Origin Forme Dialga V
Hisuian Sneasler V
Hisuian Lilligant V
Jirachi V
Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR
Machamp VMAX
Origin Forme Palkia VSTARWhy Astral Radiance matters
Astral Radiance landed in spring 2022 as the tenth main Sword & Shield expansion, and it did the thing every collector hoped: it brought Pokémon Legends: Arceus into the card game. The Hisui region shows up in force — Origin Forme Palkia and Dialga headline as VSTARs, and Hisuian regional forms (Sneasler, Lilligant, Zoroark, Braviary) fill out the roster. It's a set with a clear identity, which is not always a given for a mid-cycle Sword & Shield release.
Structurally it's a big set: 189 cards in the printed run swelling to 216 once you count the secret rares, with a hefty 27-card secret tail of gold and rainbow cards. This was also the era of the Trainer Gallery subset — the "TG" cards tucked into the back of the numbering with alternate-art character-focused illustrations. Those Trainer Gallery pulls are a big part of why people actually enjoyed cracking this set; the full-art Trainer cards and character-paired Pokémon give it charm the base numbering sometimes lacks.
On the competitive side, Astral Radiance mattered. Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR became a defining deck of the Sword & Shield format's late run, and Radiant Pokémon (the shiny "Radiant" mechanic) debuted here too. That play relevance kept singles moving and kept the set in circulation long after release. Machamp V and Machamp VMAX are the collector darlings of the alt-art/rainbow tier, and the set's Trainer Gallery pieces are what people chase for the binder.
Among collectors, Astral Radiance is remembered fondly but not treated as a grail set. It's plentiful, it was printed heavily, and its ceiling is modest by chase-card standards — one card clears the century mark and roughly a dozen and a half cross into meaningful money. The appeal is the theme and the Trainer Gallery, not scarcity.
