Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: pokemon, pokemon cards, Pokemon TCG, ralts, Silver Tempest
The Cards Of Pokémon TCG: Silver Tempest Part 16: Ralts Line
In November 2022, Pokémon TCG released the final main series set of the Sword & Shield era. The expansion, Sword & Shield – Silver Tempest, came out on September 9th, 2022. It is the twelfth set under the Sword & Shield banner and it adapts the Japanese sets Incandescent Arcana and Paradigm Trigger, with its Trainer Gallery subset adapting cards from VMAX Climax. The Lugia-themed Sword & Shield – Silver Tempest also continues both Radiant Pokémon as well as the Trainer Gallery, a special subset of Character Rares, Character Super Rares, Full Art Trainers, and Black & Gold VMAXes that began in the first set of the year, Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars. Follow me on a journey through this latest set as we appreciate the artwork, discuss the card's place in the set, and theorize as to what certain elements of the expansion may imply for the future of the Pokémon TCG. Today, we continue with one of the three Radiant cards of Sword & Shield – Silver Tempest.
The Ralts line begins in Sword & Shield – Silver Tempest with a spectacularly cute illustration by Nagomi Nijo. Ralts is drawn with a manga sensibility here, with blossoming trees on one side and sparkly city steps on the other, showing that Ralts leaves a trail of pink shimmery light in its wake. Yukiko Baba contributes a pastel, colored-pencil-style Kirlia. The purple hills in the background here set a soft and otherworldly scene, ramping up the cuteness of this line. Finally, we wrap up with a painterly Gardevoir by Pokémon TCG legend Mitsuhiro Arita who was responsible for the iconic Base Set Charizard. We can see that even though all of these years have passed, Arita is still delivering incredible work. You can see our Arita TCG spotlights here, here, and here.
Stay tuned for the continuing journey through Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield – Silver Tempest. Next time, the spotlight continues with the main set of this expansion.