10 Jaw Dropping Painted Pokemon Cards That Are Better Than the Origina…

Those familiar with the Pokemon TCG may also be reading through with some déjà vu. That's simply because Shining Fates was actually directly inspired by the previous (incredibly popular) special expansions dubbed "Hidden Fates" and "Shining Legends." Each of these expansions were known for featuring Shiny Pokemon in special holographic-alternative cards. That is, the sets have a special "Shiny Vault" of cards that can be found as a Shiny Pokemon variant . Rather than featuring significantly different artwork though, these cards are treated as a form of "holo," and instead simply bear a unique backdrop and the Pokemon's Shiny vari

This 25 card plays the role of a healer and helps to remove damage counters from its Benched Pokemon allies. Both of Light Vaporeon's moves involve allowing its friends to recover some HP, exemplifying the theme behind this card vari

This finishing blow will take some time to set up, even with energy search cards, however, the Grass-typing of this Ultra Beast duo grants trainers some great ways to build up energy relatively quickly. Pokemon cards of this type sometimes carry abilities that can attach energy cards from one's deck, hand, or discard pile to an ally with little to no effort, so a Grass deck themed around this should be able to bring out Pheromosa & Buzzwole's true potent

One of the more intimidating cards from the Neo Destiny set, Dark Feraligatr can prevent the Pokemon Powers of Baby Pokemon simply by being in play. However, this gator's main strength is its Crushing Blow attack that not only does a great 50 damage but also has half a chance of causing the injured foe to discard one of their energy ca

This trio of legendary pokemon from the Cosmic Eclipse expansion is unique as it is one of the few that houses 3 pokemon instead of 2 and is also one that is better to be played at the beginning of a battle. Such powerhouses are usually saved for the last parts of a battle as a trump card but this trio has some attacks that benefit more from early p

Knowing that, it's no surprise that the definitely creatively-named Shining Fates expansion also features its own Shiny Vault. While the set will boast an impressive 190+ cards, its Shiny Vault will consist of over 100 Pokemon. To boot, the set will also feature more than 30 Pokemon V and VMAX variants, though only one single Secret Rare card: Alcremie V

Light Ledian is an interesting card because it has a move that affects other Pokemon for a consistent duration without the use of any counters or special identifiers. Flash Touch swaps this Active Bug-type with any other Pokemon on the trainer's Bench and essentially gives them a shield that protects them from special conditions while they are the Active Poke

If one is running this Tag Team duo in a Psychic deck , it may be the only card that one needs to play in the Active position, as they can essentially channel the strength of an entire team. Furthermore, if one's pokemon are running low on health, the Miraculous Duo GX attack can dish out great damage while fully healing all friendly pokemon, including themsel

Feraligatr is a 120 HP stage 2 pokémon that belongs to the Neo Genesis expansion and boasts of astoundingly powerful abilities such as Downpour and Riptide, which are kind of complementary to each other. While Downpour allows the player to discard one water energy card from the deck, as many times as they like during their turn, before they attack, Riptide complements it by dealing 10 plus 10 damage multiplied by the number of water energy cards that the player has in the discard p

It has only been more a recent phenomenon in the Pokémon games where a grass-type might have a changed appearance based on the seasons, so the sight of this ever verdant Ivysaur amidst a field of autumn grass is a welcome contrast that most fans probably would not have known they wanted. What really shines here is the artist's ability to turn a square framed image into one with rounded edges and dynamic depth. The altered perspective is almost as if we are looking up at the Ivysaur from low on the ground. Plus, the pumpkin is an excellent and irrevocable addit

Pokemon Powers are essentially the early TCG's equivalent for Abilities and they can be greatly useful in the right situations. At the beginning of its trainer's turn, Light Arcanine's Drive Off forces the opponent to switch their Active Pokemon with one of their Benched Pokemon, assuming any are availa

Dark Omastar from the Neo Destiny expansion is one of the most unique Pokemon in the TCG. Both of its moves involve manipulating the opponent's evolution stage. With Prehistoric Water, this fossil Pokemon can "devolve" the adversary and send its highest stage evolution card into their trainer's d

During the launch of the main Generation 2 Pokemon games, the TCG released related cards in the Neo Destiny expansion that reflected the direction the franchise was heading. With a heavier focus on the morality of trainers and how Pokemon are treated by NPCs in-game, two new groups were establis