This card was released as a SWSH Black Star Promo with artwork by aky CG Works and the collection number SWSH214. It was available in the Lucario VSTAR Premium Collection from April 8, 2022; a Jumbo version was also included in the collection. In Japan, it was released in the Lucario VSTAR Starter Set. In Japan, a Rainbow Rare print with artwork by the same artist was available as a S-P Promotional card in Lucario HR Competitions. These Limited format events were hosted at Pokémon Centers and participating Pokémon Card Gym stores in three phases between September 30 and December 31, 2022. People wishing to partake were required to register through the Player's Club website—the acceptance period for the first phase was open from September 20 until September 26; the second phase ran from September 30 up to October 20; the third phase ran from November 1 up to November 17. All valid registrants were entered into a lottery to allocate positions, the results of which were announced after each entry period closed. The first set of Lucario HR Competitions was held between September 30 and October 31; the second set was held between November 1 and 30; the third set was held between December 1 and 31.[1] A maximum of 16 places were available per day at each event.[2] Entrants received ten Incandescent Arcana booster packs and a promotional Barry Supporter card upon paying the entry fee; 12 copies each of basic Grass, Fire, Water, Psychic, and Metal Energy were also loaned to them. Entrants were required to use these cards and construct a 40-card deck to use in games with four Prize cards. Each Lucario HR Competition consisted of up to four 4-player round-robin qualifying rounds with the top player from each group going on to compete in a 4-player single-elimination tournament. Those reaching the single-elimination tournament were given a copy of a Full Art Lucario V, while the overall winners of a Lucario HR Competition were given a copy of the Rainbow Rare print of this card.[1]
An invitation-only Lucario HR Competition consisting of eight celebrities was conducted on September 23, 2022 to decide the first winner of the Rainbow Rare Lucario VSTAR. The tournament was livestreamed on YouTube, during which people could participate in a couple of Twitter viewer campaigns. The Winner Prediction Campaign invited people to guess which celebrity would win the tournament, requiring them to Tweet a message of support to their chosen celebrity with the hashtag #ポケカオールスターズ, Pokéca All Stars. The Programme Quiz Campaign invited people to answer a question posed during the broadcast, requiring them to Tweet their answer using the same Pokéca All Stars hashtag (the answer was "ジャローダ", Serperior). Both campaigns required entrants to follow the Twitter accounts of the official Pokémon Card Channel and its presenters Raichu Umekawa, Nanapple, Kucheat Takeuchi, and Yopifoot. The Winner Prediction Campaign was open from the beginning of the broadcast until a break during the tournament; the Programme Quiz Campaign was open from the moment the question was first broadcast until the end of September 25, 2022. For each campaign, valid Tweets were entered into a lottery to win one copy of the Full Art Lucario V and one copy of the Rainbow Rare print of this card. No one entrant could win both prizes and winners were intended to be notified by early October 2022.[3]
The Rainbow Rare print could also be obtained through the Sealed Battle at Home Campaign, which similarly ran from September 30 until December 31, 2022.[4] The intention of the campaign was to emulate physical Lucario HR Competitions by using the same resources in a home-based game. People wishing to take part were required to complete an application form on the Pokémon Card Game Trainers Website detailing their Player ID, registered email address, and a valid code for the deck they used, which could be obtained by building it in the Deck Construction section of the site. Only one entry per person would be accepted. All valid applicants were entered into a lottery to win one of the 6,000 prizes on offer—2,000 of these were a copy of the Rainbow Rare print of this card (prize A); 4,000 of these were a copy of the Full Art Lucario V (prize B).[4]
A Full Art print with artwork by hncl was later released as another SWSH Black Star Promo with the collection number SWSH291. This print was available in two of the launch products for the special Crown Zenith expansion on January 20, 2023: the Crown Zenith Elite Trainer Box and the Crown Zenith Pokémon Center Elite Trainer Box Plus. In Japan, this print was available as a Secret Special Art Rare card in the VSTAR Universe subset.
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(Japanese: ルカリオVSTAR LucarioVSTAR) is a Fighting-type VSTAR Pokémon VSTAR card. It was first released as one of the SWSH Black Star Promos.
