Brilliant Stars (TCG)

Brilliant Stars is the ninth main Sword & Shield Series expansion of the Pokémon Trading Card Game and is set to release on February 25, 2022. In Japan, it was released as Star Birth on January 14, 2022 and is the ninth expansion of the Pokémon Card Game Sword & Shield Era. Brilliant Stars consists of cards sourced from the Japanese Star Birth expansion, the Start Deck 100, and the VMAX Climax subset. Each Brilliant Stars booster pack contains ten cards from the expansion, a basic Energy card, and a code card for use with the Pokémon Trading Card Game Live. Each Star Birth pack contains five cards.

The expansion centers on the Alpha Pokémon Arceus, which supports the Pokémon V and new Pokémon VSTAR mechanic. Pokémon VSTAR begin to take the place of Pokémon VMAX from this expansion and, like their predecessors, evolve from a requisite Pokémon V. Each one also has an attack or Ability called a VSTAR Power that, much like GX attacks in the Sun & Moon Series, can only be used once in a game. Other Pokémon supporting the VSTAR mechanic in the expansion include Charizard, Shaymin, and Whimsicott. Brilliant Stars includes a subset of cards named the Trainer Gallery, which comprises Full Art reprints depicting Pokémon alongside a Trainer, a concept last seen in the Cosmic Eclipse expansion.

Additional cards

No. Image Card name Type Rarity Promotion 021/172 Moltres [[Image:Rarity_.png|]] Non Holo Brilliant Stars Build & Battle Box exclusive 026/172 Infernape [[Image:Rarity_.png|]] Non Holo Brilliant Stars Build & Battle Box exclusive