Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: Obsidian Flames, pokemon, pokemon cards, Tadbulb

The Cards Of Pokémon TCG: Obsidian Flames Part 9: Tadbulb Line

Scarlet & Violet - Obsidian Flames adds not one, or two, but a whopping three new Tadbulb cards to the Pokémon TCG, along with two Bellibolt.

With Sword & Shield officially concluded, the Scarlet & Violet era of the Pokémon TCG kicked off in March 2023 with a focus on the ninth generation of Pokémon games and the new region: Paldea. It all began with the Scarlet & Violet base set, which introduced major, lasting changes to the hobby. Now, the borders of the cards have become silver, matching the Japanese releases. Another major change is that now, each pack culminates in at least a holo-rare and two reverse holos. The major mechanic of this era is the lowercase ex, which features a double holographic pattern of a horizontal shine and a starry sparkle. Full Art exs now use a green, foil outline around the Pokémon. The Secret Rare section of expansions going forward features Full Arts, Illustration Rares and Special Illustration Rare exs, Full Art Trainers, Special Illustration Rare Trainers, and Gold Hyper Rares. On August 11, 2023, the Pokémon TCG released the third set of this era, Scarlet & Violet – Obsidian Flames, which introduced Tera Pokémon with a Tera type differing from their base type. The chase card is a Dark-type Tera Charizard ex. In today's installment of this Scarlet & Violet – Obsidian Flames art spotlight, we continue with the Electric-types.

The Tadbulb evolutionary line debuted in the direct previous set, Scarlet & Violet – Paldea Evolved. In that set, there were two Tadbulb cards and a Bellibolt ex. Here, we have a whopping three Tadbulb cards and two Bellibolt cards. That's five Tadbulb cards over the course of just two sets! From left to right, here's what we have going on regarding the artists: famed Full Art Trainer artist kirisAki illustrates my favorite of the set, a peaceful Tadbulb reclining by a lake; Saya Tsuruta draws a cute and smooth-brained Tadbulb chilling underwater; Shin Nagasawa illustrates this Pokémon ascending over a mountainous forest; iconic, longtime contributor Kouki Saitou delivers an adorable Bellibolt hanging out in a sparkling cave; and Toshinao Aoki takes things to a comedic place, showing a widened Bellibolt in their cartoony style.

Stay tuned for the journey through this special set as we continue to spotlight the cards and artwork of Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet – Obsidian Flames. Next time, the spotlight continues with the standard section of the set. You can read more about this iconic trading card game right here at Bleeding Cool.

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