Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: Astral Radiance, Decidueye, pokemon, pokemon cards, Pokemon TCG

The Cards Of Pokémon TCG: Astral Radiance Part 20: Decidueye VSTAR

In May 2022, Pokémon TCG released the second main series set of 2022. The expansion, Sword & Shield – Astral Radiance, came out on May 27th, 2022. It is the tenth set under the Sword & Shield banner and is the first to include the Radiant Pokémon mechanic. Radiant Pokémon are similar to Shining Pokémon of the past as they include a Shiny Pokémon with holofoil and texture on the figure rather than the background. The difference, though, is a special holo pattern on the text area of the card. Sword & Shield – Astral Radiance also continues the Trainer Gallery, a special subset of Character Rares, Character Super Rares, Full Art Trainers, and Black & Gold VMAXes that began in the previous set, Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars. Follow me through a journey through this latest set as we appreciate the artwork, discuss the card's place in the set, and discuss what certain elements of the expansion may imply for the future of the Pokémon TCG. Today, we check out a pair of cards featuring a regional variant of the fully evolved Grass-type Starter Decidueye.

Looking at these two cards, I actually prefer the art on the Hiusian Decidueye V to the rarer Hisuian Decidueye VSTAR. The V is illustrated by Shin Nagasawa, who uses an intense blurring effect to make it seem as if Decidueye's attack is bursting out of the frame of the card. It is effective and visually interesting, but what I like best about this card is that it lets us take in the new Hisuian design of this regional variant Pokémon. The VSTAR isn't bad, with a standard if uninteresting 5ban Graphics illustration, but it's such a straight shot on Hisuian Decidueye that it's a bit hard to tell what's going on in the card's art.

Stay tuned for the continuing journey through Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield – Astral Radiance. To look back on this series, click the Astral Radiance tag below. Next time, this journey continues with the main set.

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