The trading card game for Pokémon has received a new expansion. The biggest innovation: Shiny Pokémon are back.
For many years, Pokémon fans have played not only on the Gameboy, Gamecube, or Switch with Pokémon. Since 1996, or here in 1999, the monsters have also existed in card form – and over the years a lot of expansions have been released, bringing new game cards.
In 2024, the expansion “Paldea’s Fates” was launched. It belongs to the “Scarlet & Violet” series of the card game and, unsurprisingly, is based on the Paldea region from these games. This can be seen partly in the illustrations, many of which depict the Paldea region, but also in the represented Pokémon.
However, not only monsters that originally come from Paldea are included in the expansion. Many Pokémon from earlier times are also present, such as Pikachu, Charmander, Lapras, and many others.
What stands out about the expansion, however, are the special Shiny cards.
Shiny Pokémon are back – What is it actually?
What is a Shiny? Shiny Pokémon are Pokémon that have a different color than originally intended. In German, they are also called “shimmering” Pokémon. Some Pokémon differ greatly from their usual form, while others differ less. Shinies also exist in video games, but obtaining them is incredibly difficult as they are particularly rare.
Even in Pokémon GO, this is a topic: Events like Community Days are popular there because the chance of finding a shiny Pokémon is increased for a short period. Overall, the bonus “increased shiny chance” in Pokémon GO is a popular reason to play at various events.
Shinies in the card game: It’s been quite a while since new Shiny cards were introduced in the trading card game. The last time was with the expansion “Shining Legends” – and that was released in 2021.
In “Paldea’s Fates”, the Shinies are now making a comeback.
They receive their own, new design and have their own rarity levels, which can be recognized by the glowing stars in the bottom left of the card. As usual with Shinies, they are not exactly easy to obtain: There are now “shimmering, rare” cards and “shimmering, ultra-rare” cards.
Over 130 shiny Pokémon are represented in the set. Among them are also shiny “ex” cards, which are particularly strong cards with sometimes heavy effects. Additionally, some cards have received particularly rare, special illustrations in which shiny Pokémon are depicted in unusual situations. A gallery with all the cards can be found on the website of the card game (via pokémon.com).
The highlights include a new Charizard-ex variant or a shiny Mew version. They are now among the most coveted, but also among the rarest cards in the set and are likely to be correspondingly difficult to obtain.
However, these unusual situations are not exclusive to shiny Pokémon. Some trainer cards from Paldea have also received special illustrations, such as Judge, Nemila, or the new trainer card Leval.
Overall, the set is likely to be particularly exciting for collectors, as it primarily scores with its illustrations and shiny Pokémon. A new game mechanic has not been introduced here for the first time. That was rather the case in the last set “Paradox Rift”, when the past and future types were introduced and the TM cards returned.
The Pokémon trading card game is constantly evolving and releasing new variants. But how is it actually determined what happens next in the game? You can read more about that here: How are new Pokémon cards created? We spoke to artists and testers in Japan.
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