Forbidden Light Themed Decks – Pokemon Trading Card Game

Last week while away on family vacation, I was able to dive into the themed decks for the latest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion, Forbidden Light. Although neither of decks incorporate the Prism Star cards, both include a number of cards that will be great for building your own custom decks. Are these decks, on their own, worth playing with? Let’s take a look!

The two decks added to the Pokemon Trading Card Game are the Tropical Takedown deck featuring Alolan Exeggutor, and the Twilight Rogue deck featuring Lycnroc. For the purpose of this review, my son and I played multiple games, utilizing both decks, and from our few hours with this expansion, one deck almost always came out on top.

Tropical Takedown

Adapt and win with the Tropical Takedown theme deck! Alolan Exeggutor leads the way with its Tropical Shake attack, and lots of Alolan Pokémon come along to win as a team! This deck helps you make the most of your big attacks—go shake it up with the Tropical Takedown theme deck!

While I’m partial to the Alolan Exeggutor card over the Lycnroc card, the Tropical Takeddown deck was definitely the inferior of the two we played with. Don’t get me wrong, there are some fantastic cards in this deck that will go a long way in making your custom deck better, but with two many types included – fire, water, fighting, and more – it was hard to build a strategy.

To be fair, most of the Pokemon within this deck use colourless energy, meaning almost any energy card can be applied to any Pokemon. However, there are cards that utilize specific energy types, and if you happen to have placed those on other Pokemon, prior to drawing the one that has a specific requirement, you might be out of luck!

When both myself and my son used this deck, we were often frustrated by energy requirements. With so many different types – and therefore so many different energy variants – it was hard to build a plan. Now, themed decks from Pokemon are for those starting out – as they include a battle mat with rules to help you along – so as a veteran player, I shouldn’t harp on it too much.

Ultimately, as a card resource, Tropical Takedown is a must own if you are looking for a few trainer cards and specific Pokemon like Alolan Exeggutor. For those looking to start out, this probably isn’t the deck you want to use.

Twilight Rogue

Get sneaky with the Twilight Rogue theme deck! Outnumbered? No problem! Lycanroc does more damage when your opponent’s Bench is full, so use Dusknoir to force your opponent to play more Basic Pokémon. Salazzle and Malamar pull more cards and more Energy—for more ways to win with the Twilight Rogue theme deck!

The Twilight Rogue deck which features Lycnroc is a much better starter deck, focusing almost completely on fighting type Pokemon. There is a definite theme to this deck, and those using it as a way to learn the game will be much better prepared for future game encounters. With a focus on one type of Pokemon, the Twilight Rogue deck easily beat numerous other themed decks we have received from The Pokemon Company over the last few years.

What makes the Lycnroc deck so much better than the Alolan Exeggutor is its balance of fighting and dark type Pokemon. This deck isn’t a ‘one trick pony,’ nor is it too varied. It fits right in their with what you would want out of your own custom deck: a solid lineup of Pokemon of one type, offset by a few strong Pokemon from another type. This deck does a pretty good job of balancing them both.

Across both decks, there are a fair number of item and trainer cards which ultimately will be most valuable to those building custom decks. These cards are varied and have some unique effects that really alter the way you play the game. From drawing extra cards into your hand, to shuffling your whole hand into your deck and redrawing, there is no shortage of obtaining cards when playing with these Forbidden Light themed decks!

Are you excited about picking these up? The themed decks are available now online via the Pokemon Centre, or at your favourite retailer!