It’s been a while since I did one of these. Since Emerging Powers is considered as one of the worst sets in Pokémon in this thread. Let’s discuss why, and whether there are still some small hidden gems we like in this set.
B&W: Emerging Powers bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Emerging_Powers_(TCG)
Discuss:
Favorite cards in the setWorst cards in the setHow you feel about this set in general
A relatively small set with just 98 cards, which was released on August 31st, 2011 to fill the gap for the English expansions with cards that were already released in Japan in various sets and decks. This set contains no Secret Rares, and just has two Full Arts of the legendary Pokemons Thundurus and Tornados, the main focus of this set.
As expected, there wasn’t much great artworks to find in this set. Nothing really stands out to me personally. I can’t say the artworks are bad, because they certainly aren’t. There just isn’t anything really good in it either. When I have to describe this set in one ‘word’, I’d say: “meh”…
Some of the artworks I liked most of this set are:
Nothing too special to be honest… I think that first Sewaddle is the only card I actually really like (it just looks so happy ). All the others are, as I mentioned before, meh… 1 out of 98, not too great of a score, which is also why a lot of people here considered it one of the worst sets in Pokémon TCG.
Oh no. Well at least I can explain now why this is my least favorite set on the TCG history.
It’s so hard to find any positives out of it. There is nothing special in it and to me none of the holo cards are cool. They are all really dull (Braviary is okay). The ultra rares don’t save the set for me as well as I dislike Thundurus and Tornadus and they are the Pokemon FA:s on it. I don’t like the art on them either. Really bad.
I can’t remember there being any playable cards in this set either. Tornadus was probably the only card that saw some play as an addition. Back in the day a TCG player sold me a box of Emerging Powers for 50 euros when the set was still playable. That probably tells you something. I think he won the box from a tournament or something but he didn’t want to open it because for him the set was trash. And actually I decided to share the box with a friend so we both paid 25 € so I got the other half of the box and my friend got the other one. Even opening it I didn’t get any special feeling out of it. My ultra rare pull was the Thundurus FA. There just isn’t anything in this set for me.
There are some cute commons / uncommons / rares but those are never going to save a full set. I’ll try dig on the set list and see if there’s something I like but I remember there’s nothing that really stands out.
These I like bit more than the rest but in general to me the set is rather dull:
At least Noble Victories was a huge improvement after this crap…
This was the worst BW set, and arguably one of the worst sets ever released. The silver lining is it makes me appreciate the Sun & Moon artwork. Crimson Invasion so far is the weakest set for SM, but the artwork is a tier above Emerging Powers.
Here is one of the few cards I remember from Emerging Powers:
This is actually one of my favorite sets of all time to be honest. When I tried doing the “open stuff on Youtube” thing for a couple years, opening a booster box of EP was how I started out. It introduced the cool new reverse holo pattern after years of the dull previous ones. I also really like a lot of the artwork? There’s a lot of bright, vibrant colors and my favorite illustrators.
Just stopping by to reaffirm my hatred for this set. The only “chase” card was an uncommon trainer: Pokemon Catcher (way before it got nerfed), which was worth 3+ times both of the ultra rares combined. Bland art, two garbage ultra rares, and the lack of secret rares make this a set to forget. Even its name implies trash status: “Emerging Powers” as in there was an attempt at creating some power, but alas none resulted.
All of the above. Plus no standout cards/species. Usually for most sets there is “that” card(s). With this one I think most collectors are grasping at straws.
). All the others are, as I mentioned before, meh… 1 out of 98, not too great of a score, which is also why 
