Clay Burst

What Clay Burst is

Clay Burst is one half of the second main expansion of the Japanese Scarlet & Violet era, released on April 14, 2023 under the set code SV2D alongside its partner set Snow Hazard. It has 71 cards in the numbered set plus 28 secret rares, 99 in total, and every card carries the G regulation mark. Together with Snow Hazard and Triplet Beat it became the English Paldea Evolved, released on June 9, 2023 with 279 cards.

Clay Burst features the Fighting type Ting-Lu, one of the treasures of ruin from the Paldea region, while Snow Hazard features the Water type Chien-Pao. The two sets split the type chart between them: Clay Burst has no Water or Metal Pokémon, and Snow Hazard has no Fire or Lightning Pokémon. Clay Burst holds 6 Pokémon ex in Forretress ex, Chi-Yu ex, Bellibolt ex, Tinkaton ex, Ting-Lu ex and Noivern ex, with Forretress ex as its Tera Pokémon ex.

The secret rares from 72 to 99 hold the illustration rares, the full art Pokémon ex and Supporters, the special illustration rares of Chi-Yu ex 92, Tinkaton ex 93, Ting-Lu ex 94, Saguaro 95 and Iono 96 and the gold cards, closing with a gold Ting-Lu ex 97, Superior Energy Retrieval 98 and Basic Grass Energy 99.

What makes Clay Burst different

• The Iono special illustration rare Iono 96 is the most valuable card in the set by a wide margin, far ahead of the special illustration rare Chi-Yu ex 92 and Tinkaton ex 93, and its English print in Paldea Evolved became the best known Supporter card of the era.
• Half of a dual set Clay Burst released the same day as Snow Hazard, and the two sets share a number of cards and the treasures of ruin theme, with Ting-Lu ex on the Clay Burst side and Chien-Pao ex on the Snow Hazard side.
• No Water, no Metal Clay Burst has no Water or Metal Pokémon at all, with Fighting and Psychic the deepest types, a mirror of Snow Hazard, which left out Fire and Lightning.
• Ting-Lu in four prints Ting-Lu ex appears as the regular 49, the full art 88, the special illustration rare 94 and the gold 97, four prints of the Fighting type treasure of ruin the set is built around.
• Art rares on top The Maushold 81, Raichu 74, Tyranitar 79, Heracross 72 and Flamigo 82 illustration rares rank among the set's top fifteen cards, and Maushold 81 sits fourth in the whole set.

How Clay Burst arrived

Clay Burst and Snow Hazard released in Japan on April 14, 2023, five weeks after the Triplet Beat subset on March 10, 2023 and nine weeks before Pokémon Card 151 on June 16, 2023. They followed the Scarlet ex and Violet ex pair that opened the era and preceded Ruler of the Black Flame. Localized editions followed on April 28, 2023, June 2, 2023, June 14, 2023 and June 30, 2023.

The English Paldea Evolved released on June 9, 2023 and combined Triplet Beat, Snow Hazard and Clay Burst with cards from the ex Starter Set Pikachu ex & Pawmot and the Premium Trainer Box ex, so English collectors know Iono, Ting-Lu ex and Tinkaton ex from that set.

Illustration rares returned in the dual set after their introduction in the previous expansion, and the Clay Burst run of Heracross, Raichu, Tyranitar, Maushold and Flamigo is among the most collected of the era.

Clay Burst products

Clay Burst was sold in booster packs and booster boxes, separately from Snow Hazard. The sealed table above tracks both.

Collecting and grading Clay Burst

The special illustration rare Iono 96 leads the set by a wide margin, with the special illustration rare Chi-Yu ex 92 and Tinkaton ex 93 behind it, then the Maushold 81 and Raichu 74 illustration rares, the full art Iono 91, the Tyranitar 79 illustration rare, the special illustration rare Saguaro 95, the Wigglytuff 27 and Ceruledge 31 rares and Pikachu 17. The full art Bellibolt ex 86 and the Heracross 72 and Flamigo 82 illustration rares complete the top fifteen. The live chase list above ranks every tracked card by PSA 10 value.

Japanese print quality keeps PSA 10 rates high, so graded premiums are modest across most of the set and concentrate on Iono 96. The regular rares Wigglytuff 27, Ceruledge 31 and Pikachu 17 are the exceptions, with PSA 10 values many times their raw prices.

Sealed Clay Burst remains available, and the sealed table above tracks what boxes and packs trade for today.