Regional Differences: Diamond and Pearl Pt. 5 Legends Awakened

It's been a while since I last posted a Regional Differences article covering the Diamond and Pearl era of the TCG. In Part 4, I examined how corporate synergy between the TCG and the movie "The Rise of Darkrai" created a plethora of regional differences spanning the West's Secret Wonders, Great Encounters and Majestic Dawn expansions, and the Japanese DP3 and DP4 sets. You can read the previous article by clicking here if you need a refresher.

The next sets in the block, "Legends Awakened" in the West, and "Cry from the Mysterious" and "Temple of Anger" in Japan, brought things back into alignment between the East and West, with a few notable exceptions.

MFW "Cry from the Mysterious" is the accepted translation.

Background

DP5 was released in Japan on March 14, 2008. Like Moonlit Pursuit and Dawn Dash, DP5 was composed of two subsets: Cry from the Mysterious and Temple of Anger. Each subset contained a total of 65 cards, all of which were exclusive to each subset. In other words, unlike Moonlit Pursuit and Dawn Dash, in which a handful of cards were available in both booster subsets, all of the cards in Temple of Anger could only be obtained in Temple of Anger packs, and vice versa with respect to Cry from the Mysterious. Each subset contained 15 Rares, 8 Holos, and 3 LV. X ultra rare cards.

The Western version of DP5, Legends Awakened, was released on August 20, 2008. At the time of its release, Legends Awakened was the third largest set in the English TCG, weighing in at an impressive 146 cards. Legends Awakened included the 130 cards from DP5, along with 16 cards from Japan's Heatran vs. Regigigas Deck Kit, a complementary product released alongside the DP5 booster sets. The Deck Kit contained a number of unique cards, most notably Gliscor LV. X and Mewtwo LV. X, that could not otherwise be obtained in the DP5 booster sets.  

Heatran vs. Regigigas Deck Kit. See more at http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Heatran_vs_Regigigas_Deck_Kit_(TCG)

Notable Differences

Overall, there are not many differences between the English and Japanese releases of these sets. Nearly all of the English cards can be found in either the DP5 subsets or the Heatran vs. Regigigas Deck Kit. That being said, there are still a handful of regional differences worth highlighting.

1. Porygon Z LV. X

The most glaring difference between the sets is the inclusion of Porygon Z LV. X in Temple of Anger. In the English TCG, Porygon Z LV. X was originally released in Majestic Dawn. In Japan, the card was originally printed in Temple of Anger, and later received a DP-P promotional card variant with alternate artwork. The English version of the card in Majestic Dawn uses the Japanese promotional card's artwork instead of the original artwork used in Temple of Anger. The Temple of Anger artwork was not released in the English TCG and, as a result, remains a Japanese exclusive to this day.

Temple of Anger print (Japanese exclusive artwork)

Majestic Dawn print (using artwork from the Japanese promo version of the card)

 2. Rarity Disparity

Like previous sets in the Diamond and Pearl block, certain cards had their printed rarities altered between the Japanese and English releases. In Japan, Castform, Catform Rain Form, Castform Snow-cloud Form and Castform Sunny Form were all printed as rare cards in Cry from the Mysterious. These cards were changed to Uncommons for the English release of Legends Awakened.

Does Castform have testicles? Because it kind of looks like Castform has testicles...

In addition, the cards from the Heatran vs. Regigigas Deck Kit were given new printed rarities for their release in Legends Awakened.  The Deck Kit was a fixed product, meaning the contents of every Deck Kit were the same without a substantive rarity, and PCI had no choice but to create rarities for each card imported from that product. Their choices were... unusual. 

Heatran and Regigigas, the namesakes of each half deck, were each printed as Rares. Mewtwo, a card from the Regigigas half deck, was the only card from the Deck Kit printed as a Holo Rare in Legends Awakened. Mewtwo's counterpart in the Heatran half deck, Gliscor, was strangely printed as an Uncommon. It is unclear to me why PCI made these choices, perhaps it had more to do with the cards' competitive qualities than anything else, but it is somewhat unusual that the cards from the half decks received such disparate rarity treatment.  

That's all for this week's installment of regional differences. As always, please let me know if you have any comments, questions or suggestions for revision. 

