Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: Brilliant Stars, pokemon, pokemon cards, Pokemon TCG, Sword & Shield

Pokémon TCG Opening: Brilliant Stars Build & Battle Box

It is prerelease weekend for the upcoming Pokémon TCG set, Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars. Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars will be released on February 25th, at which point booster boxes, booster packs, Elite Trainer Boxes, and more will be available. This weekend, though, players and collectors alike could find Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars Build and Battle kits at their local tournament-official game stores. I was able to purchase two from my local hobby shop, Brothers Grim Games in Selden, NY. Let's take a look at what I got.

First, here's what you get when you purchase a Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars Build and Battle kit:

• Four packs of Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars in the kit
• A deck-building kit known as an "evolution pack" which includes one of four possible stamped holographic SWSH Black Star Promo and enough cards to battle using just the kit.
• The box, which functions as a deck box.

If you're lucky, your game store also offers bonus packs along with the kits. Brothers Grim gives participating players and collectors three additional packs of Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars, which really enriched this Pokémon TCG prerelease event for me, making the opening feel more substantial.

So, I was left with two prerelease promos and a total of fourteen packs. How did it go?

I got washed on the promos! I was bummed to see that I pulled two of the same promo card: Bibarel. I didn't go in with any specific goal except "It would be cool to hit Liepard, but it's all good as long as I get two different ones." Ah well! I did well enough in the packs that I couldn't be salty about the promo.

Now, here's where Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars continues to impress even more than a standard Pokémon TCG set. Take a look at these hits.

Those are from fourteen packs, and I'm not even in including holo rares or the Mimikyu V that I pulled. The standard set's offerings of the Charizard V, the Shaymin VSTAR, and the hilarious Kingler VMAX would have been a satisfying fourteen-pack experience during a prerelease event, but the Trainer Gallery dramatically improves the hits by popping up in that reverse holo slot. I was able to hit three Trainer Gallery cards total, including the Urshifu Character Super Rare, the Vaporeon Character Card, and an Ariados Character Card that isn't pictured.

Just because Pokémon TCG concludes the prerelease events this weekend doesn't mean that these boxes are gone forever. You'll be able to find these in all hobby shops after the proper release of the set.

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