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

The Cards Of Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield – Fusion Strike Part 3

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.

And we have Rillaboom back with another V and VMAX. Sword & Shield – Fusion Strike is unlike other SWSH-era sets we've seen so far as it's sort of a content dump — and not in a bad way. Most of the sets we've seen are direct adaptations and combinations of Japanese sets. For example, Sword & Shield – Evolving Skies combines cards from three Japanese sets Eevee Heroes, Sky Stream, and Towering Perfection. Sword & Shield – Chilling Reign combined Jet Black Poltergeist and Silver Lance. This leads to these sets having shared themes. Sword & Shield – Fusion Strike adapts the Japanese Fusion Arts but instead of combining it with another set, it simply loads the set with cards from other sets and promos that have yet to be adapted. This makes it a fun and dynamic set to open, and it does just happen to have all three Galar Starters and their VMAXes. Note, too, that while we've seen a Rillaboom VMAX before, that version showed off the Dynamax version where the Pokémon gets big but retains its form. This is the first time we're seeing Gigantamax Rillaboom take on this transformed state in the Pokémon TCG.

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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