Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: Pikachu, pokemon, pokemon cards, Pokemon TCG, tpci

Pokémon TCG Reveals 2022 Illustration Contest Entries: Pikachu Part 1

Get ready for a new series here at Bleeding Cool that will show off some of the best Pokémon TCG artwork you've ever seen. There is an interesting twist, though. These illustrations are not, in fact, coming to an upcoming Pokémon TCG expansion like our other preview series. In fact, most of these will never become cards at all. What you're seeing in this series is a collection of the annual Pokémon TCG Illustration Contest submissions that have now been made public. These are my personal selections from the Top 300 submissions as picked by TPCI. Today, let's take a look at the Pikachu cards included in this bunch.

It takes guts to pick Pikachu as the focus of your submission considering this is the franchise mascot. REND follows through beautifully with a cute Pikachu wading through a sparkling stream, while UMiUSHi takes a trippy approach with an impressive perspective. This unique card with stunning colors has a sleeping Pikachu on a shed's roof while another Pika in the garden below looks for tools.

Asagi and Ono Emi both get the adorable vibe down perfectly for Pikachu with these unique cards. Each has such an interesting take, with the former using a muted color palette to show Pikachu peeking at you through a window while the latter is all sunshine and brightness as if we're seeing the same scene but moments later.

You know what hurts about these cards? That these aren't going to be guaranteed cards in a set! I'd truly collect them all. Tamakilum depicts an overwhelmingly happy Pikachu basking in the sun's rays while Mingo takes Pikachu on a journey through Lisa Frank's color palette for one of the most dynamic and unique images I've seen of the iconic Pokémon.

Finally, Aomatu Aika uses flat colors and unique lines to depict a cute, chubby-cheeked Pika in the kitchen while Akiwashi cleverly shows the gender differences in the tails of two realistically rendered Pikachu in this coupled-up piece.

Stay tuned for the continuing journey through these incredible submissions to the Pokémon TCG 2022 Illustration contest. For more illustrations, you can check out the entire collection right here.

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