Written by Zach Lesage on 3/25/2021 at category
Battle Styles, our newest Pokemon TCG set, brings so much to our existing game and offers plenty of new cards to think about playing! While this set is jam-packed with entertaining cards, I felt it would be a great opportunity to share my personal top five cards in the set after playing around with them for a while. Battle Styles is an exciting set because it introduces two new mechanics into our game, Single Strike cards and Rapid Strike cards. With the new dual mechanic released, Single Strike cards focus on one slow, powerful attack, and Rapid Strike cards feature smaller strategic blows. The most exciting thing about these mechanics is featured on Pokemon, Trainers, and Energy cards alike. Beyond that, the set features many playable cards that fit into existing decks, such as Victini VMAX (Battle Styles), and cards that will support previous archetypes. If you are looking for any codes to pick up these awesome cards, use code zlesage5 to save 5% on your order right here at PTCGOStore.com. That being said, let’s jump into my list!
5. Corviknight VMAX
Corviknight VMAX (Battle Styles) pops onto the scene as the new hot Metal-type Pokemon card! The instant combo released beside it is Bronzong (Battle Styles) and Cheryl (Battle Styles) that we will get to later on in this article. The whole combo works by getting a Corviknight VMAX powered with Metal Saucer (Sword and Shield) and to attack with G-Max Hurricane. That attack reads that during your next turn, this Pokemon can’t use G-Max Hurricane, but that’s where Bronzong comes in. You can use Metal Transfer to move Energy to another Corviknight VMAX, Retreat for free, and attack again. If you get damaged by an attack, you can easily use Cheryl to heal all damage from all of your Evolved Pokemon (yes, VMAX Pokemon technically are Evolved Pokemon) and move your Energy around, so you don’t have to Discard any with Cheryl. With popular Fire-type decks running around, like Centiskorch VMAX (Darkness Ablaze), you might wonder how this card ended up on my list in the first place. Well, Bronzong can move Coating Metal Energy (Vivid Voltage) around, and that will take care of Weakness. If your opponent is packing a copy of Giratina (Unified Minds) in their deck, Lustrous Body will stop that Ability from working. This card doesn’t seem like much at first, but it has been extremely impressive in my early testing, and I look forward to seeing this card become even better in the future.
4. Houndoom & Octillery
I usually try and stay away from doubling up on cards, but these cards both encapsulate the new Single Strike and Rapid Strike mechanics shown in this set. Houndoom (Battle Styles) focuses on accelerating Energy to Single Strike Pokemon with its Single Strike Roar Ability. This works great with other Single Strike cards in the set, such as Urn of Vitality (Battle Styles), because you can get back your Single Strike Energy (Battle Styles) from your Discard Pile. It can add damage to Single Strike Scroll of Scorn (Battle Styles), which can benefit from the placed damaged counters from Single Strike Roar and add an extra punch with Single Strike Energy’s boosted damage. Octillery (Battle Styles) takes a different route with its consistency potential. Rapid Strike Search is an amazing Ability that can search out any Rapid Strike card from your deck that doesn’t read as just a Pokemon or anything, it is any card. Rapid Strike cards are available in all types of cards, including Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX (Battle Styles), Korrina’s Focus (Battle Styles), and Rapid Strike Energy (Battle Styles). With the options growing with each new set release due to the mechanics announced as an ongoing theme, Octillery will be able to search for a more diverse selection of cards after each new set release. Both of these cards represent their respective Strike cards well and will seemingly get stronger in the future.
3. Bronzong & Cheryl
After discussing these cards in the sense of a Corviknight VMAX deck, I decided to think of some other cool ways that both of these cards could see success. Bronzong moves any Metal Energy, which means it can move Aurora Energy (Sword and Shield) around the board or even move Rainbow Energy (Celestial Storm) in Expanded. This might see some success in a Ditto V (Shining Fates) deck or maybe in a deck that features Mewtwo & Mew-GX (Unified Minds). Cheryl can see play in other decks too. I know many players were thinking of switching Corviknight VMAX out for a Copperajah VMAX (Rebel Clash) line in their Metal decks or even Scizor VMAX (Darkness Ablaze) if they wish. It can also see success without the whole Bronzong combo too! I have seen Single Strike Urshifu VMAX (Battle Styles) decks feature a single copy of Cheryl to heal their Pokemon after using G-Max One Blow. Both of these cards show an incredible amount of promise as we look towards the future of our game.
