By 
The Pokemon Company has announced the winners of the Pokemon TCG Illustration Contest 2022. It also published a new video showcasing the winning illustrations. Some of them will appear as actual cards in the near future.
[tnm_video layout=”mnmd-post-media”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysWSF4wcoRo[/tnm_video]
The Pokemon Company held the contest in Japan and the United States from October 13, 2021, to January 31, 2022. After receiving a total of 10,830 submissions, the judges deliberated until they could choose twenty winning illustrations. The company would also take the top three winners and apply them to actual cards.
The Grand Prize winner is REND, who drew a yawning Arcanine with a Fletchling standing on its back. Julie Hang’s laughing Bulbasaur also won as the U.S. First Runner-Up. Taiga Kasai’s illustration of a Greninja leading a pack of Froakies and Frogadiers rounded up the top winners’ lineup as Japan’s First Runner-Up. Pokemon TCG players can expect these contest-winning designs to appear in actual promo cards.
The announcement also included illustrations that won the Second Runners-Up and the Judges’ Award. The two Second Runners-Up illustrators will receive $1,000, while the fifteen Judges’ Award recipients will also get $500. However, these illustrations will not appear as actual cards.
The latest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion set as of this writing is Sword and Shield: Astral Radiance. It came out on May 27, 2022, and included Hisui-themed cards modeled after Pokemon Legends Arceus.