I will update this post later with links to images of my completed sets of Legends Awakened, Cry from the Mysterious and Temple of Anger. 

Regional Differences: Everyone's Exciting Battle

Welcome back to another edition of regional differences, the series that examines regional differences in the Pokemon TCG. Today I'm taking a look at a Japanese exclusive product from the Black and White era: the Everyone's Exciting Battle collection (sometimes called the "Waku Waku" collection by English collectors).

Not to be confused with Pac-Man's Waka-Waka collection

How girls look at me when I show them my card collection

Background

Released on November 16, 2012, Everyone's Exciting Battle contains eight 15 card "quarter-decks," with each quarter-deck corresponding with a particular energy type.

Each quarter-deck contains a holo card (pictured above), and additional Pokemon, trainer and energy cards. The cards in this collection were printed with unique artwork and you can see images of the complete set at the end of this post. Each quarter deck also includes a number of energy cards that correspond with the quarter-deck's theme. Players take turns drafting quarter-decks until they have either a 30 card half-deck or a full 60 card deck (depending on whether they want to play a full game or a shortened game).

Each card in the collection bears a "WAK" set symbol, but each quarter-deck also has its own unique set symbol. These quarter-deck symbols correspond with the holo Pokemon card in each quarter-deck.

The Quarter-Deck Set Symbols

The collection contains a total of 55 unique cards (including 8 energy cards) with a number of duplicates in each quarter-deck.

In addition to the Pokemon cards, the collection contains a set of damage and special counters, a Black and White era rule book, 2 foil coins, a play mat, and a set of special rule cards that change the way the game is played.

Sealed Rule Cards

Back of the Rule Cards

The collection contains a total of 12 different special rule cards, each modeled after a character in the Black and White video games. The rule cards operate in manner similar to the old Vanguard rules of Magic the Gathering, offering stat bonuses and other special benefits to players. Some rule cards have effects that feel like they belong in Magic's Unhinged expansion, forcing you to strike poses or do other silly actions before completing your turn.

The Rule Cards

Where will you be when Diarrhea strikes?

Reddit user u/riChestMat posted translations for all 12 rule cards on Reddit, which are reproduced below:

edit: the article has been updated to include the most recent translations of the rule cards, which can be seen at http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Everyone%27s_Exciting_Battle_(TCG)

1. Iris: Choose 1 Pokémon from your prize cards to be your active Pokémon. This is the only Pokémon you can use, but if it defeats your opponent’s Pokémon you win the match.
2. Elesa: Your Pokémon do +20 damage (before calculating weakness & resistance)
3. Marlon: Your Pokemon have HP+30
4. Cheren: All your cards (prize cards, deck and hand) are placed face up.
5. Bianca: Once during your turn, after you flip any coins for an attack, you may ignore all effects of those coin flips and begin flipping those coins again.
6. Roxie: On your turn you may play 1 extra energy card from your hand. This must be attached to a different Pokémon (both energy cards cannot be played to the same Pokémon).
7. Burgh: Your active Pokémon recovers HP+20 during your turn.
8. Alder: If you laugh during your turn then your Pokémon cannot commence its attack. You may laugh once the attack has started.
9. Drayden: You can play Stage 1 and 2 Pokémon to the bench or battlefield without needing to evolve from an earlier stage.
10. Brycen: During your opponent’s turn you have to do the pose pictured on the rule card (standing on one foot with one knee raised, the arm on the same side bent and the other arm extended). No penalty for failing to hold the pose is specified.
11. Skyla: You draw 1 extra card from your deck on your first turn.
12. Clay: You have just 10 seconds to complete your turn. Your opponent performs the countdown.

Additional pictures of the collection are below.

The Box

Back cover

Inside the box and underneath the cards

Timmy demonstrates the dance of his people

Non-Card Contents

Audino Coin

Playmat - note the spot for the rule cards next to the Battlefield spot.

How to play insert

Special Rule Q&A

Rule book and Counters

Back of Counters

Cards

The energy cards are not separately pictured as they all follow the pattern noted for the Darkness energy above. Overall, Everyone's Exciting Battle is an interesting product that puts a unique twist on TCG game play for players, while simultaneously providing 55 unique Japanese exclusive cards for collectors to track down. The collection's original MSRP was 3,500 yen, and you can still find boxes selling for approximately $30 USD today. 

