Time to update your apps! Pokémon Pocket's newest set, Extradimensional Crisis, launched on Thursday, bringing with it 103 new cards for deck brewers to tinker with. We've picked the five we think have the most potential to make a big showing in the meta.
If you're a paper Pokémon TCG player, Wargamer has a great guide to the best Pokémon cards ever, and to the most rare Pokémon cards, as well as the full history of all Pokémon sets in order!
If you're strictly a Pokémon TCG Pocket player, here's our pick of the five most exciting new cards in Extradimensional Crisis:
Repel
Repel is an Item that lets you swap out a basic Pokémon from your opponent's active spot to their bench. It's a side-grade on Sabrina, since you can't use it to shift Stage One or Stage Two Pokémon, but it doesn't clash with any other Supporter cards, and you can use the same turn you draw it from Professor's Research. As long as people keep playing basic Pokémon ex and big basic blockers, the upside is well worth the downside.
Nihilego
A basic darkness type Pokémon with 70hp, Nihilego's main strength is in its Ability, 'More Poison', which means your enemy's active Pokémon takes 10 extra damage from being poisoned. This is a simple power boost for any poison strategy. As extra sauce it's also an Ultra Beast, giving it synergy with the new cards that care about that label.
Lusamine
This new Supporter allows you to attach two energy from your Discard Pile to an Ultra Beast Pokémon, provided an opponent has at least one point. Unlike the paper TCG the only way to get the energy into the Discard Pile is when a Pokémon faints, so if you want to be able to use this early you need to put something out front that your opponent can't afford to ignore. If you can make the match go long, Lusamine will accelerate an Ultra Beast into its best attack out of nowhere.
Guzzlord ex
Guzzlord ex has 170 hp and two respectable attacks. For two colorless energy, Grindcore deals 30 damage and can strip energy from your opponent's active Pokémon, essentially the same effect as Team Rocket Grunt. Tyrannical Hole costs three darkness and one colorless energy and deals 120 damage. That's all fine, but not head turning - but it's also an Ultra Beast. That makes it the premium target for Lusamine's energy recovery.
Silvally
A Stage One Normal type Pokémon with 110hp, Silvally's 'Brave Buddies' attack is incredibly fast and hard hitting. For two colorless energy it deals 50 damage - unless you've used a Supporter card this turn, in which case it deals 100 damage instead. That's very reliable, particularly with the new Trainer card Gladion, which lets you put a Silvally or a Type: Null (the stage one Silvally evolves from) from your deck into your hand.
What do you think? Are we overrating a trash card, or have we missed the set's obvious leader? Want to challenge us to a Pokémon battle? Come and join us in the official Wargamer Discord community!
Want to get into the paper trading card game? We've got a handy buyer's guide to the best Pokémon packs to buy.