Some cards for the love of your life, maybe?
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner! If you’re in a pinch and don’t know what to give to your trading card game-loving partner, I have the perfect solution for you!
Here are some of the most romantic cards (from Pokémon TCG, Magic: The Gathering and One Piece Card Game) you can give to your partner, and here’s the best part: most of them are not too expensive! You can thank me later.
Valentine's Day gift ideas from Pokémon TCG
If you ask any Pokémon collector what they think the most romantic card in the game is, chances are that you’ll get many responses with the same answer: Latias & Latios GX from Pokemon Team Up.
At first glance, the card seems to fit the bill: two legendary Pokémon from Ruby and Sapphire are forming a heart with the beautiful sun setting behind them, in a set featuring the Pokémon together in a card frame.
However, considering that this card is exorbitantly expensive (both ungraded and graded), and canonically, Latias and Latios featured in both the anime and game are siblings… Well, let’s just say that this is not the card you want to give your partner.
Instead, I offer the following trio of Illustration Rares from the very first Scarlet and Violet base set: Ralts, Kirlia, and Gardevoir (Ralts evolves into Kirlia, before evolving into its final stage Gardevoir).
The art depicted in three cards form a sequence of events over time; Ralts moving into a new house with a young couple, Kirlia (after evolving from Ralts) watching over the mom tending to a newborn child presumably a few years after they have moved in, and Gardevoir (after evolving over Kirlia) helping out the same, but much older-looking, mom while the dad sits around.
This has to be the most romantic sequence of art ever printed in the Pokémon TCG, and it is probably the best depiction of what commitment and dedication looks like in a relationship on a trading card, whether it’s between humans, or a human and a Pokémon.
However, if you fancy something less committal, say maybe you just met your partner a few months ago and you don't want to imply that you want to settle down just yet, perhaps this Pachirisu Illustration Rare (also from the Scarlet and Violet base set) is just right for your partner!
The card features two Pachirisus gently bumping each other’s cheeks, while forming a cute heart with their lightning sparks (yes, they’re electric type Pokémon). This is a card leaning into a cutesy style, and while it does not yell commitment, giving this card to your partner is nonetheless still a romantic gesture.
Just a note before I move on: the Gardevoir can be a tad expensive (it is the most expensive card in this whole list), so I will recommend the Pachirisu if you are on a budget, but if you want to show your partner that you want to settle down and grow old with them, you can probably get the set for about US$100 or more.
Valentine's Day gift ideas from Magic: The Gathering
Now, if your partner plays Magic: The Gathering instead, Together Forever is probably the most romantic card out there. I mean, you’re literally telling your partner that you want to be with them forever if you give them the card!
If your partner also happens to like Final Fantasy X, the version above is going to go off like an absolute bomb when gifted to your partner. Okay, I know that in the original game, Tidus and Yuna don’t get together forever (or maybe they do, it’s a long and complicated story), but just look at the art on this card! You can’t go wrong with this.
Otherwise, if you’re planning an elopement of some sorts (not judging if you really have to elope with your partner), Run Away Together has got to be the perfect gift!
Do get the normal version from the set Bloomburrow though, because the art is objectively cuter (you can’t go wrong with an otter), and the reminder text is just so beautiful.
If wedding bells are on the horizon, or you are planning to propose to your partner, perhaps consider the card Wedding Ring. I know this card is probably a tad boring (too on the nose even), and it obviously can't replace an actual diamond ring, but hear me out!
How can your partner not like the effects of this card, especially if you play together with them? You can be a team, drawing cards and gaining life together in the Two-Headed Giant format with this card in one of your decks! Just remember to also have the actual diamond ring ready somewhere, as the card alone might not suffice.
Valentine's Day gift ideas from One Piece Card Game
I have deliberated quite a bit about which One Piece card to go with here… because One Piece is not exactly the story you go to if you are looking for romance, but I think Sanji & Pudding from the Anime 25th Collection might just be the card to give to your partner if they like One Piece Card Game.
The story of Sanji and Pudding is a long one, but Pudding was originally going to marry Sanji to assassinate him. Through a series of multiple events, she never got to do so, and ended up falling in love with Sanji instead.
Pudding was especially enamoured by Sanji’s cooking ability in the story (when they were baking a cake to satiate her mom in the story), and the cards from One Piece TCG is a showcase of their time together baking a cake.
They do not get to be together at the end of the arc; Sanji and Pudding shared a kiss before Sanji departed, but not before Pudding erased his memory of their kiss.
It is not the perfect love story, there is no together forever, but perhaps the story of Sanji and Pudding can serve as a reminder that despite extenuating circumstances, love can still exist. It is a bittersweet reminder, but hey, the card is still pretty, so I don’t think your partner is going to complain either way!
