Pokemon Temporal Forces will be releasing worldwide on March 22, 2024. It’s going to be an epic set, and one of the most memorable of the Scarlet & Violet era so far thanks to exciting new mechanics and powerful new Paradox Pokemon. Here are additional Temporal Forces highlights:

The expansion will include over 160 cards

ACE SPEC cards return: 6 Trainer cards and 1 Special Energy
More new Ancient and Future Pokémon
More than a dozen brand-new Pokémon ex, including type-shifted Tera Pokémon ex
Dozens of Pokémon and Trainer cards with special illustrations

*Updated March 23, 2024 with new decks in Temporal Forces and pull rates data.

When is the Temporal Forces Prerelease happening?

As with most major Pokemon TCG sets, Temporal Forces will be having its prerelease period a few weeks before the main set launch. Temporal Forces prereleases will be happening from March 9-17. At these prerelease events, players will be able to pick up a Temporal Forces Build and Battle Box. If you’re looking to take advantage of these Build and Battle Boxes before the set releases, you can order one on TCGplayer.

Temporal Forces Build and Battle Box

Market price: $19.22

Shop on TCGplayer

The Temporal Forces Build and Battle come with several cool prerelease promo cards that have a special stamp you can only get from these decks. See the ones in this set in the picture below.

Read our Temporal Forces prerelease guide to find out which of these promos is best and why.

What are ACE SPEC cards and why do they matter?

Already, social media is ablaze with ACE SPEC Pokemon cards from Japanese sets players are hopeful will be included in the Temporal Forces English expansion. But what exactly are ACE SPEC cards and why do they matter?

ACE SPEC cards are hyper powerful cards. They’re so strong that your deck is limited to only one of them. One. That’s it. So in that way, they’re sort of like Radiant Pokemon only they are Item cards or Special Energy instead.

What ACE SPEC cards are going to be included in Temporal Forces?

While they haven’t been revealed for the English set yet, we do know what several of the ACE SPEC cards are thanks to them being revealed for the Japanese equivalent: Cyber Judge. Here’s a sneak peek at what they are and what they do.

Hero’s Cape

Hero’s Cape – Trainer
Pokémon Tool (ACE SPEC)
The Pokémon this card is attached to gets +100 HP.
You may attach any number of Pokémon Tools to your Pokémon during your turn. You may attach only 1 Pokémon Tool to each Pokémon, and it stays attached.
ACE SPEC: You can’t have more than 1 ACE SPEC card in your deck.

Hero’s Cape is a pretty phenomenal card, and will undoubtedly see much play in the standard format. Granting an extra 100 HP is huge in a game like Pokemon. If this card becomes widely used, expect to see more tool scrapping cards in play as well.

Master Ball

Search your deck for a Pokémon, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.

Master Ball is unique as it’s actually a reprint of a card from a previous Pokemon TCG expansion. Like Hero’s Cape, this card is also pretty straightforward. Just search your deck for a Pokemon – any old Pokemon – and add it to your hand.

That’s it. No song and dance. No conditions. No discarded cards. Nada.

It’s a powerful ability that will undoubtedly be used in virtually every single Pokemon deck imaginable.

Prime Catcher

Switch in 1 of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon to the Active Spot. If you do, switch your Active Pokémon with 1 of your Benched Pokémon.

Prime Catcher may be a new card, but its mechanic is familiar. If you know how a card called “Cross Switcher” worked, basically it’s the same thing as that. You switch in one of your opponent’s benched Pokemon, and one of yours as well.

This card will undoubtedly see a lot of play, and should pair well with decks like Chien-Pao that will combine it with a Canceling Calogne and a Radiant Greninja to take pot shots at the bench.

Cross Switcher was always a compelling card, but given it will be rotating out soon, and this card only requires one card to get it off whereas Cross Switcher required having two copies of the same card in your hand, I see this card seeing considerably more play than even the popular Cross Switcher did before it.

Neo Upper Energy

As long as this card is attached to a Pokémon, it provides [C] Energy.
If this card is attached to a Stage 2 Pokémon, this card provides every type of Energy but provides only 2 Energy at a time instead.

Neo Upper Energy is pretty strong, and far less restrictive than the thematically similar Reversal Energy. There are probably a lot of ways people are going to think of to use this energy, however many powerful attackers need two energies to get their attack off, meaning this card is likely to be a powerful addition to many decks.
For example, it could be paired with Giratina VSTAR to launch a powerful Lost Impact attack with needing just one additional energy, or even the more powerful Star Requiem attack for no additional energy at all.

Maximum Belt

Maximum Belt provides the highest damage modification we’ve seen yet. But will the allure of doing 50 extra damage to most decks be enough for players to use up their precious ACE SPEC slot for it? My money is still on Master Ball.

Reboot Pod

This Temporal Forces spoiler was an exclusive that we did from a Booster Box we opened. If you are a fan of running Future decks like Iron Valiant ex, you might find this particular item card very helpful. It lets you attach a basic energy from your discard to any of your future Pokemon. I’ll certainly try it out in my Iron Valiant ex deck.

