Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: Brilliant Stars, Charizard, pokemon, Pokemon TCG, shaymin

The Cards Of Pokémon TCG: Brilliant Stars Part 20: Full Arts Begin

Pokémon TCG has released the first set of 2022. The expansion, Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars, came out on February 25th, 2022. It is the ninth set under the Sword & Shield banner and is the first to include the Pokémon-VSTAR mechanic. VSTARs are a replacement for the VMAX mechanic, which is being phased out of the main portion of the set after this release. Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars also debuts the Trainer Gallery, a special subset of Character Rares, Character Super Rares, Full Art Trainers, and Black & Gold VMAXes that can be pulled in the reverse holo slot. 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 venture into the Full Art section of the set.

While Alternate Arts have become all the rage in current Pokémon TCG sets, it cannot be underestimated how beautiful Full Art Pokémon cards are. With a swirl of colors in the background that accentuates the grooved, textured foil of these cards, the Pokémon itself is rendered with silver line art. These evoke the Full Arts of the Black & White and XY era, which used gold lineart for the Pokémon over a detailed background. The Sun & Moon era started using blue line art and flat, type-based single color backgrounds, which could work depending on the species but limited the scope of Full Arts for an entire three years. Now, Sword & Shield brought the glory back to this card type. The Shaymin Full art is absolutely glorious here, with a strawberry and orange swirl background. The Charizard is decent enough with a rush of green, blue, and white that makes it look like rushing winds blowing behind the Kanto icon, though this is a case where I feel a different color palette could've worked better. For Lumineon, another clashing color palette was chosen but this time, the effect worked perfectly, creating an otherworldly aquarium vibe behind the Water-type Pokémon.

Stay tuned for the continuing journey through Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars. To look back on this series, click the Brilliant Stars tag below. Next time, this journey continues with the Full Art section of the set.

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