The next expansion of the Booster Pack for the Pokémon Trading Card Game is slated for release on August 14, and a battle box will be released on August 1. Sword and Shield - Flaming Darkness will have seven Pokémon VMAX cards, 14 Pokémon V cards, 17 Trainer cards, four Supporter cards, and three new Special Energy cards. As you can guess from the name, this expansion is designed to empower black Pokémon and dark builds. Here is our list of the 10 best or most valuable cards in the expansion for the trading card game. All of these cards have perks that allow them to do well on their own, but they really shine when used in dark type deckbuilding.
Crobat V
Image via NintendoThis Pokémon has 180 base HP and the Night Asset ability. When you move this card from your hand to the bench, you can use Night Asset to draw cards until you have a total of six in your hand. It also has the Poison Fang attack which can do 70 damage and poison your opponent's active Pokémon. This card can set you up for an easy victory if you get a card like Piers early on. You can use Piers to shoot Crobat V and use Night Asset to garnish your hand.
Eternatus VMAX
Image via NintendoEternatus capitalizes on dark pokemon. This is the card to have if you are building a dark deck. Eternatus has 340 HP, Infinity Zone, and Dread End. If all of your in-game Pokémon are Dark-type, Infinity Zone allows you to have up to eight Dark-type Pokémon on the bench. Dread End does 30 damage for each Dark-type Pokémon you have in play. This card can expand your strategy options with Dark-type Pokémon and deal massive damage to your opponent. This is especially useful with pokemon like Hoopa and Galarian Zigzagoon which rely on the bench to do extra damage.
Turbo Patch
Image via NintendoThis card will allow you to capitalize on the most valuable pokemon in this pack. Turbo Patch allows you to toss a coin and if it lands on heads you can take a base energy card from your discard pile and attach it to any pokémon except pokémon GX. You can use it to circulate energy through your team and launch more attacks without having to worry about when your next energy card will appear in your hand.
Pink
Image via NintendoRose is a coach card that will allow you to throw your hand away and give yourself a little extra energy when you need it. With Rose, you can choose two basic energies from your discard pile, attach them to one of your VMAX pokémon, then you must discard your entire hand. Extra power can come in handy in a pinch when you desperately need a VMAX pokemon to move. This card is especially useful with pokemon like Malamar VMAX to do extra damage or use special abilities. When combined with Rose Tower, this card will allow you to cast a bad hand and replace it with a new one.
Pink Tower
Image via NintendoThe Rose Tower stadium goes perfectly with the Rose Trainer. When the stadium is in play, each player can draw from their deck until they have at least three cards in their hand. This can be of great help if you've just discarded your hand using Rose or just shuffled your deck. It can also give you extra protection against cards like Reset Stamp, which require you to shuffle your hand in your deck and draw as many cards as you have prize cards.
Salamence VMAX
Image via NintendoThis Pokémon can ruin your opponent's day with 320 Base HP, Twin Sonic, and Max Wing. Twin Sonic deals 40 base damage to two opposing Pokémon. Attaching the powerful new Colorless Energy card further increases damage by 20 points while providing colorless energy. While this card can do a ton of damage, it is weak on electric attacks, which makes Zapdos and the Pikachu & Zekrom tag team especially dangerous for it.
Pillars
Image via NintendoThis is a trainer card that can change the flow of the game for you. Piers' ability allows you to search your deck for a black pokemon and an energy card. You then reveal your chosen cards, add them to your hand, then shuffle your deck. This is great for making sure you get that black pokemon or energy card that you need right away. If you have cards like Crobat V or Hoopa in your deck, this card can remove them from the deck for you to use.
Mimikyu
Image via NintendoMimikyu generally has very good abilities and in Darkness Ablaze he has Heal Stop. Normally, players can change their pokemon on the bench to heal them or protect them from further damage. Mimikyu's ability prevents Pokémon on your opponents' bench from being healed. This is useful for many reasons, but it mainly prevents your opponent from healing the pokemon you have attacked. It also negates more powerful and boring cards and abilities like Mallow & Lana and Miraculous Duo.
Hoopa
Image via NintendoHoopa has 120 HP and deals 90 damage with the Assault Gate attack. This card can do serious damage, but only under certain circumstances. The assault gate will only activate if the card is moved from the bench to an active location during the same turn. This card pairs very well with Hide Darkness Energy as it reduces the retreat cost to zero for the pokemon it is attached to.
Hide the energy of darkness
Image via NintendoIt is an Energy card which is really beneficial if you frequently change your pokemon to and from the bench. When attached to a black pokemon, Hide Darkness Energy will reduce the pokemon's retreat cost to zero. It also provides dark energy when attached to a black pokemon. This card works best when combined with pokemon like Hoopa, Darkrai, and Galarian Zigzagoon. Between this card and Darkrai, you could potentially make the retreat cost for your entire team 0. You can also use this card to chip your opponent's strongest pokemon with Hoopa or a Galarian Zigzagoon using their own unique abilities.
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