job of setting up your bench with Pokémon, to make sure it isn't targeted as a 2 Prize Card knockout for your opponent, besides dealing its base damage (13), you'll retreat it and all cards attached to it to your hand.

8 - Skeledirge ex Terastal

With this Pokémon, we have 3 good opportunities:

1) As its Terastral form carries the Steel type, Skeledirge ex can hit on Chien-Pao ex PR-SV 30's weakness, and this is one of the most popular Pokémon in the metagame.

2) Its attack is nice as it goes over the opponent's effects - for instance, in case you're facing something like "the enemy Pokémon have immunity against your Pokémon if they're evolution", it ignores that and deals 160 damage.

3) And, the most important one: its ability (by discarding a basic Fire energy from your hand, all your Pokémon in play on that turn gain an extra 60 damage against the opponent's active Pokémon) is an excellent addition to the Fire archetype. It can even go in Charizard ex sv3 125's own deck, to start out the game with a good 240 damage strike (180 base damage + 60 from this ability's effect).

7 - Froslass ex Terastal

Here comes in an interesting factor related to its Grass type in its Terastal form: it is a perfect counter for the format's Darkness type, disrupting Charizard ex sv3 125 decks, which have this weakness.

Like so, the attack Frost Bullet, instead of dealing 140 damage, will deal 280 by the weakness applied to Charizard ex sv3 125; besides the effect that Froslass ex can choose a Pokémon on the opponent's bench and deal 20 damage.

You can even play Wo-Chien ex sv2 27 or the other ones that are more popular, such as Meowscarada ex PR-SV 33, which has the following ability: discard a Grass energy from your hand to place a damage counter (this can help you with your combo), besides its main attack.

Apart from that, Froslass ex's ability, Evanescent, is very useful - if it is knocked out, you toss a coin, and, if it's heads, your opponent will get only one Prize Card instead of two.

6 - Garchomp ex Terastal

It is a very efficient Pokémon:

1) It is a practical Pokémon when setting up energies.

2) It has zero retreat cost.

3) It has a sniper attack.

That is all Garchomp ex has! And its attack, Hydro Lander, for just one Fighting energy, besides dealing 160 damage, allows you to get 3 basic Fighting energies and attach them to your benched Pokémon in any way you like. It is a great accelerator.

Apart from that, the Sonic Dive attack deals 120 damage to any opponent Pokémon if its condition of discarding two energies is met.

This card's cost/benefit ratio, combined with another Garchomp ex already set up, is paid in full, because, when using its second attack, it can retreat the main attacker and replace it with a new one, "looping" its first attack, (Hydro Lander), and recharging another Garchomp ex.

5 - Iron Valiant ex

Its ability, Tachyon Bits, transfers Iron Valiant ex from the bench to the active position, and you can place two damage counters on one of your opponent's Pokémon.

That opens up two possibilities:

1) You can use Radiant Alakazam SIT 59 to your favor, so you can also use its ability, Painful Spoons, as a way to combo damage counters.

2) And you can use Clefable ex sv3 82 as a support for Iron Valiant ex's retreat cost, with its ability Lunar Zone, as Iron Valiant ex's attack, Laser Blade, has the downside effect of "this Pokémon can't attack next turn" when you use it; by retreating this Pokémon, you'll remove him from the active position.

4 - Mewtwo ex Terastal

Here we have two advantages:

1) Its Terastal type, Electric, hits Lugia VSTAR SIT 211, Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR CRZ GG67, and Blastoise ex sv3pt5 200 head on.

2) Its second attack, Photon Kinesis, deals 10 + 30 damage per each Psychic energy attached to your Pokémon.

So, we have three possible combos to set up energies that are old and known:

- Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX ASR TG30, as a practical accelerator, besides being a good attacker, and is even a Pokémon with 310 HP.

- Gardevoir ex sv1 86 as another energy set up, but it risks getting damage counters when you use the discarded energies as a way to accelerate.

