One of the biggest additions in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet was Paradox Pokemon. Either ancestors from a distant past, or descendants from the far-flung future, these Pokemon remixed familiar faces into new prehistoric or robotic forms. However, despite their popularity, Paradox Pokemon have yet to make an appearance in the Scarlet & Violet era of the Pokemon TCG. That is, until Paradox Rift.

In Scarlet & Violet: Paradox Rift, these time-traveling Pokemon are finally putting in an appearance, complete with new mechanics and fancy card frames to signify how special they are. The Pokemon Company has given us two to reveal today, so take a look at Slither Wing and Iron Jugulis from Paradox Rift.

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First, Slither Wing. The ancient counterpart to Volcarona, this Fighting-type Pokemon comes with the Burning Turbulence attack, a surefire way to burn your opponent’s active Pokemon on top of dealing a hefty 120 points of damage. This turns Slither Wing into a bit of a glass cannon, as it needs to also take 90 damage to use Burning Turbulence, but inflicting status effects on otherwise resilient Pokemon isn’t to be sniffed at.

More importantly, Slither Wing puts mill back on the menu with its Stomp Off attack, which forces your opponent to discard the top card of their deck. Milling, or forcing your opponent to discard their deck and lose when they can’t draw a card, is popular in other TCGs, but has rarely been considered in Pokemon. Durant Mill was a famous example of a mill deck over a decade ago, but with Slither Wing and its similar, albeit weaker, attack, might we see it make a comeback with the launch of Paradox Rift?

Next, we’ve got Iron Jugulis, a Pokemon from billions of years in the future. The Homing Headbutt attack could be a good way to sweep out benched Pokemon, providing you already have a way to deal damage to them, like Articuno’s Blizzard, or, more likely, Alakazam ex’s Mind Jack.

Baryon Beam shows off why Ancient and Future Pokemon are such a big part of Paradox Rift. They’re Scarlet & Violet’s take on Sword & Shield’s battle styles, with Ancient cards preferring a more direct and aggressive style, while Future Pokemon are trickier and more disruptive. It won’t just be Pokemon that get this timey-wimey treatment, as you’ll also find trainer cards to slot into either strategy.

Leaning into one or the other is a great way to add some much-needed synergy to your deck. In this case, running Iron Jugulis encourages you to also run Future Booster Energy Capsule. Not only does it reduce the cost of Baryon Beam by two colorless energy, the Capsule’s effect buffs the attacks’ power by 20 damage.

These likely won’t be big meta-defining Pokemon, but they’ll probably see play in decks built around some of the bigger Future and Ancient Pokemon, like Raging Moon ex and Iron Valiant ex. As basic Pokemon you can get them into play straight away, which is especially good for Slither Wing to start milling in the early turns, disrupting your opponent long enough to set up a bigger hitter on your bench.

Iron Jugulis and Slither Wing will be joining other Paradox Pokemon in Scarlet & Violet – Paradox Rift when the expansion launches on November 3.

NEXT: TCG Release Dates 2023