Pokémon Sun and Moon Themed Decks

The Guardians Rising expansion for Pokémon Son and Moon has been a big hit at retail already, with many of the booster packs, decks, and Elite Trainer boxes becoming almost impossible to find. We’ve already unboxed and reviewed a number of packs earlier, so I hope you will check them out! While I will copy and paste a few of the Guardians Rising details here again, the majority of this review will be looking at the themed decks and how they play in a game!

Hidden Moon and Steel Sun

As has been the case with most themed decks for the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the big selling feature of these decks is getting access to multiple copies of the sometimes otherwise hard to find mythical Pokémon: Solgaleo and Lunala. However, once you dive further into both decks, you will find many popular and valuable cards that, when you ultimately create your own custom deck, will be of real value.

The decks overall are balanced. Hidden Moon is a combination of psychic and fire, while Steel Sun is a combination of psychic and metal. Like I said previously, playing with each, both against each other and in other Pokémon Battles – produces a fairly balanced approach. Obviously, custom decks are often superior as they play to the strengths and weaknesses of the person using them, but for new players, you will find varied Pokémon with good attacks and benefits, as well as an adequate number of associated energy cards, items, and trainers.

My personal preference between the two is definitely the Steel Sun deck, mostly for my appreciation for Solgaleo over Lunala. That being said, I’ve had little success using it when playing against my wife and son, but that probably has more to do with my inability to be good at the Pokémon Trading Card Game as opposed to the cards I’m using.

The Pokémon Company does a really good job with these themed decks. Making them beneficial to new players as well as veterans is not an easy task, but yet they manage to do it. The bonus for veteran players is pretty straight forward: this is a good way to get cards you specifically want for your own personal deck. As the entire deck list is printed on the back of the box, there is no questioning what comes in the 60 card deck. If you are looking for a lot of specific energy or trainer/item cards, or want a few copies of Solgaleo or Lunala, these decks are a great value at 12.99

For beginners, these sets offer more than just the required 60 card deck. You will also get handy damage counters to keep track of how much health your Pokémon have left, status counters for determining what status is currently affecting your Pokémon, and exclusive coin for determining heads or tails when attacking, defending, or using specific cards, and a playmate to help organize the game board. These are all really valuable additions to the collection of someone looking to get involved in not only the card collecting aspect of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, but the battling as well.

Overall, these decks are 100% worth the money, and should never be overlooked as something for beginners. Will you be grabbing Steel Sun or Hidden Moon? If so, let us know on social media!