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

Pokémon TCG Japan: Clay Burst Preview: Heracross Illustration

Pokémon TCG Japan has released Clay Burst in Japan, which features a Heracross Illustration Rare with the Johto speices never looking cuter.

The next two sets of the Scarlet & Violet era are arriving on April 14th in Japan. The two sets, Snow Hazard and Clay Burst, will largely focus on the Treasures of Ruin Legendary group from the region of Paldea introduced in Scarlet & Violet. In this expansion, all four Treasures of Ruin (Chien-Pao, Ting-Lu, Chi-Yu, and Wo-Chien) will receive Pokémon ex. This set follows Pokémon TCG Japan's Scarlet ex and Violet ex and the subset Triplet Beat which were released in early 2023, kicking off the new Paldea-themed series block that will presumably run for the next three years. Snow Hazard and Clay Burst will merge with Triplet Beat as the basis for Scarlet & Violet – Paldea Evolved, the second English-language expansion set of the Generation Nine era, which will release on June 30, 2023. The Pokémon ex mechanic, the main mechanic of this new era, continues in Snow Hazard and Clay Burst, as does the layout of the Secret Rare section, which includes Illustration Rares, Special Illustration Rares, Full Art ex, Full Art Trainers, Special Illustration Rare Trainers, and Gold cards.  Today, let's take a look at another Illustration Rare revealed for Clay Burst featuring Heracross.

Has Heracross ever looked cuter? If you saw a giant, anthropomorphic beetle on the side of the road as we see here, it would probably be scary… until you saw that little smile. Artist Kurata So illustrates this with a beautiful, pastoral vibe. Kurata So made their Pokémon TCG debut in Crown Zenith and the Galarian Gallery subset. This seems to be the start of an ongoing partnership between So and TPCI, as they have been credited in every set since then. This includes Scarlet & Violet as well as the three sets that will make up the English-language Scarlet & Violet – Paldea Evolved, including Triplet Beat, Snow Hazard, and Clay Burst.

Japanese sets often give us early ideas of what the English-language sets may include, so be sure to keep an eye on our coverage. You can stay tuned for previews of Scarlet & Violet cards as well as updates on everything Pokémon TCG right here at Bleeding Cool.

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