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We take a look at the latest expansion set for Pokémon The Card Game, which features a particular emphasis on Mega Evolution.
"Hello everyone and welcome to another Gamereactor Quick Look.
Pokemon started, like actually started out when I was just a kid hanging around the early school grades and it became a big fixture for me in my early years and actually throughout my life."
"I haven't actually picked up and collected Pokemon cards since I was a child and now I do it ever so slightly through my eldest boy who is turning six this summer.
It's a big thing for me to see the same universe sort of reinvigorated through his interest in it and that has also prompted me to sit here and unbox a couple of the most recent sets that have come out in recent years thanks to a really strong partnership with the people behind the Pokemon TCG."
"The latest set is Ascended Heroes that replaces this one Phantasmal Flames.
Now the problem with this, if there is a problem, is that these things are just so sought after now not just by kids but by adults and not just by adults but scalpers, people that buy and sell them without ever wanting to play with them, collect them in a more earnest way which is just for them to buy and sell it like a commodity."
"I get that that is really hard to hold back but it's still something I feel like I have to say every time we unbox one of these where you could make the argument that this should have gone to a kid but still we chose to show you this and then highlight the current issues with the Pokemon TCG to simply say that we know what's going on in the community right now."
"So Basic ETB, we have unboxed a couple of these over the past couple of years and they come with a selection of the same things.
An Elite Trainer Box is set to both give you a quick way of gaining access to some of the high value cards that are in the set but also just set you up to play with them, something which happens less and less actually."
"So if we just look at the box that is right here, then we get this which obviously is a PDF that you can look up online but it's called the Player's Guide which contains, which I think is really helpful, a complete guide with large enough images that is physical for you to cross off as you, for instance, complete a Master Set."
"That is where you go after each and every card in a set.
The reason I take this up every time we do an unboxing is that that makes it really easy to show you the chase cards which is the most rare cards in the set.
So that's the Mega Dragonite and the Mega Charizard."
"There's also a Mega Gengar EX that comes in an SIR which is a Special Illustration Rare.
These are very rare cards, therefore really sought after.
I'm not talking about in terms of value, I'm simply saying that I really love that they did these gold-hued cards here."
"It looks like it's a solid block of gold.
It looks great, I gotta say.
So you get this, obviously, then you get this Sekrom Full Art which is a beautiful card alongside some Stoppers which I believe is so you can sort of order them the way you want."
"Cardbacks which is obviously good, you need to sleeve your cards.
That's good card behavior regardless of whether or not you're a scalper or just a regular kid trading this with his friends.
Then you get an Energy Deck which, again, is not something that you trade and it doesn't have any value but it's so that you can, you know, play with the cards."
"Coins for when you play, the heads or tails.
And then dice.
So this is really important.
And then you get a selection of packs as you can see here."
"Again, these card packs in five years.
If trends will continue, we don't know that they will.
These will be, well, very valuable.
But we're going to open them here because at the very least, maybe they find their way to a good home, all of these cards."
"So I don't know the particular card trick, so I'm just going to very briefly.
There's already a Ionos Belly Bolt EX there.
There is no guaranteed rare, but one thing that I was struck with when I started collecting this with my son was how adult Magnus was drawn to just beautiful artwork in general."
"We sit here at Gamer Actra and we review movies and games and sometimes comic books and whatever the case might be.
I feel like that I've conditioned myself to just appreciate beautiful artwork in all aspects of sort of creative professions."
"So it's so lovely to see some of these things.
I mean, look at the like the range between them.
So Hopps, Kramer, Lammas, Larrys, Komala.
These are from very different like illustrators, obviously, but they also choose different design outputs as sort of what they do."
"And obviously you get to something like this, the Groudon, which I remember from Gen 3.
And you know, if you look at scalper videos, then they become, they look at that pack as a dud.
Oh, right."
"It's worth less than what they paid for the pack, but it's a cool thing.
It really is.
So let's open one more here.
So obviously this is regarded as a special set."
"And the reason why it's regarded as a special set is that this is one of the largest sets ever printed in English.
So it's actually 290 cards.
See we've got a Snorrent there, which was one of the full art cards."
"Look at that.
That's just beautiful.
I think at the very least.
And a Team Rocket Taunch Crow.
So the point is 290 cards is a lot."
"And amongst them, as we just looked at in the guide, you've got your Mega Evolutions, which are back, which also plays a prominent role in the recent Legends CA game.
And you also get something called Mega Attack Rares.
That's a bunch of cool things here."
"So again, I would love to just sit and stare at these all day.
We obviously have to keep moving.
So let's do one more pack.
But the point is that these packs, I think it's a beautiful hobby, particularly when you look at it through the lens of a small kid."
"What he likes is particular Pokemon.
So he loves Slowbro.
No idea why.
But when I find him, look at the two of the same.
One I think a Reverse Holo and a Holo."
"That's obviously maybe a tad bit disappointing for every type of collector.
Point is that he likes Slowbro and we collect Slowbro cards.
There's no Slowbros in this set, I think, but still really cool.
We're going to unbox this fully and I'm going to be writing a text about Ascended Heroes, as I've done for the recent Mosettes, on your Game Rector Domain of Choice."
"So don't be afraid to check that out.
See you on the next one."
