Brilliant Stars Set Guide

Overview

Brilliant Stars is the ninth Sword & Shield expansion: 172 cards up to the printed total and 14 secret rares above it (173 to 186). Most of its cards carry the F regulation mark, the first set where that is so.

It introduced Pokémon VSTAR, which evolve from a Pokémon V and carry a VSTAR Power you can use once a game, among them Charizard VSTAR, Arceus VSTAR and Shaymin VSTAR. Its Trainer Gallery is a 30-card companion list, numbered TG01 to TG30 and filed under its own catalog code, of Pokémon pictured with their Trainers and full-art Pokémon V and VMAX.

Cards and rarities

Brilliant Stars has 186 cards. Every card shows its number over the printed total along the bottom, as in "001/172", next to the set code BRS.

The printed total is 172, so the 14 cards from 173 to 186 are secret rares. Set completion in TurnZero HQ counts a set against its printed total and keeps the secret rares apart, so finishing the main set and chasing the cards above it read as two separate goals. How set completion works →

Headline Pokémon

A Pokémon VSTAR evolves from a Pokémon V and gives up two Prize cards when Knocked Out. Each has a VSTAR Power, an attack or Ability you can use only once in a game across all your VSTAR Powers. Three of this set's:

Arceus VSTAR

Brilliant Stars #123

280 HP VSTAR. Starbirth, its VSTAR Power, searches your deck for up to 2 cards. Trinity Nova does 200 and attaches up to 3 basic Energy from your deck to your Pokémon V.

Charizard VSTAR

Brilliant Stars #18

280 HP VSTAR. Explosive Fire does 130, or 230 if it is damaged; Star Blaze, its VSTAR Power, does 320.

Shaymin VSTAR

Brilliant Stars #14

250 HP VSTAR. Star Bloom, its VSTAR Power, heals 120 damage from each of your Benched Grass Pokémon.

Trainers worth knowing

Two Supporters, both also printed as full arts:

Cynthia's Ambition

Brilliant Stars #169

Supporter. Draw until you have 5 cards in hand, or 8 if one of your Pokémon was Knocked Out on your opponent's last turn.

Barry

Brilliant Stars #167

Supporter. Draw 3 cards.

The chase card: Charizard V

Charizard V

Brilliant Stars #154

Rarity Rare Ultra

Card number 154/172

Market price, October 22, 2026 $271.54

Illustrator Ryota Murayama

Brilliant Stars' chase card is Charizard V, numbered 154/172, a Rare Ultra, illustrated by Ryota Murayama, at $271.54 on October 22, 2026.

The Trainer Gallery, Rare Holo VMAX Umbreon VMAX (TG23/TG30) was second at $96.04 and the Trainer Gallery, Rare Holo V Mimikyu V (TG16/TG30) third at $81.04.

Charizard V is printed three times in Brilliant Stars. The Rare Holo V (017/172) was $7.90. The Rare Ultra (153/172) was $31.22.

Every Charizard V in Brilliant Stars

Only the exact version is worth its price. The number at the bottom of the card and the rarity symbol beside it tell you which one you pulled. Reading the number and rarity symbol →

Chase cards and prices

The alternate full-art Charizard V leads, then the Trainer Gallery's Umbreon VMAX, Mimikyu and Sylveon.

These are each card's headline TCGplayer market price on October 22, 2026. Prices can move a long way, most of all in a set's first months, so treat them as a snapshot. Each card's page shows today's price for every variant and its 90-day chart. How Pokémon card prices work →

What a complete set costs

One copy of every card in Brilliant Stars, bought as singles, cost $750.92 on October 22, 2026, and its Trainer Gallery $641.19 more. Together that is the sixth most expensive of the seventeen sets in the Sword & Shield series.

The three most valuable cards, Charizard V, Charizard VSTAR and Arceus V, come to $394.74, or 53% of the total. Without them the set costs $356.18. Of the 186 cards, 149 were under $2.00, together $47.86; the other 37 add up to $703.06.

The Trainer Gallery's 30 cards are priced separately, and 39% of their $641.19 is in its top three cards, Umbreon VMAX, Mimikyu V and Mimikyu VMAX.

Each card is counted at its cheapest priced variant, a Normal copy rather than a Reverse Holofoil where both exist, at its TCGplayer market price. This is what it costs to buy the set as singles. It is not what opening packs returns, and not what a complete set would sell for, which after fees and the many cards worth cents would be noticeably less.

Playing it

Brilliant Stars cards carry the D, E and F regulation marks, and Standard has allowed only H, I and J since April 10, 2026, so none is Standard-legal as printed. Every card in Brilliant Stars is legal in Expanded, which takes every set from Black & White on.

A reprint with a legal mark makes older printings of the same card legal again, so check a card's name before you rule it out.

Standard, Expanded and deck building rules →

Frequently Asked Questions