Highlights from Battle Styles

Kricketune V

Kricketune V’s Exciting Stage ability is a near perfect echo of a similar ability, Instruct, on Oranguru from Sun & Moon base set. In decks that often find themselves with small hand sizes, Kricketune V can be a great boost to the deck’s draw power.

Cherrim

Cherrim’s Spring Bloom ability is reminiscent of previous Rain Dance-like abilities like Deluge on Blastoise from Black & White—Boundaries Crossed. Although Cherrim will likely be most useful after Fire archetypes lose Welder and Giant Hearth in the upcoming rotation, Cherrim looks to be a significant boost to single prize archetypes that can make use of Basic Grass Energy.

Octillery

Octillery’s Rapid Strike Search is a supremely powerful consistency booster that only gets more potent as more Rapid Strike cards are printed. Need a draw Supporter? Use Rapid Strike Search to find Korrina’s Focus. Need energy? Get Rapid Strike Energy instead.

Mimikyu V

Although not a utility Pokémon in the most traditional of senses, Mimikyu V’s Dummy Doll ability can serve as a wall that forces your opponent to find a Phione, a Phoebe, an Escape Rope, or a gusting card—if you even have something that they can force you to switch into. Played at the right moment, Mimikyu V can stall and buy you some time—or lock your opponent out of a crucial prize.

Houndoom

Although it is more limited than Octillery’s Rapid Strike Search in that Houndoom’s Single Strike Roar only gets you a specific card from your deck—that specific card happens to be a Single Strike Energy card which also gets attached to the Single Strike Pokémon of your choosing. Even better, Single Strike Roar can be used once for each Houndoom you have in play meaning you could theoretically attach four Single Strike Energy with your Houndoom in a single turn!

Bronzong

Like Quagsire and Aromatisse did for Water- and Fairy-type Pokémon before it, Bronzong looks to make the bulkiest of the format’s Metal-type Pokémon even stronger and give Metal-type archetypes immense mobility and flexibility. Use Metal Transfer to move energy from one Pokémon to another to heal a damaged evolution Pokémon with Cheryl or switch out a damaged attacker with a fresh one and power it up with Metal Transfer!

Victini VMAX

Victini VMAX has the advantage of hitting popular Metal-type Pokémon V and VMAX for weakness all whilst being very easy to power up with or without the help of Welder. Further, because Victini VMAX isn’t dependent on Welder, Victini VMAX decks that run it can be readying alternative attackers whilst swinging away with Max Victory.

Tapu Koko VMAX

Combined with Electrode from Vivid Voltage—and perhaps even Omastar from Team Up—Tapu Koko VMAX looks to be a potential menace, keeping the opponent either locked up with Paralysis or knocking them out entirely with its Max Shock attack.

Single Strike Urshifu VMAX

With the powerful tools at its disposal—namely Houndoom and Single Strike Energy—Single Strike Urshifu VMAX aims to hit very hard when it needs to.

Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX

Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX is one of the most flexible attackers introduced in Battle Styles. Pair it with Octillery, Empoleon, Dragapult VMAX, Orbeetle VMAX, Zacian V, or so many other potential partners and watch it chip away at your opponent’s Pokémon until they all wilt under the pressure of G-Max Rapid Flow!

Corviknight VMAX

As the great metal bird in the sky, Corviknight VMAX hits hard all while being able to take advantage of healing cards like Cheryl and the beneficial effects of Bronzong’s Metal Transfer ability. As an added bonus, Corviknight is immune the the effects of other Pokémon’s abilities, for example, so the damage dropped by Dragapult VMAX’s Max Phantom would just vanish into thin air!

Stoutland V

Stoutland V’s strength is in its potential as a tech attacker. When used against weaker single prize archetypes like Mad Party, Stoutland V can easily flip the prize trade in your favor—even without the extra oomph given by Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX’s Altered Creation-GX.

Bruno

Bruno is both a shuffle-draw Supporter and a lifeline when one of your Pokémon is knocked out. Bruno can benefit almost any deck, but especially helps those that would also benefit most from Oricorio-GX’s Dance of Tribute ability—single prize archetypes that run few multi-prize Pokémon.

Cheryl

The bigger and tankier the VMAX, the more use it can get out of Cheryl. If the VMAX has a low attack cost attack like Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX or can rearrange its Energy so that they aren’t present on any of the Pokémon being healed by Cheryl when it is used to heal away the damage—like Bronzong can do for both Copperajah VMAX and Corviknight VMAX—Cheryl will prove especially potent.

Cheryl’s effect isn’t limited to Pokémon VMAX, but they are the ones who will benefit most from its effect.

Korrina's Focus

Korrina’s Focus is a effectively a reprint of Bianca from Legendary Treasures, but with one enormous bonus—the Rapid Strike designator, which means it can be searched for using Octillery’s Rapid Strike Search ability.