Additional Ancient and Future Pokemon could mix things up

Having Pokemon with added classifications isn’t a new concept in Pokemon TCG. Players from the recent Sword and Shield era will recall the Rapid Strike/Single Strike/Fusion Strike classification that was quite popular in the game, boasting some of that times most powerful Pokemon cards.

Ancient and Future classifications work in much the same way. However, right now we’re somewhat limited as to how many of those cards actually exist, making their mechanic somewhat less impactful on the Pokemon TCG meta right now than they were in Sword and Shield.

Having more of these Ancient/Future Pokemon could certainly help mix things up and add many dynamic strategies to an already varied and interesting game.

Temporal Forces Products and Preorders

Being a main set expansion, Temporal Forces is going to include the typical Pokemon products you would expect. Below, you can see each major Temporal Forces product and its online market price. You may notice this online price differing from major retailers or local game stores, and they are often much lower. Preordering from TCGplayer is one the easiest and cheapest ways to ensure you get your Pokemon products delivered reliably to you on time.

Temporal Forces Elite Trainer Box (Pokemon Center Exclusive)

MSRP: $59.99

Online price: $149.99

One of the most popular Pokemon products to pick up when a new set is released is the corresponding Elite Trainer Box. Here’s what’s included in the Pokemon Center Exclusive Elite Trainer Boxes

11 Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—Temporal Forces booster packs
Each booster pack contains 10 cards and 1 Basic Energy. Cards vary by pack.
1 full-art foil promo card featuring Iron Thorns with a Pokémon Center logo
1 full-art foil promo card featuring Iron Thorns or Walking Wake
65 card sleeves featuring Iron Leaves or Walking Wake
45 Pokémon TCG Energy cards
A player’s guide to the Scarlet & Violet—Temporal Forces expansion
6 damage-counter dice
1 competition-legal coin-flip die
2 plastic condition markers
A box to hold everything, with 4 dividers to keep it organized
A code card for Pokémon Trading Card Game Live

Temporal Forces Elite Trainer Box (Walking Wake & Iron Leaves)

The standard Elite Trainer Box comes with all of the same goodies as the Pokemon Center exclusive only minus Pokemon Center stamped Promo and two fewer booster packs.

Temporal Forces Booster Bundle

Booster bundles are always a great option for players and collectors looking to sample the new set as opposed to going all in on a more expensive item like an Elite Trainer Box or Booster Box. Each bundle includes six packs.

Temporal Forces Booster Box

Last but not least, we have the incredibly popular Booster Box. What makes Booster Boxes so popular? Well, they’re the best way to open a lot of packs the cheapest. You get a significant price reduction per pack when you buy them in a box, and because they shipped directly from the factory, many report somewhat more standardized pulls from them i.e. usually you are guaranteed several secret rares, as opposed to buying single booster packs which is totally random.

We were lucky enough to get the booster box early. You can see what it looks like inside via the pictures below, as well as a collection of some of our best pulls from the box.

Temporal Forces Booster Pack

If you are looking to buy loose Temporal Forces packs, you certainly can. They’re pretty affordable right now and can be preordered via TCGplayer.

Temporal Forces 3 Pack Blisters

Another great option for people looking to enjoy an epic new set like Temporal Forces without spending a fortune is to pick up one or two of these three pack blisters. You can preorder one featuring a Cyclizar promo and another featuring Cleffa.

What cards are coming out in Temporal Forces?

We’ve covered a few of the ACE SPEC cards coming out in Temporal Forces. However, as we approach the Temporal Forces release date, Pokemon continues to release cards ahead of time. Take a look at the gallery below to see several of the Temporal Forces chase cards officially revealed in this set and click the button below to see all cards revealed in English so far.

Temporal Forces Card List

Is Temporal Forces worth it?

Any collectible trading card game costs money, so of course both players and collectors are going to be wondering whether or not this is one of the sets to invest in, or skip.

From an initial glance, this set certainly looks like it is going to be interesting and worthwhile to collect. After all, Paradox Rift was a fantastic Pokemon pack, featuring interesting new mechanics and gorgeous artwork. Just the fact that Temporal Forces is bringing the ACE SPEC mechanic into the game has already created quite the buzz online and within the Pokemon community. New mechanics, undoubtedly powerful new deck archetypes and more make Temporal Forces look like one of the Pokemon TCG expansions to chase.

New deck archetypes

With new cards comes new deck strategies. Players are going to be really excited about some of the new strategies coming out in Temporal Forces.

For more info on what to play in Temporal Forces, read our guide to the new decks in Temporal Forces.

As more information becomes available, we’ll be updating this article, so make sure to check back often!

How good are the Temporal Forces pull rates?

The Temporal Forces pull rates have been revealed, and it’s tough news for special illustration rare hunters, and relatively good news for ACE SPEC lovers. See the pull rates below and read our Temporal Forces pull rates guide for more details.

Double rare card: 1 in 6 packs