Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: Crimson Invasion, Gastly, pokemon, pokemon cards, Pokemon TCG

The Cards Of Pokémon TCG: Sun & Moon – Crimson Invasion Part 3

Bleeding Cool's journey through the Sun & Moon era of the Pokémon TCG continues. After our spotlight series breaking down the first three sets of this block (Sun & Moon base, Guardians Rising, Burning Shadows) ended up skipping ahead to the fifth Sun & Moon-era set, Ultra Prism, I'm setting things right by making a trip back to the fourth set from this era. Sun & Moon – Crimson Invasion was released on November 3rd, 2017, and introduced Ultra Beast GXs to the hobby. This was an alternate kind of GX and Full Art that used red coloring to spotlight the Ultra Beasts introduced along with the region of Alola. Crismon Invasion is largely thought to be the least popular set of Sun & Moon era, so let's determine for ourselves if the set is underrated or if it deserves the lack of love from Pokémon TCG fans. Now, we continue with the main portion of the set.

An evolutionary line of Kanto favorites appears in Sword & Shield – Crimson Invasion, which I do appreciate… but they didn't take it far enough. Gastly and Haunter have strong and evocative artwork with evocative colors, impressive art styles, and fun depictions of these spooky Pokémon. The Gengar is decent, with a bit of a standard pose and not much going on in the illustration to make it stand out from a long list of terrific Gengars in the past, but it's a perfectly serviceable card. Crimson Invasion is looked at as a Gyarados and Ultra Beast set, with Gyarados being the top pull in its Rainbow Rare GX form. My argument here is why in the world did Gengar just get a holo and not a GX? I completely get that the Pokémon TCG was focused on introducing new Alolan species, but with only one majorly iconic species in this set, it was never going to be able to stand up to the hype of the rest of the era's expansions. Now, if this were looked at as a Gyarados and Gengar chase, which could've happened with the introduction of a Gengar GX, Full Art, and Rainbow Rare, I strongly believe this set would rank differently in fans' memories.

Next time, the spotlight on Pokémon TCG: Sun & Moon – Crimson Invasion concludes a final review of the set. To follow this series, click the Crimson Invasion tag below.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!