- Gardevoir CRE 61, which is a good addition, because if the top cards in your deck aren't energies, you'll be guaranteed to draw at least some other resources.

And here comes the fun of this new set: Xatu, which, thanks to its ability, has as its job to set up energies to one of your benched Pokémon from your hand, and on top of it draws 2 cards.

3 - Roaring Moon ex

By just a little this card doesn't reach first to second place, but it is extremely strong, as it is one of the "instant KO" effect Pokémon, besides Hisuian Zoroark LOR 76 and Giratina VSTAR CRZ GG69.

Its attack, Frenzied Gouging, seems to have a "heavy" cost, as it is (D)(D)(C), but, in this set, we have these cards as new options:

Professor Sada's Vitality sets up energies to two Ancient Pokémon in your game and has a great "draw power", drawing 3 cards.

The second option is Morpeko, with its attack that, besides dealing 70 damage, moves two Darkness energies attached to it to one of your benched Pokémon.

We also have, in this format, combo support like Dark Patch ASR 139, just like Galarian Moltres V CRE 97 in combination with Energy Switch sv1 173.

2 - Gholdengo ex

This card is in this position in this list because of two reasons:

1) It is great as "draw power", because, with its Coin Bonus ability, once per turn, you'll draw a card; and if it is by any chance your active Pokémon, you'll draw another card.

In the format, we have as draw options Radiant Greninja ASR 46 and Bibarel BRS 121, so this card is a suitable alternative in addition to them.

2) It creates explosive damage and is practical to set up, as its attack, Make It Rain, asks as a cost just one basic Steel energy (which can also be compensated with Luminous Energy sv2 191) and deals 50 damage per each basic energy discarded from your hand.

We also have Superior Energy Retrieval sv2 189 to recover the energies you lost by discarding and place them in your hand, up to 4 energies, and with that guarantee 200 damage.

We also have another option to recover them: Energy Retrieval sv1 171, which follows the same logic.

1 - Iron Hands ex

And to finish the main Pokémon list, Iron Hands ex deserves highlight in this podium because of its second attack, Amp You Very Much (L)(C)(C)(C), which has the following effect: if you knock out an enemy Pokémon with it, you'll draw an extra Prize Card.

So, let's analyze it:

1) The colorless energy cost can easily be paid with the biggest energy set up fast accelerator in the format, Baxcalibur PR-SV 19.

2) If it's facing Pokémon which are weak to the Electric type, the most common Pokémon VStar in the current format, such as Lugia VSTAR SIT 211 and Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR CRZ GG67, are easy targets.

As they have 280 HP, this is ideal:

- If Iron Hands ex has a Choice Belt sv2 176, your 120 damage become 150 damage, and so, 300 damage if applying this weakness - this way, you'll draw three Prize Cards at once.

Hoopa ex Terastal

Its first attack, Energy Crush (D)(D), deals 50 damage per each energy attached to your opponent's Pokémon.

That can be useful against Arceus VSTAR CRZ GG70-type Pokémon and their variations, which are forced to play more energies on board to prepare their Pokémon V. Besides that, Hoope ex Terastal carries the Fighting type, which hits double damage due to Arceus VSTAR CRZ GG70 and Slaking V PGO 58's own weakness.

Tsareena ex Terastal

This card is severely underestimated by the public, but it is a great start to "stall" decks, thanks to its first attack, Icicle Sole (G), which puts damage counters on one of your opponent's Pokémon until they have 30 HP left.

In this format, we have Panic Mask LOR 165, which prevents your opponent from attacking the Pokémon which has this card equipped if it has an HP lower than 40.

Additionally, to help with the "stall" strategy, we have Toy Catcher EVS 163, which is extremely strong and has been forgotten since it was released.

Aegislash

We have here another excellent Pokémon to add to the "anti Ultra-Rare" team, just like Mimikyu sv2 97 and Miltank ASR 126.

