I tore through my supply of Paldean Fates packs the second they showed up this week, I just couldn’t get enough. I’ve still got 151, Paradox Rift, and even some Obsidian Flames packs just lying around for a rainy day, but with Paldean Fates, I’ve been absolutely ravenous. Hidden Fates is still my favorite Pokemon TCG expansion of all time and, while I had some initial reservations about the diminishing returns of dipping back into the Shiny well once again, The Pokemon Company’s plans for its third Shiny-themed expansion eventually won me over. Now that it’s here, I’m completely hooked. As a sparkly cardboard collector and lover of all things Pokemon, Paldean Fates is exactly what I want the trading card game to be.

I have to expose my bias right away: my hits were unbelievable. Not only was I consistently finding the goods in most of my packs, but I pulled both of my chase cards (and, not coincidentally, the biggest chase cards in the set) Shiny Charizard ex SIR and Shiny Mew ex SIR. Of the 22 packs I opened, I found a Shiny in ten of them. If you include the other ex and Full Art cards I pulled, I had a total of 14 hits out of 22.

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The sample size is low, but that’s an incredible pull rate, and other reviewers I’ve talked to have had similar luck. The ten Shiny Pokemon I pulled were Dondozo, Finizen, Klefki, Oricorio, Slowpoke, Ditto, Paldean Clodsire ex, Forretress ex, Mew ex Special Illustration Rare, and Charizard ex Special Illustration Rare. I also somehow scored a regular Paldean Clodsire ex and Forretress ex to go with the Shiny versions, and both versions of Full Art Paldean Student. 15 hits, all gas, pure bliss.

It’s not that I think Paldean Fates is good because I got so lucky with my pulls, but rather that, in spite of all that success, I can’t wait to open more. Were this any other set and I had already pulled the top money cards I would be pretty satisfied with my haul. But with over 130 Shiny Pokemon to collect, I feel like I’m just getting started.

The changes the game has made to packs and rarity types since the start of the Scarlet & Violet era really make this Shiny hunt feel new again. After the lackluster Shinning Fates, I didn’t think it was possible to recapture the magic of Hidden Fates, but Shiny hunting in Paldean Fates is better than ever, and the pull rates have a lot to do with it.

The set has a whopping 245 cards, but only 91 in the standard, non-Shiny set, which is mostly made up of reprints and cards we were still waiting to get from Japan. With three chances to pull something high value (two reverse holographic slots for the regular “baby” Shinies and one rare-or-better slot) you’ll more likely than not find something exciting.

Exciting doesn’t mean valuable though. There are 120 standard Shiny cards to find, and, other than Pikachu and Charmander, none of them will be worth much on the secondary market. That’s the genius of Paldean Fates; Pokemon has found a way to add a type of rarity that’s highly collectible and makes opening packs exciting for reasons that have nothing to do with their monetary value. Instead of being excited because you pulled a $100 check, it’s exciting just for the joy of finding rare Pokemon.

There’s still money cards of course. The aforementioned Shiny Charizard ex SIR and Shiny Mew ex SIR, as well as Shiny Gardevoir ex SIR and maybe even some of the gold hyper rares cards, will be worth quite a bit. But the difference is that those aren’t the only things to chase in Paldean Fates. Other expansions can feel like a slog to open as you sort through piles and piles of bulk in hopes of finding one or two cards that are actually worth something. Paldean Fates has managed to invent a type of bulk you actually want to find.

Here are all the pulls

I’ve become a pretty hardcore Lorcana player over the last few months, and when I open those packs I’m looking for the cards I need to build strong decks. When it comes to opening Pokemon cards, I just want to see beautiful art and my favorite Pokemon. I want to be wowed with every pack I open, and I want to cherish the cards I find in them, regardless of their market value on TCGPlayer. That’s not the only way to enjoy Pokemon of course, but Paldean Fates is an expansion made specifically for the collectors like me, and I couldn’t be happier with it.

There’s no Eeveelutions to be found here, so I guess I could be a little bit happier with it.

As a special collection set, you won’t find Paldean Fates booster boxes on the shelves. In this past, these kinds of expansions have ended up being quite expensive to collect for that reason, but Pokemon has wisely added the new six-pack booster bundles to this set, making it more cost effective (and environmentally friendly) since you don’t have to buy tons of Elite Trainer Boxess or plastic-filled tins to get all the packs you want. If I have one minor complaint about the product selection it's that the traditional three-pack pin/figurine bundles have been replaced with sticker bundles. The stickers are big and have a nice holo pattern, but I’m a pin guy, and this feels like a big downgrade.

This is a run don’t walk situation for Pokemon TCG fans. I wasn’t jazzed on 151, Crown Zenith was a bit overhyped, and I haven’t been fully onboard with a special set since 2021’s Celebrations, but Paldean Fates is destined to be an all-timer. It has the perfect blend of Pokemon both old and new, top-notch special illustration rares that are as good as any we’ve seen this era, Nemona AND Iono secret rares, and a Shiny Charizard to chase. What more could you possibly want?

Next: The Pokemon TCG Adds Over 100 New Shinies In Paldean Fates