One major way that the Pokémon TCG is different from its digital monster collecting counterpart is that Pokémon that aren't fully evolved have much more of a chance to shine. In the RPGs, unless you're plotting something sneaky using some eviolite, your best bet when heading into battle is to bring a team of fully evolved Pokémon with you. In the TCG, meanwhile, you need to evolve into your heavy hitters during the fight. Sometimes, though, there are stage one and basic Pokémon that offer a unique gimmick that their final form just can't replicate. Doublade from Perfect Order is the latest Pokémon to continue this proud tradition.
Fully evolved Aegislash from Perfect Order is honestly quite underwhelming. Its Metal Slash attack is reasonably strong at 230 power, but requires a pricey investment of four energy, and prevents Aegislash from attacking on the next turn. Doublade, meanwhile, possesses the much more impactful Weaponized Swords attack that deals 60 damage for every copy of Honedge, Doublade, and Aegislash in your hand.
This means that the damage of the attack ranges from 0 (if you have no relevant cards in your hand) to a maximum of 600 (if you're holding onto 3 honedges, 3 doublades, and 4 Aegislahes). While you'll almost certainly never hit that maximum 600, considering that the highest HP Pokémon cards only have 380 hit points, you'll never need to.
Tutoring and drawing masses of cards has always been easier in the Pokémon TCG than in many of its competitors. By using cards like Dawn, Poké Pad, and Hilda, you can quickly fill your hand with swords. This ensures that you'll always be prepared to dual wield with style and dish out as much damage with your Doublade as possible.
You can tell that the Pokémon Company have a lot of faith in Doublade. Not only is it one of the four potential promotional cards that you can find inside a Perfect Order: Build and Battle Box, but it also has an illustration rare variant, setting it apart from the Perfect Order printings of both Honedge and Aegislash that simply have regular artwork.
Have you experimented with Doublade? Let us know whether you cut through the opposition or if they parried your attacks with ease over on the Wargamer Discord.
Doublade is also only a common card, but here's a list of some of the rarest Pokémon cards out there.