Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: Charizard, Crown Zenith, pokemon, pokemon cards, Pokemon TCG

The Cards Of Pokémon TCG: Crown Zenith Part 2: Charizard VSTAR

Pokémon TCG's special set Crown Zenith features a Charizard V and a Charizard VSTAR. One of these is a reprint from Brilliant Stars.

The Sword & Shield era of the Pokémon TCG has come to an end. Three years of expansions dedicated to the region of Galar, with some love for Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl's revitalization of Sinnoh and Pokémon Legends: Arceus's introduction of the ancient region of Hisui, have led to this moment. Crown Zenith, a special set celebrating the Sword & Shield era, was released on January 20th, 2023. It was primarily an adaptation of Japan's VSTAR Universe set and also featured a collection of cards that were cut from other English-language sets and more. Like other special sets including Champion's Path, Shining Fates, Celebrations, and Pokémon GO, Crown Zenith packs were found in special branded products like Premium Collections and Elite Trainer Boxes rather than booster boxes. This set featured the Galarian Gallery subset which introduced Illustration Rares and Special Illustration Rares, originally called "Art Rares," to the hobby, which set the standard for the following Sword & Shield era which used these card types as their primary Secret Rares. In today's installment of this Crown Zenith spotlight, let's take a look at another VSTAR from the set.

Crown Zenith offers both a straight reprint here as well as new artwork. The Charizard V is a direct reprint from Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars, which makes sense considering the set on which this expansion is based, VSTAR Universe, uses its main set as a full reprint offering. This is much less common for English-language sets, but we still do get a few cards like this in our special sets like Shining Fates and this. The Charizard VSTAR, though, has distinct artwork from the version in Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars, and I'm glad that's the one that does considering VSTARs are, of course, rarer than Pokémon-Vs. This new Charizard VSTAR features artwork by 5ban Graphics.

Stay tuned for the journey through this special set as we continue to spotlight the cards and artwork of Pokémon TCG: Crown Zenith. Next time, the spotlight continues with the main section of this set.

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