Review: Pre-release of Pokemon Silver Tempest set and closure of Sword and Shield era

Silver Tempest is one of the most anticipated Pokemon sets for the year, with cards such as Radiant Jirachi, Radiant Tsareena and Radiant Alakazam making an appearance.

I was lucky enough to attend a pre-release event at Geek Retreat Leicester. This store offers a choice of many different card games and events, and holds the only licensed Pokémon events in the city, which makes it extremely popular during events such as releases.

The Build and Battle Kit costs around £30. This gives you 4 packs, a prebuilt deck and instructions on how to play. Often enough the organisers will also hand out additional packs as prizes. The kits are given out so people can build decks with what they get within the packs plus the pre-built deck and battle each other for the winning place. This way it shows how powerful some of the cards featured within the set actually are.

This game play is a lot fairer than standard competition, especially on those new to the card game or those unable to spend lots of money on some of the more powerful cards in the TCG such as Giratina V and VSTAR and Arceus V and VSTAR.

The art within the set is some of the best seen since Brilliant Stars and Evolving Skies. Featuring artists such as Asako Ito, whose art features crocheted Pokémon, which she crochets by hand, and Yuka Morii’s incredible clay Pokémon models.

I spoke to multiple Pokémon fans who attended on the day, and many said they were very excited for the event and for the set to be released.

“A great set for building decks and for new players to start with. There’s never been a better time to play,” said Bradley. “I love the alternate art Lugia V.”

With the closing of the Sword and Shield era and the welcoming of the new Scarlet and Violet sets in 2023, will this set go down in history with the Pokémon fanbase or will it end up being a forgotten set in years to come?

Silver Tempest released in stores across the world on November 11.