Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: battle styles, chilling reign, Evolving Skies, Fusion Strike, pokemon, Pokemon TCG

Top Five Pokémon TCG Alternate Art Cards Of 2021

The Sword & Shield era is wrapping up in the Pokémon Trading Card Game. This past week saw the release of Sword & Shield – Silver Tempest, the final main series set of this three-year-long Pokémon TCG era. We will get one more special celebratory set in January 2023 before we see the Pokémon TCG kick off the Paldea-focused Scarlet & Violet era. Today, let's celebrate one of the most exciting aspects of the Sword & Shield era by counting down the Top Five Alternate Art cards released in 2021. This encompasses any Alternate Arts released in sets ranging from Sword & Shield – Battle Styles at the beginning of the year to Sword & Shield – Fusion Strike at the end. This is all opinion-based, so I welcome you to list your personal favorites in the comments.

5 – Celebi V from Sword & Shield – Fusion Strike

Celebi swirls around trees in a wintry landscape, using its Mythical magic to make leaves grow from their bony, barren branches in this gorgeous, painterly Alternate Art by illustrator Teeziro. Interestingly, Japan released this card as a promo during their equivalent of our Sword & Shield – Chilling Reign set, hence the winter themes. The card didn't make it into the English-language Chilling Reign so it was saved for Sword & Shield – Fusion Strike which was a bit of a mish-mash, catch-up set.

4 – Galarian Moltres V from Sword & Shield – Chilling Reign

Speaking of Chilling Reign, that set's best Alternate Art is this black light poster of a Pokémon card b Shibuzoh. The selective color palette and unique style of Galarian Moltres here stands out not just because it's stunningly beautiful but because of how it shows how different Alternate Arts can be. Back in the days of Base Set, who could've imagined an official Pokémon TCG card would look like this?

3 – Tyranitar V from Sword & Shield – Battle Styles

This HYOGONOSUKE-illustrated Tyranitar V Alternate Art is the card that started it all. Sword & Shield – Battle Styles is a dramatically underrated set. It has become a bit of a meme to hate on the set, very similar to XY – Steam Siege, but we owe a lot to Battle Styles. This is the set that brought Alternate Arts back into the hobby with this sleepy Tyranitar V as the chase Alt of the set. This card has a place in Pokémon TCG history for that, but it's also the storytelling here that earns this high slot. Tyranitar is depicted as being this fearsome monster of a Pokémon, so I personally love how this card showcases it in a cute scene as it snores its way through a food coma.

2 – Sylveon VMAX from Sword & Shield – Evolving Skies

Sword & Shield – Evolving Skies is one of the best Pokémon TCG sets of all time and the truth is, this list could've been made up by five Alternate Arts just from this expansion and I don't believe we'd get any pushback. I decided to select my personal favorite for the second slot, as the first slot isn't really debatable due to the card's place in TCG history and the market. This Sylveon VMAX Alternate Art by Taira Akitsu, however, is simply a perfect card. It showcases the sheer size of the Dynamax transformation, which is a major motif in the Evolving Skies Alts, by showing Pokémon like Eevee, Vaporeon, and Marshadow riding Sylveon's ribbons. Bright, gorgeous, and creative, this is everything I want in an Alt Art.

1 – Umbreon VMAX from Sword & Shield – Evolving Skies

Could it have been everything else? This beautiful, haunting Alternate Art by artist KEIICHIRO ITO shows Umbreon in its gigantic Dynamax form climbing on a building in the Galar cityscape to reach for the moon. Well, the card itself has shot to the moon and beyond, as it is the definitive chase card of the Sword & Shield era. Due to the stunning artwork, intense rarity, and feature of the popular Umbreon, the card is currently sitting at a shocking value of over $500 and growing. Umbreon is truly the Sword & Shield king.

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