One-Hit Wonders

Many Pokémon TCG players opt to play two, three, or even four copies of certain cards to increase their odds of finding the card they need. The latest Pokémon TCG expansion, Diamond & Pearl—Legends Awakened, presents many new cards that are perhaps best suited as single-copy, one-hit wonders.

Why even consider using only one copy of a certain card? Sometimes adding more than one copy of a specific card can hurt the focus of your deck. Other times, a card's effect is very useful, but you only need it once per game. After all, you can only include 60 cards in your deck, so you have to choose wisely!

Here are some great cards from Diamond & Pearl—Legends Awakened that work well when slipped solo into a deck.

Spiritomb (Legends Awakened, 16/146)
Spiritomb doesn't strike for big amounts of damage, but it can pack a punch if played at the right time. Its Curse Breath Poké-Power allows you to put 1 damage counter on every injured Pokémon in play. At first glance, this may not seem like such a great Poké-Power, as it requires you to damage your own Pokémon. But remember—you have control over when to put Spiritomb into play. Time it well, and you can Knock Out one or more of your opponent’s Pokémon using Curse Breath. Spiritomb makes a fine addition to almost any deck, including those that use no Psychic Energy whatsoever!

Mesprit (Legends Awakened, 34/146)
The Emotion Pokémon Mesprit is another card that may be played solely for its Poké-Power, although its Extrasensory attack can also be effective if you can control the size of your hand. Mesprit's Psychic Bind Poké-Power is unique in that it shuts off your opponent’s Poké-Powers for a turn—without limitation! This effect is only temporary, so try to combine Mesprit with disruptive cards such as Team Galactic's Wager (Mysterious Treasures, 115/124) to truly devastate your opponent's hand.

Unown ! (Legends Awakened, 42/146)
Like Spiritomb, Unown ! has the ability to put damage counters on your opponent’s Pokémon at will. But unlike Spiritomb, Unown ! does not require its targets to already be damaged. Instead, it creates its own damage out of thin air via the "!" Poké-Power. While "!" may seem unreliable due to the required coin flip, numerous Pokémon, such as Mothim (Secret Wonders, 33/132) and Primeape (Great Encounters, 27/106) are able to exploit a tails result. Flipping tails requires you to put 2 damage counters on 1 of your Pokémon, and both Mothim and Primeape can increase their damage output if they have any damage counters on them. Use this combination to catch your opponent off guard!

Bubble Coat (Legends Awakened, 129/146)
The lone Pokémon Tool card from Legends Awakened, Bubble Coast is a superb addition to your deck if Weakness is ever an issue. While Bubble Coat is discarded in most cases after just one use, it’s well worth a solitary spot in your deck for its ability to eliminate your Pokémon's Weakness. Bubble Coat is especially effective in decks featuring Pokémon with x2 Weakness to other types. Tired of Charizard getting dominated by Blastoise? Use a Bubble Coat, and you’ll be on even ground for at least one turn!

Technical Machine TS-2 (Legends Awakened, 137/146)
Technical Machine TS-2's Devoluter attack presents a potent threat that can catch your competition off guard. If an Evolved Pokémon has more damage counters on it than its previous Stage has Hit Points, it can easily be Knocked Out by using the Devoluter attack to remove the highest Stage Evolution card from that Pokémon. The only potential downside is that this card is not very effective at the beginning of a game when your opponent may not have many Evolution cards in play yet. For that reason, play Technical Machine TS-2 as a single-card shock, and take your opponent by surprise late in the game!

These cards are just a few examples of how to battle your opponent with single-card strategies from the Legends Awakened expansion. Give them a shot and see how well they work for you!