Thanks for reading and as always, let me know if you have any comments, questions or suggested revisions. 

Guardians Rising Dossier

I recently wrote an article for Flipside Gaming discussing the latest English TCG release, Sun and Moon: Guardians Rising. You can read the article here: https://www.flipsidegaming.com/blogs/pokemon-blog/sun-and-moon-guardians-rising-collector-s-dossier

One interesting thing about this set is the unprecedented number of Secret Rare cards. With 24 Secret Rares in the set, at a pull rate of approximately 1:56 packs, the prospect of completing this set through booster packs alone is impossible for most collectors. Hopefully PCI reduces the amount of Secret Rares in the next expansion or makes them easier to obtain. Otherwise, they run the risk of alienating more casual collectors.

Expect a new regional differences article on Friday.

Regional Differences: Korea's Shiny Red Gyarados

Welcome to another edition of Regional Differences, the series that examines regional differences between Pokemon TCG releases. Today's article addresses a really neat regional discrepancy I only recently uncovered. It's off to the Lake of Rage to take a new look at one of the first shining Pokemon: Gyarados.

Background

To celebrate the release of the Heartgold and Soulsilver video games on the Nintendo DS, the Pokemon TCG entered into a new era of its own with the launch of the Heartgold & Soulsilver ("HGSS") expansion. In Japan, the set was released as two separate booster subsets, "HeartGold Collection" and "Soulsilver Collection" on October 9, 2009. The English version of the expansion was released as a single booster set on February 10, 2010. With the new expansion, the TCG parted ways with LV. Xs from the Diamond & Pearl and Platinum eras, introduced new Pokemon Prime and Legend  cards, and gave the expansion a formatting overhaul in both the English and Japanese versions of the TCG. 

The English version of HGSS featured one of the most iconic Pokemon from the video games as the last official card in the set list: the shiny red Gyarados.

The card was available in both holo and reverse holo variants. As a brief aside, the card's set number, 123, is the same set number given to the Secret Rare shiny red Gyarados EX in the more recent Breakpoint expansion. Talk about a call back! 

In Japan, the shiny red Gyarados was released in neither Heartgold Collection nor Soulsilver Collection, but as a promotional card in the "Random Basic Pack", a Japanese exclusive product. The Japanese version of the card is not available as a reverse holo.

The Japanese Random Basic Pack.
Learn more at http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Random_Basic_Pack_(TCG)

In both the English and Japanese releases, the shiny red Gyarados features the card formatting introduced in HGSS. I thought that was the end of the story, but I recently learned (after a bit of fishing... get it?!) that there was another version of this card that was released using the old format from the Diamond & Pearl/Platinum era. Without further ado, I present the Korean version of the shiny red Gyarados:

Presented with the English version for ease of comparison

So why is the Korean version of the card so different? At the time HGSS was being released to the rest of the world, the Pokemon TCG was dead in South Korea. The game had been put on legal hiatus after the release of ex Power Keepers and while HGSS was releasing in English, the relaunch of the South Korean TCG was still several months away. When the game finally returned to South Korean shelves, it was decided that South Korean players, who had missed the entire Diamond and Pearl and Platinum eras, should be brought up to speed with cards from those previous sets. On May 13, 2010, "Start of an Adventure", the first expansion in the Korean relaunch was released. It was the first of 10 Korean exclusive special sets that contained a mix of cards from the Diamond and Pearl and Platinum eras of the TCG. Coverage of those sets is a topic for its own Regional Differences article; the point here is that while Japan and the United States were entering into the HGSS era, South Korea was entering its unique version of the Diamond & Pearl/Platinum era. 

According to Bulbapedia, the Korean version of shiny red Gyarados was released as a promo card in "Random Pack 1," a Korean product that I assume was similar to the "Random Basic Pack" in Japan, but I have found no information online to confirm my hunch or otherwise shed light on the product. Nevertheless, it appears that Pokemon Korea, Inc., the company that oversaw the Korean relaunch with help from PCI, decided it would be better to keep the formatting of the card consistent with the other cards being released in South Korea at that time. 

