Pokemon TCG Twilight Masquerade pre-release: A first glance at an iconic set

The pre-release events for Pokemon TCG Twilight Masquerade kicked off on May 11, allowing fans to take a look at the new expansion set for the first time and build their own festival-themed deck to use during a casual tournament.

The expansion sets that have been released in 2024 have been hit or miss with a lot of fans, but based on this event and the glorious cards that were pulled during the deck-building stage of the tournament, this could be the best Pokemon TCG expansion set so far this year.

Here’s a glimpse of what a Pokemon pre-release event is like and what you can expect from the upcoming expansion set Twilight Masquerade.

Starting off with a bang

The pre-release event that I attended was held at my local game store Eclectic Games, in the tournament space above the shop itself. Snacks and digital ticket in hand, I was ushered in alongside my friends and other Pokemon fans, and seated in a room with wall-to-wall game merch.

The event kicked off with a brief introduction from the event staff, explaining that we’d be able to check out the cards when the Build & Battle Boxes were handed out and that we’d have 40 minutes to construct a 40-card deck with 4-Prize Card matches in mind.

Once the Boxes had been handed out, the timer began and we got to rip into Twilight Masquerade for the first time. Upon first inspection, it was an impressive expansion set. Various chase cards were spotted around the room – including a Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex and several Paradox Pokemon.

The card list was very Grass and Psychic heavy, leading to lots of similar decks being constructed. Energy cards were provided but, other than that, we were only permitted to use cards from the Build & Battle Boxes and the Booster Packs inside them.

I went with a fairly uncreative Grass deck with Rillaboom and Dipplin as my leads, hoping to rely on my unique Trainer cards like the Hyper Aroma ACE SPEC and Bug Catching Set to set up quickly and sweep with Rillaboom’s powerful Attacks.

Getting schooled by a Chimchar

Once we had our makeshift decks cobbled together, the event organizers pulled up the first rounds of pairings and asked us all to head to our first match-up for the day.

What immediately stood out in the first round was how many interesting Trainer cards there are in Twilight Masquerade. The Handheld Fan Pokemon Tool stood out as a gem, allowing you to move one of your opponent’s Active Pokemon’s Energy cards to a Benched ‘mon of your choice whenever it hit you – even if it Knocked Out the Pokemon holding the Fan.

The second and third matches went by quickly, both with friendly and helpful players with vastly different experiences in the Pokemon TCG world. One was newer to the game (and already very talented) and the other was an employee at the game store who had some incredible strategies with a Chimchar lead.

Put simply, they made fantastic use of my deck’s Weaknesses, using Fire-type Attacks to stop me setting up and securing a high-HP Pokemon in my Active spot. Each match-up had 40 minutes to complete 3 rounds, but this strategy meant I lost all of my matches in just 20. Owch.

Adding more cards to the collection

The event wrapped up after 3 individual matches and the results were announced for Juniors, Seniors, and Masters.

Everyone was given Play! Pokemon Prize Packs and Twilight Masquerade Booster Packs at the end of the event to celebrate, leading to a last-minute pack-opening in the hallway with all the players. One person managed to pull the Dipplin full-art, leading to some very excited screams.

All in all, getting to see Twilight Masquerade in action was intriguing as a Pokemon fan. This will be an expansion set for both collectors and players to watch, undoubtedly, but based on what I saw while playing, there’s some serious potential for creative deck-building here.

There may even be some counters for popular decks like Charizard ex. The Ogerpon cards dominated the competition, and the Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex in particular looks like it could be a Charizard-killer.

It’s hard to say with certainty for now, but it’s absolutely worth pre-ordering an Elite Trainer Box or signing up for a release day event – Twilight Masquerade could be the Pokemon TCG set of the year.