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

Pokémon TCG Japan's Star Birth Preview: Honchkrow Alt Art

This week, the Pokémon TCG will release the next Japanese set, Star Birth, which kicks off 2022 with a Sinnoh focus. Star Birth will debut the VSTAR mechanic with cards featuring Charizard, Shaymin, Arceus, and Whimsicott. The set, the first major release of the year, will partly be the basis for the next English-language expansion, Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars which will be released in February 2022. We cover both English-language and Japanese-language releases here on Bleeding Cool, as the Japanese sets will give us a peek into the future of what is coming down the line for international releases. Today, let's take a look at two of the first Secret Rares we get to see from Star Birth: the Lumineon V Alternate Art and Roseanne's Back-up Full Art Trainer Supporter.

One of the few Alternate Arts we get in Star Birth focuses on Honchkrow. Now, when it came to the Lumineon Alternate Art, I was unabashedly happy to see a Pokémon that doesn't normally get a major focus take center stage in this new set. Now, that's not just because Lumineon is overlooked but because it was treated with a killer illustration. That is unfortunately not the case with Honchkrow's Alternate Art. I reserve the right to be blown away when I see this in person when I begin cracking packs of Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars, but neither the depiction of Honchkrow nor the background do much to win collectors over here. The Full Art captures way more personality, so I'm crossing my fingers to pull that one instead. I would've personally preferred to see a species like Shaymin get this Alternate Art slot but, if Honchkrow was the only way, it would've been nice to see the illustrator depict the Pokémon in an interesting way to elicit some kind of emotion the way that most Alts do. Alas!

Stay tuned for more Pokémon TCG news daily right here at Bleeding Cool! You can follow our Star Birth coverage using our official tag for the set and our Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars coverage using this tag for the set.

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