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Bleeding Cool’s retrospective journey through the Sun & Moon era of the Pokémon TCG continues. Now that our spotlight series has moved through the first nine sets of this block (Sun & Moon base, Guardians Rising, Burning Shadows, Crimson Invasion, Ultra Prism, Shining Legends, Forbidden Light, Celestial Storm, and Dragon Majesty), it is now time to look at the next set from this era: Sun & Moon – Lost Thunder. This expansion was released on November 2nd, 2018. This set was largely Zeraora and Lugia themed but it also included cards featuring other major fan favorites including Mimikyu, Suicune, and more. Today, we continue our journey with the Mareep line.
- Mareep: One of my all-time favorite lines of Pokémon gets the double card treatment for the first stage here. Mareep is depicted by Midori Harada as an adorable, dozing sheep here with warm, comforting coloring making this illustration feel like the card version of a hug. Maybe Mareep fell asleep while counting its buddies. The next Mareep card shows the Electric-type Pokémon gazing in wonder as dandelions drift by in the wind in another terrific addition by artist 0313. Normally, it is easy for me to pick favorites when a species gets two cards, as I tend to like cute or story-focused over badass, but both of these perfectly capture the essence of Mareep.
- Flaaffy: Artist Mizue seems to continue the action of the previous Mareep card with this softly colored Flaaffy dancing through a sparkling, freshly pollinated meadow. I love how Flaaffy’s face here shows genuine enjoyment of the sights around it.
- Ampharos: It is Satoshi Shirai who closes out the evolutionary line with Ampharos. As a major Ampharos fan, I like the unusual background choice which gives a spooky sort of Stranger Things vibe that I normally would never associate with this species. This card ends up looking a bit too much like a video game cut scene, though, due to a 3D art style without much detail.
Stay tuned for the continuing journey through Pokémon TCG: Sun & Moon – Lost Thunder. To look back on this retrospective series, click the Lost Thunder tag below for more. Next time, this journey continues with the main section of this set.
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