Gen 9 is possibly the biggest shift in the TCG since BW. Not only did it change the TPCi borders to be more uniformed with the TPC regions, but it swapped out Rainbow HRs for SARs. We also saw some of the closest simultaneous releases for a non-special set that we’ve ever had with SV3 (Obsidian Flames for TPCi and Ruler of the Black Flame for TPC) and SV4 (Paradox Rift/Future Flash & Ancient Roar) both releasing within a couple weeks between both sides of the Poke-World.
I thought it would be fun to see how everyone feels about this last year.
What were some of your favorite cards from this year?
Which changes have you enjoyed and which do you feel are a step back?
What are you expecting/hoping to see next year for year two?
I personally have been loving the year and am so hyped for next year. I think SV3 was pretty boring and also am not too big on the EoY set, but there are still some good cards in there that I will be picking up eventually.
As for my favorite card, it has to go with the Ting-Lu SAR (all 4 of them were amazing for my preferences, but ting lu is just peak special art vibes for me)
I’m loving SV from a purely “I like how that looks” standpoint so far too!
On the whole, the Illustration Rares & SIR’s have been some of the most amazing art we might have ever consistently had in the TCG. They’re just a joy to look at & there’s variety enough for all tastes.
Some of my favourite releases this year have been:
But there are so many more that I won’t clutter the thread with!
One thing I haven’t enjoyed, is seeing the side effect of so many amazing IR/SIR’s - the final and complete redundancy of regular full arts & (what are basically now bulk) holos. I feel that regular holographics could’ve at least been saved, if they’d decided to use that retro cosmos foil for them, instead of holding it back for promo’s.
Now next year, I want to see them full unleash the flood of creativity with artworks - SIR potential of stuff like Ho-Oh and Jirachi has me ready!
I believe they’re kept around to maintain the chase element of these cards you mentioned. They can go the high class pack route and only have special art hits in each of the 10-11 regular sets per year, but that results in oversaturation. TPC hasn’t figured out what to do with full arts yet
I don’t wanna be a negative Nancy. I think SV does a lot of stuff right. But the reality for me is that modern isn’t as exciting as it was in swsh. I’m not sure why but the chase was really fun. Maybe when they start with SIRs of non gen 9 Pokemon I’ll be back into it.
Also vintage is so cheap rn I don’t see any point at all in modern
Im a big fan of great tusk ex and all of the awesome komiya illustration rares we’ve been getting!
I think the guaranteed holos in every pack & holo style feels like a step back- but I’ve really enjoyed the cosmos holo on the checklane blister promos, the supporter SARs, and getting 2 reverses in each pack.
Overall I think the SV era has been solid- great arts and cheap cards! I wouldn’t mind seeing a Torterra ex SAR/illustration rare though
I have been adoring the SV era so far! It has to be one of the best starts of an era in Pokémon history. The addition of ARs and SARs was a natural progression SWSH was leading to and they have produced some of the best artworks we have seen!
It also helps that I adore the Paldea dex of new pokemon, being some of my favorite in a while and there is no shortage of great cards for them. Some of my favorite cards so far are;
I've heard a lot of people bring up their disappointed with SV and how it fell off so hard after SWSH, but I genuinely don't understand that perspective. SV took the insane art of end of SWSH and made it constant. I would love to hear peoples perspective on why SV doesn't do it for them.
Regardless I’m looking forward to what comes in the future sets! I’m hoping to see some amazing art of the dlc additions like the loyal 3 and terapagos, what happens with ace spec cards, and some more of my favorite Pokémon getting ARs and SARs(Please give Ceruledge more than a holo I beg you).
agreed. i’m someone who looks more forward to cards featuring the new mons which is why sv3 was such a dud for me. yeah it had a few of the new ones, but nowhere near as much as sv2 and 4.
i’m really excited for the rest of the paradoxes and to see what they do with the special tera forms of ogerpon and terapagos. hopefully plenty of special arts of new mons to come.
Man I can’t wait for the rest of the paradoxes! Especially the new DLC ones. I can already see an insane SAR Terapagos in its tera form. Perhaps the new Stellar type will be our mid era mechanic addidtion like vstar and tag teams of the past?
Too many to pick, but here are a couple that caught my eye and or are my favorites. I tried to include some non SIR/IR cards as these very often get overlooked. Theres a ton…
I think the gray borders are an improvement. I am a bit upset with current texturing. It feels somewhat toned down and nowhere near as good as the glorious XY texturing. While it started in Crown Zenith technically, I am glad they kept the special art rare trainers.
edit: I am very upset that set holos are still some variation of sheen holo. I really wish they would do something exciting for them. They don’t even need to do cosmos, but surely they can look at what Japan does and add in some cool holos/reverses.
I am expecting a Rayquaza set at somepoint. I also am coping that shiny alts/art rares will make a return.
this is why i think they are actually returning in main sets (or perhaps every other set) for 2024. I’m convinced they teased us on purpose to then surprise us in 2024. I could see them doing 1-6 shiny ar/sar in sets.
is the only perspective for them. I would ignore them but it seems like they make up a majority of the space - especially 99% of influencers and their herd of sheep.
SV has been superb on the art front, but wretched on card quality. Print lines returned from SWSH Silver Tempest and seemingly hasn’t improved yet.
Although I was collecting SWSH ENG SAs, I have pretty much stopped collecting at the moment because of how badly they held up price-wise. If those cards’ prices can circle the gutter, then these easier to pull cards should be worth even less and I’ll just wait until they inevitably are. Also as I’ve mentioned before, the collapse in the only cards worth collecting in SWSH makes me believe the market is really very shallow, so once again, not buying SV at present since I have no belief in prices holding.
Having said that, I agree with the direction TPCi went in raising pull rates. Non-holo rares should never have been invented by WOTC since they didn’t exist in Japan. Pokemon SRs have been on their transition to bulk card since SM. They aren’t actually even easy to pull in either SM or SWSH but they have no value (also no artistic value) so makes sense to raise the rates to match that. Getting a guaranteed AR/SAR (which is what is worth collecting) is great and that should be maintained moving forward (although SAR is now not guaranteed again, having turned into guaranteed SAR or HR).
I should also add that if print runs dropped for SV from SWSH, which would be a reasonable business decision, then the overall supply of cards rarer than RR/ex is actually around the same as SWSH, it just enters the market quicker because of higher rates. However as we’ve seen the hobby cannot even absorb 80-150k of a SA card, hence shallow/superficial etc.
I hope we see the same or more AR/SAR for the whole block. I wouldn’t mind the return of CHR/CSR in the next special set since SV has such a strong set of characters and I really hope that all characters get their SR (and even SAR) cards.
Yeah I knew of the money driven perspective, I’m moreso wondering the perspective of hardcore fans out there who share that mindset. Thanks for your insight.
