Pokémon TCG: Black & White—Noble Victories

Reshiram and Zekrom have introduced huge waves in the Pokémon TCG game, but those waves can’t match the ones the Water-type Pokémon Kyurem (34/101) will! This Basic Pokémon shares some traits with those first two Legendary Pokémon, including 130HP and the Outrage attack. But Kyurem’s signature attack, Glaciate, is all new. Glaciate chills your opponent’s entire team with 30 damage each, and unlike Reshiram and Zekrom, Kyurem doesn’t take any penalty each turn. So, turn after turn, Glaciate will freeze your opponent’s team with serious damage! Get ready for Kyurem to add a new dimension to the Pokémon TCG at all levels of play!

Save yourself from defeat with the ultimate last-chance card, Cofagrigus (47/101)! This Stage 1 Pokémon can keep the battle going even after it’s taken enough damage to get Knocked Out, thanks to its Durable Body Ability. All it takes is the flip of a coin: if you flip heads, Cofagrigus stays in the battle with 10HP, escaping that Knock Out. One Max Potion later, and Cofagrigus is as good as new. Plus, Cofagrigus isn't too shabby on the attacking front, either. Its Ambush attack does 40 damage plus 20 more damage depending on a coin flip. With Victini (Black & White—Noble Victories, 98/101) in play to redo coin flips, you have a pretty good shot at doing 60 damage turn after turn!

Completing the trio with Thundurus and Tornadus, Landorus (74/101) is another 110HP Basic Pokémon with a pair of useful attacks. Like Thundurus and Tornadus, Landorus’s first attack is to help fetch Energy for itself. Abundant Harvest lets you retrieve a basic Energy card from the discard pile and attach it to Landorus. It's a great benefit for when you need to heal Landorus with a Max Potion (Black & White—Emerging Powers, 94/98).

Once you have 2 Fighting Energy and a Colorless Energy on Landorus, it’s time for the Legendary Pokémon to start swinging with its Gaia Hammer attack. Gaia Hammer does 80 damage to the Defending Pokémon, plus 10 damage to all Benched Pokémon. Combine Gaia Hammer with (Black & White, 6/114) Royal Heal Ability (healing 10 damage from all your Pokémon after every turn), and you have the makings for a fierce combo.

No matter how you look at them, the strengths of Hydreigon (79/101) are hard to ignore. What stands out first and foremost is the Dark-type Pokémon’s 150HP, which is more than enough to withstand some of the hardest hitters you’ll face. Then, Hydreigon’s one attack is all it needs—Berserker Blade does 60 damage...plus 40 damage to two of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon! With that kind of damage, you’re basically getting three good attacks in one. At 4 Darkness Energy, Berserker Blade is pretty expensive, but it’s made a lot easier by Hydreigon’s Dark Aura Ability, which turns all Energy attached to Hydreigon into Darkness Energy—Even Double Colorless Energy. With that kind of power and flexibility, Hydreigon is a Pokémon you must consider including in your next deck.

Get ready to get rough with Druddigon (89/101)! This Basic Pokémon is the perfect Pokémon to open a battle with: it has 100HP and is capable of doing damage without even attacking, thanks to its Rough Skin Ability. Rough Skin does 20 damage to any Pokémon that damages Druddigon with an attack, as long as Druddigon is your Active Pokémon.

Many players are forced to start games with weaker Pokémon due to luck of the draw or as a result of playing Baby Pokémon. Druddigon can take advantage of this situation with its Clutch attack. Clutch does 60 damage, enough to take out many Basic Pokémon, and it prevents the Pokémon from retreating, making it harder for your opponent to bring a preferred Pokémon up as an Active Pokémon.

Druddigon can be useful for more than just beginning a game—look for ways to capitalize on this Pokémon's useful Ability and strategic attack to end matches just as effectively as it starts them!

The Pokémon TCG: Black & White—Noble Victories expansion marks the return of Pokémon Tools, which were absent in the HeartGold & SoulSilver Series. Pokémon Tools are cards that you attach to a Pokémon, and they stay on that Pokémon until it leaves play (or gets Knocked Out as a part of an attack or other action). Also, a Pokémon can have only one Pokémon Tool attached to it at a time.

Consider the new Pokémon Tool card Eviolite (91/101), a super card to boost the defensive capabilities of one of your Basic Pokémon. It reduces the damage from attacks to the Pokémon it’s attached to by 20. There are a lot of new hard-hitting Pokémon in the Pokémon TCG right now, as well as a premium on one-hit Knock Outs, so Eviolite can significantly slow down your opponent's assault. Or use it on a Pokémon that takes damage from its own attack, such as Zekrom (Black & White, 114/114) with its Bolt Strike attack.

Pokémon Tools can be attached to your Benched Basic Pokémon, too. Consider using Eviolite to immunize your own Pokémon from attacks that damage your Bench. When you use Donphan Prime’s (HeartGold & SoulSilver, 107/123) Earthquake attack, you will prevent the 10 damage to each of your Benched Pokémon that has an Eviolite attached to it. Every turn, Donphan Prime will hit for 60 damage (for only 1 Fighting Energy!) with no downside. Eviolite has plenty of other uses as well and should be a huge factor in your next deck.

Everyone has had games where coin flips just didn’t seem to go their way. Well, now there’s a Pokémon that may put a stop to a streak of bad luck flips: Victini (98/101)! With its Victory Star Ability, Victini gives you the power to get a do-over on coins you flipped for an attack! For example, let’s say you use Sawk’s (Black & White—Emerging Powers, 59/98) Five Fierce Chops attack, which does 20 damage times the number of heads you flip in 5 coin flips. But when you attack, you flip only one heads. Well, with Victini on your Bench, now you can start again and try for more! Two things to note: if you use the Victory Star Ability, you have to flip all five coins again, and you must take the outcome of the second set of flips. The same goes for attacks that let you flip a coin until you get tails—you don’t get to flip only the last coin. You start the entire process over again and go with the second result.

Victini isn’t entirely one dimensional, either. Its Stored Power attack is a terrific complement to Reshiram. The attack itself does 30 damage, plus it lets you move all the Energy attached to Victini to 1 of your other Pokémon. So, lead your attack with Victini, then move all the Energy from it to a waiting Reshiram and start doing big damage with its Blue Flare attack next turn! No matter how you take advantage of Victini, you’re sure to find plenty of uses for this excellent Pokémon.

In the Black & White—Noble Victories expansion, we get a look at the first non-Pokémon full-art card. The N (101/101) Trainer-Supporter card features the enigmatic, masterful Trainer with a suitably devious look on his face. This card isn't just for show, though—it's also a super card for your next deck. When you play it, both players shuffle their hands into their decks and draw a card for each remaining Prize card they have in play. When you’re behind and your opponent has taken more cards than you, N is just what you need to turn the tables. But you don’t have to be behind to find N useful—sometimes drawing a new hand of cards is just what you need early in the game to get going. Plus, your opponent always has to follow suit—so, if you notice that he or she is holding a whole pile of cards to choose from, play N to even the count!