Top Five Cards Of Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield – Astral Radiance

In May 2022, Pokémon TCG released the second main series set of 2022. The expansion, Sword & Shield – Astral Radiance, came out on May 27th, 2022. It is the tenth set under the Sword & Shield banner and is the first to include the Radiant Pokémon mechanic. Radiant Pokémon are similar to Shining Pokémon of the past as they include a Shiny Pokémon with holofoil and texture on the figure rather than the background. The difference, though, is a special holo pattern on the text area of the card. Sword & Shield – Astral Radiance also continues the Trainer Gallery, a special subset of Character Rares, Character Super Rares, Full Art Trainers, and Black & Gold VMAXes that began in the previous set, Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars. Follow me through a journey through this latest set as we appreciate the artwork, discuss the card’s place in the set, and discuss what certain elements of the expansion may imply for the future of the Pokémon TCG. Today, we count down my personal picks for favorite cards in the set. Be sure to comment below with your own top five.

• 5 – Hisuian Typhlosion V: This set has quite a few Hisuian Typhlosion cards, including a holo-rare, a V, VSTAR, Full Art V, and Rainbow Rare VSTAR. (It definitely should’ve gotten the Gold VSTAR rather than Hisuian Samurott.) With all of those options, it’s still the standard V that I like best. Artist Shin Nagasawa makes the best use of this brilliant character design, getting incredibly creative with its purple and red flaming attacks.
• 4 – Eevee: There have been countless Eevee cards released since the Wizards of the Coast days, so it’s saying a lot that sowsow has managed to deliver one of the cutest ones ever in this set.
• 3 – Shadow Rider Calyrex V Character Super Rare: While the Trainer Gallery is filled with cards featuring Pokémon that I like better than Calyrex, the brilliance of Oswaldo KATO’s card here makes this the subset’s standout. The use of color and lighting, showing the purple, pink, and blue glows reflecting through the geometric shards of ice in this illustration is chillingly beautiful. KATO is very obviously the artist to watch in the current Pokémon TCG sets.

• 2 – Jirachi V Full Art: While N-DESIGN Inc. has delivered a ton of terrific Vs. and Full Arts recently, the cosmos design of this background, as well as the look of pure, simplistic joy on Jirachi’s face makes this, for my money, the best-looking Full Art V of the entire Sword & Shield era.
• 1 – Origin Forme Dialga V Alternate Art: We have a show-stopper here. Mitsuhiro Arita, the artist behind the iconic Base Set Charizard, brings his legendary skills to this Alternate Art, which stands head and shoulders above the rest (even though the terrific Machamp is the most valuable card of the set) due to its beautiful art, stunning use of prismatic colors, and the strength of its concept. Dialga truly looks like a Pokémon of godly power in this card, making this, to me, the jewel of Sword & Shield – Astral Radiance.

Stay tuned for the continuing journey through Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield – Astral Radiance. To look back on this series, click the Astral Radiance tag below. Next time, this journey concludes with a complete expansion review.