Pokemon TCG’s expansion Sword & Shield: Astral Radiance brings the debut of many Hisuian Pokemon. As the title suggests, Radiant Pokemon is this set’s new mechanic, with cards boasting shiny Pokemon who have unique abilities and amped-up attacks. However, only three Radiant Pokemon exist in the 246-card expansion pack, raising their rarity factor.
For the art connoisseurs, there are multiple alternate art Pokemon cards, full-art cards of supporter trainers, and full-art Pokemon cards. Many of these are also available in a rainbow variant. Whether you are a collector or a tournament player, there's a card for you in Astral Radiance.
10 Hisuian Samurott VSTAR: Welcome To The Dark Side
The Astral Radiance expansion favors Darkness-type Pokemon. If you’re considering a build for Dark-type, Hisuian Samurott VSTAR is a great addition. If played against an opposing Pokemon who is already damaged, the Merciless Blade attack will come in and reduce their HP by an impressive 220 points.
Samurott’s VSTAR power is nothing to sneeze at either. Each VSTAR attack card can be a literal game-changer, giving the Pokemon a super-powered special ability or attack. In this case, it will put four damage counters into your opponent’s set of Pokemon, leaving each with ten HP of permanent damage.
9 Switch Cart: A Touch Of Helpful Healing
It’s the big results that get the most attention, but sometimes a small result can pay big dividends. With Switch Cart, you’re taking an action you were already about to do and adding a benefit. In this case, it’s switching an Active Basic Pokemon for one of your Benched Pokemon. When you do that, the Pokemon being moved to the bench will recover 30 HP.
It might not seem like a lot, but until this card debuted with this expansion pack, switching a Pokemon to Benched status didn’t offer any healing at all.
8 Radiant Greninja: The Most Radiant Of Them All
Of the three Radiant Pokemon, Greninja is the strongest. With the ability Concealed Cards, you can draw two cards during your turn in exchange for discarding an Energy card. If you discard another two Energy from Greninja itself, you can use the attack Moonlight Shuriken. It lives up to its cool name, doing 90 damage to two different opposing Pokemon.
But don’t start planning your Radiant Greninja army. You are only allowed to have a single Radiant Pokemon in your deck. At least Greninja pairs well with Starmie V and Palkia VSTAR and their water-type attacks, two powerful cards in their own right.
7 Darkrai VSTAR: This Card Can Turn Back Time
Sometimes you are forced to send a card to the discard pile that you had a strategy planned around. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get it back? Darkrai and its VSTAR power to the rescue! With Star Abyss you can retrieve two Item cards from your discard pile.
Of course, only one VSTAR power can be used per game, so it’s well worth considering if a trip to the discard pile is the best use in a particular match. Darkrai’s attack, Dark Pulse, does 30 damage for every Dark Energy attached to your Pokemon - all of them, not just Darkrai, which has the potential for some major damage HP to your opponent’s team.
6 Miltank: Does A Pokemon Match Good
While not as visually impressive as deck MVPs Greninja or Palkia, Miltank brings a defense advantage to your deck. With V, VMAX, and VSTAR Pokemon so plentiful in decks, having a Pokemon who can turn off all V-powered attacks is a huge boon. And that’s exactly what Miltank does, preventing all damage done to it from V-attacks.
It also has a nasty little surprise up its pink bovine sleeve: Rout. With this attack, you do 20 damage to each of your opponent’s benched Pokemon. Your mother was right, drinking milk does do a body good!
5 Origin Forme Dialga V: That’s Metal
This card is breathtakingly beautiful, with Dialga rising up into the sky among rainbow-colored clouds. If you’re a competitive player, however, it’s more than just a lovely addition to your collection binder. With the skill Metal Coating, you can attach up to two Energy cards that you discarded to Dialga.
With the attack Temporal Rupture costing three Metal energy and one normal Energy, the ability will come in handy. In this case, you really do get what you pay for, as this move does a hefty 180 in damage points.
4 Irida: Welcome Back Water
If you’re playing a deck with a heavy tilt towards the Water-type, Irida is about to become your best friend. The Supporter will allow you to search your deck for both a Water-type Pokemon and a separate, Water-based item.
With Astral Radiance favoring Water and Darkness types above all others, the potential benefits of this ability are enough to make Irida the best Supporter card in the expansion. If you can only play one Supporter during a turn, you would be wise to make it count.
3 Double Turbo Energy: No Pain, No Gain
If you attach Double Turbo Energy to a Pokemon card, it will provide twice the Normal Energy. That’s a great benefit, especially for Pokemon that have higher energy costs for attacks. It can make it quicker to pull off a heavy-hitting HP-destroying move. But there’s a catch.
The Pokemon you attach Double Turbo Energy to will do 20 less damage with its attacks. That makes this a card you will only want to put on a Pokemon whose attack does some major damage. Otherwise, the lessened damage might make this card more of a hindrance than a help.
2 Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR: Detestation Is Dialga's Business
Star Chronos is the most impressive VSTAR Power to come out of Astral Radiance. When activated, it will allow you to take two turns in a row. If that’s not awesome enough, it does a spectacular amount of damage at 220 points. The VSTAR ability can only be used once, but the attack, Metal Blast, will do 40 damage for each metal Energy counter attached to the card.
Like all great things, there is a downside to Star Chronos. It costs four metal Energy and one normal Energy to activate. But with a bit of resource management and planning, it can be the decisive play of the match.
1 Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR: Hit Them When They're Down
If there’s one consistent theme in Astral Radiance, it’s the benefits to Water and Darkness type Pokemon. Palkia’s VSTAR card is no exception. With the ability Star Portal, you can attach up to three Water Energy cards from your discard pile to the Water Pokemon of your choice.
The attack is equally impressive. Subspace Swell does 60 damage to start, then adds another 20 to each of your opponent’s Benched Pokemon. Where this becomes particularly useful is when the Benched Pokemon are running low on HP. The potential for multiple knock-outs from one card is very real.