Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet - Journey Together is the latest set to release for the card game, with a major theme being on the Pokémon of popular trainers like Lillie from Sun and Moon or N from Black and White. As usual for Pokémon TCG sets, Journey Together is launching with an Elite Trainer Box and more. Four new Build & Battle Boxes are also available as the usual pre-release items.

Each of the four Build & Battle boxes for the Journey Together set contains one of four pre-release promo cards. They have a ready-to-play deck, perfect for opening and trying out at a local hobby store, and it all comes inside a pretty solid deck box to keep these - or other - cards in. Unlike the Elite Trainer Boxes, which are more for collecting in mind, Build & Battle boxes are designed to allow fans to start deck-building and playing right away.

What's In The Build & Battle Box For Journey Together

Ready-To-Play Deck, Booster Packs, & More

The promo card that comes with the Journey Together Build & Battle boxes vary, but the ones you have a chance to get this time around are Lillie's Ribombee, N's Darmanitan, Iono's Kilowatrrel, and Hop's Snorlax. Everything comes inside a deck box, which is wrapped in a sleeve. There's a full, ready-to-play deck along with a card of Trainer Tips, and 4 booster packs. The full list of contents is:

• 40-card ready-to-play deck
• 1 of 4 promo cards
• 1 Trainer Tips card
• 1 code card for Pokémon TCG Live
• 1 set of instructions with a card list and battle tips
• 4 booster packs of randomized cards

For this review, I received the Build & Battle box with N on the cover, and my promo card was Lillie's Ribombee. The deck itself was listed as Level 2 (out of 3) and had a focus on Hop's Corviknight evolutionary line. It also included two Accelgor cards, which was highlighted on the Trainer Tips card, and has the ability to Confuse and Poison its opponent while causing 70 damage (and then is switched out with a Benched Pokémon).

How Journey Together's Build & Battle Box Compares To Previous Ones

A Solid 40-Card Deck, But Not For Brand New Players

The deck itself was pretty enjoyable to try out. Assuming you don't build in any cards from the booster packs, you'll mostly be relying on evolving Hop's Rookidee line and evolving Shelmet while collecting Energies before being able to cause any decent damage. Several of the er and Item cards require you to make discards in order to use, but the trade-off is fair. The Luminous Energy card is also helpful when trying to balance Energy distribution.

Compared to previous Build & Battle boxes, Journey Together's is pretty solid. None of the promo cards really jumped out at me this time - my only real disappointment. It's common for these to be at Level 2 since the Pokémon TCG started this ranking, but it should still work well for anyone with a casual knowledge of the game. Still, it's not the easiest beginner-friendly deck around.

I let my kids play this deck as well, and the 9-year-old (who's been playing for a couple of years now) had no major issues with figuring it out. For those brand new to the TCG, the reliance on needing multiple Energies to reasonably win (and the complexity of some of the cards) may make this deck a bit tricky. I've used easier decks and I've used more difficult ones, so the Level 2 rank seems accurate and fair.

Card Highlights From Journey Together Booster Packs

Some For Collecting, A Few That Work Well In The Deck

In of pulls, I didn't have much luck. The rarest card I pulled was a regular Reshiram ex, which didn't exactly fit well into the deck the Build & Battle box supplied (but was nice for collection purposes). The Hop's Wooloo and Hop's Dubwool cards I pulled worked well enough with this deck, but did make Energy distribution a bit dicey.

The best cards I pulled were Caterpie, Metapod, and Butterfree - because of the Grass Energies already here and the fact that Butterfree's "Scale Hurricane" only costs 1 Energy but can cause up to 240 damage (if your coin flips are good enough) and can also Paralyze its opponents. Honestly, though, the deck works fine as is, and after a while, my kids and I reverted to just using the deck the way it was provided.

Journey Together Build & Battle Box Final Thoughts

A Nice Addition To The Collection, & A Pretty Fun Deck To Play

For $19.99, a Build & Battle Box can be a great way to start playing with a new set of cards right out the gate. The deck for Journey Together is enjoyable, and the promo card and booster packs alone may make it worth the price of ission for collectors. I'm not wholly convinced beginners will be able to use the deck right away, but anyone ingly familiar with the TCG should have fun.

The Build & Battle deck and cards from Journey Together make it a great addition to the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

The Trainer Tips card, along with the fold-out instructions of Building Tips, offer a nice guide for how to play, so if you're on the fence about trying it out, these will certainly help you. While the promo cards this time around were a bit middling, the Build & Battle deck and cards from Journey Together make it a great addition to the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

A copy of the Build & Battle Box for Journey Together was provided to ScreenRant for the purpose of this review.