The Pokémon Trading Card Game recently announced the upcoming Battle Partners set, which is to be released in Japan later this month. The main draw of this new set is the fact that it includes the return of the beloved Owner’s Pokémon feature, which will allow players to utilize the various monsters that have been utilized by their favorite iconic characters. These trainers include big names like Marnie, N, and Lillie, with others like Arven, Misty, and Ethan being teased for the future.
With so many new cards to choose from, there is a lot that both collectors and competitive players will enjoy. For competitive players in particular, many of the new Owner’s Pokémon cards can be used to create immensely powerful decks. Although many of the cards in this set can be particularly useful, only certain ones can be considered the strongest in the entire set so far.
10
Meowscarada
A Useful Asset Against Ex Pokémon
Meowscarada is the final evolution of the beloved Gen 9 Grass-type starter Sprigatito, and its card in Battle Partners proves to be a rather strong and useful asset in competitive decks. For starters, its Showtime ability is rather notable as it allows the player to swap Meowscarada with their current active Pokémon once during their turn. This means that, if the player has taken the time to set up Meowscarada’s attack, then they can use this ability to bring it into the active spot to deal a powerful blow.
In terms of its only attack, Rising Bloom is particularly useful when used against powerful ex Pokémon. It normally deals a decent 90 damage against most opponents, but that damage doubles when used against any opponent’s ex cards. Although this might not be able to knock out all ex cards in a single hit, the damage is still significant enough to keep any opposing player on their toes.
9
Iono’s Electrode
Taking Out Opponents In One Big Explosion
Electrode is best known as a powerful Electric-type Pokémon that can unleash devastating attacks by exploding, and this card is a great example of how much explosive power it possesses. For starters, its second attack, Electric Ball, is able to deal a significant 100 points of damage, making it able to knock out many Basic and Stage 1 Pokémon in a single hit. The only downside to this move is that it requires three energy for it to be used, meaning that players will need to take the time to build up Electrode’s power first.
Should players not choose to wait, however, they also have the option to use Electrode’s first attack: Heartpounding Bomb. As its name implies, this move involves Electrode blowing itself up, taking itself down along with its opponent should the player succeed in their coin flip. This means that the player can automatically knock out the opposing Pokémon regardless of its remaining health points, but only if luck happens to be on their side during that turn, so it must be used sparingly.
8
N’s Darmanitan
Growing Stronger As Energy Is Discarded
Although N did not ever use a Darmanitan on his team in the Generation 5 games, it is still a very notable member of his team as it was one of the Pokémon that was a part of his childhood. Now, in the Pokémon TCG, it fights by his and the player’s sides as an immensely useful and powerful Fire-type card. Its second attack, Darman-i-cannon, is rather notable, as it is able to deal a decent 90 points of damage to both the opponent’s active Pokémon, and one on their bench.
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However, Darmanitan’s first attack, Backdraft, is especially useful should the player have the right timing. Such a move allows Darmanitan to deal 30 damage times the number of discarded energy cards in the opponent’s discard pile. This means that players will be able to potentially deal a large amount of damage to whittle down the health of even immensely strong ex Pokémon, thereby helping them get closer to victory.
7
Lillie’s Clefairy Ex
Changing Opponents’ Weaknesses
One of Lillie’s Pokémon in Battle Partners is her Clefairy, and its ex card is particularly useful when up against specific opponents. Its Fairy Zone ability is especially useful against Dragon-type Pokémon, as it makes the opponent’s Dragon-types all have Psychic as their weakness. This is especially useful against other strong cards like N’s Reshiram, who initially start out with no weaknesses, as they will suddenly take double damage from Clefairy’s and other Psychic-types’ attacks.
Clefairy’s Full Moon Rondo attack is quite a useful attack, especially when both players have a lot of Pokémon on the board, as it deals more damage the more benched Pokémon are in play. This means that if both players have set up a lot of Pokémon, then Clefairy ex is able to deal a significant amount of damage with one attack. When combined with Clefairy’s Fairy Zone ability, many powerful Dragon-types won’t stand a chance against it.
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6
Lycanroc
Attacking Opponents With Spikes & Fangs
What makes Lycanroc particularly useful in competitive decks is how it utilizes a new type of energy called Spike Energy. When Spike Energy is attached to a Pokémon, and it gets attacked, it causes two damage counters to be placed on the opposing creature. Considering the fact that Lycanroc’s Entangling Spikes ability allows it to attach more Spike Energy to itself upon evolution, this means that there are numerous opportunities to retaliate against the opponent should Lycanroc survive multiple attacks.
This specific strategy is exactly what helps to make Lycanroc’s singular attack so useful. Grabbing Fangs is a particularly strong attack that is able to deal more damage with more damage counters on the opponent. This means that as long as the player is able to ensure Lycanroc’s survival during battle, they will be able to unleash an immensely powerful blow in retaliation.
