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The Best Art In The Pokemon TCG
- Thread starter Yung Dramps
- Start date
I kinda forgot I was doing this, but Gen 6 time, my favorite era
XY Base Set
Looks imposing, the like, motion marker things, idk what they're called but you probably know what i'm talking about, do a really nice job as well
XY Base Set Full Art:
Action pose, I like how the wings and tail are slightly curled, the yellow outline is nice
Flashfire:
Such a different style from like everything else in the set, it stands out really well, and makes Scraggy look cool for maybe the first time ever.
Flashfire Full Art:
Intimidating close up of the main villain, there are little details I notice every time I look at this card, like the Mega Ring on his finger I only just noticed.
Furious Fists:
Before I show my winner, I have to say, this is my favorite set of all time, I wrote out a whole post a while ago about why I love this set so much that you can find here, and the art is a big reason for why, so I have maybe the largest shortlist for this that i've ever gone through, with 26 cards. With all that said, this card eventually won out
Honestly, not the one I was expecting going in, I thought it'd be one of Magmortar, Electivire, Thundurus maybe, but the desert aesthetic really works nicely while you still get a sense of the tournament that the theme of this set is all about with Hariyama getting blown away in the background. 10/10 set, check it out some time if you haven't
Furious Fists Full Art:
Even the Full Arts in this set kinda go hard, with my shortlist having 4 of them to pick between. Korrina won due to the focus on her Mega Glove working really nicely for me, though it was close between her and Fossil Researcher.
Phantom Forces:
Night March is an icon of the XY era TCG, and while that doesn't really affect the art at all, Joltik was the cornerstone of the deck. In terms of the art, the little sparks of electricity as well as the whole background, I think this is meant to be the Aquarium on Kalos Route 8, the young girl who seems to have noticed the Joltik and is just happily watching it go about its day, the other guy who's just in his own world. It's all great.
Phantom Forces Full Art:
Breaking my own rules for a little because the Pokemon.com website doesn't have one of the cards I wanted to pick, and there's two I really can't decide between
The card I think is the objectively better of the two, Gengar floating through a vortex of jelly beans that this set was obsessed with for reasons I don't think anyone really knows, this card is really cool and very expensive for a good reason
The subjective pick for me, the fact this even exists is crazy, when you're actually able to see the card it's insanely cool, but it's hard to see any of the art a lot of the time just due to how they made the card. Also the pokemon website doesn't have any of the secret rares from this set for some reason.
Primal Clash
This set tied Furious Fists for shortlist size, but a lot of that was just me opening up every single Ancient Trait card because they are very obviously the stars of the show for this set. Excadrill was eventually chosen because of the slashing motions being conveyed in the art.
Primal Clash Full Art:
I'm glad I got to pick a Mega Evolution for one of these, because it lets me talk about how much I adore the detail of them writing out the Japanese name of the attack in the English art. The reverse is true in the Japanese art, with them spelling out the English name of the attack. In terms of the actual art though, the energy flowing off of Gardevoir is what really makes it stand out to me, with the posing also looking quite nice.
Double Crisis
Cute lil mini set with a lot of neat art, a bunch of Aron sabotaging team Aqua by eating one of their submarines is my personal favorite of the standard arts,
Double Crisis Full Art
Yeah, Double Crisis has these, they're really cool, I picked Kyogre over Groudon because I like the Pokemon featured in it more.
Roaring Skies
Cool pose, icy mountain stuff in the background is nice, Ancient Trait so it gets more than a normal card. I like it a lot
Roaring Skies Full Art
Very similar to the Mega Gardevoir, the energy and posing are highlights, with the Japanese attack name being put in the motion in which Rayquaza seems about to attack being an extra bonus I really like.
Ancient Origins
This is like, the card I think of when Ancient Origins is brought up, even before the shiny Legendaries. Gyarados attacking the fisherman is such incredibly good art, and I completely understand why this ended up being the pre-release promo for the set.
Ancient Origins Full Art
Could've probably chosen one of the shiny Legendaries, those are also really cool, but there's something about Steven, in a cave, holding a Pokeball and with light shining off his Mega Stickpin (yes, that is what that's called, don't ask me why I know) that appeals to me. Maybe it's just me liking the Full Art Trainers a lot. Idk.
BREAKthrough
There's a lot going on in this one, with the Starmie and the Mr Mime in the background, and the screens displaying the three. For the longest time I thought it was supposed to be like, an idol putting on a performance on a dance floor, and that might be a part of it, but there's a dimension thing going on in this set and it might be related to that as well. I don't know for sure, but the art is nice either way
BREAKthrough Full Art
Speaking of the dimension crossing thing, Giovanni's Scheme goes all in on that, with the two colors representing its two effects and also the two dimensions. While the two effect thing isn't really art related, I do think it makes an impact on how much I ended up liking this card.
