Posted in: Card Games, Games, Pokémon TCG, Tabletop | Tagged: Fusion Strike, pokemon, pokemon cards, Pokemon TCG, Sword & Shield

The Cards Of Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield – Fusion Strike Part 23

The Pokémon TCG has outdone itself with its latest release, Sword & Shield – Fusion Strike. Fusion Strike, which was released in November 2021, is the largest expansion that the Pokémon TCG has ever released with a whopping 264 cards before Secret Rares. The set is partly based on the Japanese expansion Fusion Arts but also adapts several key Japanese promo cards as well as cards from sets like Eevee Heroes that were left out of that set's English equivalent, Sword & Shield – Evolving Skies. Sword & Shield – Fusion Strike is notable for its focus on the Mythical Pokémon Mew and Gengar VMAX, as well as its introduction of a new Battle Style to the competitive TCG with Fusion Pokémon now joining Rapid Strike and Single Strike. Now, let's take a journey through the best cards in this staggeringly large set of Pokémon cards.

Now, we enter into the Full Art Trainer Supporter section of Fusion Arts. I find this selection to be among the weaker offerings in the Sword & Shield era, but these first three aren't so bad. The Chili & Cilian & Cress card is pretty cute, capturing a fun moment between these characters. Dancer is an interesting design and the art is quite good, with the bright and complementary colors especially working well. Shauna is the most popular character who appears here as she was once the subject of quite a valuable card. English-speaking audiences received that Shauna as a promo in a box with a ton of other trainers, but it was harder to get in Japan and has become notoriously expensive. That one is currently valued at over $1000 in Japanese. This new Shauna doesn't quite live up to the simplicity of the card that made her a Pokémon TCG hit, and I think it might be partly because it's just a little weird. Weird angle, weird pose, sort of fish-eye lens look that makes it not as fun of a card as the C&C&C here nor as visually interesting as the set's major Trainer hit, Elesa's Sparkles, which we'll talk about next time.

Next time, the spotlight on Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield – Fusion Strike continues with more cards from the set. You can follow this spotlight series by clicking our Fusion Strike tag.

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