While each deck gives you a great basis for building a team, there are brand new ways to play if opening a few booster packs. You know the Alolan region is home to some familiar faces. Some Pokémon from the Kanto region have been given a makeover in generation VII. In the Trading Card Game, those few individuals have been given a unique trait which will serve them well in battle. These Pokémon are allowed to use an attack without using up any energy cards. They may be weak or non-damaging but can certainly help. Alolan Persian uses Taunt which allows you to switch your opponent's active Pokémon with one from their bench. Alolan Rattata inflicts 20 damage with Gnaw. Mixing a few of these into your deck can really throw an opponent off their game. With no energy to use, it makes sense to at least include something that can chip away at the enemy while they try and build up for an attack. It can really mess with their own strategy and frees up room for more cards in your own deck.

The latest Pokémon Trading Card Game set is Mega Evolution , an appropriately named expansion that introduces “Mega Evolution ex” cards to the TCG. Presumably to coincide with the release of Pokémon Legends: Z-A , which also brings back Megas, the newest cards focus on the incredibly popular gimmick from the Gen 6 ga

No combination of Pokémon, Trainers, and Energy cards is perfect, and generally you'll have to reconfigure your deck before each gym to serve as a hard-counter to its core strategy. Like in the main series games, gyms use decks themed around specific types, but you shouldn't expect all the same type matchups from the games to work here. pokemon tcg rules|https://pokemontcgdeck.com/ types have been reshuffled to fit into six broader categories for the sake of simplicity - for instance, all flying-types in from the games are now normal-types with fighting resistances, so an all-fighting team will get wiped pretty easily by the normal gym.

We received a couple of themed decks and booster packs to check out, courtesy of TriplePoint and the Pokémon Company. The decks are Bright Tide, Forest Shadow and Roaring Heat. Each one features their respective starter Pokémon on the gorgeously embossed packaging. Each of the Pokémon's outline poke into the cutout opening which adds a nice touch of how involved they can be with their own decks. Inside all boxes are similar items. A deck of 60 cards, a checklist, one metallic coin, a playmat, deck box and damage counters. The back of the packaging even lists the contents of the Pokémon you will receive along with a few images.

The biggest selling point here is the new Mega Evolution Pokémon ex card mechanic, which can offer boosts to both HP and attacks over the usual ex cards. However, a KO'd Mega Evolution ex card results in three prize cards being surrendered, so there's still a bit of strategizing involved. Ultra rare Item, Tool, and Stadium cards are also included in the new

Speaking of which, Forest Shadow features the mysteriously shrouded Decidueye. There are only Grass and Normal-type Pokémon in this deck which could help or hinder your battles. Decidueye uses Leaf Blade to inflict 30 damage but a flip of the coin could double that in no time while Brave Bird deals a whopping 120 damage but can take a toll on the user by hurting itself. Use Brave Bird wouldn't be the best idea especially with Decidueye's lower HP total of 140. As mentioned before, the use of all Grass and Normal Pokémon means you won't have to split your energies as much as you would for the Bright Tide deck. However, this will definitely leave you vulnerable to plenty of Fire-type opponents.

Now, we come to the Roaring Heat deck introducing the crushing power of Incineroar. There are Fire, Normal and Fighting-types included with this bundle. Incineroar has Fire Fang which will induce a burn on the opposing Pokémon as well as 30 damage. It also uses its signature attack, Darkest Lariat, which you must flip two coins and deal 100 damage, for every heads. This move has the potential to unleash 200 damage, double that for anything weak to Fire-types and it can take down basically anything. Incineroar's 160 HP makes for a great advantage in order to build up its attacks and keep flipping for heads.

Starting off, Bright Tide features the shining star of the sea, Primarina. It contains a shocking mixture of Water and Electric-type Pokémon as well as a few Normal-types. Primarina is the main draw of this deck and with Disarming Voice doing 30 damage plus confusion as well as its signature attack, Sparkling Aria inflicting 100 damage while healing itself, this Pokémon is going to be tough to take down. Primarina is good to use if stalling is necessary as its self-healing will give you time to power up other Pokémon. It has 150HP which is pretty fair and a weakness to Grass-type cards which is good news for anyone using the Forest Shadow set. Also, those looking to experience Alolan region Pokémon, there are only four which means the majority of your team will consist of older Pokémon.