Because of this decision, South Korea's shiny red Gyarados is noticeably different from the versions of the card released in other languages. And that's pretty cool. 

Thanks for reading and as always, let me know if you have any comments, questions or suggested revisions. 

Regional Differences: Diamond and Pearl Pt. 4 the Rise of Darkrai

Regional Differences: Diamond and Pearl Pt. 4 The Rise of Darkrai


Welcome to another edition of Regional Differences, the series that examines regional differences between Pokemon TCG releases. Today's article resumes our discussion of the of the Diamond and Pearl era of the TCG. You can read the previous articles here:


Part 1
Part 2
Part 3


Today's discussion focuses on the most powerful force in the universe, corporate synergy. 

More specifically, how corporate synergy in the Pokemon multi-media empire led to substantial regional differences between the English and Japanese TCG over the course of the next three sets in the Diamond and Pearl era. 

Background

There are a number of important dates to consider when discussing the sets in this article, so below are the flow charts from the first Diamond and Pearl article to keep everyone properly oriented.

With that out of the way, let's talk about:

Pokemon is, of course, much more than a TCG. It is a multi-media empire that includes everything from TV shows and movies to mobile games. Every so often, the initiatives in one branch of the empire will reach out its tendrils and ensnare the other parts of the Pokemon machine. Take, for example, the tenth Pokemon movie, "The Rise of Darkrai." This film marked the debut of Darkrai, a legendary Pokemon from the Diamond and Pearl video games (pictured below). 

2spooky4me

The Pokemon Company higher-ups decided that the theatrical debut of Darkrai should coincide with its debut in other media, including the TCG.  In Japan, the Rise of Darkrai movie premiered in theaters on July 14, 2007, one week after the release of Shining Darkness, the third set in the Japanese Diamond and Pearl block. In connection with the release of the film, Shining Darkness heavily featured Darkrai, Dialga, and Palkia, Pokemon that played prominent roles in the film. In the United States however, the film did not premiere until February 24, 2008. The problem facing the Pokemon Company International ("PCI") was how to handle the third set of the English TCG’s Diamond and Pearl block which was scheduled for release in November of 2007, three months before the release of the film.

PCI essentially had two options: either alter the contents of the set to preserve corporate synergy, or release the set with the contents unchanged. Unsurprisingly, PCI went with the first option and removed Dialga, Palkia, and Darkrai from Secret Wonders and moved them to Great Encounters, the fourth English set in the Diamond and Pearl block (which released right around the English debut of the film). 

That of course left PCI with the issue of how to replace the cards they removed from Shining Darkness. Fortunately, the fourth set(s) in the Japanese Diamond and Pearl block, Moonlit Pursuit and Dawn Dash, had just released in Japan, so PCI took certain cards from those expansions and added them to Secret Wonders.

Gardevoir Lv. X: released in Secret Wonders in English and Dawn Dash in Japanese

So for those keeping score at home, the following cards were featured in Shining Darkness but were removed from Secret Wonders and added to Great Encounters: Darkrai, Dialga, Palkia, Darkrai Lv. X, Dialga Lv. X, and Palkia Lv. X. The following cards were added to Secret Wonders from Dawn Dash, Moonlit Pursuit, and the Japanese half-decks released alongside those expansions: Gardevoir, Roserade, Electivire, Magmortar, Weavile, Roselia, Electabuzz, Magmar, Gardevoir Lv. X, and Honchkrow Lv. X. 

Moonlit Pursuit and Dawn Dash

Moonlit Pursuit and Dawn Dash are interesting expansions worth briefly discussing. Each set contains 70 cards, nearly all of which are only available in their respective expansion. In other words, nearly all of the cards in Dawn Dash can only be obtained in Dawn Dash booster packs and nearly all of the cards in Moonlit Pursuit can only be obtained in Moonlit Pursuit booster packs. The emphasis on unique content for the subsets was a welcome departure from Space-Time Creation, where nearly all of the cards in the set were available in both Diamond Collection and Pearl Collection. While the contents of the subsets are almost entirely unique, they are both still considered part of the overall DP4 release as, like Diamond Collection and Pearl Collection, Dawn Dash and Moonlit Pursuit share a single “DP4” set symbol.  

