Best of Game (TCG)

Best of Game

Cards in set 9 Release date Release period December 2002 - July 2003

The Best of Game is the name of a special collection of cards for the Pokémon Trading Card Game, commemorating some of the best cards to be produced by Wizards of the Coast.

Information

These cards were released through BattleZone tournaments and were essentially a 'parting gift' to the fans of the TCG, as Wizards knew their license to produce the cards was to terminate.

Despite the collection being made to commemorate some of the best playable cards, four new cards that had never previously been released in English were produced. Rocket's Scizor, Rocket's Sneasel, Dark Ivysaur and Dark Venusaur were promotional cards in Japan (Dark Ivysaur and Dark Venusaur were also subsequently reprinted in Pokémon Web). Their release was not anticipated and was a surprise for those attending the events. While these cards remained plain, the other cards received a special reverse-holographic treatment.

There were also several variants of the cards released. Pokémon Professors and Tournament Organizers received versions of some cards, which have a gold foil "Winner" stamp in the bottom right corner of the illustration, called Winner Cards. The regular cards given to participants are often referred to as "non-Winner" versions. Exceptions to these include Professor Elm, Rocket's Mewtwo and Rocket's Hitmonchan, as the scheduled BattleZone tournaments were canceled after Wizards lost their license. Jumbo versions of all cards except Professor Elm cards were also released, which lack the reverse-holographic treatment. Professor Elm is also the only card not to have a version with the gold foil "Winner" stamp in the bottom right corner of the illustration.

In addition, all of these cards had an error. The energy symbols in place, by the attacks, are slightly misplaced and are put a little more to the left than usual. In an interview with Ike Lawliet in 2022, it was revealed the errors on these cards and cards on other sets released at the time were done intentionally due to Wizards of the Coast's at the time Vice President, Vince Calouri; finding out their license to print Pokémon TCG cards was not going to be renewed.

Card list

Best of Game

No. Image Card name Type Rarity Promotion 1 Electabuzz — BattleZone (December 2002) 2 Hitmonchan — BattleZone (February 2003) 3 Professor Elm T — Gencon 2003 4 Rocket's Scizor — BattleZone (March 2003) 5 Rocket's Sneasel — BattleZone (January 2003) 6 Dark Ivysaur — BattleZone (April 2003) 7 Dark Venusaur — BattleZone (May 2003) 8 Rocket's Mewtwo — BattleZone (June 2003) 9 Rocket's Hitmonchan — BattleZone (July 2003)

External Links

• Ike Lawliet interview with former Wizards of the Coasts about the Jamboree TCG set

This article is part of Project TCG, a Bulbapedia project that aims to report on every aspect of the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

Pokémon Trading Card Game expansions and releases Bold indicates a main expansion. Italics indicate a special set. Releases that are entirely composed of prints from other releases are small.
e-Card Series Sample Set Expedition Base Set: Box Topper • Echo • Electric Garden Best of Game Aquapolis: Rock Garden • Abyss Skyridge: Eeveelution • Mind Machine	e-Card Era P Promotional cards • J Promotional cards • T Promotional cards Base Expansion Pack: Pokémon-e Starter Deck McDonald's Pokémon-e Minimum Pack The Town on No Map Wind from the Sea Theater Limited VS Pack Split Earth Mysterious Mountains