Brilliant Stars Set Review

It's a new year, which means it's time for the Pokemon TCG to spice things up once more! With the newest expansion, Sword & Shield: Brilliant Stars, we have a huge new mechanic coming to the game, as well as all the choice pulls and adorable art you know and love from the game.

Ever since the first Sword & Shield base set, V Pokemon have been the central focus of every expansion. These Pokemon are bigger, stronger, and have more impressive effects, but also come at the risk of costing you more of your prize cards. There are two kinds: the normal Pokemon V, and the larger, gigantimaxed VMAX forms. For the first time in a full expansion, Brilliant Stars is introducing a third kind of V-card to the mix, with brand new VSTAR cards!

Like VMAX, VSTAR Pokemon evolve onto your basic V forms as a way to power them up even further. Unlike VMAX, though, VSTAR Pokemon have an incredibly powerful "VSTAR Power", a one-off blast of power that can easily turn the game in your favour. For example, Shaymin VSTAR's Star Power is Star Bloom, which heals 120 damage from each of your grass-type benched Pokemon. Meanwhile, Charizard VSTAR's Star Blaze does a ludicrous 320 damage.

Remember, you can only use one VSTAR ability each game – not per Pokemon, but in general. So be careful with who you evolve and when to get the most out of your VSTAR Pokemon.

Of course, fans love V and VMAX Pokemon too, so they're back in full force in Brilliant Stars. To spice things up, though, this expansion is bringing new Trainer Gallery cards, which show Pokemon chilling with a few famous faces from across the series' history.

It's really nice seeing old friends again, like Mustard alongside his two forms of Urshifu VMAX, or Blue with his Jolteon V, Flareon V, and Vaporeon V. We also finally get a Mimikyu VMAX, showing it alongside Sun & Moon's Acerola. If you loved the last few sets' cards that simply showed a Pokemon vibing in their down-time, these trainer cards are impeccable. A particular favourite of mine is Oranguru V, enjoying a hot day with its owner, lab assistant Sina.

The star (no pun intended) of the set is, of course, Arceus. The God of All Pokemon has been a big part of Pokemon recently, thanks to the excellent video game Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Here, it's included in both V and VSTAR forms, with loads of alternate art versions for you to collect. One particular V card shows it flying over the Sinnoh region, and looks just stunning.

Also keep an eye out for the set's golden and rainbow secret rares! For the gold rare this time we have the three Galarian Legendary Birds in their V forms (Galarian Zapdos is awesome, he's just a big, angry ostrich and it's great), but by far the biggest pull of them is the golden secret rare Arceus VSTAR. In rainbow rares, we have the VSTAR Pokemon (Arceus, Shaymin, Charizard, and Whimsicott), plus a few of the great trainer cards, like Cheren's Care, Cynthia's Ambition, and Roseanne's Backup!

Even the standard cards look incredible, making Brilliant Stars potentially one of the best-looking Pokemon expansions ever released. Just look at cards like Klinklang, Weavile, and, my favourites of the whole set, Magmortar and Electivire, which show the same battle from two different angles! Pokemon really knocked it out of the park with this one.

There are a whole load of ways you can pick up Brilliant Stars through Magic Madhouse! First, the obvious: you can always buy booster packs and booster boxes, as well as a fancy, Arceus-branded Elite Trainer Box. There are also checklane blister packs, which include a few boosters, a coin, and a card: this time, we've got the Sinnoh Eeveelution Leafeon, and its ice-type counterpart Glaceon!

Something different for Brilliant Stars is the Builds & Battle Stadium. This is meant to be a way to play the game straight out of the box, while also giving you the freedom to personalise your decks. Inside are two Build & Battle Boxes, which each include a 40-card premade deck, four Brilliant Stars booster packs and an exclusive foil promo card. There's also a pack of Energy cards, a dice to count damage, a coin, and condition markers, giving you everything you need for you and a friend to start playing Brilliant Stars straight away.

While it is sad to see last year's battle style mechanic get less of a presence in Brilliant Stars, there is so much going on here to be excited about! Whether you're a player getting ready to demolish your opponent with the new VSTAR Powers, or a collector wanting to find those Trainer Gallery cards, this expansion continues to cement Sword & Shield as one of the best points in the game's entire history!