BREAKpoint
Not the card I was expecting at all, but the depiction of a nighttime party with Umbreon, Crobat, Weavile, Cresselia and Crawdaunt, as well as I think a statue of Karen, the Elite Four member that I have never noticed until I took a closer look for this art. The full moon, Weavile taking a slash at Umbreon, it all just looks great.
BREAKpoint Full Art:
Looks like the sun itself is shining down on Ho-Oh, and the rainbow in the bottom corner is an excellent touch to go with it.
Generations:
This set is like half reprints, so picking out arts for it ended up being slightly awkward, but this Golem really stood out. There's just something about the style, the eyes especially pop out to me.
Generations Full Art:
The lightning in the background and the way it's staring down at you, it's exceptional
Generations Radiant Collection
Princess Espurr is frankly adorable. That's all.
Generations Radiant Collection Full Art
Once again, absolutely adorable, and thats all that needs to be said I think.
Fates Collide
Lucario steeling itself for a fight, seemingly against Mega Alakazam. I like the image projected of the Mega Alakazam, either via Lucario's aura abilities or through the whole dimension thing that's been going on through the last few sets
Fates Collide Full Art
I learned this card existed today, it is utterly brilliant. The fact that the trio make up an R through their poses, one of them holding a net, it's incredible.
Steam Siege
Another one where the art style gains a lot of marks for me, with this one in particular looking like a painting, and the art itself honestly being a little sinister. It's great.
Steam Siege Full Art
Professor Sycamore being a scattered mess, with papers flying out of his hands while Chespin hangs on for dear life, makes me smile every time i see it
Evolutions
Reprint set, so there's less to go around and i'm only gonna give it to the full arts as a result. I like seeing the EX cards in the classic style, but the full arts easily win out for me
Pose, check. Background, check. Cool mon, check. Hits all the boxes for me.
Yellow A Alternate
These are all awesome, and it's another case of the Pokemon Website lacking a majority of them, so if you can
This has absolutely got to be my favorite of them though, i can't put to words how much I love this art, but just putting the image here will hopefully be enough.
XY-Promo
Salamence charging, I can't quite tell if it's just spitting fire or if those are its arms/claws covered in fire, but it doesn't take away from the card if its the former, it looks awesome.
XY-Promo Full Art
The card is just pretty, with the field of flowers and the rainbow in the background. It's really nice.
Looks imposing, the like, motion marker things, idk what they're called but you probably know what i'm talking about, do a really nice job as well
XY Base Set Full Art:
Action pose, I like how the wings and tail are slightly curled, the yellow outline is nice
Flashfire:
Such a different style from like everything else in the set, it stands out really well, and makes Scraggy look cool for maybe the first time ever.
Flashfire Full Art:
Intimidating close up of the main villain, there are little details I notice every time I look at this card, like the Mega Ring on his finger I only just noticed.
Furious Fists:
Before I show my winner, I have to say, this is my favorite set of all time, I wrote out a whole post a while ago about why I love this set so much that you can find here, and the art is a big reason for why, so I have maybe the largest shortlist for this that i've ever gone through, with 26 cards. With all that said, this card eventually won out
Honestly, not the one I was expecting going in, I thought it'd be one of Magmortar, Electivire, Thundurus maybe, but the desert aesthetic really works nicely while you still get a sense of the tournament that the theme of this set is all about with Hariyama getting blown away in the background. 10/10 set, check it out some time if you haven't
Furious Fists Full Art:
Even the Full Arts in this set kinda go hard, with my shortlist having 4 of them to pick between. Korrina won due to the focus on her Mega Glove working really nicely for me, though it was close between her and Fossil Researcher.
Phantom Forces:
Night March is an icon of the XY era TCG, and while that doesn't really affect the art at all, Joltik was the cornerstone of the deck. In terms of the art, the little sparks of electricity as well as the whole background, I think this is meant to be the Aquarium on Kalos Route 8, the young girl who seems to have noticed the Joltik and is just happily watching it go about its day, the other guy who's just in his own world. It's all great.
Phantom Forces Full Art:
Breaking my own rules for a little because the Pokemon.com website doesn't have one of the cards I wanted to pick, and there's two I really can't decide between
The card I think is the objectively better of the two, Gengar floating through a vortex of jelly beans that this set was obsessed with for reasons I don't think anyone really knows, this card is really cool and very expensive for a good reason
The subjective pick for me, the fact this even exists is crazy, when you're actually able to see the card it's insanely cool, but it's hard to see any of the art a lot of the time just due to how they made the card. Also the pokemon website doesn't have any of the secret rares from this set for some reason.
Primal Clash
This set tied Furious Fists for shortlist size, but a lot of that was just me opening up every single Ancient Trait card because they are very obviously the stars of the show for this set. Excadrill was eventually chosen because of the slashing motions being conveyed in the art.
