The latest Pokémon Trading Card Game expansion, Mega Evolution—Chaos Rising, arrives May 22, 2026, but you can visit your local game store to play with it early! Starting May 9, 2026, select Play! Pokémon Stores will begin selling the Mega Evolution—Chaos Rising Build & Battle Box, giving Trainers a chance to have a Prerelease battle and experience the latest expansion before its official release date. To find a Prerelease event near you, be sure to use the Event Locator.
In the Prerelease format, players compete using a 40-card deck with four Prize cards set aside at the start of play, as opposed to a 60-card deck with six Prize cards. Prerelease is perfect for introducing new Trainers to the exciting world of the Pokémon TCG with quick, fun games, and it gives seasoned Trainers a window into everything Mega Evolution—Chaos Rising has to offer. Due to the limited card pool and the variance of cards that can be acquired in a Build & Battle Box, Prerelease events are a great opportunity to flex your creative deck-building muscles.
Each Build & Battle Box includes four Mega Evolution—Chaos Rising booster packs and a 40-card, ready-to-play deck featuring key cards from current and prior expansions, as well as one of four unique foil promo cards. Depending on which promo card you get, you could be playing with the devious Delphox, amped-up Ampharos, cunning Crobat, or good-natured Goodra.
Get ready to set your Prerelease battles ablaze with the Fox Pokémon and its Energized Storm attack! In most situations, you’ll do at least 60 damage with Energized Storm just by fulfilling its attack cost, but if you continue to attach Energy to your Pokémon, the damage can really storm out of control with this hard-hitting attack. Be sure to spread out your Energy to keep your damage numbers up while avoiding a Knock Out that could leave you with no Pokémon ready to attack.
Delphox’s Flaring Magic requires you to discard a precious Basic Energy card, but drawing until you have seven cards in your hand each turn will be more than worth it to set up more Delphox and even more Flaring Magic Abilities. Consistency is key in Prerelease battles, and more cards in hand can never hurt—unless you run out of cards in your deck.
Ampharos’s Synchro Pulse Ability is aptly named—if you sync up your hand size with your opponent’s hand size, Ampharos will probably be able to one-hit KO almost any Pokémon you encounter in a Prerelease battle. Flashing Bolt can do up to 220 damage if you complete this task, and it won’t always be easy, but a few cards will help—like Judge, which resets both players’ hands to four cards each, or Trainer cards that can be played to lower (or increase) your own hand size.
Hey, that’s not Magcargo! Crobat’s Nighttime Maneuvers Ability is reminiscent of the Smooth Over Ability that this other Johto-region Pokémon had during the Sun & Moon Series. The only difference is that Crobat needs to be in the Active Spot, making it a bit more conditional. Fulfilling that condition is more than worth it, though, because you can stack the exact card you need to draw next turn or combine the effect for use with a Supporter card.
Need to find a Punk Helmet to KO your opponent’s Active Pokémon on their next attack? You’ve got it. Looking to get multiple Crobat into play to keep up the pressure with its efficient Poison Sound Wave attack? Stack a Golbat or Crobat on top of your deck and use Grimsley’s Move to put it directly onto your Bench! Get creative—the night sky is the limit!
The Pokémon TCG always benefits from a little bit of disruption to keep players on their toes, and Goodra’s Slimy Sliding Ability is here to do just that. Cards with switching effects are at a premium in Prerelease battles, so attempting to retreat is far more common when Pokémon are at risk of a KO. If you have Goodra in play, though, your opponent may not be able to retreat their Active Pokémon, securing you an easy KO in the future.
Goodra isn’t all tricks—it has plenty of muscle. Its Dragon Pulse attack does 160 damage for and packs a real punch that can easily one-hit KO the other Prerelease promo cards. It can be tricky to get two different types of Energy attached, but if you include a healthy mix of Energy and Energy in your deck, you should have no problem taking Knock Outs. Just be careful when discarding the top card of your deck!
Whether you’re heading to a local game store or playing with friends, you’re in for some quick and fun battles with cards from the new Mega Evolution—Chaos Rising expansion! If you’re not able to make it to a Prerelease event, these Build & Battle Boxes will be available for purchase when the expansion officially launches.
