Pokémon Trading Card Game’s next expansion is right around the corner, and ahead of its official launch, we’ve been lucky enough to rip some packs and see if we can find any hits.
Mega Evolution — Chaos Rising launches on 22nd May, with Kalos’ beloved Greninja taking centre stage on the artwork. TPC has been teasing the full Illustration Rare Greninja evolution line in recent weeks, so getting our hands on some packs ahead of launch, we had our fingers crossed that we might net one of these sweet full arts.
The Pokémon Company was kind enough to send us an Elite Trainer Box and two Build & Battle Boxes from the new expansion, granting us a whopping 17 packs to crack into and see if we could find any treasure. We’ve assembled the following gallery to document that journey.
To keep the suspense going for a little bit longer, let’s start with the ETB itself. As ever, this one comes with a handful of extra goodies including card sleeves, damage-counter dice, a plastic coin, dividers and a player’s guide to the expansion:
There’s also a Fennekin full-art foil promo card included in the ETB, which is a particular cutie.
Onto the packs themselves now. The art for this expansion is all about the Mega Evolution art, with Mega Greninja ex, Mega Pyroar ex, Mega Dragalge ex and Mega Floette ex appearing on the covers.
We hit some pretty sweet pulls for our decks, too. Ampharos and its Synchro Pulse ability combine for some huge damage, the new Prism Tower and Ange Floette Stadium cards are going to be essential for boosting Mega Floette ex’s HP to wild limits, and we’re particularly fond of Chesnaught’s Needly Armor ability, which packs a neat bit of revenge every time it gets hit.
But it’s the Illustration Rares (and two Ultra Rares) that we were the happiest with. Xerneas and Ampharos are gorgeous, but you can’t tell us that Chespin, with art by Atsushi Furusawa, isn’t the cutest little guy you’ve ever seen!
So, no luck on the Froakie-to-Greninja front, but a lot of great pulls, all the same!
Our thanks to The Pokémon Company for sending these over and letting us take a look at the upcoming expansion. Mega Evolution — Chaos Rising launches on 22nd May 2026.
Will you be picking up any Chaos Rising packs? Do you have a particular chase card in mind? Let us know in the comments.