What's your favorite Pokemon TCG set?

Scoop

Literally a sheep
Member
There are so many TCG sets out there, that choosing a favorite is very hard. Id like to know, which one is your favorite?


Mine, for example, is Boundaries Crossed. a lot of it is the memories its held. The cold, fall/winter days of 2014(when i first opened BCR), walking out of Meijer with my brand new pack, opening it, and boom. Lando EX. I always wanted one, and i got it on my first pack of Boundaries crossed. a few days later i got two more packs, and I got a full art Lando and a Full art Black Kyurem. The pulls were always good throughout that shelf that no-one knew about, so all the packs were to myself. On that one shelf i had gotten a gold potion, both Landos, Kyurems, and a SR Terrakion. Its the only set i got a box from since i loved it so much. But i feel like the biggest reason is what was going on in my life during that time. October, when i started opening that set, i had met someone VERY special, to say the least. I had just gotten out of a bad spot in my life, my grandpa's cancer was being cured, and so many more things. And in that time...I had opened Boundaries Crossed. Only two days ago I had opened the last pack on the shelf. It kinda made me think about this. Funny how a TCG set could reflect on my life so much. Sorry i went on so long, but thats the story of my favorite set. XD
 

Frost

Ice/Fairy Stan Account
Member
I'm in the middle of rating every card ever and averaging them out to answer this very question. I've noticed that sets that are heavy on Trainers tend to end up with lower scores since so many Trainers have bland artwork, and I still have to finish revisions on Primal Clash, Roaring Skies and Ancient Origins, but this my current top 5 (main expansions only):

1. Emerging Powers, 8.276/10 -- shocking? This set was pretty much universally panned at its release, but as a collector, it has some of the best artwork in recent memory, and many of the best artwork appearances for many of the Unova Pokemon featured within. It also avoids featuring any cards from my less-preferred artists, and was the first set I recorded a booster box opening for, so it has sentimental value.

2. Call of Legends, 8.264/10 -- another set that was pretty much for collectors/artwork enthusiasts only. It featured a nice selection of older Pokemon, most of its Trainers were of people rather than items (as generic item cards tend to ding my set averages the most), and the HGSS block had the best-looking set of Energy cards ever.

3. Legendary Treasures, 8.25/10 -- like Call of Legends before it, Legendary Treasures sent its Generation of the TCG out with a bang. There are so many amazing 'story' cards here, including the Tepig line, Phione/Trubbish/Empoleon, Natu/Bouffalant, etc., and the reprints of previous cards all go the extra mile to stand out. Plus, Radiant Collection was a fantastic set of many of my favorite Pokemon in amazing artwork.

4. Undaunted, 8.209/10 -- The HGSS era was possibly the best era for artwork ever, as there was just so much care packed into everything: making the Pokemon artwork standout with detailed background shots of Johto and/or evolutionary items, going the extra mile with the Trainer and Energy cards to make them special with silhouettes or background Pokemon, etc. Undaunted featured a lot of my favorites and is one of the most gorgeous sets of all.

5. Roaring Skies*, 8.191/10 -- this is tentative because I still need to go through and adjust my scores for this set. I'm actually surprised it's this high because I don't remember *too* many stand-out cards, in respect to the artwork, and I wasn't a very big fan of the Pokemon selected as chase cards.

Now if I don't grade the sets so rigidly and just answer with my gut? Jungle, small as it is, is my favorite of the "classic" sets and of the first few sets, is one of the only ones that still stands tall for me art-wise. Legends Awakened was my first booster box ever and although its average wasn't high enough to land on my list it above, it has that same sentimental value as Emerging Powers, and was nearly HGSS-era-like in its amazing artwork (and Pokemon selection; I greatly miss and appreciate the DPP era's willingness to feature every Pokemon). Boundaries Crossed was the active set at the time I started dating my boyfriend, and has sentimental value for that reason (I also tend to love bigger sets in general just for having more variety).
 

The-Kaiser

Starfleet Captain and Pokemon Trainer
Member
Aquapolis is my fav cus of the art and the Crystal Pokemon's at the end of the set
 

Otaku

The wise fool?
Member
EX: Team Rocket Returns if I am going to pick a single set: it brought Team Rocket back into the TCG in time to face off with not only unaligned Pokémon, but Team Aqua and Team Magma. :)
 

SotS

Cycling the Stress Away
Member
Secret Wonders. Between the time it came out, the art, name, set logo, pulls, and memories, it has remained my unwavering favorite. Before then was Legend Maker due to the pack art and general style of the set. It's a great set in my mind with lots of memories, but even it doesn't come close to Secret Wonders.
 

Purrloin

#509
Member
EX Sandstorm, mostly for nostalgia. It was the first full booster box I ever had, and my first deck I used in a tournament was a Shiftry (EX Sandstorm 12) deck.

I also really like EX Delta Species because I loved seeing Pokemon with new (and strange) typings back in the day. I still think that's something they should bring back sometime, even if it's just a mini-set.
 

orthusaku

Tired Trainer
Member
Flashfire cause it is the neglected stepchild of design team and TPCi. It is almost like they didn't want to make a fire based set.
 

CYL

All hail Eevee!
Member
Not a particular set, but the memories from my primary school years were definitely the best. That was sometime around the EX-DP era.

Personal bias, but Majestic Dawn probably. The Leafeon and Glaceon LV.X were too good to be true.
 

bbb888

Same user name as my Pokémon YouTube channel
Member
My favorite set of all time is EX TEAM MAGMA VS TEAM AQUA.
Although I grew up with generation 1, my favorite is gen 3. This set first introduced Groudon and Kyogre to the TCG, and they are dual types!! Almost every Pokemon in this set has an owner's name. This is the last set to utilize the e-Reader scan mechanic. I am proud to have this set complete!!
Also, I know this set has been "reprinted" as Double Crisis, which I have yet to complete XD
 

bbb888

Same user name as my Pokémon YouTube channel
Member
**Correction**
I have completed the JAPANESE Double Crisis as well; I meant to say I have not completed its ENGLISH equivalent.
 
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