shining raichu

falinks fanatic
Member
this is genuinely one of the worst sets Pokémon has ever released... the alts are horrible, the full arts are meh and feature characters much less popular than the go rocket counterparts, conkeldurr.

im just gonna buy the JP version of shiny eevee, the holo sylveon, and the common eevee and call it a day, good lord they missed the mark. At least I can save up for my most hyped set of the year, lost abyss!
 

Scoop

Literally a sheep
Member
I've noticed that this set is rather underwhelming to most people- and I'd be inclined to agree that it's not the best set recently. I think it's partially a mix of the contents of the set on its own, but also, a big chunk of it is the contents of the set in the context of what we've been getting the last few sets is really what makes it feel so underwhelming. Most of the stuff in here is fine, and in another era this would probably be seen as rather exciting. However...

No Trainer Gallery and the worst alts out we've seen this era do not give this any points. That being said, I do think the set is still a fun distraction and has some solid cards within it- Namely the Radiants, the Full Art Supporters, and generally solid FA's. Because it's lacking so many of the things that makes modern sets stand out, it ends up feeling underwhelming (Not to mention Rainbows that bloat the set, but this is a TCG issue in general). In fact, I wish the set went more into the things that made Go so cool. What about the Rocket Admins? Or as @Yaginku pointed out, why not go more creative art-wise and show the Pokemon in various cities (with regular art and not just renders)? Definitely a bit of missed potential here and it doesn't go as hard into its themes as you'd hope like Celebrations did. The Ditto mechanic is neat, though.

I'd still argue it's not the worst thing out there. Certainly would take this over the dumpster fire known as Champion's Path. And there's been plenty worse out there in my time. See: Emerging Powers, potentially the worst set ever (and I say this as a HUGE Black and White fan). I'd definitely take this over any of the first few Sword and Shield sets, or, even worse, the early Sun and Moon sets barring Shining Legends.

So... At the end of the day, it's pretty mid-tier. I'm probably going to just open up the one ETB I got, buy the singles I want, and call it a day. I'm glad they're finally representing Go in the TCG with how big of a part of the series it's become, but it doesn't go as hard as I wish it could.
 

Nirvanna21

Mew.
Member
The alts are terrible. For me, the highlights are the Mewtwo V (art looks beautiful) and the Dragonite V (which I seem to recall we are getting as a promo for some reason, which is great because cheap for not only another beautifully drawn card, but one with a different emotional perspective of Dragonite). Aside from these 2, I might be interested in the radiant starters; however, this is definitely not a set I will be spending money on directly, this will be pure single spending.

It's not even that by comparison to things like BS and AR that it is a letdown, for me personally, the fact it was GO themed was always going to be a killer for me. I don't often like 3D models of Pokemon on cards. Funnily enough, the fact that Mewtwo V, Melmetal V and Dragonite V cards even HAVE artwork is in fact a quality gem, so if anything the set has surprised me more than anything.
 

Caith_Sith

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Based on what I've opened (two trainer boxes -Candela & Blanche-; 12 packs) I have to say that the ratios were pretty good. Dragonite FA, Spark Rainbow, Mewtwo V-Star, one V (Conkeldurr) and almost all the holos and two Ditto cards. BUT, the big issue for me it has to be with the Ditto mechanic, apparently only three Pokemon can be 'Ditto' (Spinarak, Numel & Bidoof), both in Japanese and Spanish versions of the set, so all the fun of getting a full set it's gone, as the set it's pretty small and they repeat a lot of cards. I expected more, to be honest.

Also, as a PoGO player to see that only 6-7 cards feature elements from the game (not counting the trainer cards) it's actually very dissapointing. They almost did a good job, hopefully if they do a second set, they'll cover Rocket and Shadow Pokemon and in that case... well, we will se.
 

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ZestyGan

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Of all the Pokemon they could've chose to make an alt art, they chose Conkeldurr?
Exactly! This set is SO underwhelming, even down to its alt arts. Imagine if, instead, they did a Dragonite alt art of him flying over the Great Wall, or an alt art of Alolan Exeggutor in Hawaii with tourists taking pictures of him.


but naw here's a conkeldurr in a random stadium lul
 

Obviiious

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I just wish they stopped making gold and rainbow cards. Except for the energies, I personally think all of them are really ugly and they are to rare (and to much, I mean come one 22 secret rares in a set of 71 cards?!) for me to even bother collecting them when completing a set.

They should be putting more effort in alt-art cards, or full-art versions for both V and non-V cards like some of the character rares we are getting with recent sets. Not those "full-arts" we get now.
 

