The ugly, all-gold, Mega Hyper Rare cards in the latest Mega Evolution expansions are the hardest cards to pull in both Mega Evolution and Phantasmal Flames, despite looking (to me) like weird cheap fakes from bootleg packs. So I'm treating it as very good news that the upcoming Pokémon Ascended Heroes special set is ditching them - and I have to hope it's for good.
I'm not hating on Mega Hyper Rares because I haven't got them (although it is true that I don't have any), but because I think they're just really dull for what should be the most expensive Pokémon cards in their sets. They just have the vibes of those fake all-gold cards from bootleg Pokémon TCG packs. They are vastly higher quality than any knock-off rubbish, of course, but I can't shake the feeling of similarity.
Considering both of the most recent Pokémon sets contained Mega Hyper Rares, I was already expecting the upcoming Ascended Heroes expansion - a so-called 'high-value set' - to be stuffed with them. However, as confirmed by The Pokémon Company in a recent press release, I was completely off the mark - there's no Mega Hyper Rares this time around.
I'm also ecstatic at the sheer amount of Illustrator Rares or rarer that will be available in the set. Ascended Heroes boasts 33 Illustration Rares and a 22 Special Illustration Rares. To put that in perspective, Prismatic Evolutions had 32 SIRs and no IRs,
That makes the prospect of collecting a complete Master Set positively daunting, but I'm really excited to see so many gorgeous cards available in one expansion.
While it's not clear if this will be a new standard, or if Ascended Heroes is just an outlier, I'm happy. My recent Pokémon Phantasmal Flames review was positively glowing except for the Mega Hyper Rares and a bit too much focus on Charizard - a set in the current series without MHRs should be incredible!
If you're keen to get your hands on the upcoming expansion, I'd recommend checking the following retailers over the coming days:
- Chaos Cards (UK-based, global)
- Walmart (US)
- Sam's Club (US)
- Amazon (global)
- Magic Madhouse (global)
- Pokémon Center (global)
Speaking of pre-ordering Pokémon Ascended Heroes, I'd suggest joining our Wargamer Discord to be kept up-to-date with any stock alerts and the latest news for the trading card game. And join in the chat with fellow trainers, and players of other games like Warhammer 40k, D&D, and more - we're quite a friendly bunch!