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Pokémon TCG Pull Rate Quest: Astral Radiance Part Five

Too often, Pokémon TCG influencers will rush to make a sweeping statement about a new set's pull rates. It's going to be interesting to see how the latest set, Sword & Shield – Astral Radiance, is seen because it has a special Trainer Gallery subset consisting of Character Cards, Character Super Rares, Full Art Trainers, and Black and Gold VMAXes that can be pulled in the Reverse Holo slot along with the new card type Radiant Pokémon. This increases the number of pulls that one can expect to get in a Sword & Shield – Astral Radiance opening. In the interest of dispelling the idea that we can establish pull rates so early in a set's existence, I'm here with Pull Rate Quest, a series at Bleeding Cool where I open Pokémon TCG sets to show that you win some… and you lose some. I love the idea that openings like this can help show people what to expect in a set, but remember… a lot of it comes down to the luck of the draw. Let's open a booster box of Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars and see what we can get in this installment of Pull Rate Quest.

Pokémon TCG Astral Radiance cards. Credit: Theo Dwyer
Pokémon TCG Astral Radiance cards. Credit: Theo Dwyer

Here are my pulls from this Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield – Astral Radiance booster box:

  • Regular holos: 5
  • Radiant Pokémon: 1
  • Pokémon-V: 4
  • VMAX: 0
  • VSTAR: 1
  • Full Art V: 0
  • Alternate Art V: 0
  • Full Art Trainer: 1
  • Rainbow Rare VSTAR or VMAX: 1
  • Rainbow Rare Trainer: 0
  • Gold VSTAR: 0
  • Gold Trainer Item or Stadium: 0
  • Trainer Gallery – Character Rare: 3
  • Trainer Gallery – Character Super Rare: 1
  • Trainer Gallery – Full Art Trainer: 0
  • Trainer Gallery – Black & Gold VMAX: 0

Which means…

  • OVERALL PULLS ABOVE HOLO-RARE: 12

This is another relatively light box of Sword & Shield – Astral Radiance. I was happy to get a Full Art Trainer and a Rainbow Rare VSTAR, but the number of Vs and VSTARs in general was lower than most of the other boxes I opened. The Trainer Gallery offered the Calyrex Character Super Rare and I did get that Radiant pull. Overall, this is a box that needed those Reverse Holo-slot hits in order to be sufficient. I'll certainly miss the Trainer Gallery when it goes away, as it essentially prevents us from being able to get a completely bad box!


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Theo DwyerAbout Theo Dwyer

Theo Dwyer writes about comics, film, and games.
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