Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: lost thunder, pokemon, pokemon cards, Pokemon TCG, Treecko

The Cards Of Pokémon TCG: Lost Thunder Part 4: Treecko Line

Bleeding Cool's retrospective journey through the Sun & Moon era of the Pokémon TCG continues. Now that our spotlight series has moved through the first nine sets of this block (Sun & Moon base, Guardians Rising, Burning Shadows, Crimson Invasion, Ultra Prism, Shining Legends, Forbidden Light, Celestial Storm, and Dragon Majesty), it is now time to look at the next set from this era: Sun & Moon – Lost Thunder. This expansion was released on November 2nd, 2018. This set was largely Zeraora and Lugia themed but it also included cards featuring other major fan favorites including Mimikyu, Suicune, and more. Today, we begin our journey with the Treecko line.

• Treecko: I know a Komiya when I see it! Artist Tomokazu Komiya has one of the most identifiable and unique styles in the Pokémon TCG. His trippy proportions and sketchy coloring style is deceptively simple, as his art is actually quite detailed. The tree behind this Hoenn Grass-type Starter is shaded to perfection, with the grass slowly darkening as it meets the skyline. I find that Komiya is able to distill the essence of the Pokémon into a single image quite well, which is just part of the reason why his cards are such standouts.
• Grovyle: Illustrated by Ayaka Yoshida, this Grovyle is rendered in a 3D style reminiscent of a standard GX card. It event attacks in the same way we often see depicted on GX, with its swiping scratch motion elevated by a motion line that arcs through the card.
• Sceptile GX: Finally, we get the GX here done by Yoshinobu Saito. Sceptile has never looked scarier, which is both due to the Jurassic Park raptor-esque gaze to its eye as well as a strange quirk of this illustration. The way that Sceptile's jawline connects to its tail in the artwork is known as a tangent, and it creates the false visual implication that drool is dripping from Sceptile's mouth until a closer look reveals the truth. This is technically considered bad blocking among artists but I actually like the effect here.

Stay tuned for the continuing journey through Pokémon TCG: Sun & Moon – Lost Thunder. To look back on this retrospective series, click the Lost Thunder tag below for more. Next time, this journey continues with the main section of this set.

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