Primal Clash Full Art:
I'm glad I got to pick a Mega Evolution for one of these, because it lets me talk about how much I adore the detail of them writing out the Japanese name of the attack in the English art. The reverse is true in the Japanese art, with them spelling out the English name of the attack. In terms of the actual art though, the energy flowing off of Gardevoir is what really makes it stand out to me, with the posing also looking quite nice.
Double Crisis
Cute lil mini set with a lot of neat art, a bunch of Aron sabotaging team Aqua by eating one of their submarines is my personal favorite of the standard arts,
Double Crisis Full Art
Yeah, Double Crisis has these, they're really cool, I picked Kyogre over Groudon because I like the Pokemon featured in it more.
Roaring Skies
Cool pose, icy mountain stuff in the background is nice, Ancient Trait so it gets more than a normal card. I like it a lot
Roaring Skies Full Art
Very similar to the Mega Gardevoir, the energy and posing are highlights, with the Japanese attack name being put in the motion in which Rayquaza seems about to attack being an extra bonus I really like.
Ancient Origins
This is like, the card I think of when Ancient Origins is brought up, even before the shiny Legendaries. Gyarados attacking the fisherman is such incredibly good art, and I completely understand why this ended up being the pre-release promo for the set.
Ancient Origins Full Art
Could've probably chosen one of the shiny Legendaries, those are also really cool, but there's something about Steven, in a cave, holding a Pokeball and with light shining off his Mega Stickpin (yes, that is what that's called, don't ask me why I know) that appeals to me. Maybe it's just me liking the Full Art Trainers a lot. Idk.
BREAKthrough
There's a lot going on in this one, with the Starmie and the Mr Mime in the background, and the screens displaying the three. For the longest time I thought it was supposed to be like, an idol putting on a performance on a dance floor, and that might be a part of it, but there's a dimension thing going on in this set and it might be related to that as well. I don't know for sure, but the art is nice either way
BREAKthrough Full Art
Speaking of the dimension crossing thing, Giovanni's Scheme goes all in on that, with the two colors representing its two effects and also the two dimensions. While the two effect thing isn't really art related, I do think it makes an impact on how much I ended up liking this card.
BREAKpoint
Not the card I was expecting at all, but the depiction of a nighttime party with Umbreon, Crobat, Weavile, Cresselia and Crawdaunt, as well as I think a statue of Karen, the Elite Four member that I have never noticed until I took a closer look for this art. The full moon, Weavile taking a slash at Umbreon, it all just looks great.
BREAKpoint Full Art:
Looks like the sun itself is shining down on Ho-Oh, and the rainbow in the bottom corner is an excellent touch to go with it.
Generations:
This set is like half reprints, so picking out arts for it ended up being slightly awkward, but this Golem really stood out. There's just something about the style, the eyes especially pop out to me.
Generations Full Art:
The lightning in the background and the way it's staring down at you, it's exceptional
Generations Radiant Collection
Princess Espurr is frankly adorable. That's all.
Generations Radiant Collection Full Art
Once again, absolutely adorable, and thats all that needs to be said I think.
Fates Collide
Lucario steeling itself for a fight, seemingly against Mega Alakazam. I like the image projected of the Mega Alakazam, either via Lucario's aura abilities or through the whole dimension thing that's been going on through the last few sets
Fates Collide Full Art
I learned this card existed today, it is utterly brilliant. The fact that the trio make up an R through their poses, one of them holding a net, it's incredible.
Steam Siege
Another one where the art style gains a lot of marks for me, with this one in particular looking like a painting, and the art itself honestly being a little sinister. It's great.
Steam Siege Full Art
Professor Sycamore being a scattered mess, with papers flying out of his hands while Chespin hangs on for dear life, makes me smile every time i see it
Evolutions
Reprint set, so there's less to go around and i'm only gonna give it to the full arts as a result. I like seeing the EX cards in the classic style, but the full arts easily win out for me
Pose, check. Background, check. Cool mon, check. Hits all the boxes for me.
Yellow A Alternate
These are all awesome, and it's another case of the Pokemon Website lacking a majority of them, so if you can
This has absolutely got to be my favorite of them though, i can't put to words how much I love this art, but just putting the image here will hopefully be enough.
XY-Promo
Salamence charging, I can't quite tell if it's just spitting fire or if those are its arms/claws covered in fire, but it doesn't take away from the card if its the former, it looks awesome.
XY-Promo Full Art
The card is just pretty, with the field of flowers and the rainbow in the background. It's really nice.
(Porygon from 151)
A Porygon card being a basic 3D render on a basic background made by the guys usually tasked with making elaborate and flashy models for Rule Box cards is absolutely hilarious and absolutely wonderful, 10/10 no notes
New set's secret rares are all quite good https://www.pokebeach.com/2025/11/mega-dream-ex-secret-rares-revealed
the goat is BACK and starring in another banger card...
sadly it seems to be china exclusive, so it might take some effort to get my hands on this jewel