In most cases, both halves of a box Legendary duo tend to be equally as popular. This, however, wasn’t the case way back in the second generation of Pokémon. Lugia, the mascot of the Pokémon Silver video game, was and to this day continues to be much more of a fan favorite than its Pokémon Gold version counterpart Ho-oh. That’s one of the main reasons why the Lugia V card from Paradigm Trigger [S12] is one of that Pokémon TCG set’s most coveted pulls.

This Super Rare (SR) card’s Full Art illustration by kawayoo does a lot to capture Lugia V’s sheer might. Lugia V is shown creating a vortex of some sort in the sky while a lone bystander looks on in awe. According to Pokémon’s in-universe lore, even the mere flapping of Lugia’s wings causes a storm to arise—the illustration is a direct allusion to this.

In addition, the card’s dark, shadowy illustration and background makes Lugia V itself appear almost black. This was likely a stylistic decision taken to make Lugia V resemble Shadow Lugia—the one-off form of Lugia made iconic by its unforgettable appearance in the spin-off video game Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness.

As has been mentioned, Lugia has been a firm fan favorite ever since its introduction well over two decades ago. To top it all off, the Lugia VSTAR deck is one of the leading decks in the current meta. Since Lugia V evolves into Lugia VSTAR, this card will be equally sought by serious players as it will by collectors.

The English version of this card is card 186/195 of the Silver Tempest set.

A Lugia V (Paradigm Trigger [S12] 110/098) card of SR rarity goes for 30,500 JPY (~US$198).

In other TCG-related news, check out the Bibarel card from VSTAR Universe [S12a]. Alternatively, you can also head over to the SNKRDUNK App via the banner below and find the top trending and latest single cards and boxes.