Pokemon TCG Officially Reveals The ex★ Era

The Pokemon TCG Is Officially Leaving The Mega Evolution Era Behind Published Aug 31, 2026, 4:18 AM EDT Sam Woods is TheGamer’s Senior Reporter. He’s been in games journalism since 2020 and has undertaken a variety of roles in that time. These have included roles such as SEO Editor, Managing Editor at DualShockers, and Global Head of Gaming, and he's also been seen on the BBC. He was promoted to the Senior Reporter position in 2025 following a series of high-quality reports and exclusives for TheGamer. Since 2020, Sam has written over 2,500 articles and specializes in telling the stories of the people behind the games. He’s interviewed the biggest game directors, some of the industry’s top talents, told the stories of how indie games came to be, and spoken to players about what really makes them tick. He’s also interviewed some of the world’s biggest musical artists to find out how the medium has inspired their work, and TV and Film actors about their roles in video game adaptations. He even hosted a PAX panel in 2021 and made a documentary in 2024 surrounding the creation of a Disney game. Alongside this, Sam focuses on breaking news. He got the scoop on Perfect Dark’s cancellation, got context around some AI drama, and revealed how Lady Dimitrescu’s actress would love to step back into the character’s giant shoes. These articles have been picked up by the biggest gaming sites, including IGN, GameSpot, and PC Gamer. He also loves to dive into the numbers behind the games. Sam’s journey in games journalism has taken him all over the world. He’s covered Gamescom in Germany, Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, and Tokyo Game Show in Japan, each on more than one occasion. He’s been learning Japanese since 2024 with the intention of identifying and translating Japanese-language news and bringing it to English-language audiences first, something he’s done countless times. Sam’s first review was 2020’s Battletoads reboot, and he’s since reviewed games in The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokemon franchises. The Pokemon Trading Card Game's Mega Evolution era has been around for a little under a year now. It has included some of the best sets in the TCG's long history, including a personal favorite of mine, Ascended Heroes, as well as the likes of Chaos Rising, Phantasmal Flames, and the upcoming Storm Emerelda, which features an incredible Mega Rayquaza ex card. It looks, though, as though this era is soon to be coming to an end, as revealed during the Pokemon World Championships closing ceremony, is its successor: the ex★ Series. Pokemon TCG's ex★ Series Has Officially Been Revealed, Will Replace The Mega Evolution Series Before the Mega Evolution era fades into the background, The Pokemon Company revealed a bunch of new Mega Attack Rare cards coming in future sets. These include Mega Rayquaza ex, Mega Darkrai ex, Mega Greninja ex, Mega Zygarde ex, and, making its Pokemon TCG debut, Mega Lucario Z ex. The wording, which details that Mega Lucario Z will mark "the debut of Z Mega Evolution Pokémon in the iconic game," implies that the Mega Evolution era will be sticking around for a while. Pokemon like Mega Absol Z, Mega Garchomp Z, and Mega Raichu X and Y still need to debut before the era is set to sunset. Mega Lucario Z's appearance will almost certainly come in the next Japanese set, Aura Seeker, releasing in November, and the others will likely appear in the TCG's next special set, the already-trademarked MEGA x MEGA Parade. This special set will likely be akin to Crown Zenith and Ascended Heroes before it, containing dozens of exciting cards, and could prove the perfect farewell to the Mega Evolution era before we move to the ex★ Series. A new Pokemon TCG era almost always accompanies a new Pokemon video game. The Scarlet and Violet TCG era was ushered in alongside the games of the same name, and Mega Evolution accompanied Pokemon Legends: Z-A. The new ex★ Series is likely to accompany Pokemon Winds and Waves, which is due for release in 2027. Limited details were shared about the ex★ series, but we did get a teaser featuring Johto's Legendary Beasts, Raikou, Suicune, and Entei. The Pokemon Company teased that "more details will be shared in the future," and fans are desperately hoping for a Johto-focused set similar to the massively popular Kanto-themed 151. There were tons of other great announcements during the Pokemon World Championships closing ceremony, including news of a Pokemon returning to Pokemon Go for the first time in six years. Franchise Pokemon Original Release Date October 20, 1996 Player Count 2 Age Recommendation 6+ Length per Game Variable Franchise Name Pokemon