Nanu Alternate Art Variants: Fan-Created Pokémon TCG Art

In TCG ·

Nanu alternate art variant card art from Team Up (SM9) illustrated by Ken Sugimori

Image courtesy of TCGdex.net

Nanu and the Allure of Alternate Art Variants

Fan-made variants and alternate artworks have long been a beloved corner of the Pokémon TCG community, where artists and collectors celebrate the characters they adore by reimagining how a card could look and feel. The Trainer card Nanu from Team Up (SM9) offers a perfect lens for this fascination. With its original illustration by Ken Sugimori—a name synonymous with the classic Pokémon aesthetic—Nanu invites playful reinterpretations that range from bold color shifts to moody, cinematic shadows. In this article, we’ll blend the practical realities of the card’s mechanics with the romance of fan creativity, and explore what these variants mean for players and collectors alike. ⚡🔥💎

Official snapshot: what this card does and where it fits

  • Category: Trainer (Supporter)
  • Card ID: sm9-150
  • Set: Team Up (SM9)
  • Rarity: Uncommon
  • Illustrator: Ken Sugimori
  • Variants: normal, reverse, holo (firstEdition = False, holo = True, normal = True, reverse = True)
  • Legal in formats: Expanded only (not Standard)
  • Effect: Choose a Basic Darkness Pokémon in your discard pile. Switch it with 1 of your Pokémon in play. Any attached cards, damage counters, Special Conditions, turns in play, and any other effects remain on the new Pokémon.

In practice, Nanu’s effect is a tempo shifter. It isn’t a search or a fetch tool; it’s a swap that preserves the state of your field while drawing a key piece from the discard back onto the battlefield. In Expanded, where Team Up’s broader toolbox lives, this can rescue a big Darkness attacker or reposition an important receiver for a surprise attack. It’s not about pulling raw power from nowhere—it’s about recapturing a critical tempo and maintaining momentum as you pivot around your opponent’s pressure. The card’s design also respects the integrity of status effects, damage counters, and other ongoing conditions, ensuring that a swap doesn’t erase your setup but rather re-applies it with a new frontline. ⚔️

Art, legacy, and the thrill of fan variants

Ken Sugimori’s work on Nanu brings a crisp, confident silhouette to the table—the kind of art that fans immediately recognize and revere. Alternate art variants, created by fans across social platforms, often experiment with lighting, color temperature, and background storytelling. You might see Nanu cast in noir tones with neon backlights, or perched within a shadowy urban scene that echoes vintage detective stories. Some variants emphasize the character’s enigmatic aura, while others lean into elemental symbolism (electric bolts for quick tempo, dark sigils for the discard-pile theme, etc.). These fan pieces become cherished “what-if” narratives that give players a different emotional lens through which to view a familiar card. It’s a celebration of interpretation, not a replacement for the official art, and it reminds us why we fell in love with the game in the first place—the magic of Pokémon’s world seen through many eyes. 🎨🎴

Collectors often pursue holo variants because they catch the eye with that shimmering finish. The Team Up set’s way of presenting Nanu across normal, reverse, and holo forms means there’s a spectrum of scarcity and display appeal. While the official art remains the anchor, a well-executed fan variant can become a prized piece for a display binder or a featured card in a local meta-deck’s lore corner. The community’s creativity—paired with Sugimori’s enduring character design—keeps Nanu relevant in both casual and competitive conversations.

Price whispers: where demand meets nostalgia

Market data from the last year paints a practical backdrop to the romance of fan art. The Team Up Nanu sm9-150 has a rarity tag of Uncommon, with multiple variants echoing the broader TCG ecosystem. For the standard (non-holo) copy, typical listings show a low price around the few-cent range and mid prices creeping toward a couple of quarters, with high points near a couple of dollars for near-mint examples. The holo variant, by contrast, tends to carry a modest premium. Recent figures place holo Nanu in a low around $0.20–$0.30, with mid prices near $0.30 and highs up to roughly $1.50 depending on condition and vendor. In Europe, the card market data (EUR) reflects a comparable pattern, with holo versions showing higher averages and a gentle upward trend as коллекционная interest grows. This is a card that doesn’t demand a king’s ransom but rewards patience and good condition, especially when paired with other Team Up holographic or reverse holo trainers. The Expanded legality also keeps it accessible in a wide range of modern-era decks, expanding its market window. 💎

For fans who adore the lore and the look, fan variants add a tactile, collectible layer without replacing the official print run. They’re a reminder that a card’s value isn’t just about damage numbers on a sheet; it’s about the stories and the craft surrounding it. The Nanu card, with its Strategic swap in the discard pile, becomes a metaphor for how fans reframe a single action into a thousand miniature narratives—each variant a doorway into a different mood, a different color palette, or a different memory from a favorite game night. ⚡🎨

Connecting the hobby: a practical takeaway for players and collectors

If you’re drafting a Nanu-centered Darkness deck in Expanded, you’ll want to respect the discipline of timing. Use Nanu to pivot your board when a key Darkness Pokémon is about to be knocked out, or to reset an often-valuable attacker that’s already sustained damage. Remember that the swap preserves all attached cards and effects, so plan around the battlefield as much as around your discard pile. Pair Nanu with support trainers that accelerate your Darkness Pokémon’s setup or that disrupt your opponent’s rhythm, and you’ll find that the card becomes less of a one-off rescue and more of a reliable engine component. And as you explore fan variants, you’ll discover that every art reinterpretation offers a fresh emotional cue—some fans lean into dramatic shadows, others into vivid neon, all in service of the character you know from the card’s text and the memories you’ve built around it. ⚡🔥

Meanwhile, the product ecosystem continues to grow around the Pokémon TCG lifestyle—whether you’re chasing a curated binder of official holo cards or decking out your daily carry with the sleek Slim Lexan Phone Case for iPhone 16—an homage to the same design-conscious community that treasures Nanu’s card artistry. The synergy between gaming, art, and personal expression is part of what makes this hobby feel timeless and alive.

Slim Lexan Phone Case for iPhone 16 - Ultra-thin Glossy Finish

More from our network