Update []:
Yesterday, we highlighted the sweet-looking ‘Black Bolt’ and ‘White Flare’ Pokémon Trading Card Game sets that will be rolling out in Japan next month. Well, the pair has just been confirmed for a western release — the first ever English dual set.
Both Black Bolt and White Flare are set to launch in the UK on 18th July, with a steady trickle of set products arriving in the ensuing weeks. According to the set’s official website, both expansions feature over 170 cards, an illustration rare card for all 156 Unova ‘mon and at least five special illustration rare cards and Pokémon ex cards.
Of course, there’s also the all-new ‘BWR’ rarity to look out for, featuring some swanky designs for at least three Unova legendaries. With Elite Trainer Boxes, Binder collections and Mini Tins all arriving on launch day, we’re sure that everyone is going to be totally normal about buying a respectable number of products so that everyone can get involved… hm, yeah right.
Those who have been collecting Japanese Pokémon cards will be no stranger to a dual set like this one, though the collections are normally combined for an English release. So special is this duo out West, that Black Bolt and White Flare won’t be getting the usual Booster Box treatment, but there are still many products to look forward to over July and August.
You can get a closer look at the new rarity in our initial coverage below.
Original Story: The Pokémon Company has revealed that it will release a special Black and White-themed TCG set to celebrate the games’ 15th anniversary. Sounds fun, right? Well, aside from all that nostalgia, the set will also introduce a new level of rarity to the card game, something we’re sure the scalpers will behave totally normally over…
The ‘Black Bolt’ and ‘White Flare’ sets will be released in Japan on 6th June, containing all 156 ‘mon from the Unova region. While everyone will undoubtedly be chasing the usual full arts and ex cards, the set introduces a new ‘BWR’ rarity — the highest rarity in the collection — featuring Reshiram, Zekrom and Victini in some sweet single-colour designs.
These black, white and red cards boast some seriously cool art, and their new super rarity has us imagining they will go for a pretty penny on the resale market. We’ve only seen the new rare type rolled out for the three ‘mon at the time of writing, but there’s every chance that the other Gen V legendaries will be treated to a similar limited-palette prettiness down the line.
Here’s a closer look at the new BWR (believed to stand for ‘Black White Rare’) trio, so you know what to look out for when ripping packs:
According to VGC, the ‘Black Bolt’ and ‘White Flare’ set will launch in the West one month after its Japanese debut, potentially under a different name thanks to the magic of translation. We’ll be keeping an eye out for the wider release date and will update you as soon as we hear anything.
While we are excited to hear that there will soon be a new rarity in town, our minds have quickly jumped to the inevitable scapling rush and probable stock limitations. Both the recent Destined Rivals and Prismatic Evolutions expansions were marred by disastrous launches, with fans being asked to wait multiple hours in queues while pricy resale listings popped up online. TPC later appeared to be working on restocks, but only time will tell whether such an approach is effective once a desirable new chase card is out there.