The Pokemon Trading Card Game (TCG) has been experiencing an exciting resurgence lately, partially thanks to the rising popularity of internet celebrities like Logan Paul, who share an interest in the popular franchise. Apart from cards reprinted to look like classic favorites, some of the game’s newer booster expansions feature highly coveted Shiny Pokemon.
While some Pokemon TCG sets quietly feature Shiny Pokemon on rare “Full Art” cards like the popular Gyarados EX card, other sets like the hyper-popular Hidden Fates expansion boast a “Shiny Vault” of cards, which function as an alternate to standard holographic cards. The recently released Shining Fates expansion is one such set, and features over 100 different Pokemon in its Shiny Vault.
Released on February 19, 2021, Shining Fates is considered a “Special” expansion set to the Pokemon TCG. This means that its booster packs are not available for separate purchase, and instead, can only be obtained from special “collections” and the like. These collections include “Elite Trainer Boxes,” “pin sets,” “over-sized card sets,” tin boxes, and Premium Collections (which often include a promo card, pin, and other assortment of goodies). Needless to say, each of these sorts of special collections also includes booster packs of the relevant set.
Shining Fates, like the Hidden Fates set that inspired it, also offers players a shot at cards from a special Shiny Vault. The Shiny Vault essentially refers to a special pool of Pokemon cards (as opposed to Trainer or Energy cards) that boast a unique “Shiny” sparkle background, and feature the respective Pokemon’s Shiny variant – these are “Baby Shiny” cards. The cards are lightly embossed, and when they’re found, they take the place of a booster pack’s “reverse holo” card. Whereas “standard” Shiny Vault Shinies are considered Baby Shinies, Full Art Shinies are generally referred to as simply Shiny V/VMAX or EX/GX cards.
Each booster pack guarantees one rare Pokemon card, and one reverse holo card minimum, meaning that players can actually find both a reverse holo and standard holo from the same pack, as long as the rare card happens to be holographic as well. In the case of Shining Fates, this means that players can pull both a Shiny Vault card and another holo (or Full Art) card from the same booster pack.
This makes for a particularly exciting experience for many Pokemon fans. On top of the fact that Shiny Pokemon are getting featured in the trading card game, which rarely happens, players can look forward to a massive number of Shinies to collect. Over 90 Baby Shinies, and a sizable collection of Full Art Shiny Pokemon as well. Below are some of the highlights from Shining Fates’ Shiny Vault.
Shiny Ditto V and Shiny Ditto VMAX – These cards are particularly wonderful because they really get up close and personal with Ditto. Shiny Ditto itself takes up nearly the entirety of the card, as is preferred with precious Full Art cards. Its baby-blue shine not only looks great, but reminds players of its possible relative and Shiny lookalike, Mew. While Shiny Mew was not featured in Shining Fates, there is currently lovely Mew V card in circulation that’s also being featured as part of a new “V Powers” tin box. Perhaps Shiny Mew will be (re)appearing in the Pokemon TCG sometime soon.
Shiny Snom – Based on fanfare and general social media posting, Shiny Snom is easily one of the most popular Baby Shinies around. This adorable translucent ice-worm is already quite the hit among fans of the game, so its no surprise that its adorably simple Shiny card is also drawing praise from Pokemon Trainers. The card itself isn’t particularly stellar gameplay-wise, and the Frosmoth card in the set isn’t nearly as popular, but Shiny Snom is definitely a little superstar.
Shiny Yamper and Shiny Boltund – In this case, both stages of the Pokemon’s evolutionary line make the cut. Shiny Yamper features an iconic pink color scheme that only serves to highlight the giant heart found on its butt, for lack of a better description. This makes the goofy Corgi-like Pokemon all the more lovable, and fans are here for it. The powerful Electric-type Boltund, on the other hand, is Shiny Yamper’s sleek and stylish older sibling; it’s here to give players an electric cool Shiny and balance out the bubbly cuteness that Shiny Yamper brings to the table.
Shiny Eiscue – This one’s right up there with Shiny Yamper. Eiscue, a slim penguin with an ice cube for a head, is another Pokemon that’s already largely celebrated by fans. Not to mention, its Shiny variant bears a bright pink ice head that Pokemon Trainers also seem to appreciate. The Shining Fates Eiscue card features a simple cartoon-style Eiscue sassily opening its arms out towards the viewer, a pose made even more brilliant by the Shiny Vault’s signature sparkles, and Shiny Eiscue’s unique pink glow.
Shiny Suicune – Suicune is arguably one of the game’s most memorable non-central Legendary Pokemon. Its Shiny form is unfortunately a bit whelming in that it’s quite similar to the original, but Shiny Legendaries are Shiny Legendaries. That said, it’s difficult to appreciate how excellent the Shiny Suicune card is without acknowledging the missing Shiny Entei and Shiny Raikou cards to go with it. Not to mention Raikou got an Amazing Rare card in the recent Vivid Voltage set. This leaves Raikou with an Amazing Rare, Suicune with a Shiny card, and Entei with nothing notable recently. It also leaves players wanting a sweet Rainbow-background Suicune and Entei, and a sparkling Shiny Raikou and Entei card.
Shiny Charizard VMAX – Of course, few Pokemon “favorite” lists would be complete without mention of the the Pokemon Company’s own apparent favorite, Charizard. The inclusion of another Shiny Charizard card was more than welcomed by fans of the fiery dragon, and the card is admittedly quite nice. With Shining Fates’ Shiny Charizard VMAX card, players can now collect a standard Charizard V and VMAX, as well as a Rainbow Rare Charizard VMAX, and Shiny version of both cards to boot.
Shiny Koffing and Shiny Galarian Obstagoon – This duo deserves mentioning because of their inherently dazzling Shiny designs. Koffing and Obstagoon are two examples of Pokemon that received dynamically different Shiny designs. While Shiny Suicune is mostly appreciated for being a Legendary, Shiny Koffing and Obstagoon look drastically different from their original counterparts. Shiny Koffing’s noxious gas even takes a bright new shade of purple-pink, which is quite in line with Shiny Obstagoon’s own bubblegum-adjacent color palette. These two Shinies may not be considered the Shiny Vault’s crème de la crème, but they’re noteworthy nonetheless.
Full Art Trainer Cards – These are Honorable Mentions because, well, they’re not technically Shiny cards. That said, they are part of the Shining Fates set, and they feature some absolutely incredible designs, highlighting some of the game’s more recent fan-favorite characters. Shiny or note, a Full Art Ball Guy and Rose card, and a Poke Kid wearing an adorable Eevee onesie, are all unforgettable additions to the game.
Pokemon TCG Shining Fates products are now available for purchase from select retailers and local game stores. Shiny Crobat VMAX and Shiny Dragapult VMAX Premium Collections, alongside Shining Fates “Mini Tins,” will also be released on March 9, 2021.
facebook 查詢:
24 hours enquiry facebook channel :
https://www.facebook.com/itteacheritfreelance/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
Leave a Reply