Pokémon TCG: Stellar Crown Review and Buying Guide
It’s finally almost here! Stellar Crown is a hotly anticipated set. Releasing everywhere on September 13, 2024, this set is filled to the brim with powerful new mechanics for players with the strongest focusing intently on Tera Pokemon. Let’s look at all of the best products you can buy from this set, and where to preorder them.
Stellar Crown set details
“Descend into a world below the surface and discover the true potential of the Terastal phenomenon! The Legendary Pokémon Terapagos takes the throne, joined by Cinderace ex, Lapras ex, and Galvantula ex, all wielding brilliant new powers as Stellar Tera Pokémon ex. The newly discovered Hydrapple ex leads even more Pokémon ex into battle, and ACE SPEC cards continue to shake up the game in the Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—Stellar Crown expansion!”
Stellar Crown features:
Over 170 cards
More than a dozen new Pokémon ex
More new ACE SPEC cards
More than 20 Trainer cards
More than 30 Pokémon and Trainer cards with special illustrations
Stellar Crown’s best products
The most exciting thing about a new Pokemon set is its cards. But the best way to get those cards is via the sealed products themselves. When done just right, these products can be main events in their own rights, with gorgeous, collectible designs and add-ons that make them collectible and worth having in their own right.
Stellar Crown Elite Trainer Box
Hands down the product I’m most excited about coming out in Stellar Crown is the Elite Trainer Box, or ETB for short. Other than the fact that the design of this box looks great, I’m really excited about the Noctowl that it comes with. This Noctowl (a Pokemon some may be nostalgic for as it hails from the early generations of Pokemon) is not only gorgeously rendered, Noctowl is a highly competitive card, and likely to have a significant impact on the Pokemon TCG meta.
While we do sometimes get meta relevant cards in ETBs, it doesn’t happen every set. Stellar Crown ETBs are likely to fly off the shelves just because of how great the promo it comes with is.
Meanwhile, the ETB is the best bang for your buck out of all the Stellar Crown products. It’s very affordable and you get eleven packs, as well as a range of other items like sleeves, damage dice, energies, and a convenient box to store everything in.
Stellar Crown Build and Battle Box
The Build and Battle Box from this set is also looking quite fun. Not only do these decks come with what you need to build your own deck, they also come with special stamped promos which have already been released. These promos look relatively strong, and should make for a fun and varied deck building experience, especially at prerelease events.
Build and Battle Boxes include:
• A 40-card ready-to-play deck, including 1 of 4 unique foil promo cards
• 4 Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet booster packs
• A code card for Pokémon TCG Live
That’s not bad at all given this product’s affordable price point!
Stellar Crown Booster Box
While the booster box doesn’t have special sleeves or stamped promos included in it, it’s actually your best buy if you are looking to open a lot of packs and get the best value per pack. This booster is not very expensive, especially if you buy it on TCGPlayer, making it a great way to save on opening a lot of packs.
What’s more, booster boxes are notoriously good at helping you find rare and valuable chase cards, often making them even more worth the investment.
Stellar Crown Booster Bundle
If you want to open a handful of packs but don’t want to spend the $100+ dollars on a booster box, Booster Bundles are a good compromise. While I’d still recommend getting the ETB over a bundle because you get more packs plus additional items, booster bundles can compliment your ETB purchase and give you more opportunities to pull rare or helpful cards.
Stellar Crown set review
Now you’ve seen the best products you can get, you might be wondering just how good Stellar Crown is compared to other Pokemon TCG sets. Let’s take a look at some of this sets highlights and lowlights so you know a little better what you can expect out of the products you purchase
Highlights – who this set is for
If you are an active Pokemon TCG player, then chances are good that you are going to love this set. It introduces a powerful range of new cards complete with exciting mechanics that will make the game more fun and interesting.
You’ll get extra appreciation out of this set if you are a fan of the DLCs that you can get for the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet video game as well, as this expansion leans heavily into the Indigo Disk DLC, as well as the characters and Pokemon you encounter in it.
Also, if you are a collector and really enjoy modern cards, this expansion has plenty of worthwhile chase cards in it to add to your collection or to flip online. Cards like Hydrapple ex Terrapagos EX special illustration rares are easily among the most gorgeous alternate artworks of Scarlet and Violet, and should be worth a fair amount on the secondary card market, as well.
Lowlights – who this set isn’t for
More nostalgia-driven fans of the game may find this set slightly lacking. In the nostalgia department, the set only has a few notable alternate arts featuring earlier Pokemon. That being said, two of these are Kanto starters: Squirtle and Bulbasaur, so that might be interesting enough to get even those collectors to buy a few products.
Bulbasuar Illustration Rare found in Stellar Crown packs
The verdict
When all is said and done, Stellar Crown is the set I’ve been most excited about since Temporal Forces. It’s going to have a big impact on the game, introduces some delightful new mechanics, and has several great chase cards like the Kanto starters and even a few supporters.
Stellar Crown is going to be big!
