Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: Celebrations, chilling reign, pokemon, Pokemon TCG, shining fates

Top 10 Best Pokémon TCG Cards Of 2021 Part One: 10 – 6

As 2021 comes to a close, let's look back on the Pokémon TCG's landmark 25th anniversary year. In this series, I will count down the Top 10 Pokémon TCG cards that were released during this special 25th Anniversary year. Before we begin, I'd love to see your picks in the comments below. Now, we'll get into the first half of our countdown with picks numbers ten through six.

10 – Celebrations Pikachu Full Art

This card brilliantly takes the original Base Set Pikachu card by iconic TCG artist Mitsuhiro Arita and expands the illustration into a Full Art. This card might be easy to pull and that makes it go a bit underappreciated, but I find this idea so compelling and the execution so effective that I'd love to see the next anniversary set deliver an entire subset like this.

9 – Sword & Shield – Evolving Skies Umbreon VMAX Alternate Art

This card is the biggest chase of the year, retaining a higher market value than any other card released by the Pokémon TCG in 2021. I love its unique art style and storytelling as Umbreon, in its towering Dynamax form, reaches for the moon.

8 – Sword & Shield – Chilling Reign Galarian Moltres V Alternate Art

Perhaps the most strikingly unique card released in 2021, this card looks more like an album cover than a Pokémon illustration. Artwork like this is the perfect example of how Alternate Arts break free from the norms of expectation and card format to deliver something great.

7 – Celebrations Umbreon Star

This card makes the list not just because of the art, which is good, but because it gives collectors a chance at something that has been otherwise unobtainable. The Umbreon Star from POP Series has a market value of thousands of dollars and is virtually unavailable. Celebrations gives it the Full Art treatment in its Classic Collection subset with an entire textured surface and, for the first time ever, a holographic background.

6 – Shining Fates Shiny Charizard VMAX

The Charizard VMAX from Sword & Shield – Darkness Ablaze is one of the best, most ferocious VMAX artworks and Charizard is one of the most striking Shiny color palettes. After seeing this card in its standard form in Darkness Ablaze and its Rainbow Rare in Champion's Path, we see Shining Fates deliver a Shiny version even more stunning than the Shiny Charizard GX from Hidden Fates.

Stay tuned for the second part of this Pokémon TCG countdown!

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