In the English TCG, the contents of these sets were split into three different expansions. First, as previously noted, certain cards from Dawn Dash and Moonlit Pursuit were moved forward into Secret Wonders to replace the cards removed from Shining Darkness. Second, the bulk of the remaining cards from Moonlit Pursuit, plus the cards held back from Shining Darkness, made up Great Encounters. Finally, the remaining cards from Dawn Dash, along with certain unreleased Japanese promo cards and the Japanese ancillary product “Entry Pack ’08” made up the fifth English set in the block, Majestic Dawn.

Entry Pack 08. You can read more about this product at http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Entry_Pack_%2708_(TCG)

So to summarize, because of the importance of corporate synergy, the English and Japanese Diamond and Pearl eras, which had otherwise been fairly similar up until this point, embarked on widely divergent paths around July 2007 due to the release of The Rise of Darkrai. As a result, collectors have the benefit of collecting a number of unique sets that vary widely in composition from their regional counterparts.

You can see my completed sets of Secret Wonders, Great Encounters, Majestic Dawn, Dawn Dash and Moonlit Pursuit by following the links below.

Secret Wonders

Great Encounters

Majestic Dawn

Dawn Dash

Moonlit Pursuit

As always, please let me know if you have any comments, questions or suggestions for revision. 

Finally, if you are a new or returning collector and are looking for a place to start in the Pokemon TCG, be sure to check out my article on the newest English set, Sun and Moon, on Flipside Gaming's website at https://www.flipsidegaming.com/blogs/news/a-pokemon-tcg-collectors-guide  

Regional Differences: Sun and Moon

Welcome to another edition of Regional Differences, the series that examines regional differences between Pokemon TCG releases.Today I'm taking a quick break from my discussion of the Diamond and Pearl era of the TCG to discuss the newest English release and its Japanese counterpart, Sun and Moon.

Trend setters

Background

Sun and Moon is the TCG base set release of the eighth generation of Pokemon video games, and the set shares a number of similarities with previous base set releases. When I use the term "base set" in this context, I'm referring to a TCG set release that corresponds with a new generation of Pokemon video games (e.g., Base Set, ex Ruby and Sapphire, Diamond and Pearl, Black and White, X&Y, etc.) I'm not specifically referring to the first TCG set released by Wizards way back in 1999. 

Base sets usually follow a few patterns, including:

1) Card template redesigns

2) Japanese release structure - base sets are released in the form of two separate booster sets which together make up the total release (e.g., Diamond Collection and Pearl Collection together make up Space-Time Creation, the Japanese version of Diamond and Pearl)

3) Changes in card distribution

4) New categories of rare pokemon

Sun and Moon fits all of the above characteristics.

1) Card template redesigns

Note the differences between the Caterpies and Metapods from Flashfire and Sun and Moon below:

As you can see from the caterpie evolution line above, the card design for the new set has moved away from the wavy aesthetic in the X&Y era to a more blocky format for Sun and Moon. The Japanese versions of these cards follow the same trend:

Reverse holos have also been remodeled:

Now, instead of multiple off-setting energy symbols, there is one large energy symbol surrounded by a textile pattern of smaller energy. 

Additionally, the holo rare pattern has been changed to a wavy design and the new Pokemon GX (more on those in point 4) differ substantially in layout from their EX and Mega predecessors. 

2) Japanese release structure 

As with previous base set releases, Sun and Moon were released in two separate booster sets: Collection Sun and Collection Moon. Together these two booster sets make up the composite SM1 set for Japan. Unlike previous Japanese base sets, Collection Sun and Collection Moon each have their own set sub-symbol. Cards from Collection Sun are labelled SM1S and cards from Collection Moon are labelled SM1M. This is a welcome change to the layout of the cards and will help new and old collectors alike keep better track of their collections. 



As with past Japanese base sets, certain cards are only available in Collection Sun and Collection Moon. Unlike Space-Time Creation where only a small handful of cards were unique to each of Pearl Collection and Diamond Collection, most of the cards appearing in Sun and Moon are only available in one of the subset booster packs. Only three cards appear in both booster packs: Cosmog, Cosmoem, and Eevee, This is another welcome design choice for collectors. 

