The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) has just announced the release date for its newest expansion; the paired set, Black Bolt and White Flare.
Scheduled for a Japanese release on the 6th of June, the western market will only have to wait just a little bit longer. Block Bolt and White Flare was announced to be released in English on the 18th of July.
New and Old Rarities
One of the features being marketed for this set is the new B-W Rarity cards. Showcasing a new monochromatic coloring, we’re given a preview of how these cards will look with the set’s flagship Pokémon, Zekram ex and Reshiram ex.
Alongside this new rarity type, it looks like TPCi is also bringing back an older foil card design.
The Tinsel Holofoil design featured the use of holographic paper with horizontal stripes. This was first introduced back in 2011 during the original release of the Black & White expansion.
It’s a possibility that TPCi is doing this as a callback for Black Bolt’s and White Flare’s roots while it promotes the set’s new feature(s).
The Return of Unovan Pokémon
Another key feature announced for this set is that all 156 Unovan Pokémon will have either an Illustration Rare (IR) or Special Illustration Rare (SIR) variant.
TPCi understands how much their player base covets such cards, so they’re setting up the stage by beginning spoilers with the Unovan starter Pokémon evolution line.
Emboar Line:
Samurott Line:
Serperior Line:
A few odds and ends
As part of the expansion’s announcement, TPCi also revealed news of a few miscellaneous items for the Japanese release.
The first is an item being labelled as a ‘3-pocket card file’. It appears to be a packaged set containing three booster packs from both Black Bolt and White Flare.
There is also a promotional Victini card described to be included in the item as well.
And for players wanting to splurge a little more than usual, Black Bolt and White Flare will be given a set of ‘Deluxe Packs’.
Instead of the usual seven cards in a single booster pack, these new deluxe versions come with 35 cards instead alongside a guaranteed Illustrated Rare.
We can’t guarantee if these items will be made available to the western market. But if they do get ported over to the English TCG, avid fans may find some inherently good value here.
With the announcement of Black Bolt and White Flare, spoiler season is now in effect. Keep an eye out as we will go over the newly revealed cards and their capabilities soon.