Going Beyond the Pokémon

The amazing Pokémon LEGENDs cards are definitely one of the highlights of the new HeartGold & SoulSilver expansion; however, the set's Trainer and Supporter cards have been drawing quite a bit attention, too. Let's look at some of the more intriguing Trainer and Supporter cards you'll find, as well as some wise ways you might use them in your decks.

Hand in Hand

The cards you have in your hand often make the difference between winning and losing. This goes not only for the cards you have but also for how many of each you have. With the Copycat (90/123) Supporter card, you can settle both issues at once. When you play Copycat, you shuffle your current hand into your deck, and then draw the same number of cards as your opponent currently has in his or her hand. It's a great way to get more cards—as long as your opponent has more cards than you when you play Copycat! More important, if you're looking for just the right card, you have a pretty good chance of drawing it when you are picking up, say, five, six, or seven cards in order to match your opponent's hand.

Call Collect

The Pokémon Collector (97/123) Supporter card is a marvelous way to stock up on Pokémon in a hurry. With it, you can search your deck for as many as three Basic Pokémon and add them to your hand. Traditionally, cards like this made it easy to pick up powerful Pokémon SP, and while there's nothing wrong with that, it also serves as a strong benefactor in an Arceus deck. All of the Arceus (with the exception of Arceus LV.X) are Basic Pokémon, so you can go after them with Pokémon Collector, which, in an Arceus deck can be invaluable. Attacks like Arceus's (AR5) Ripple Swell or Poké-Bodies like Arceus LV.X's (94/99) Omniscient really benefit from having more Arceus in play, and Pokémon Collector can get you there that much faster.

Clear Communication

Players familiar with the ever-popular Bebe's Search (Rising Rivals, 89/111) will see similarities between it and the Pokémon Communication (98/123) Trainer card. There are key differences, however, that give Pokémon Communication a novel twist to help your deck immensely. Pokémon Communication lets you exchange one Pokémon in your hand for another in your deck. And though Bebe's Search lets you exchange whatever you like, Pokémon Communication requires that both cards be Pokémon. However, Bebe's Search is a Supporter card, meaning you can use only one per turn; Pokémon Communication is a Trainer card, meaning you can play it in addition to any other Trainer cards you like during a turn. It's a trade-off, and one you'll have to experiment with to find out what works best for your deck.

One particularly effective use for Pokémon Communication is to complete a Pokémon LEGEND, which comes on two cards. So, for example, if you had two top halves of Lugia LEGEND (113/123) and Pokémon Communication in your hand, you could play Pokémon Communication and trade one of the top halves of Lugia LEGEND for the bottom half of Lugia LEGEND (114/123) to get the powerful pair into play right away!

New and Improved

Professor Oak has returned from his lab with a new Supporter card that will likely be very popular: Professor Oak's New Theory (101/123) lets you shuffle your hand into your deck and draw 6 cards. So, when your hand is looking worn out and you're in desperate need of more cards, Professor Oak's New Theory has you covered. You don't have to use it in such dire straits—drawing Professor Oak's New Theory early in the game can also help if your starting hand doesn't present you with a lot of options.

Seeing Double

It might be hard to believe, but one of the most exciting cards in the HeartGold & SoulSilver expansion is not a Pokémon and not a Trainer card—it's an Energy card. Double Colorless Energy (103/123) is a Special Energy card that provides two Colorless Energy to the Pokémon it is attached to. There are some powerful Pokémon for which this is extraordinarily useful—most of the Basic Arceus cards in Platinum—Arceus, for instance, have attacks that require two Colorless Energy. All of those attacks require one less turn to set up when you have the Double Colorless Energy card, which means you can deliver devastating attacks quicker than your opponent! Further, the new Ho-Oh LEGEND (111/123 & 112/123) can also benefit greatly from Double Colorless Energy, because it can turn that Energy into Fire Energy with its Sacred Rainbow Poké-Body, and then unleash its Bright Wing attack even faster.

Plenty of other Pokémon in the HeartGold & SoulSilver expansion can benefit from Double Colorless Energy as well: You can make the Defending Pokémon Paralyzed with Lapras's (24/123) Ice Beam attack in just one turn. Or you can slam the Defending Pokémon for 50 damage and make it Poisoned with Ariados's (15/123) Poisonous Saliva attack with a Double Colorless Energy and 1 Grass Energy in only two turns.

As you can see, it's not just the host of exciting new Pokémon that have players excited about the HeartGold & SoulSilver expansion. The Trainer cards, the Supporter cards, and even the Energy cards all have enormous strategic value of their own. Try out some of these cards in your own deck and watch your win totals climb!