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Hidden Fates TCG Mini-set Speculation

Hidden Fates
Lets talk about TCG and Hidden Fates.

Early today, we reported on a new mini-set that will be releasing this fall called Hidden Fates. This set will be release though several different special collections. The first of these special collections will be Mewtwo/Mew Pin Collection releasing on August 23rd, 2019.

Though, there is a lot to talk about when it comes to Hidden Fates and what could be in them. So much that I needed to make a separate article. So lets get into this.

Speculation

News about Hidden Fates was known on Monday but I had chosen not to talk about it then. After all, what we knew was the details involving the pin collection. Granted, I love collection Pokemon pins but news about a new mini-set with no images do not really catch my fancy.

Even more importantly, we have no idea what will be in Hidden Fates. Based on the Mewtwo/Mew Pin Collection we can say that there will be a Mewtwo and Mew. That is all.

Usually, we can say that an English TCG set is based on a Japanese TCG set. As of right now, we know that Unbroken Bonds is based on Japan’s Night Unison, Full Metal Wall and Double Blaze. August’s English TCG set Unified Minds will be based on Japan’s Miracle Twins, GG End, Sky Legends, and two upcoming Japanese starter decks. The only two Japanese TCG sets that have not been accounted for are Ultra Shiny and Remix Bout. There is also the Family Pokémon Card Game decks and several Full Art Stadium cards.

Remix BoutLets talk about Remix Bout. It is a Japanese mini-set that is set to release on July 5th, 2019. This mini-set has 64 cards and will feature Blastoise, Charizard and Venusaur. It is speculated that this will be a reprint set for Japanese players. That is all we know about the set.

Now lets talk about the Family Pokémon Card Game. This product is a set of decks that were release in Japan to help teach the basics of the Pokemon TCG to newer players. Specifically younger kids and their parents. There were several new cards including new GX cards for Mewtwo, Charizard, Raichu, Pinsir and Gyarados and Wigglytuff. All these cards have no abilities and little to no effects. The other new card from this set was Bug Catacher. This TCG product was released on March 15, 2019.

Meanwhile, Ultra Shiny was release November 2, 2018 with 250 cards. This is is a collector’s dream with all the things that they can get. Ultra Shiny was made up reprints for cards from Sun & Moon base to Celestial Storm. What makes will make collectors go crazy is the 100 secret rares that this set contains. That is because these secret rares include Shiny variants of cards like Rayquaza GX, Charizard GX, Metagross GX, Zoroark GX and several others! This also includes Shiny variants of these respected Pokemon lines such as Charmander, Beldum and many others. There are also gold cards for Pokemon such as Tapu Lele and others. Lastly, new full Art cards for Supporters like Cynthia and Guzma.

Lastly, we have Full Art Stadiums for Brooklet Hill, Mt. Coronet and Shrine of Punishment. All three of these cards have not been released outside of Japan. There is also the upcoming Full Art Viridian Forest which could see the same fate as these cards.

So why bring up these unreleased products?

Ultra shinyIf you are listening to the hype, a lot of TCG players are hoping that Hidden Fates will mark the release of the Shiny variant Pokemon cards from Ultra Shiny in the United States. The same for the Full Art Stadiums.

The problem with releasing the cards from Ultra Shiny and these Full Art Stadium cards is Rotation.

Pokemon is being really careful when it comes to cards and their legality in Pokemon tournaments this upcoming tournament season. You can see this with how they are treating the McDonald’s Collection set. Specifically involving the Eevee with Energy Evolution ability from Sun & Moon base who will not be legal for the 2019-2020 season. That is because the new legality rules says that cards from the McDonald’s Collection are only legal in the Standard format as long as there is a card in the current format that functionally matches it. There is no Energy Evolution Eevee in Ultra Prism-on format. That means this Eevee is now in Expanded.

If any of the Shiny Pokemon from Ultra Shiny or Full Art Stadiums are printed in a new set then that could potentially make them legal for for the 2019-2020 season. That will make things tricky because most of those Shiny reprints will be rotating at the start of the 2019-2020 season. Things will become even more tricky if the speculation on the Japanese side is saying that Japan will see a rotation based on the Block Letter.

What is Block Letter?

Ultra Shiny CharizardAt the start of the Sun & Moon TCG era, Japanese cards have a block letter at the bottom of their cards. Sun & Moon to Crimson Invasion made up the A Block. The B Block ran from Ultra Prism to Lost Thunder. Currently, the C Block is made up of Team Up to Unified Minds. If the Rotation rumors for Japan are real then they could follow the rest of the Pokemon TCG world by rotating out the A Block. That way they will match the Ultra Prism-on format.

Why do these Block Letters matter? When Ultra Shiny was printed in Japan, the reprint cards were printed with their original Block Letter. If you had pulled a Shiny Metagross GX, then it would have the A Block letter on it. That means it was essentially part of the A Block. The same for the Full Art Stadiums.

If Pokemon wanted to print Ultra Shiny cards and the Full Art Stadiums then they would have by now. The problem is they do not want to make these cards legal for tournament play. Thus, it would mean a being printed in Hidden Fates will reset the legality for certain cards that would have rotated in August 2019. The last thing anybody want is a Yveltal GX situation where it never rotated until the end of the XY TCG era.

What does this mean?

We may not see Ultra Shiny cards or Full Art Stadiums release in Hidden Fates.

What will certainly happen is that we will see Japan’s Remix Bout used as the foundation for Hidden Fates. Maybe we will see the Family Pokémon Card Game decks in here as well. After all, they will most likely be legal for two more years and it doesn’t mess up the legality too much. Even if Remix Bout is a reprint set then most of the reprints will come from sets after Celestial Storm.

So what will happen to Ultra Shiny and the Full Art Stadiums?

That is a hard thing to call.

Pokemon will need to do some tricky things to release these sets. One thing that could happen is that the Shiny variant Pokemon from Ultra Shiny will be printed as Yellow A Promos within Hidden Fates. That way there will be some big chase cards within Hidden Fates for the collectors to get. Though, that means Pokemon may need to do some tricks with their printers and designers to make it work. If they do then I guess the hidden part of Hidden Fates will be the hidden Shiny Pokemon in the set.

Another option for these Ultra Shiny Cards is various special collections. These special collections could have these Ultra Shiny cards packaged with Hidden Fates boosters. The Ultra Shiny cards will have the Yellow A symbol to keep their current legal status. Meanwhile, it will sell Hidden Fates boosters.

There is not much known about Hidden Fates. All we know is that it will feature a Mewtwo/Mew Pin Collection and it will be release on August 23rd, 2019. Best of luck to those trying to pull Unbroken Bonds which release on May 3rd!


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