Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: Noibat, Paldea Evolved, pokemon, pokemon cards, Pokemon TCG

Pokémon TCG Japan: Snow Hazard & Clay Burst Preview: Noivern Ex

Pokémon TCG Japan has now released the expansion Clay Burst which features a city-dwelling Noibat as well as an ex for Noivern.

The next two sets of the Scarlet & Violet era were released on April 14th in Japan. The two sets, Snow Hazard and Clay Burst, 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 pair of cards revealed for Clay Burst featuring the Noibat line.

Noibat, who recently had its Community Day in Pokémon GO, gets a card that actually makes me think of the Batman-inspired Mitsuhiro Arita Noivern V Alternate Art from Sword & Shield – Evolving Skies due to the city atmosphere. I wonder if artist chibi purposely made that connection to that card, which is considered to be quite iconic.

Noibat of course evolves into Noivern, who gets quite a strong illustration on its Pokémon ex by artist Nisota Niso. Noivern has gotten quite a few Ultra Rares in the past, with a BREAK during its debut XY era, a GX in the Sun & Moon era, and of course, a V in the Sword & Shield era.

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.

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