Next Pokemon TCG Set Announced

The Pokemon Company has confirmed to retailers that “Astral Radiance” will be the next expansion of the Pokemon Trading Card Game. The news, first reported by PokeBeach and then confirmed with numerous online retail listings, will be released on May 27, 2022, with prerelease events taking place at participating retailers the week before. While few official details have been announced about the set, a leak from earlier in the month showed off the booster set packaging for the new set and confirmed that it would feature some of the new Pokemon forms seen in the just-released Pokemon Legends: Arceus, namely the Origin Formes of Dialga and Palkia. These Pokemon will act as the mascot Pokemon for the set.

“Astral Radiance” will likely continue to feature new Pokemon VSTAR cards, which are Pokemon cards with a one-time use power. Each player can use one VSTAR Power per set, making them a combination of the VMAX mechanic introduced earlier in the current “Sword & Shield” era of the TCG and the Pokemon-GX mechanic used in the previous “Sun & Moon” cycle. The new mechanic seems to act as an equivalent for the Frenzied Noble Pokemon seen in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. 

“Astral Radiance” will likely feature more Hisuian Pokemon and new Pokemon found in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. While the game technically only has a handful of new Pokemon, there are over 20 different new Pokemon and forms found in the game. It remains to be see if “Astral Radiance” will also feature the new Sparkling Pokemon cards introduced over in Japan. These new Pokemon cards feature Shiny Pokemon on the art and are powerful Basic Pokemon cards. Because they’re more powerful than regular Pokemon cards, a player can only have one Sparkling Pokemon card per deck. 

As The Pokemon Company hasn’t made any public announcements about “Astral Radiance,” we can expect to hear more news about the number of cards in the set and the number of VSTAR cards in the set at a later point. Expect more coverage of the set in the near future.