The Pokemon Trading Card Game (TCG) has been experiencing a rather sudden resurgence in popularity over the course of the last year or so. Between the existing popularity of the beloved franchise, and the arrival of new nostalgia-inducing expansions, Pokemon cards have quickly become some of the toughest-to-find items.
While players can normally purchase Pokemon cards in various forms of bundles, the basic breakdown is as follows: booster packs, starter/theme decks, and collector’s sets. Generally speaking, each “expansion” of the Pokemon TCG will offer a new set of cards to collect, which can be obtained through some combination of the aforementioned means. “Shining Fates” will be the next expansion to arrive to the English-speaking Pokemon TCG world, releasing on February 19th, 2021.
Though fans won’t be able to find booster packs until February 19th, the Shining Fates set has already been released in the form of the Blastoise and Venusaur V “Battle Decks.” Starter/theme decks are often available from the very first day a new expansion releases, as they allow players to quickly enter battle with a pre-crafted deck consisting of mostly, if not all, cards from the new expansion.
Booster packs, while also available from release day, are random packs of ~10 cards from a particular expansion. In most cases, a booster pack is guaranteed to contain at least one reverse holographic card, and one “rare” card, with the possibility of more. Aside from booster packs and decks, The Pokemon Company also tends to release “special collections.” These generally consist of a combination of booster packs, promo card(s), and goodies like pins or playmats, and usually feature a particular Pokemon or set of Pokemon. All Pokemon TCG products also include a code that can be redeemed for a virtual equivalent on the game’s online platform.
In addition to the above, Shining Fates promises to be a memorable set because of the fact it won’t technically be a “standard” expansion. While it won’t be the long-awaited 25th Anniversary Set either, it will be something particularly noteworthy. Much like the wildly popular “Champion’s Path” expansion, which features Galar’s Gym Leaders and the Charizard VMAX Rainbow/Secret Rare card, Shining Fates will actually be considered a special expansion set. This means that Shining Fates booster packs will not be available for individual purchase – players will only be able to find Shining Fates packs in special collections.
A special expansion, like Champion’s Path or Shining Fates, normally has a particular focus. Champion’s Path spotlighted Galar’s Gym Leaders, for example, and Shining Fates will be highlighting the highly coveted alternate-color Pokemon known as “Shinies.” Special sets are also noteworthy in that players can’t simply buy booster packs individually. Special set booster packs can only be found in special collections, which include but are not limited to “tin boxes,” pin sets, over-sized card sets, and Elite Trainer Boxes.
Tin boxes are the classic metallic boxes, each featuring a particular Pokemon, which include several booster packs and a promo card of the particular Pokemon in question. Pin sets are those that include booster packs and a pin featuring a particular Pokemon or group of Pokemon (i.e. a recent “Small But Mighty” collection included an adorable Igglybuff, Cleffa, and Togepi pin/keychain). Over-sized card sets replace pins with a giant version of whichever special promo card they also happen to include.
Elite Trainer Boxes, on the other hand, are the creme de la creme of special collections, so to speak. These Elite collections generally sell for $40 and contain 8 booster packs, but special expansions’ Elite Trainer Boxes boast an impressive 10 packs, along with a promo card, for a slightly higher price of $50.
These boxes not only provide a stylish storage space for the newly opened Pokemon goods: they also include unique card sleeves, competitive play dice and damage counters, a bundle of Energy Cards, a rulebook, a player’s guide to the expansion, and special dividers for the box itself. The Shining Fates Elite Trainer Box will feature a unique Eevee VMAX foil promo card, which also serves as the inspiration for the set’s packaging design. The card sleeves and box itself will feature a black-on-gold Eevee VMAX design.
Fans can look out for the following Shining Fates products from February 19th:
- Shining Fates Tin Boxes (x 3) – Shiny Eldegoss, Boltund, and Cramorant V
- Shining Fates Pikachu V Collection
- Shining Fates Mad Party Pin Collection (x 4) – Bunnelby, Dedenne, Galarian Mr. Rime, Polteageist
- Shining Fates Premium Collections (x 2) – Shiny Crobat VMAX, Shiny Dragapult VMAX
- Shining Fates Elite Trainer Box
NOTE: “Pokemon V Forces” Tins featuring Galarian Slowbro, Lucario, and Mew V cards, are all releasing on February 19th as well. Each will include 4 booster packs. It’s unconfirmed whether any of the booster packs are Shining Fates packs, though.
Those familiar with the Pokemon TCG may also be reading through with some déjà vu. That’s simply because Shining Fates was actually directly inspired by the previous (incredibly popular) special expansions dubbed “Hidden Fates” and “Shining Legends.” Each of these expansions were known for featuring Shiny Pokemon in special holographic-alternative cards. That is, the sets have a special “Shiny Vault” of cards that can be found as a Shiny Pokemon variant. Rather than featuring significantly different artwork though, these cards are treated as a form of “holo,” and instead simply bear a unique backdrop and the Pokemon’s Shiny variant.
Knowing that, it’s no surprise that the definitely creatively-named Shining Fates expansion also features its own Shiny Vault. While the set will boast an impressive 190+ cards, its Shiny Vault will consist of over 100 Pokemon. To boot, the set will also feature more than 30 Pokemon V and VMAX variants, though only one single Secret Rare card: Alcremie VMAX.
Unfortunately, given the vast number of Pokemon species, the Shining Fates set barely even begins to cover the full gamut of known Pokemon. That being said, it does feature a fair amount of monsters that have yet to be included in many sets (Pokemon from the Galar region), and an impressive number of potential Shinies. Shiny Suicune, Dreepy, Dragapult, and Boltund, are but few of the Pokemon appearing in Shining Fates’ Shiny Vault.
Even though some of them will be available as promo cards, the vast majority will only be available by luck of the draw. So, Pokemon Trainers may want to start scoping out local game stores for all the hottest upcoming deals, considering they’ll need to invest in some special collections if they’re hoping to collect Shining Fates.
The Pokemon Shining Fates expansion releases on February 19th, 2021.
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