Its attack is quite nice, as it ignores any opponent effect, such as, for instance:

- If there is an enemy Pokémon that uses an attack that states, "it prevents damage from opponent's attacks", Aegislash goes over that and attacks anyway.

- Or when your opponent has a Pokémon that uses an attack that states, "this prevents damage dealt by your opponent's evolved Pokémon", Aegislsash goes over this effect.

Besides the energy cost being practical to set up, just a (M) and a (C), it can deal 120 damage, which is more than enough to take down Chien-Pao ex PR-SV 30, because of its weakness to the Steel type.

Iron Bundle

Here we have two advantages:

1) Its ability, which is useful as a Boss’s Orders BRS 132 against your opponent, but your opponent will choose the Pokémon which will be promoted to the active position. However, this ability can only happen if Iron Bundle is on the bench. In this process, it is discarded, with all energies attached to it.

2) Its attack has the following effect: “opponent Pokémon that are evolutions” can’t attack next turn - which is a good way to control, as this format brings many evolutions, such as Charizard ex sv3 125, Blastoise ex sv3pt5 9, Alakazam ex PR-SV 50, Meowscarada ex PR-SV 33, Mew VMAX LOR TG30, Arceus VSTAR CRZ GG70, Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR CRZ GG67, Giratina VSTAR CRZ GG69, Lugia VSTAR SIT 211, and many others.

Iron Jugulis

This Pokémon is excellent to synergize with Baxcalibur PR-SV 19, one of the best practical energy set up Pokémon in the format, considering two attacks from Iron Jugulis only ask for colorless energies.

The attack Homming Headbutt (C) (C) (C) is excellent because it deals 50 damage to 3 enemy Pokémon on their bench, and is quite stronger for a sniper attack without the need to discard energies, like Radiant Greninja ASR 46.

Its second attack, Baryon Beam (C)(C)(C)(C)(C), deals relatively “low” damage in the format to deal with the ultra rare cards. It is good against “baby” Pokémon, but, even then, the cost is very expensive. If it has the tool Future Booster Energy Capsule attached, it costs only 3 colorless energies, which makes it a lot better.

This tool, if equipped to Pokémon Future, grants zero retreat cost and an extra 20 damage, raising Baryon Beam’s damage to 170 damage, which makes this attack excellent.

Xatu

It will be one of the best Psychic energy set up Pokémon we have in the format, because, besides this, Xatu’s ability can also draw two cards.

Toadscruel

The highlight here is because of its ability, in a “control” style, which prevents your opponent from recycling cards from the discard pile through Trainer cards and/or Pokémon abilities.

Which means, against Blastoise ex sv3pt5 9 and Chien-Pao ex PR-SV 30 decks that live from Superior Energy Retrieval sv2 189 to create their energy recovery combos, they won’t be able to use these cards. It can even require discarding two cards from your hand to try and pull the basic energies, but they won’t be able to get these energies.

Important note: Super Rod sv2 188 will be locked down by Toadscruel.

Jirachi

Its ability, Stellar Veil, prevents your Pokémon from getting dealt damage caused by opponent’s ”effects”.

I really marked down ”effects” because it is something Manaphy BRS 41 can’t protect from, because it only prevents ”sniper damage”, which is a nightmare for one particular Pokémon in the format: Sableye LOR 70, as its attack is made through damage counters effects.

So, Jirachi becomes a counter to Sableye LOR 70, and is a great option for players to use against Lost Box.

Kingdra

Its first attack, Whirltide, is what interests us, because it looks at the top 6 cards in your deck and reveals them. This damage deals 60 times per each energy found there and can even choose any opponent Pokémon, active or on the bench (on the bench, it won’t be able to apply weakness or resistance); then, the other cards that aren’t energies will return to the deck, but the energies will be discarded.

For that type of strategy, using Energy Recycler BST 124 is essential to cycle these Water energies as much as you want to.

What did you think of the list? Which cards do you believe to be better in this set? Do you agree with the list or disagree? Comment your opinion down below.

See you next time.