It’s fair to say that Pokemon has had a great few years, bolstered by incredible releases, such as the nostalgia-fuelled Scarlet & Violet: 151, stunning full art, Secret Rare cards and the introduction of compelling new mechanics such as Tera Pokemon ex.
Having brought numerous players and collectors either back to the game or for the first time, it seems that The Pokemon Company are most definitely not resting on their laurels, as they keep on bringing more and more impressive cards to the tabletop. Upcoming Pokemon Shrouded Fable card set looks very likely to capture the attention of players and collectors alike once more from looking at the list so far.
So what can we expect from Shrouded Fable? Most of the set is made up of cards from the Japanese Night Wanderer set (as well as some thrown in that didn’t make the cut from other, previous Japanese sets when they headed West); let’s take a look at all of the cards in Shrouded Fable, separated into the base set of cards and the Secret Rares in the set.
Shrouded Fable: Base Set Card Gallery
Just like Night Wanderer, Shrouded Fable is a smaller set that’ll tide fans over until the next ‘main’ set release (Stellar Crown, which is due in September). There are 64 cards in the base set, though there are more cards than that overall, thanks to alternate art versions of some cards; these cards are numbered above 64 and are known as Secret Rares; we’ll cover those in a separate gallery. For now, here are all of the cards that have been revealed with the Shrouded Fable set code (SFA) which you’ll see in the bottom left of the card:
Shrouded Fable: Secret Rare Card Gallery
As mentioned above, any cards that go above the numbering of the printed number of cards in a set are known as Secret Rares. For example, let’s check out the cards in the image below. The very first card is a Tapu Bulu, a card with the number 065/64. Next we have the Houndoom card, which has the 065/064 number, and so on; each of these cards, therefore, have numbers which go above the ‘official’ number of cards in the Shrouded Fable set, which is 64:
It’s also worth noting that, even though Secret Rare cards are visually different to the cards in a Base set, they are mechanically the same as the standard cards. That is to say that, a Houndoom, Pecharunt ex or Cassiopeia within the base set of cards will have the same stats or abilities as those found as Secret Rares, but the Secret Rare cards will have more spectacular artwork, and will be much rarer finds in booster packs.
This of course makes them highly desirable, and you’ll find that Secret Rare cards will always be the most valuable cards in any set. Check out our guide to Pokemon card rarities for further details!
What New Ace Spec Cards Are Included In The Shrouded Fable Set?
Ace Spec cards have been reintroduced to Pokemon during the Scarlet & Violet era, having first arrived in 2012 set Pokemon Black & White: Boundaries Crossed. Just 13 of them were released back then, before they disappeared completely; we’ve now had 13 Ace Spec cards already released as part of the Scarlet & Violet sets, and more are coming in Shrouded Fable!
So, if you take a look at the card gallery, you’ll Dangerous Laser, an Item card which Burns and Confuses your opponent’s Active Pokemon (which we’ve also separately pictured just above), but there’s also Neutralization Zone and Poké Vital A too, making it three new Ace Spec cards in total.
What’s Special About The Reverse Holo Cards In Shrouded Fable?
Thanks to docfigueroa86, we’ve seen that energy and other card types will have a special reverse holo pattern in Shrouded Fable. His examples are shown in this post:
As you can see, there’s a hexagonal pattern with Pokéballs inside each hexagon, and this runs diagonally across each reverse holo card. It’s likely that this is a special reverse holo treatment specifically for Shrouded Fable, and it’s unlikely that this particular pattern will appear in any other sets, for the time being at least.
Are Other Cards Being Released With Shrouded Fable Packs?
As you can see from the image of a Shrouded Fable triple blister pack above, there will be other cards released with Shrouded Fable products, though at present these don’t have the SFA set code; instead, they use Scarlet & Violet coding and numbering, with the black Promo star at the bottom of the card.
However, hidden among these will be some spectacular, full art illustration cards; the Shrouded Fable Elite Trainer Box will contain the above Pecharunt special illustration rare (or SIR), for example. As with all SIR cards, it’s an alternate art variant of an existing card; in this case, it has the same stats, ability and attack as the Pecharunt that’s included with the triple blister pack we’ve shown at the top of this section. Which brings us to the (current) star of the show; check out the card below!
Again, Greninja ex is a card that’s technically part of the Shrouded Fable releases, but doesn’t have the SFA set code, as it’s what is more commonly known as a Black Star Promo. This card has a spectacular foil treatment that, along with its dynamic image, is meant to resemble a Japanese woodcut illustration.
This card can only be found in the Greninja ex Special Illustration Collection box, so you’ll have to pick one of those up if you want to get your hands on this particular version of the card. Alongside the Greninja ex Special Illustration Collection will be Kingambit ex and Kingdra ex boxes too; each of which will have their own, no doubt highly sought after, woodcut-style promo card.
When Will Shrouded Fable Be Released?
The release date for the Shrouded Fable set is August 2nd, 2024. All of the cards have now been revealed, so you can now know exactly what to expect when you get your hands on Shrouded Fable boosters! For further details on other Shrouded Fable products, take a look at our set announcement article right here.
