Shadowverse: Evolve’s combined sets: Eightfold Retribution

By CardSpicy Founder · October 7, 2026

Quick answer

CardSpicy tracks what a publisher has actually put a date on, and Shadowverse: Evolve has two dated products in the current English schedule. A “combined set” called Eightfold Retribution and Omens and Heirs released on 25 September 2026, and a second combined set, Academy Royale and Dusk of Calamity, releases on 20 November 2026. Both are built by merging two Japanese releases into one English product, which is the structural idea worth understanding before buying either.

Neither of the two is an ordinary booster, in the sense that matters most to a buyer: both carry a published floor on how good the worst pack in a box can be.

What a “combined set” is, and why the game has them

Shadowverse: Evolve is published by Bushiroad and runs a Japanese edition and an English one. Historically the English edition trailed the Japanese one, which meant players of the two editions were playing with different card pools at any given moment. A combined set is Bushiroad’s answer to that: instead of releasing two Japanese sets separately, the English edition releases them as a single larger product, and the gap between the two editions narrows.

Bushiroad states the aim on its own product pages. The combined sets exist to shorten the gap between the Japanese and English releases ahead of a combined world finals event planned for 2027, and Bushiroad notes that appearance rates are adjusted in combined sets to account for the larger number of card types. That last point is the one a buyer should hold on to, because it is a rare case of a publisher being explicit that the odds inside a box are tuned to the size of the set rather than left to fall where they may.

The practical effect is that a combined set is a bigger product than a normal booster, and its card list is longer than either of the two sets it came from would have been alone. Anyone deciding how much storage a set will need should plan around the combined figure rather than either half of it.

The two dated combined sets

Both are sold as eight cards per pack and twelve packs per box, which is the configuration the game uses for its combined sets. The base rarity ladder is the same in shape in both: a large Bronze tier, a smaller Silver tier, a slightly smaller Gold tier, and a Legendary tier that is larger than either Silver or Gold. That last detail is unusual enough to be worth naming. In most card games the top of the base ladder is the smallest tier; here Legendary is 57 types in a 369-card set, which is closer to a sixth of the checklist than to a chase tier.

What a box is guaranteed to hold

Both combined sets carry the same two published guarantees, and they are the part of the product that a buyer can actually plan around.

• Every pack contains at least one Gold card or better.
• Every box contains at least one Super Legendary card or better.

A floor guarantee of that kind is not the same as a fixed pull rate, and the distinction matters. It tells a buyer that a bad box cannot be empty of the upper tiers, but it does not tell them how many of the upper tiers a box holds, and it says nothing about which cards they will be. Our page on whether to open a box or keep it sealed goes through how to weigh a guarantee like that against the price of the sealed product.

The upper tiers, and what the labels mean

Above the base ladder, both sets carry a group Bushiroad lists separately as special foils. The composition differs between the two, which is the clearest sign that the two products are not simply the same thing twice.

The Academy Royale set introduces the Super Special tier, which the earlier set does not list, and Bushiroad describes it as used for cast-signed cards. The set carries a mini crossover with Umamusume: Pretty Derby, and the signed Super Special cards in question are cast signatures on Haru Urara and Oguri Cap. A signed top-tier card sitting inside a mini crossover rather than as its own product is the detail that will decide how the two sets are collected, because a signature that exists only inside a combined set is a signature a completionist has to buy boxes for rather than singles of.

Both sets also carry reprint cards, and Bushiroad lists 31 reprints for each. Academy Royale adds seven Super Legendary reprints, being reprints of existing cards at the top tier. A reprint is not a new card and should not be counted as one, which is why the “369 cards” and “379 cards” figures above describe the checklist a set defines rather than the number of cards a collector will consider new.

The rest of the dated Shadowverse: Evolve line

The combined sets are not the only dated products on the schedule. The game also runs crossover sets built on a single outside franchise, and Bushiroad has dated a Granblue Fantasy crossover set, and lists a Princess Connect! Re: Dive crossover and a premium card set, Summer Edition Vol. 1, among recent and current products.

The pattern across those four types is worth naming, because it is how this game structures a year. Combined sets carry the main playable pool forward. Crossover sets and premium card sets are smaller products aimed at a specific franchise or at collectors, and they do not reset the main pool. A player who wants to stay current buys the combined sets; a collector following one franchise can buy the crossover set for it and skip the rest.

One more detail ties the products together. Both combined sets include a box topper serial code for Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond, the companion digital product, redeemable for an in-game sleeve set and emblem. That is a physical-to-digital link rather than a card, and it is the kind of inclusion that should not be counted toward a card count when comparing boxes.

What this page does not claim

Four limits, stated plainly.