2. Victini VMAX
Victini VMAX is a card that I definitely slept on during my original set review, but I have since had a change of heart. Fire-type decks have always been a dominant force in our game, like Blacephalon-GX (Lost Thunder) and Welder (Unbroken Bonds), and this card is no different. I think many people look at its first attack, Spreading Flames, and immediately think that it provides nothing more than its Basic Pokemon Victini V (Sword and Shield), but that’s where everyone is wrong. Max Victory is similar to Eternatus VMAX (Darkness Ablaze) because it can two-shot any VMAX Pokemon and usually one-shot most V Pokemon. If you aren’t facing any VMAX / V Pokemon, you can attack with many different Pokemon that can all be powered up by Welder. Cramorant V (Sword and Shield), Blacephalon (Unbroken Bonds), and Heatran-GX (Unified Minds) all come to mind. The best part is, once Team Up - Cosmic Eclipse rotates out of our Standard format, only V Pokemon will exist, which makes Max Victory that much more powerful. The flame is only lit at this point, but I foresee Victini VMAX burning down our entire metagame this upcoming summer.
1. Rapid Strike & Single Strike Urshifu VMAX
Here we are, we finally got to the two best cards of the set. The divide is clearly evident online, where plenty of arguments can be made for both Single Strike and Rapid Strike to be the better version of Urshifu VMAX. I’m still torn on which one is best because our metagame is blown wide open with this release, and I’m still unsure how everything is gonna work out in the end. Rapid Strike Urhsifu VMAX borrows a lot of its attributes from previously released cards, such as Golisopod-GX (Burning Shadows) and Reshiram & Zekrom-GX (Cosmic Eclipse). Single Strike Urshifu VMAX shares a deep resemblance with the attacks on Reshiram & Charizard-GX (Unbroken Bonds) because Single Strike Scroll of Scorn is similar to Outrage and G-Max One Blow is similar to Double Blaze GX. Both of these decks are going to work with their respective Strike cards and attempt to build an engine out of them. The confusing part about these cards is more or less how the metagame will react to both of them being released. With both of them being Fighting-type, Eternatus VMAX and Pikachu & Zekrom-GX (Team Up) will both see a considerably less amount of play going forward. However, Psychic-type decks, like Dragapult VMAX (Rebel Clash), are on the rise to combat these Psychic-weak Pokemon. These cards are undeniably some of the most potent cards available, but we need to explore our format more to see where they stand!
Conclusion
I hope this article has you hyped up for the release of BattleStyles and understand all of the cool cards released in this set. If you think I missed a card or there is another card you want to brag about, be sure to comment on this article to let me know. With over 150 cards in the set, BattleStyles is a large Pokemon TCG set, and it will provide opportunities to add some awesome cards to your collection. Whether you are a player or collector, best of luck obtaining all of the cards you want, and be sure to check out PTCGOStore.com for all of your PTCGO code card needs.
About the Writer
Zach Lesage
Zach Lesage is a contributing writer for PTCGOStore.com. As a Toronto local, he has been playing the Pokémon TCG since 2005 and currently creates Pokémon content as his full time career. Under the moniker theloneblown, he creates YouTube content, Twitch streaming, and runs PTCGO events. With multiple prestigious accomplishments in the game, such as the 2020 Oceania International Championships Finalist and the 2019 Collinsville Regional Champion, he certainly has proven his success in the game. Outside of the game, he travels the world, enjoys the culture of designer streetwear, and is a professionally trained chef. You can find him at most large Pokémon events and follow him on Twitter @theloneblown.
Zach Lesage is a contributing writer for PTCGOStore.com. As a Toronto local, he has been playing the Pokémon TCG since 2005 and currently creates Pokémon content as his full time career. Under the moniker theloneblown, he creates YouTube content, Twitch streaming, and runs PTCGO events. With multiple prestigious accomplishments in the game, such as the 2020 Oceania International Championships Finalist and the 2019 Collinsville Regional Champion, he certainly has proven his success in the game. Outside of the game, he travels the world, enjoys the culture of designer streetwear, and is a professionally trained chef. You can find him at most large Pokémon events and follow him on Twitter @theloneblown.
1 Comments
Rita
Date
4/3/2021
Wow! These are my favorite cards of the set.