I love TRR and voted for it, but I wonder if its 1st because most people here are wotc fans and older fans. Its more reminiscent of wotc than most other ex sets. I wonder how 2000s kids would rank these
Iâm with you Dragon Frontiers Iâd say is my favorite set in general. Besides it EX Holon Phantoms features a Delta Species gold star Gyarados which is the only other delta species gold star out there.
Itâs cool to see that all sets got at least one vote lol. If this were for WotC sets, I imagine that sets like Gym Heroes and Neo Discovery wouldnât get any votes (but maybe Iâm wrong about this).
Personally, I think that the weakest EX Series sets are those that introduced no new Pokemon and brought no new thematic elements to the table. The sets that fit those criteria are Dragon Frontiers, Holon Phantoms, Emerald, Legend Maker, and Power Keepers. Itâs interesting to see how much love Dragon Frontiers and Holon Phantoms are getting â I find EX Delta Species to have a much more cohesive theme and to be a much stronger set overall.
The strongest sets, in my view, are TRR, FRLG, and Dragon â all of which are in the top 4, which is cool to see. TRR has exceptional art, thematic resonance, and some of the most visually stunning exs from the entire era. Not to mention gold stars. FRLG also has exceptional art and was a very effective tribute to Gen 1 while also still having a totally different feel from Base/Jungle/Fossil. And Dragon also has amazing art. Beyond that, though, itâs also just a stacked set (unlike Sandstorm, which had mostly unexciting Pokemon). It has some of the most beautiful exs and holos from the era. And it also has a host of big-name 1st English TCG appearances (Latias, Latios, Rayquaza, Absol, Flygon, Salamence, etc.).
My vote went to TRR. It just has too much going for it not to take the top spot. As a collectible, scarcity and quality issues make mint cards a fun chase. The art is great throughout, it has a strong theme, great EX cards, gold stars and secret rares. That said, I love many EX series sets and itâs hard to just pick one without calling out some of the other greats. Unseen Forces and Delta Species are probably tied for #2 for me and are amazing in their own right. Rounding out my top 5 would be Deoxys and Dragon Frontiers. I also get why FRLG gets so much love. Itâs vibrant set with great takes on Gen 1 pokemon. Honestly, I love this whole era and how much the sets evolve from Ruby/Sapphire, Sandstorm, Dragon through the end. If youâve held any mint reverse holos from the first three sets in your hand with their blinding, shiny holo surface thatâs pure gold. I would also rank Power Keepers and Hidden Legends the bottom two, with Power Keepers being last. But there are still some great cards in each, and Power Keepers has awesome gold stars.
Thatâs fine, but thatâs not one of the criteria I listed. EX Dragon Frontiers was the fourth or fifth set to feature Delta Species Pokemon, so thatâs not a unique characteristic of it. If you like the Delta Species Pokemon from Dragon Frontiers the best, then thatâs great, but it wasnât a thematic element unique to the set.
Ex legend maker in my opinion has some of the greatest art in the ex era. Same goes for magma vs aqua. Have you seen the art on those team aquaâs corphish? Itâs spectacular. Anyways⊠hidden legends reverses are literally normal holos. They make common and uncommon cards special with the holofoil. I also love the regi gold star trio and mew ex.
For the exâs they seemed to have choosen pokemon that were featured as rocketâs pokemon earlier. Hitmonchan,moltres,scyther and snorlax from gym heroes. Mewtwo and zapdos from gym challenge. Entei and Suicune from Japanese VS series. Finally, Scizor and Sneasel were promos. Articuno being the only one not having an earlier rocketâs release. It makes sense that team rocket would have gen 1 and 2 pokemon because those are the regions they operated in.
Really close between Dragon Frontiers and Hidden Legends for me. Still chasing that Ninetales EX from Hidden Legends, but Dragon Frontiers is the better set I think.
EX Legend Maker is my favorite as well. It is a little hard to put my finger on exactly why but something about the art direction, the cosmos foil, the design of the set stamp on the reverse holos, even the card stock - it makes every card feel like a prize in my collection. I have hundreds of holos from this set and I still canât get enough. Not likely to convince anyone since itâs hard for me to understand myself but yeah Iâm obsessed.
Of all the EX sets its the one that feels most similar to Aquapolis and Skyridge in vibe to me. Some serious ancient/mystical aesthetics on display that remind me of the original art direction for Gen 2.
I also want to mention my runner ups!
EX Sandstorm takes the 2nd place slot for me. The aesthetic cohesion of this set is unmatched. Every card - from the trainers to the common basic pokemon all the way to the EXâs work together to create a contained setting that I remember stumbling into every time I cracked a Sandstorm pack as a kid. Dragon has a lot going for it, but it feels less focused to me.
Finally, EX Unseen Forces is my #3. It is, in my opinion, the most well rounded and polished EX set. It pulls no punches and delivers on everyoneâs Gen 2 favs with a high degree of execution. Simply put, great pokemon with great art at all rarities and a really solid holo treatment on the reverses. Set logo is simple and discrete on those reverses too. The reason its not higher is that I donât feel like the cards tell a compelling story the way the first two sets do (or other sets I like less do like TRR, Holon Phantoms and Delta Species)