Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: Astral Radiance, pokemon, Pokemon TCG, Space Juggler, Time Gazer
Pokémon TCG Time Gazer & Space Juggler Preview: Hisuian Growlithe
The next two Pokémon TCG coming to Japan have been revealed. Time Gazer and Space Juggler will be released at the same time. They focus on the Origin Formes of Sinnoh Legendaries Palkia and Dialga which were revealed in the Nintendo Switch game Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Time Gazer and Space Juggler will continue the VSTAR mechanic introduced this year and will likely feature Full Arts, Rainbow Rares, Gold VSTARs, and more in the set. These two sets, along with the February 2022 special expansion Battle Region, are surely going to be the basis of the next English-language set, Sword & Shield – Astral Radiance, coming in May 2022. Today, let's take a look at the set's cards featuring a pair of new species introduced in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus introduced the Hisui region, which is the ancient historical Sinnoh region. Along with this new region, we have gotten new regional variant species and evolutions for Pokémon. Among them is Hisuian Growlithe and Hisuian Arcanine. Hisuian Growlithe is the cutie here as illustrated by Akira Komayama, which makes this new version of the Kanto classic look more like a dog waiting to play than ever before. Then, we have the badass design of Hisuian Arcanine on a card illustrated by Kagemaru Himeno. Himeno has contributed artwork to the Pokémon TCG for many years now, and many of those illustrations have become iconic, but I'll admit that this one misses the mark for me. The style ends up looking a bit too paper doll-esque, especially with the way it doesn't jibe with its realistic background. Hopefully, we end up getting a more visually impactful Hisuian Arcanine down the line.
Japanese sets often give us early ideas of what the English-language sets may include, so be sure to keep an eye on our coverage. You can stay tuned for previews of Time Gazer and Space Juggler cards as well as updates on everything Pokémon TCG right here at Bleeding Cool.