HeartGold & SoulSilver
Set Details
JOURNEY TO THE JOHTO REGION TO REVEAL HEARTGOLD & SOULSILVER!
Pokémon are the heart and soul of any great Pokémon Trainer, and now is your chance to catch some of the greatest Pokémon of all time! With new kinds of cards that will change the way you play—like Pokémon Prime and the astonishing Pokémon LEGENDs Ho-Oh and Lugia—plus lots of Trainer cards that will accelerate your game and select Energy cards with a brand-new look, the HeartGold & SoulSilver expansion will get you started on your journey to greatness!
The HeartGold & SoulSilver expansion landed on February 10 2010 in English, reviving Johto nostalgia with a lavish new card frame that blends shimmering gold and silver borders. Adapted from Japan’s dual HeartGold Collection and SoulSilver Collection, the set spans 124 cards, spotlighting favorites such as Typhlosion, Feraligatr, Meganium, and the legendary duo Ho‑Oh and Lugia. A redesigned layout moves the evolution circle to the extreme top‑left, shrinks the illustrator strip, and pairs a fresh name bar with bold HP text—changes that still feel modern today.
Competitive play was shaken up by two brand‑new card classes. Pokémon Prime—close‑up, full‑border holos with spiked frames and gold‑foil names—boast powerhouse attacks and elevated HP, turning Donphan Prime and Gengar Prime into instant meta all‑stars. Even more dramatic were Pokémon LEGEND cards: oversized artworks split across a top and bottom half. Slam both halves onto your Bench simultaneously and you unleash titans like Ho‑Oh LEGEND with “Bright Wing” or Lugia LEGEND with the board‑clearing “Elemental Blast.” Their massive HP came with a price: giving up two Prize cards when KO’d.
The set also refreshed Trainer terminology (Goods, Supporter, Stadium in Japan) and introduced mirror‑foil reverses to Japanese boosters. Basic Energy cards received special silhouettes—Celebi in the Grass symbol, Ampharos standing over the Glitter Lighthouse on Lightning Energy, and Steelix looming beside Goldenrod Radio Tower on Metal Energy—tiny easter eggs that make binder pages pop. Early English print runs of the Darkness Energy show a faint misaligned swirl pattern, a subtle variant prized by collectors.
One last curiosity: flip the Japanese Ho‑Oh LEGEND halves upside‑down and the fiery plume lines up into a hidden phoenix across both cards, a detail the English crop obscures. Between its gold‑edged design, rule‑changing card types, and secret artistic flourishes, HeartGold & SoulSilver stands as a gleaming gateway to the LEGEND era and a love letter to Johto’s golden age.
HeartGold & SoulSilver Set Cards
