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Pokémon TCG Japan's Star Birth Preview: Rainbow Rare

Published Sat, 22 Jan 2022 17:12:11 -0600

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.

Star Birth Rainbow Rares. Credit: Pokémon TCG — Star Birth Rainbow Rares. Credit: *Pokémon TCG*

Many collectors theorized that we had seen the end of Rainbow Rares in the Pokémon TCG starting with the 2022 sets. It made sense as a theory because while we are still in the Sword & Shield era, we are ending a distinctly different phase of this era. The focus has shifted entirely away from the Galar region introduced in Sword & Shield in favor of cards inspired by the Sinnoh region in an effort to tie into the Generation Four remakes (Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl) and the upcoming RPG Pokémon Legends: Arceus that introduces the Hisui region as an ancient version of Sinnoh. However, Rainbow Rares didn't end up going away. Instead, we saw the previous card style of VMAX Rainbow Rares replaced with VSTAR Rainbow Rares. In Star Birth, the first set to feature this card style, we will receive four, including:

Shaymin VSTAR Rainbow Rare
Whimsicott VSTAR Rainbow Rare
Charizard VSTAR Rainbow Rare – This is a major chase card, with the Charizard V Alt Art the only other hit that may be more valuable when the set evens out
Arceus VSTAR Rainbow Rare

This style of card is considered a Secret Rare both in the Japanese version of this set as well as the eventual English-language adaptation. 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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