• The dates and counts are Bushiroad’s English listings. They are the facts published on the game’s own English product pages. The Japanese edition follows its own schedule, and the whole point of a combined set is that the two editions differ.
• A guarantee is not a pull rate. “Every box contains at least one Super Legendary card or better” is a floor, not a rate. Nothing here should be read as a statement about the odds of pulling any specific card.
• Card lists are not reproduced. Bushiroad publishes totals, rarity splits, reprint counts and named cards. It has not published a full checklist for either set here, and nothing on this page should be read as a list of the cards inside.
• No valuation. CardSpicy makes no valuation or investment recommendation about any card or sealed product, and describes the rarity structure as a feature of the products rather than a forecast of value.

If a card from either set is a candidate for grading, our grading page covers when that pays. If the plan is to store sealed or opened product, the card protection guide and penny sleeve versus toploader pages cover the two choices that come first, and sleeve sizes settles the question of fit.

Frequently asked questions

When do the Shadowverse: Evolve combined sets release?

Eightfold Retribution and Omens and Heirs released on 25 September 2026, and Academy Royale and Dusk of Calamity releases on 20 November 2026. Both are Bushiroad’s English combined sets.

What is a combined set in Shadowverse: Evolve?

It is a single English product that merges two Japanese releases. Bushiroad states that combined sets exist to shorten the gap between the Japanese and English editions ahead of a combined world finals event planned for 2027, and that appearance rates are adjusted to account for the larger number of card types.

How many cards are in each combined set?

Eightfold Retribution and Omens and Heirs defines 379 cards, split as Bronze 72, Silver 55, Gold 56 and Legendary 57. Academy Royale and Dusk of Calamity defines 369 cards, split as Bronze 72, Silver 53, Gold 52 and Legendary 57.

Is there a guaranteed rare in every pack?

Bushiroad states that every pack contains at least one Gold card or better, and that every box contains at least one Super Legendary card or better. That is a guaranteed floor rather than a published pull rate.

What is the Umamusume crossover in Academy Royale and Dusk of Calamity?

It is a mini crossover inside the set, with cast-signed Super Special cards for Haru Urara and Oguri Cap, and Umamusume reprint cards included alongside the set’s own reprints.

Sources

Sources and scope

1. Bushiroad’s official Shadowverse: Evolve product page for the Combined Set Eightfold Retribution and Omens and Heirs, used for the release date of 25 September 2026, the 379 total cards split as Bronze 72, Silver 55, Gold 56 and Legendary 57, the 91 foiled Bronze, Silver and Gold versions, the 76 special foils split as Super Legendary 59, Ultimate 15 and Special 2, the 26 token cards, the six new leaders, the 31 reprints, the eight cards per pack and twelve packs per box, the guaranteed Gold-or-better per pack and Super-Legendary-or-better per box, the carton topper playmat and the Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond box topper serial code.
2. Bushiroad’s official Shadowverse: Evolve product page for the Combined Set Academy Royale and Dusk of Calamity, used for the release date of 20 November 2026, the 369 total cards split as Bronze 72, Silver 53, Gold 52 and Legendary 57, the 76 special foils split as Super Legendary 57, Ultimate 14, Special 3 and Super Special 2, the 31 reprints and 7 Super Legendary reprints, the 21 token cards, the eight cards per pack and twelve packs per box, the guaranteed Gold-or-better per pack and Super-Legendary-or-better per box, the Umamusume: Pretty Derby mini crossover with cast-signed Super Special cards for Haru Urara and Oguri Cap, the named Special-rarity cards and the box topper serial code.
3. Bushiroad’s official Shadowverse: Evolve news and product pages, used for the combined-set rationale of shortening the gap between the Japanese and English editions toward a combined world finals event planned for 2027, the adjustment of appearance rates in combined sets, the 2026 release tournament listings, the Granblue Fantasy crossover set and the Premium Card Set Summer Edition Vol. 1.
4. Our own pages on grading, card protection, card sleeve sizes, storage boxes, binders and frames, penny sleeves and toploaders, protecting cards with sleeves and opening a box or keeping it sealed, used for the internal links.
5. Scope note: only details published by Bushiroad on its English product pages are stated as confirmed. Full card lists are not reproduced, and guaranteed minimums are not presented as pull rates. CardSpicy makes no valuation or investment recommendation.

Release dates, product contents and prices are set by the publisher and can change. Check Bushiroad’s own product page before ordering, and check the listing for your own region.

Related reading

• Is it worth grading a card
• Open a booster box or keep it sealed
• The card protection guide
• Card sleeve sizes, explained
• Card storage boxes, explained
• Binders, boxes and frames compared
• Penny sleeve versus toploader
• How to protect your trading cards with sleeves
• Card accessories
• The card market report, October 2026
• The card collecting glossary
• The Collector’s Library

Where to go next

• The CardSpicy card index — every card we track, with its PSA 10 population and market history (195 cards).
• The illustrator index — every artist behind those cards, card by card (110 artists).