Pokémon Sun and Moon: Burning Shadows Releases for Trading Card Game

The next expansion for the Pokémon Trading Card Game launches today, and we are really excited about it. Thanks to our friends at the Pokémon Company, we were able to check out some of the Burning Shadows product a bit ahead of launch, and showed off a number of the cards via my Twitter account! Although we have not reviewed the cards in any gameplay sessions as of yet, we do have our initial thoughts on the cards themselves! Read on for more details, as well as a few unboxing videos!

Themed Decks

Themed decks return to the Pokémon Trading Card Game with the Burning Shadows expansion, and this shouldn’t be a surprise. As a way to quickly add to your collection, or get your hands on a number of cards you might ultimately want for your custom Pokémon Sun and Moon deck, the Themed Decks are a great value at roughly 12.99 USD. Included with each themed deck is a playmate, hit point counters, and a coin for flipping heads and tails. Each deck also comes with a holographic card exclusive to the decks.

Burning Shadows – Alolan Ninetales

The Alolan Ninetales deck is a bit odd for me, and probably not a great deck for a beginning player. The vast difference between the water and fire is unique, but might be difficult for a new player to administer in a competitive space effectively. That being said, I think there are a ton of great cards in this deck that will make great additions to your custom decks in the future. The holographic Alolan Ninetales card itself is beautiful, and one I definitely wanted to add to my collection. When Pokémon announced Alolan forms of original Pokémon, I was super psyched. To be able to get a Ninetales this easily is a huge bonus for me.

https://twitter.com/AdamRoffel/status/893457956947341312

I found many of the included Trainer cards to be very effective, especially for new players. There are a number of Hau cards within the deck which allows players to draw 3 cards, as well, a card that is valuable in any scenario!

Burning Shadows – Lycanroc

Since I’m not a huge psychic or fighting card fan, I have a hard time getting excited about this deck, personally. The Lycanroc holographic card is very nice, and will be a great addition to my collection as a whole, but I wasn’t fond of the other cards that came included in this deck. That being said, that’s a personal decision for me, and shouldn’t ever reflect your opinions. If you love fighting and psychic type Pokémon, there is probably a few cards here you will want to add to your custom deck.

https://twitter.com/AdamRoffel/status/893457312031133697

Again, there are multiple Hau cards within this deck that will allow players to draw three cards, again, incredibly valuable in any situation. I’m intrigued by a number of the other Trainer cards included, but won’t be able to comment on their usefulness until I complete a few play thoughts with my seven year old son, which I will do over the weekend. Look for a follow up article Monday!

Burning Shadows Booster Packs

The artwork on the outside of the Burning Shadows booster packs is outstanding, and I almost didn’t want to tear into them to see what 10 cards would be inside. Each and every pack includes at least one energy card. While some people hate this – as they probably have been collecting for years and have more than enough energy cards – I think this is incredibly valuable to anyone just starting out. I remember when I first started collecting a number of years ago, and wanted to play competitively, I had to purchase Energy cards form eBay just to get myself going.

The pulls through my first 10 packs were outstanding, the most notable pull being a Charizard GX! Adding that Charizard to my predominantly fire deck will definitely boost my ability to win! It’s a fantastic card with lots of potential in the right situation.

We will have a lot more on all these decks and cards after we try them out, but for now, enjoy your unboxings and make sure to follow on Twitter!