Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: magikarp, Paldea Evolved, pokemon, pokemon cards

Cards Of Pokémon TCG: Paldea Evolved Part 42: Magikarp Chase Card

Who could have predicted that the Magikarp Illustration Rare from Pokémon TCG: Paldea Evolved would be one of the top cards of 2023?

With Sword & Shield officially concluded, the Scarlet & Violet era of the Pokémon TCG 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 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 and Special Illustration Rare exs, Full Art Trainers, Special Illustration Rare Trainers, and Gold Hyper Rares. On June 9, 2023, the Pokémon TCG released the second set of this era, Scarlet & Violet – Paldea Evolved, which focused on the Paldean Starters and the Treasures of Ruin Legendaries. In today's installment of this Scarlet & Violet – Paldea Evolved art spotlight, let's take a look at another Illustration Rare.

There are some artists with a style so distinctive that you can tell when they drew a card by a glance. This is, of course, true of creators who use mixed media, like Yuka Morii's photography and clay sculptures, but some traditional artists are so stylized that you can't help but recognize them even from afar. Such is the case with Shinji Kanda, who illustrates this memorable Magikarp Illustration Rare. Kandas work uses highly detailed, dark landscapes with light, thin, colorful linework. In theory, there are so many wild colors here that the card's illustration should clash, but with Kanda it always just works. When I first saw the Japanese version of the card, I predicted it would be a fan-favorite hit from this set, but even I didn't see it going as high as it did. As of this writing, it is the second most valuable card in the set behind the Iono Special Illustration Rare, and it sits at $57.26. That puts it above the value of the Tera Charizard ex Special Illustration Rare from Scarlet & Violet – Obsidian Flames.

Stay tuned for the journey through this special set as we continue to spotlight the cards and artwork of Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet – Paldea Evolved. 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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