By Adrian Iglesias
The Pokemon Trading Card Game invites players to collect 100+ Shiny Pokemon with the Shining Fates expansion, and several are really amazing.
The Pokemon Trading Card Game (TCG) has been experiencing an exciting resurgence lately, partially thanks to the rising popularity of internet celebrities like Logan Paul, who share an interest inthe popular franchise. Apart from cards reprinted to look like classic favorites, some of the game's newer booster expansions feature highly coveted Shiny Pokemon.
While somePokemon TCG setsquietly feature Shiny Pokemon onrare "Full Art" cards like the popular Gyarados EX card, other sets like thehyper-popular Hidden Fates expansion boast a "Shiny Vault" of cards,which function as an alternate to standard holographic cards. The recently released Shining Fates expansion is one such set, and features over 100 different Pokemon in its Shiny Vault.
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Releasedon February 19, 2021,Shining Fates is considered a "Special" expansion set to the Pokemon TCG. This means that its booster packs are not available for separate purchase, and instead, can only be obtained from special "collections" and the like. These collections include "Elite Trainer Boxes," "pin sets," "over-sized card sets," tin boxes, and Premium Collections (which often include a promo card, pin, and other assortment of goodies). Needless to say, each of these sorts of specialcollections also includes booster packs of therelevant set.
WhatAre Baby Shinies and the Shiny Vault?
Shining Fates, like the Hidden Fates set that inspired it, also offers players a shot at cards from a special Shiny Vault. The Shiny Vault essentially refers to a special pool of Pokemon cards (as opposed to Trainer or Energy cards) that boast a unique "Shiny" sparkle background, and feature the respective Pokemon's Shiny variant - these are "Baby Shiny" cards. The cards are lightly embossed, and when they're found, they take the place of a booster pack's "reverse holo" card. Whereas "standard" Shiny Vault Shinies are considered Baby Shinies, Full Art Shinies are generally referred to assimply Shiny V/VMAX or EX/GX cards.
Each booster pack guaranteesonerare Pokemon card, and onereverse holo card minimum, meaning that players can actually find both a reverse holoand standard holo from the same pack, as long as the rare card happens to be holographic as well. In the case of Shining Fates, this means that players can pull both a Shiny Vault card and another holo (or Full Art) card from the same booster pack.
This makes for a particularly exciting experience for many Pokemon fans. On top of the fact that Shiny Pokemon are getting featured in the trading card game, which rarely happens, players can look forward to a massive number of Shinies to collect. Over 90 Baby Shinies, and a sizable collection of Full Art Shiny Pokemon as well. Below are some of the highlights from Shining Fates' Shiny Vault.
Shining Fates Fan-Favorites
Shiny Ditto V and Shiny Ditto VMAX - These cards are particularly wonderful because they really get up close and personal with Ditto. Shiny Ditto itself takes up nearly the entirety of the card, asis preferred with precious Full Art cards. Its baby-blue shine not only looks great, but remindsplayers of its possible relative and Shiny lookalike, Mew. While Shiny Mew was not featured in Shining Fates, there is currently lovely Mew V card in circulation that's also being featured as part of a new "V Powers" tin box. Perhaps Shiny Mew will be(re)appearinginthe Pokemon TCGsometime soon.
Shiny Snom -Based on fanfare and general social media posting, Shiny Snomis easily one of the most popular Baby Shinies around. This adorable translucent ice-worm is already quite the hit among fans of the game, so its no surprise that its adorably simple Shiny card is also drawing praise from Pokemon Trainers. The card itself isn't particularly stellar gameplay-wise, and theFrosmoth card in the set isn't nearly as popular, but Shiny Snom is definitely a little superstar.
Shiny Yamper and Shiny Boltund- In this case, both stages of thePokemon's evolutionary line make the cut. Shiny Yamper features an iconic pink color scheme that only serves to highlight the giant heart found on its butt, for lack of a better description. This makes the goofy Corgi-like Pokemon all the more lovable, and fans are here for it. The powerful Electric-type Boltund, on the other hand, is Shiny Yamper's sleek and stylish older sibling;it'shere to give playersan electric cool Shinyand balance out the bubbly cutenessthat Shiny Yamper brings to the table.
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Shiny Eiscue - This one's right up there with Shiny Yamper. Eiscue, a slim penguin with an ice cube for a head, is another Pokemon that's already largely celebrated by fans. Not to mention, its Shiny variant bears a bright pink ice head that Pokemon Trainers also seem to appreciate.The Shining Fates Eiscue card features a simple cartoon-style Eiscue sassily opening itsarms out towards the viewer, a pose made even more brilliant by the Shiny Vault's signature sparkles, and Shiny Eiscue's unique pink glow.
Shiny Suicune - Suicune is arguably one of the game's mostmemorable non-central Legendary Pokemon. Its Shiny form is unfortunately a bit whelming in that it's quite similar to the original, butShiny Legendaries are Shiny Legendaries. That said, it's difficult to appreciate how excellent the Shiny Suicune card is without acknowledging themissing Shiny Entei and Shiny Raikou cards to go with it. Not to mention Raikou got an Amazing Rare card in the recent Vivid Voltage set. This leaves Raikou with an Amazing Rare, Suicune with a Shiny card, and Entei with nothing notable recently. It also leaves players wanting a sweet Rainbow-background Suicune and Entei, and a sparkling Shiny Raikou and Entei card.
Shiny Charizard VMAX - Of course, few Pokemon "favorite" lists would be complete without mention of the the Pokemon Company's own apparent favorite, Charizard.The inclusion of another Shiny Charizard card was more than welcomed by fans of the fiery dragon, and the card is admittedly quite nice. With Shining Fates' Shiny Charizard VMAX card, players can now collect a standard Charizard V and VMAX, as well as a Rainbow Rare Charizard VMAX, and Shiny version of both cards to boot.
Shining Fates Honorable Mentions
Shiny Koffing andShiny Galarian Obstagoon- This duo deserves mentioning because of their inherently dazzling Shiny designs. Koffing and Obstagoon are two examples of Pokemon that received dynamically different Shiny designs. While Shiny Suicune is mostly appreciated for being a Legendary, Shiny Koffing and Obstagoon lookdrastically different from their original counterparts. Shiny Koffing's noxious gas even takes a bright new shade of purple-pink, which is quite in line with Shiny Obstagoon's own bubblegum-adjacent color palette. These two Shinies may not be considered the Shiny Vault's crème de la crème, but they're noteworthy nonetheless.
Full Art Trainer Cards - These are Honorable Mentions because, well, they're not technically Shiny cards.That said, they are part of the Shining Fates set, and they feature some absolutely incredible designs, highlighting some of the game's more recent fan-favorite characters. Shiny or note, a Full Art Ball Guy and Rose card, and a Poke Kid wearing an adorable Eevee onesie, are all unforgettable additions to the game.
Pokemon TCG Shining Fatesproductsare now available for purchase from select retailers and local game stores. Shiny Crobat VMAX and Shiny Dragapult VMAX Premium Collections, alongside Shining Fates "Mini Tins," will also be released on March 9, 2021.
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