Phoebe

Is something preventing your Pokémon VMAX from taking a crucial knockout? Worry no more! Phoebe will crack their protection so that you can do the damage you need to do to put victory at your finger tips.

Rapid Strike Stance Mustard

Cheating in evolution Pokémon, including Pokémon VMAX and Stage 1 or 2 Pokémon can be quite a powerful trick, though your deck must be built to accommodate it. Decks like Blastoise BCR have used similar cards before—like Archie’s Ace in the Hole—with varying degrees of success. Even if this card doesn’t take off immediately, it’s always worth keeping in mind as more cards are introduced that could make it even more likely to find success.

Single Strike Stance Mustard

Cheating in evolution Pokémon, including Pokémon VMAX and Stage 1 or 2 Pokémon can be quite a powerful trick, though your deck must be built to accommodate it. Decks like Blastoise BCR have used similar cards before—like Archie’s Ace in the Hole—with varying degrees of success. What’s more, Single Strike Stance Mustard searches your deck for the Pokémon you’re cheating into play, making it even easier to pull off the crazy combo needed to make this Mustard card work. Like Rapid Strike Stance Mustard, even if this card doesn’t take off immediately, it’s always worth keeping in mind as more cards are introduced that could make it even more likely to find success.

Energy Recycler

Energy Recycler returns to the Standard format, lost to it since its secret rare print in Sun & Moon—Forbidden Light rotated from the format. Energy Recycler gives your deck a turbo charge by recycling the basic Energy cards in your discard pile back into your deck, benefitting decks that love to accelerate large quantities of energy.

Escape Rope

Escape Rope is an old friend returning to the Standard format that left when its previous print in Sun & Moon—Burning Shadows rotated. Escape Rope is almost like Phione from Cosmic Eclipse and a Switch all in the same card—never underestimate Escape Rope’s power!

Exp. Share

Although Exp. Share was seeing very little play when its previous print in Sun & Moon base set rotated out of the Standard format, Exp. Share looks to help decks that struggle when they loose their Basic energy hold onto it and keep themselves in the game. Decks like Victini VMAX—especially builds without Welder—and even Eternatus VMAX could see themselves throwing in an Exp. Share or two just to give it a try.

Fan of Waves

Fan of Waves is, in practice, a less destructive version of Enhanced Hammer, last printed in Sun & Moon—Guardians Rising. Decks that are especially reliant on Special Energy cards, but that can withstand being knocked out each turn—will be especially disrupted by being hit with a Fan of Waves or two.

Level Ball

Level Ball is a big consistency booster for decks that run high counts of low HP Pokémon, like Mad Party and Cherrim variants. Level Ball also means that you won’t need to discard cards with Quick Ball to find your Basic Pokémon and you won’t need another Pokémon in your hand to trade away to make use of Pokémon Communication. You can just get the Pokémon you need—provided it has 90 HP or less.

Single Strike Scroll of Scorn

For Single Strike archetypes that can really take a pounding, like Single Strike Urshifu VMAX, Single Strike Scroll of Scorn serves as a last hurrah for your heavily-damaged attackers by giving them access to Furious Anger—an attack like the very familiar Outrage seen on cards like Reshiram & Charizard-GX.

Tool Jammer

As a tool-disruptor, Tool Jammer may find its niche in shutting off the effects of Air Balloon, Big Charm, Cape of Toughness, or Metal Goggles, making it more difficult for your opponent to retreat—and easier to knock out their Active Pokémon.

Urn of Vitality

Urn of Vitality is what helps Single Strike archetypes tick. It ensures that Houndoom always has something to find in the deck when it searches for Single Strike Energy cards with its Single Strike Roar ability. This means that even when a Pokémon with Single Strike Energy attached to it is knocked out, you can always get your next one powered-up in a jiffy!

Tower of Darkness

Tower of Darkness is similar to Scorched Earth—a card that would let you draw 2 cards when you discarded a Fire Energy from your hand. Tower of Darkness is even more flexible—letting you discard any Single Strike card to draw those two cards. Ditch a Single Strike card that’s not helping you now and draw more, what’s not to like?

Tower of Waters

Tower of Waters is similar to Altar of the Moone before it in that it reduces the retreat cost of your Rapid Strike Pokémon by 2. This provides a constant Air Balloon-like effect while providing you with the potential to still take advantage of other tool cards, like Vitality Band or Big Charm.

Rapid Strike Energy

Rapid Strike Energy serves as a pseudo Twin Energy or pseudo Double Rainbow Energy for any Rapid Strike Pokémon, making them easier to get powered-up and attacking early. Rapid Strike Energy is a must in any deck built around a Rapid Strike attacker!

Single Strike Energy

Single Strike Energy’s biggest strengths are its damage boosting effect and its ability to be attached by Houndoom’s Single Strike Roar ability, but its recyclability with Urn of Vitality gives it an even bigger push to be one of the best cards in the set.