Sometimes a Pokémon card uses only 2 or 3 colors in its design, including the full frame of the card. I tend to think of these as “duochrome” or “trichrome” cards — similar to the concept of monochrome.
Check out this Pikachu. This card is a very pure example of the idea. This entire card is yellows, orange, and silver. The energy costs, the background foil, the card border, the featured Pokémon, all come together cohesively with very limited colors.
Check out this Celebi. Here is another one I like. This whole card is greens and silvers, with the one red outlier down at the weakness to fire. However sometimes this ends up feeling like a contrasting accent and enhances the vibe.
Check out this Dewgong. This is one of the earliest examples of the phenomenon, and the color selection is a little wider while still being very limited. Everything is blue, yellow, and gray. All the yellow framing containing the blues and whites has always been striking to me. There are some subtle touches here — like the fact Dewgong’s fangs are yellow. You end up with a blue and gray piece with all these golden yellow accents and I think it looks so cool.
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Can you think of other cards like this? I feel like this is one of those card styles that’s very “know it when you see it.” If you try to set too strict of criteria you end of disqualifying cards that suit the vibe even if they technically exceed the two or three color definition. So don’t focus too hard on counting colors — this is a vibe thread!
Thankfully, no one posted my favorite all time card. The gold perfectly matches the gold borders, with just highlights and hints of color. All other gold borders are inferior.
