Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: gardevoir, pokemon, pokemon cards, Scarlet & Violet
Our ongoing Pokémon TCG spotlight on the artwork of Scarlet & Violet continues with the Top Five cards of the first Paldea-focused set.
The Scarlet & Violet era of the Pokémon TCG has begun. With Sword & Shield officially concluded, the Scarlet & Violet era kicked off in March 2023 with a focus on the ninth generation of Pokémon games and the new region: Paldea. It all began with the Scarlet & Violet base set, which was officially released in the United States on March 31st, 2023. This set introduced major, lasting changes to the hobby. Now, the borders of the cards have become silver, matching the Japanese releases. Another major change is that now each pack culminates in at least a holo-rare and two reverse holos. The major mechanic of this era is the lowercase ex, which features a double holographic pattern of a horizontal shine and a starry sparkle. Full Art exs now use a green, foil outline around the Pokémon. The Secret Rare section of expansions going forward features Full Arts, Illustration Rares, Special Illustration Rare exs, Full Art Trainers, Special Illustration Rare Trainers, and Gold Hyper Rares. In today’s installment of this Scarlet & Violet base set spotlight, let’s take a look at the top five cards of the set.
- 5 – Tera Arcanine ex Full Art & Tera Gyarados ex Full Art: Scarlet & Violet introduced a new style of Full Arts for Tera Pokémon with a silvery background and color themed to Tera types.
- 4 – Slowpoke Illustration Rare: Slowpoke was one of the first-ever Illustration Rares revealed of the Scarlet & Violet era when artwork began posting for the Japanese version of this set, and man, does it make me appreciate the fact that we are in an artist renaissance for the Pokémon TCG. This hilarious Slowpoke, which gives “Oh lord, he comin'” vibes, is illustrated by Toshinao Aoki, who has been contributing to the TCG as far back as the Neo era. Aoki is responsible for iconic cards such as Ampharos holo from Neo Revelation and the Special Delivery Dragonite gave out during the movies. After a hiatus of many years, Aoki returned with the Unown V Alternate Art from Sword & Shield – Paradigm Trigger. It’s so nice to see Toshinao Aoki back!
- 3 – Greavard Illustration Rare: This new Paldean Pokémon is beautifully drawn in this unique style which looks like a mixture of an oil painting and the vibrancy of Lisa Frank by artist sowsow who has been contributing since Sun & Moon – Forbidden Light. Some of the most memorable sowsow cards include two iconic chase cards, Espeon V Alternate Art from Sword & Shield – Evolving Skies and Gengar VMAX Alternate Art from Sword & Shield – Fusion Strike.
- 2 – Penny Special Illustration Rare Trainer Supporter: Penny is one of the new breakout characters, so it does surprise me that this card isn’t more valuable in the secondary market. I thought it would’ve been even more of a chase than the Miriam Special Illustration Rare, but Miriam takes the crown. On this card, the mysterious Penny is illustrated here in a warm, sunlit academic setting by OKACHEKE. OKACHEKE has been contributing to the Pokémon TCG since Sword & Shield – Chilling Reign. Some of their more memorable cards include Ice Rider Calyrex Alt Art from Sword & Shield – Chilling Reign, Alcremie Character Rare from Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars, and Flareon VMAX Alt Art, which showed up as a SWSH Promo in December 2021.
- 1 – Gardevoir ex Special Illustration Rare: Artist Jiro Sasuma illustrates the entire Ralts line of Illustration Rares, which shows the Pokémon evolve over time with its family. We previously showed the line, which culminates in this Gardevoir Special Illustration Rare. I love how the concepts behind Illustration Rares of “show the Pokémon in its environment” plays that loosely, with a common environment being the Trainer’s home. This is one of the more sought-after cards of the set.
Stay tuned for the journey through this special set as we continue to spotlight the cards and artwork of Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet. Next time, the spotlight continues with the Secret Rare section of the set. You can read more about this iconic trading card game right here at Bleeding Cool.
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