Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: Paldea Evolved, pokemon, pokemon cards, Pokémon Cards 151

The Cards Of Pokémon TCG: Paldea Evolved Part 43: Eiscue & Raichu

Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet - Paldea Evolved features Illustration Rare cards of the Galarian species Eiscue & Kanto favorite Raichu.

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 June 9, 2023, the Pokémon TCG released the second set of this era, Scarlet & Violet – Paldea Evolved, which focused on the Paldean Starters and the Treasures of Ruin Legendaries. In today's installment of this Scarlet & Violet – Paldea Evolved art spotlight, let's take a look at more Illustration Rares.

Eiscue is a Galarian species that comes in both the Ice and Noice Face. This is, as you can probably guess, the Ice Face. This is Eiscue's first card from the Scarlet & Violet era. It is illustrated by Nelnel, who uses the expanded border of Illustration Rares to show a hilarious scene of Eiscue shaping up the ice of its head by sticking its face in the freezer.

Now, I'm so happy to get a Raichu Secret Rare so early in the Scarlet & Violet era. Normally, it is the unevolved Pokémon that get shafted when it comes to Secret Rare and Ultra Rare cards, but things are different for Pikachu and Raichu. Pikachu is the franchise mascot, so of course, it gets tons of cards, while Raichu tends to get left behind quite often. Now, we are just two sets into Scarlet & Violet, and we get a gorgeous Illustration Rare featuring Raichu by artist Toshinao Aoki, who depicts Raichu letting off bolts of electricity while it sleeps peacefully.

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

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