Scarlet & Violet – FAQ
Below is the FAQ for the Scarlet & Violet Prerelease events held between March 18th and March 26th, 2023.
Prerelease FAQs generally only involved cards found within the set and don’t address interactions with cards in other sets.
Please look for these and other rulings in the Pokemon TCG Compendium in the near future.
The Compendium can be found at compendium.pokegym.net/
ERRATA:
== TRAINERS IN GENERAL
* Beginning with the Scarlet & Violet expansion, “Pokemon Tool” will be its own category of Trainer card; Pokemon Tool cards will no longer be printed as Item cards. Pokemon Tool cards from all previous series will receive errata to align with this change, meaning that older Tool cards are no longer considered as “Item cards”. This errata will go into effect for tournament play on April 14th, 2023. {NOTE: This also applies to official Scarlet & Violet Prerelease events held prior to Apr.14th.}
POKEMON ABILITIES:
== ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION (Scatterbug – Scarlet & Violet; Spewpa – Scarlet & Violet)
Q. Can I use Scatterbug’s “Adaptive Evolution” Ability to evolve into Spewpa, then immediately use Spewpa’s “Adaptive Evolution” Ability to evolve into Vivillon all on the same turn?
A. Yes, you can.
Q. Can I use Rare Candy on a Scatterbug the first turn of the game or the turn that Scatterbug is played, since “Adaptive Evolution” says it can evolve in those cases?
A. No, you can’t use Rare Candy to evolve in either of those conditions because the text on Rare Candy specifically prevents it.
== TERA (Arcanine ex – Scarlet & Violet; Gyarados ex – Scarlet & Violet)
Q. If my opponent has Arcanine ex or Gyarados ex on the Bench, will its “Tera” attribute prevent me from placing damage counters on it with Drifblim’s “Curse Spreading” attack?
A. No, placing damage counters is different than dealing damage, so it won’t be prevented.
POKEMON ATTACKS:
== ACU-PUNCH-TURE (Medicham – Scarlet & Violet)
Q. If I use Medicham’s “Acu-Punch-Ture” attack and the opponent switches to a different Active Pokemon that has the same attack as the one I chose for “Acu-Punch-Ture”, can they use that attack?
A. The effect was on the Pokemon that was attacked, so if that Pokemon switches out the new Active Pokemon can use their attack of the same name.
== APPLY OIL (Dolliv – Scarlet & Violet)
Q. If my opponent’s Dolliv attacks with “Apply Oil” then on my turn I switch to a new Active Pokemon, do I still have to flip a coin to successfully attack?
A. No. Even though the effect references the opponent it was placed on “the Defending Pokemon”, so the effect went away when you changed your Active Pokemon.
== CURSE SPREADING (Drifblim – Scarlet & Violet)
Q. If my opponent has Arcanine ex or Gyarados ex on the Bench, will its “Tera” attribute prevent me from placing damage counters on it with Drifblim’s “Curse Spreading” attack?
A. No, placing damage counters is different than dealing damage, so it won’t be prevented.
== EVERLASTING DARKNESS (Banette ex – Scarlet & Violet)
Q. If my opponent used Banette ex’s “Everlasting Darkness” attack on their last turn, can I attach Vitality Band to my Pokemon on my turn?
A. Yes, Vitality Band is a Pokemon Tool card, not an Item card.
== MOONBLAST (Florges – Scarlet & Violet)
Q. If my opponent’s Florges used its “Moonblast” attack last turn, would my Kilowattrel’s “Skill Dive” attack only do 20 damage to a Benched Pokemon?
A. Yes, all attack damage is reduced by 30. This damage reduction applies to all Defending Pokemon (including Benched Pokemon), and also applies to any self-damage done to your own Pokemon.
== SKILL DIVE (Kilowattrel – Scarlet & Violet)
Q. If my opponent’s Florges used its “Moonblast” attack last turn, would my Kilowattrel’s “Skill Dive” attack only do 20 damage to a Benched Pokemon?
A. Yes, all attack damage is reduced by 30. This damage reduction applies to all Defending Pokemon (including Benched Pokemon), and also applies to any self-damage done to your own Pokemon.
TRAINER CARDS:
== TRAINERS IN GENERAL
* Beginning with the Scarlet & Violet expansion, “Pokemon Tool” will be its own category of Trainer card; Pokemon Tool cards will no longer be printed as Item cards. Pokemon Tool cards from all previous series will receive errata to align with this change, meaning that older Tool cards are no longer considered as “Item cards”. This errata will go into effect for tournament play on April 14th, 2023.
* Beginning with the Scarlet & Violet expansion, cards like Pokemon Catcher will now say “switch in 1 of your opponent’s Benched Pokemon” to make it clear that the effect is on the Benched Pokemon. Likewise, the phrase “switch out” will be used if the effect is on the Active Pokemon. Older prints of these cards with different text that have the same game effect will therefore remain legal.
== RARE CANDY (Scarlet & Violet)
Q. Can I use Rare Candy on a Scatterbug the first turn of the game or the turn that Scatterbug is played, since “Adaptive Evolution” says it can evolve in those cases?
A. No, you can’t use Rare Candy to evolve in either of those conditions because the text on Rare Candy specifically prevents it.
