Japanese Pokémon Card Set Release Order: Scarlet & Violet Era (JP↔EN Map)

Summary

Japan's Pokémon TCG Scarlet & Violet era runs on the "SV" prefix, opening with Scarlet ex / Violet ex on January 20, 2023. Japan ships small, frequent sets — numbered main expansions (SV1–SV11) plus lettered subsets (SV1a–SV9a) — which the English game later regroups into larger releases. The table below maps each Japanese set to its English counterpart, with both release dates.

How Japan's set structure differs from English

The Japanese and English release schedules do not line up one-to-one. Japan publishes more sets, each smaller, and the English game bundles them. A typical English expansion combines one main Japanese expansion plus its associated subset(s) and starter decks; leftover cards that don't fit spill into the next English set.

Two structural quirks are worth knowing:

• Main vs. subset. A plain number (SV1, SV2, SV3…) marks a main expansion. A trailing letter (SV1a, SV2a…) marks a smaller "high-class" or special subset.
• Paired decks. Some main expansions release as two simultaneous half-sets — for example Snow Hazard (SV2P) and Clay Burst (SV2D), or Black Bolt (SV11B) and White Flare (SV11W).

This page covers set-to-set correspondence and dates only. Individual card values are out of scope here — those live on dedicated price trackers.

Japanese Scarlet & Violet set release order (JP → EN)

Listed in Japanese release order. "English set (≈)" is the English expansion whose cards are drawn primarily from that Japanese set; subsets marked "folded into" were distributed across the noted English set (and sometimes the next one).

Reading the map: worked examples

• One English set, several Japanese sources. English Paldea Evolved pulls from three Japanese sets — Triplet Beat, Snow Hazard, and Clay Burst — so the Japanese Triplet Beat has no standalone English release; its cards were localized inside Paldea Evolved (with leftovers appearing in later sets).
• Subset feeds a main English set. English Paradox Rift combines the Japanese Ancient Roar / Future Flash main expansion with the Raging Surf subset. Likewise Destined Rivals draws on the Hot Air Arena subset plus the Glory of Team Rocket expansion.
• Rare one-to-one matches. Occasionally a Japanese set maps cleanly to an English set of the same name, as with Black Bolt / White Flare (SV11B / SV11W), released in Japan on June 6, 2025 and in English on July 18, 2025.

Naming notes and caveats

Japanese set names are translations, so you'll see variants across databases. Common alternates: SV6 "Mask of Change" (also rendered "Transformation Mask"), SV9a "Hot Air Arena" (also "Hot Wind Arena"), and SV10 "Glory of Team Rocket" (also "Glory of the Rocket Gang"). The SV code is the reliable identifier.

Correspondence is approximate by design — because English sets regroup Japanese cards, a single Japanese set can supply cards to more than one English expansion. Treat the "English set (≈)" column as the primary destination, not an exact card-for-card equality. For the authoritative, continuously updated list, see Bulbapedia's Scarlet & Violet Era page linked below.