Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: Paldea, pokemon, pokemon cards, Pokemon TCG, Scarlet & Violet

Cards Of Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet Part 59: Special Illustrations

Our series spotlighting the illustrators and artwork of Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet moves to the Special Illustration Rare cards.

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 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. 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. In today's installment of this Scarlet & Violet base set spotlight, we move to Special Illustration Rares.

Special Illustration Rares were introduced in Crown Zenith before they were officially named. They were initially thought to simply be the same card style as Alternate Arts. However, there are now special features of this specific card type during the Scarlet & Violet era that makes them distinct from Alts, even thought they can indeed be considered a spiritual successor. Here are the features of Special Illustration Rares:

• Like Alt Arts, these feature a unique illustration over textured foil that breaks from the house style of Full Arts
• Like Alt Arts, Special Illustration Rare Pokémon are indeed assigned to a mechanic. In the case of this era, they were assigned to ex cards, while Alts were assigned to V and VMAX cards. This differentiates Special Illustration Rares from standard Illustration Rares, the latter of which are not assigned to any mechanic.
• Unlike Alt Arts, both Pokémon and Trainers can be featured on Special Illustration Rares
• Special Illustration Rares, like standard Illustration Rares, seek to show Pokémon "in their environment"
• When a line of Illustration Rares culminates in a Special Illustration Rare showing a single evolutionary family (as seen in the Ralts line, which results in the above Gardevoir ex Special Illustration Rare), a single artist illustrates all species in that line.

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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