the “Design” poll is just to get a rough count of participants
cards are listed in chronological order based on first release
each card will have a picture followed by the option to vote for it.
vote for any card that you like.
on Sunday at 12PM Pacific Time, the polls will automatically close. I will edit this post and title to count down from least to most voted, and we will see which cards are E4’s Favorite.
Note: Most of these images are pulled from quick google searches, eBay, or Bulbapedia if they had a large enough file. If you'd like me to replace an image, you're welcome to post it in the comments.
Surprisingly big amount of great cards even though the quality severely dropped with the shift into modern, but still there’s only one possible winner. Komiya’s way of drawing any round pokemon is my number one joy in life so i don’t want to live in a world where cosmic eclipse wailmer isn’t the king of this poll.
@inertgeometry Big thanks to you for always putting in so much effort into making these community polls. I am very happy you could find the time to make one for Wailmer and Wailord!
Now I am obviously biased but I think with the exception of the Ken Sugimori and the 5ban GX Fullart wailord does not have any bad cards (and the Ken Sugimori art is not bad, it’s the composition of the card with the wailord just floating there that irks me).
Whales tend to have smooth, slippery skin and in my eyes that’s what makes wailord pull off even cgi artwork.
There is not really an artwork that I like the best but there are some that do notably stand out like the 2022 Wailord from S11a / Crown Zenith by KIYOTAKA OSHIYAMA, that through the inclusion of dozens of tiny Wishiwashis underlines Wailord’s huge size and the Wailord and Wailmer cameos in the 2024 Phione AR that show its herding behaviour - which are both mentioned in Wailord’s pokemon dex entries. E.g.:
Wailord pursue their prey in pods. With their large mouths, they can swallow entire schools of Wishiwashi whole. (Pokémon Sun)
and
When a small Wailmer is attacked by Sharpedo or Dhelmise, its whole pod works together to protect it. (Pokémon Ultra Moon)
In the future I would love to see a Wailord card featuring an artwork from the perspective of a whale watching boat. I think that could be a fun idea for an AR or CHR.
Its immense size is the reason for its popularity. Wailord watching is a favorite sightseeing activity in various parts of the world. (Pokémon Shield)
I didn’t even notice the wishiwashi on crown zenith one until you mentioned them, a fun detail even though a lot of them probably aren’t going to make it
Love how Wailmer/Wailord have so many more votable artworks than legendaries and big hype Pokemon like Gengar. At least in my opinion…
It seems to be one of those where the normal non-chase cards are mostly great.
The Cosmic Eclipse Komiya Wailmer is my absolute fave. It just looks like a bunch of whacky Wailmer rolling about on a psychedelic green sea and having a whale of a time (sorry…)
Never seen that Ooyama Wailord from Guardians Rising before though…I think I want one now. This is one reason I love these polls.
I haven’t seen a good chunk of these Wailmer/Wailord cards, so this was a fun poll to go through! I didn’t realize the Tag Team GX version seemed to draw inspiration from an older card Arita illustrated—pretty neat to see!
One card that looks off to me is Himeno’s art in Celestial Storm:
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- 60 Votes
- 61 Votes
