Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: Brilliant Stars, Evolving Skies, pokemon, pokemon cards, Pokemon TCG

Pokémon TCG 2022 End-Of-Year List: Top Sword & Shield-Era Sets

With both the year 2022 and the current Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield era coming to an end, let's compare the main series expansions from this block to come up with a definitive ranking. We invite all Bleeding Cool collectors and players alike of the Pokémon TCG to leave their own personal rankings in the comments below. Let's get into it.

1. Sword & Shield – Evolving Skies

Could it have been anything else? Evolving Skies is not only the best set of this era but is in the argument for best set of all time. With a slew of Alternate Arts featuring Eeveelutions and dragons, this set has multiple chase cards that are worth the value of some other entire card lists in the below sets, and that is not an exaggeration. Standouts are the Umbreon VMAX Alt Art, Rayquaza VMAX Alt Art, Sylveon VMAX Alt Art, Glaceon VMAX Alt Art, Leafeon VMAX Alt Art, and the list goes on and on and on. It doesn't get more collectible and iconic than Evolving Skies.

2. Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars

This was the first set of 2022 and the first to include a 30-card Trainer Gallery subset. The addition of this subset enriched the last four sets of this era, with Pokémon TCG collectors now able to pull a collection of Character Rares, Character Super Rares, Full Art Trainers, and Black & Gold VMAXes in the reverse holo slot. Brilliant Stars was also still firing on all cylinders with the Alternate Arts with standouts including Charizard V Alt Art and Arceus V Alt Art.

3. Sword & Shield – Chilling Reign

This set came with an icy theme and a focus on the Galarian Birds, delivering a huge number of strong Alternate Arts that showed just how beautiful this card type could be. This was the set where Pokémon TCG collectors saw the true scope of what was happening with this new card type. Standouts are the Galarian Bird Alt Arts and Blaziken VMAX Alt Art.

4. Sword & Shield – Lost Origin

With a Giratina-themed main set and a Pikachu-themed Trainer Gallery, this set delivered strong themes and gorgeous art. Standout cards include the Giratina V Alt Art and four Pikachu cards from the Trainer Gallery.

5. Sword & Shield – Silver Tempest

The final set of the Sword & Shield era echoed the Neo era with Lugia and Unown cards while also continuing to deliver in the Trainer Gallery hits. Standout cards include Lugia V Alt Art, Serena Full Art, and Rayquaza VMAX Character Super Rare.

6. Sword & Shield – Vivid Voltage

This set came out just as the hype surrounding Pokémon TCG began to hit a fever pitch, with the Pikachu VMAX Rainbow Rare becoming the first iconic chase card of the era from a main set. This set has since fallen in value but it remains the best example of what the Sword & Shield era was doing right before Alt Arts returned. Standout cards include the Pikachu V Full Art and Pikachu VMAX Rainbow Rare.

7. Sword & Shield – Battle Styles

A criminally underrated set. Battle Styles reintroduced Alternate Arts, setting a new standard for artwork in this era. Standout cards include Tyranitar V Alt Art and the various Urshifu Alt Arts.

8. Sword & Shield – Fusion Strike

Fusion Strike is a Mew-themed set with major hits that only ranks a bit lower here due to its bungling of the Mew VMAX Alternate Art which ended up looking too much like a standard VMAX. As a set that didn't exactly have a sharp focus, this still had majorly memorable cards including the Espeon VMAX Alt Art and Gengar VMAX Alt Art.

9. Sword & Shield – Astral Radiance

This set, which includes a Trainer Gallery subset and Alternate Arts, ranking so low isn't damning of Astral Radiance but instead indicative of how strong the Sword & Shield era is. The focus on the ancient region of Hisui made this feel almost like a new era. Standouts include the Machamp V Alt Art and Origin Forme Dialga Alt Art.

10. Sword & Shield – Rebel Clash

Rebel Clash is largely seen as the worst set of the era but it's far from it. We got Ultra Rares for the starters, strong cards featuring Toxtricity and Dragapult, and solid Full Art Trainers.

11. Sword & Shield base

This isn't a bad set by any means, but aside from the Marine Full Art and the arrival of VMAX cards, it very much just set the stage for what we'd later see.

12. Sword & Shield – Darkness Ablaze

Far and away the weakest set of the era, this Charizard-themed expansion suffered due to the decision to use some of the cards that were in its Japanese-equivalent set to make up the Champion's Path special set. The English-language TCG , unfortunately, chose that direction instead of adapting Japan's Tag-Team GX All-Stars for its special set, which has had negative echoes throughout the hobby leaving major iconic cards unadapted and hurting both Darkness Ablaze and Champion's Path. The one plus side to this situation is that Darkness Ablaze remains the cheapest set of the era to complete due to its lack of any form of chase card.

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