3)   Changes in Card Distribution

English

In the English TCG, the size of booster packs have been increased to contain 11 cards: 5 commons, 3 uncommons 1 reverse holo, 1 rare (or better), and 1 energy card. 

Lies. All Lies. 

Unlike previous English expansions, the energy card does not contain a set number or the Sun and Moon set symbol.  

Japanese sets have been releasing energy cards in this manner for years, but this is a first for the English TCG. In addition, full art cards (Ultra Rares and Secret Rares) take the spot of a common in the English TCG. This means you could, in theory and if really lucky, pull 3 rares in one pack in the English TCG. 

English Booster Boxes continue to contain 36 packs per box, although the pull rate for rarer cards has been decreased (as discussed below). 

Japanese 

Japanese packs continue to contain 5 cards per pack (3 Common, 2 Uncommon with a chance for a Rare or better card) but booster boxes have been redesigned and increased to include 30 packs per box. Booster packs do not include energy cards. 




4) New Categories of Rare Pokemon

Out with the old (EX, Megas, Breaks) and in with the new, welcome to the era of Pokemon GX:



Smoking hot. But the big question is: how rare are they? Before answering that question, its worth briefly discussing how card rarity is broken down in the English and Japanese versions of the TCG.

If you meander over to the official pokemon TCG website, you can click on links for each Nintendo era booster set. Each set page contains a link to an official checklist for that set. Below is a screen shot for the official Evolutions checklist (you can also view it by clicking here):

As you can see from the checklist, the official rarities for the cards in Evolutions are Common, Uncommon, Rare, Rare Holo ("H"), Rare EX ("EX"), Rare Break, and Rare Ultra (aka "Ultra Rare" or "UR"). Not listed on the official checklist are the secret rares from this expansion which have their own "Secret Rare" rarity. In most sets, the Secret Rares are the rarest cards available in booster packs (Evolutions is the exception to this rule). Note: a helpful commenter pointed out that the official checklist for Sun and Moon is currently available for download here: http://sm1.pokemontcg.com/assets/pdf/checklist/SM1_Web_Card_List_EN.pdf

On the Japanese side, cards have been broken down into the following rarities ever since XY:

C (common) - U (uncommon) - R (rare) - RR (double rare - which includes non-full art EXs, Megas, and Breaks) - SR (Super Rare - this is the English equivalent of an Ultra Rare) - UR (Ultra Rare - this is the English equivalent of a Secret Rare (in sets other than Evolutions)).

In both the English and Japanese TCG, the new Pokemon GX are available in 3 different rarities.

Screenshot from Bulbapedia at http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Lapras-GX_(Sun_%26_Moon_35)

In English, these rarities are GX (the new version of the EX rarity and the Japanese equivalent of RR) - UR - Secret Rare. 

In Japanese, these rarities are RR - SR - and a brand new "Hyper Rare" (HR) rarity. 

Interestingly, in the Japanese set numbering, Hyper Rares come after Super Rares and before Ultra Rares. This is strong inferential evidence that HRs, while rarer than SRs, are still not officially as rare as URs in the Japanese TCG. 

While we know the official rarities of the GX variants, the question remains, how likely are you to pull one in a booster pack?

Unfortunately, this is a difficult question. A truly accurate answer requires a sizable amount of data that I simply do not have. What I can say is that based on the English booster box I opened (which is an admittedly small sample size), I received a GX rare card in 1:9 packs, an Ultra Rare in 1:18 packs and, based on the pull rate from previous sets with Secret Rares and pull reports on other websites like r/pkmntcgcollections, pokebeach, and the elite four pro boards, Secret Rares appear to have a 1:72 pack pull rate. 

On the Japanese end of the spectrum, it appears that people are reporting opening 2-3 RR GX pokemon per booster box (30 packs), an SR 1:1.5 booster boxes, and an HR or UR 1:2.5 booster boxes. 

This obviously not nearly enough data to draw reliable conclusions from so, if you've opened a booster box of Sun and Moon in either English or Japanese, I encourage you to note your pulls in the comments so that I can update this post with additional data points. 

Thanks for reading this week's edition of Regional Differences. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.