Get ready to take your Pokémon Trading Card Game collection
to the next level with the upcoming Sword & Shield—Evolving Skies expansion. It contains over 200 cards to
discover, including some powerful new Pokémon V, Pokémon VMAX, and Single
Strike and Rapid Strike cards. Dragon-type Pokémon are also returning in a big
way in this expansion, so be on the lookout for them. Join us for a peek at
some of the great cards you’ll find, and prepare for the expansion’s release on
August 27, 2021.
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Considering this expansion has the word “evolving” in its
name, is it any surprise that it includes Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon? The
adorable little Pokémon may not be a heavy hitter on its own, but its
Vee-Search attack lets you search your deck for up to 3 Pokémon V that you can
put into your hand. What do you think? Could this expansion also include
Eevee’s many Evolutions? Keep reading, friends! Oh, and who’s that
soaring through the skies above Eevee? Keep reading even further, friends!
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Yes, indeed, all eight of Eevee’s Evolutions are in Sword & Shield—Evolving Skies. Interestingly, the Pokémon V incarnations
of these Evolutions are Basic Pokémon, so they don’t evolve from Eevee itself.
Once you get Umbreon V in play, you’ll be able to evolve it into Umbreon VMAX,
which, like Umbreon V, is a Single Strike Pokémon. When you do, you might want
to take advantage of its Dark Signal Ability, which lets you pull 1 of your
opponent’s Benched Pokémon into the Active Spot when you play Umbreon VMAX.
Follow that up with a Max Darkness attack, which hits for 160, and your
opponent could be in a lot of trouble.
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Eevee can also help you get the Rapid Strike Pokémon Sylveon
V into play, and you can use its Dream Gift Ability to search your deck for an
Item card to bring into your hand. You’ll see a card below that would be great
for this situation, especially when you evolve Sylveon V into Sylveon VMAX
(which is also a Rapid Strike Pokémon). Sylveon VMAX interacts with your
Benched Pokémon a lot, so it would be ideal to play this Pokémon when you have
a full team ready to go. Its Precious Touch attack not only lets you attach an
Energy card from your hand to a Benched Pokémon, but it will also heal 120
damage from that Pokémon. Its Max Harmony attack only does 70 damage initially,
but it adds an extra 30 damage for each different type of Pokémon on your Bench.
Hmm…Eevee’s Evolutions have lots of different types, right…?
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As we’ve seen, Sword
& Shield—Evolving Skies is filled with Eevee’s many Evolutions, and as
cool as they are, this expansion also has some great Trainer cards that will
make them even more useful in battle. Take, for example, the Moon & Sun
Badge. Attach this Pokémon Tool to a Pokémon V with “Espeon” or “Umbreon” in
its name, and when your opponent plays a Supporter card from their hand, it
prevents all effects of that card done to that Pokémon. As hinted at above, the
Ribbon Badge is perfect for Pokémon V with “Sylveon” in their name. If the
Pokémon it’s attached to is Knocked Out by damage from an attack by your
opponent’s Pokémon, your opponent has to take 1 fewer Prize card. And yes, Pokémon
VMAX are Pokémon V, so the effects of these cards still apply after Evolution!
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It’s not all Eevee and Eevee-adjacent cards in Sword & Shield—Evolving Skies, though. As we mentioned in the intro,
Dragon-type Pokémon are back! Just check out this incredible Rapid Strike
Rayquaza VMAX. It comes with a mighty 320 HP and an Azure Pulse Ability that
lets you discard your hand and draw 3 cards once per turn. Used properly, this
could help set you up for victory. Rayquaza VMAX’s Max Burst attack requires
just one Fire Energy and one Lightning Energy, but it only does a paltry 20
damage. However, the attack also allows you to discard any amount of basic Fire
or basic Lightning Energy from the Pokémon. For each card you discard, the
attack does an additional 80 damage. Load Rayquaza VMAX up with Energy before
it attacks, and you can do some massive damage to your opponent’s Active Pokémon.
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Single Strike Duraludon VMAX is another dynamic Dragon-type
Pokémon, and it sports a towering 330 HP. If your opponent is fond of using
Special Energy, Duraludon VMAX’s Skyscraper Ability will prove invaluable. The
Ability prevents any of your opponent’s attacks from damaging this Pokémon if
they have any Special Energy attached. You can then counter with the G-Max
Pulverization attack. It hits for a whopping 220 damage while also guaranteeing
that the attack’s damage isn’t affected by any effects on your opponent’s
Active Pokémon.
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Sword &
Shield—Evolving Skies includes a
pair of scrolls that can be attached to a Rapid Strike Pokémon or a Single
Strike Pokémon to grant them a new attack as long as they have the necessary
Energy to use it. Rapid Strike Scroll of the Flying Dragon (which is for Rapid
Strike Pokémon, of course) contains the Meteor attack, which does 90 damage to
any 1 of your opponent’s Pokémon. You must discard 2 Energy from the Pokémon to
use the attack, but it could be useful if you’re looking to target your
opponent’s Bench. Single Strike Scroll of the Fanged Dragon (for Single Strike
Pokémon, natch) provides access to the Superstrong Slash attack, which lives up
to its name by hitting for 300 damage. However, it does require one Fighting
Energy, two Metal Energy, and two more Energy of any type to perform, and you
must discard all Energy from the Pokémon once you use the
attack. Still, if you need to hit your opponent hard, this could turn the tide
of battle.
These are just a few of the incredible cards you’ll find in
Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield—Evolving
Skies. See what other cool cards
you can discover when the expansion releases on August 27, 2021.
Source: Pokemon