5
N’s Zoroark Ex
Utilizing Allies’ Attacks In Battle
Zoroark is possibly one of N’s most iconic Pokémon, so it is only fitting that it features in the Battle Partners set as one of the most powerful ex cards. There are many aspects of this card that make it particularly useful to competitive players. Not only does it have an impressive 280 total health points, but its Trade ability also allows the player to draw multiple cards to build up their hand to try and gain the advantage during their turn.
Despite the impressive stats of this card, its strength is primarily reliant on how the player decides to use it. Zoroark’s second attack, Night Joker, allows it to utilize any attack from the player’s own benched Pokémon. Should the player have multiple other powerful cards at their disposal, then N’s Zoroark ex can become a major threat on the battlefield.
4
N’s Reshiram
An Immensely Powerful Dragon
N is best known for allying himself with one of the Unovan Legendary dragons, and Battle Partners has him fighting alongside Reshiram. Befitting Reshiram’s Legendary status, its card proves to be a very powerful asset in competitive decks. Notably, its second attack, Virtuous Flame, is able to deal a significant 170 points of damage, which can knock out most of the weaker cards in this set in a single hit.
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Reshiram’s first attack is absolutely what makes it a notable threat to opponents, however. Powerful Rage starts out initially weak by only dealing 20 damage, but it grows stronger as more damage counters are placed on Reshiram. This means that players can manage to knock out their opponent in a single hit should Reshiram manage to survive taking a lot of damage.
3
Iono’s Bellibolt Ex
A Useful Electric-Type Attacker & Support
Bellibolt is the adorable frog-like Pokémon that is the ace monster of the Electric-type gym leader Iono from Scarlet and Violet. Befitting such status, this Bellibolt ex card has numerous aspects that make it particularly useful to competitive players. Most notably, its second attack, Thunderous Bolt, allows it to deal a significant 230 total damage, which is able to knock out a good number of cards in this set in one hit, but at the cost of Bellibolt not being able to attack during the next turn.
Fortunately, there is one more aspect of Bellibolt ex that makes it useful in decks. Its ability, Electric Streamer, allows the player to attach one basic Electric-type energy from their hand to any of the other Iono’s Pokémon they have on their bench. This means that, even if Bellibolt isn’t always able to attack, then they can still help quickly set up the attacks of the other Pokémon that are currently in play.
2
Hop’s Zacian Ex
Unleashing Ruthless Sword Strikes
Hop is one of the three rivals in Pokémon Sword and Shield, and although his inclusion in the Battle Partners set has led to some rather divisive reactions from fans, his card that features Zacian ex is undeniably strong. One aspect that makes it a good card in competitive decks is its decent 230 total health points, meaning that it can take a lot of hits from opponents before going down. Furthermore, its first attack, Close Cleave, can deal 30 damage to both the opponent’s active Pokémon and one of their benched ones, making it easy to whittle down their health after a few turns.
Zacian’s ex’s most notable attack is absolutely Brave Slash. Although it requires a high amount of energy in order for it to be used, the 240 total damage is enough to knock out many of the strongest cards in this set. Even with the downside of Zacian being unable to attack during its next turn, it is still a very useful attack when used at the right time to gain the upper hand.
1
Mamoswine Ex
An Incredibly Strong Obstacle For Opponents
Mamoswine is already an incredibly powerful Pokémon in the video games, and its card in Battle Partners does a perfect job of emphasizing this sheer strength. Not only does it have a startlingly high 340 health points, but its Rumbling March attack allows it to deal 180 damage, plus 40 damage for every Stage 2 Pokémon in the player’s bench. This means that if the player has numerous fully-evolved Pokémon in their bench, then they can potentially knock out some of the strongest cards in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
Pokemon
- Created by
-
Satoshi Taijiri
, Ken Sugimori
, Junichi Masuda
Summary
Spanning over twenty-five years, Pokemon, known as Pocket Monsters in Japan, is the multimedia franchise created jointly by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures. Conceptualized by Satoshi Tajiri in association with Ken Sugimori and Junichi Masuda, Pokemon is set in fictional worlds where people live together with tamable creatures known as Pokemon. Humans who catch, raise, and battle the creatures are known as Pokemon Trainers. They head out on extensive journeys across their continents to raise their Pokemon with the ultimate goal of competing in tournaments to become the champion. Pokemon spans several massive properties, from a long-running animated series to a successful trading card game, to the medium that started it all, video games. In addition, Pokemon began the “two-game” trend where two versions of a game would release and include different Pokemon/features between the versions, encouraging players to meet up with others and trade so they could “catch ’em all.”