Dawn Hero

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I walked into the card shop today, not many people there, GO booster boxes and the special box readily available, first day of release. Saw all the cards on display in the cabinet...walked out. This is isn't bad, but there's really not a lot here. The cards I do have an inkling of wanting (maybe Radiant Venusaur, and a few other commons) are worth much less than a box. I think I'm just gonna buy singles for this one...sigh.
 

beatbox2000

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I just wish they stopped making gold and rainbow cards. Except for the energies, I personally think all of them are really ugly and they are to rare (and to much, I mean come one 22 secret rares in a set of 71 cards?!) for me to even bother collecting them when completing a set.

They should be putting more effort in alt-art cards, or full-art versions for both V and non-V cards like some of the character rares we are getting with recent sets. Not those "full-arts" we get now.
There are many problems with this set but that 22 SRs in a 71 card set (93 cards) is like a staple since they introduced rainbow trainers.

Japan has been inflating those SRs for awhile now without increasing - and at one point randomly dropping - the guaranteed SR.

I really hope this set doesn't sell. It would kind of suck for any potential future GO set, but it's such a rubbish set.

Hardly any ties to the game and carrying all the awful trends of the current TCG - rainbows, bland FAs, bland Radiants.

I'm encouraged that the comments sections here continue to be peppered with disdain for rainbows and CGI FAs. One can only hope that the same sentiment is shared by Japanese and they change it up for Scarlet and Violet. It has long overstayed its welcome, and if they keep on doing it, how many bloody bland CGI FAs does each Pokemon really need (obviously referring to the ones that will be printed every gen and sometimes even multiple times a gen)?
 

beatbox2000

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Based on what I've opened (two trainer boxes -Candela & Blanche-; 12 packs) I have to say that the ratios were pretty good. Dragonite FA, Spark Rainbow, Mewtwo V-Star, one V (Conkeldurr) and almost all the holos and two Ditto cards. BUT, the big issue for me it has to be with the Ditto mechanic, apparently only three Pokemon can be 'Ditto' (Spinarak, Numel & Bidoof), both in Japanese and Spanish versions of the set, so all the fun of getting a full set it's gone, as the set it's pretty small and they repeat a lot of cards. I expected more, to be honest.

Also, as a PoGO player to see that only 6-7 cards feature elements from the game (not counting the trainer cards) it's actually very dissapointing. They almost did a good job, hopefully if they do a second set, they'll cover Rocket and Shadow Pokemon and in that case... well, we will se.
So what was the point of including Natu and Pidove lol.

Whoever created this set seems to never have played GO. Then again, for much of its life, players used to accuse Niantic of not playing their own game, so maybe this is what we should have expected.
 

PokeMedros

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Wrong way round; they are in the set for Japan, but promos in English.
Ok, but then why does the English set have 78, and the Japanese set have 71, when several cards included in japenese are promos in english? I think this will likely just have to wait a couple weeks until the english one comes.
 

Ronkolainen

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Ok, but then why does the English set have 78, and the Japanese set have 71, when several cards included in japenese are promos in english? I think this will likely just have to wait a couple weeks until the english one comes.
It's because secret rares are not included in that number and Japanese secret rares include full arts unlike English secret rares which only include rainbow and gold cards.
 

Charmaster:)

Collecting, playing, & making family memories.
Member
Thanks, Water Pokemon Master, for going the extra mile and showing us the textures of the Secret Rare cards as well as the cards themselves. I really appreciate it. Also, thanks for taking the time to consider all the reasons why Pokemon might have removed the Pokemon GO stamp from most of the cards. It is this attention to detail, as well as the careful authentication of sources and clear separation of fact from speculation, that makes Pokebeach such a great place to get news. Again, I appreciate your work. (And the work of anyone else I might not know about who also works hard to maintain Pokebeach's standard for news excellence.)
 

Gethbert

I Miss Fairy Type
Member
Of all the Pokemon they could've chose to make an alt art, they chose Conkeldurr?
I mean yeah, sure Exeggutor V would have been better bth I actually think it looks OK better than what most,(particully I.) could do? 🤷‍♀️
Exactly! This set is SO underwhelming, even down to its alt arts. Imagine if, instead, they did a Dragonite alt art of him flying over the Great Wall, or an alt art of Alolan Exeggutor in Hawaii with tourists taking pictures of him.


but naw here's a conkeldurr in a random stadium lul
 

Chris_the_hammer

Aspiring Trainer
Member
What an underwhelming set. Instead of jerking off gen 1 and shoving in another useless Exeggutor ultra rare, imagine if instead they featured an entire subset of Radiant Pokemon (similar to Shining/Hidden Fates) that were all Community Day Pokemon. HOW COOL would that be???? Certainly more objectively cool than the fourth shiny Charizard of Sword and Shield....
Far to logical which is why ideas like that go right over their heads
 

Chicken008

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Reading these comments make me think all collectors are insane. Does anyone that actually plays the game visit this website?
I'm excited to play with Ditto, Snorlax, the Radiant Pokemon, Mewtwo, and Ambipom. The birds and Bibarel are interesting too.
 
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