Launching September 24, 2021, the V-UNION Special Collection boxes are introducing a brand new, mega-sized type of card to the Pokemon: Trading Card Game. With three available from launch, and a fourth on the way later this year, V-UNION cards are sure to be an incredibly powerful addition to any deck. But what are V-UNION cards, and how do you use them?

What Are Pokemon V-UNION Cards?

Greninja-V-Union-1

V-UNIONs are four cards that join together to become one, big, ultra-powered Pokemon, featuring multiple abilities and attacks to make them formidable, flexible monsters.

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As each individual card is useless on its own, V-UNION cards are being sold in special boxes, rather than being included in booster packs. Each of the three initial boxes includes foil versions of all four of the required parts, a Professor Burnet Supporter card, an oversized print of the assembled V-UNION card, four assorted booster packs, and a code to redeem it all on Pokemon TCG Online.

The three launch sets are:

They will be joined later this year a limited-edition Pikachu V-UNION, which is releasing as part of the upcoming Celebrations 25th Anniversary product range.

How Do Pokemon V-UNION Cards Work?

The Three Main V-UNION Pokemon

V-UNION Pokemon work differently from normal Pokemon cards. They're not considered Basic or Evolved Pokemon, and exist as their own thing, meaning there is no way to put them into play from your hand.

The only way to get a V-UNION Pokemon out is to assemble all four cards in your discard pile, where they can then enter play as one combined piece. And it must be all four corners, four copies of the same part can't make a V-UNION.

Once out, those four cards are treated as one entity, and work just like any other Pokemon would. They can retreat to the bench, be knocked out, be equipped with a tool, and attack once per turn, just like anything else.

While each V-UNION Pokemon has a wide arrange of attacks and abilities to make use of, and a ridiculously large amount of HP, they come with one significant drawback: once a V-UNION Pokemon faints, you lose three of your prize cards, just like with a VMAX card.

Finally, you are only allowed to play each V-UNION Pokemon once per game. If you've played a Mewtwo V-UNION and had it faint, you're not allowed to then replay it. However, you would be allowed to play a different V-UNION Pokemon, like Zacian, Pikachu, or Greninja.

How Do V-UNION Cards Work Outside of Play?

Mewtwo V-UNION

When placed anywhere other than as your active Pokemon or on your bench, V-UNION cards are treated as four individual cards. This is where things get slightly complicated, as all four cards share certain traits, even if it doesn't specify it on an individual card. The traits individual component cards keep are:

  • Energy type - Zacian V-UNION is Steel, Mewtwo V-UNION is Psychic, Greninja V-UNION is Water, and Pikachu V-UNION is Electric.
  • Card type - All of them are considered Pokemon cards, rather than, for example, Trainer or Energy.
  • Name - All four of the component cards have the same name. As you're limited to only four cards of the same name in your deck, that means you can have, at most, one copy of each V-UNION Pokemon.
Zacian V-UNION

On the other hand, there are traits that V-UNION cards lose when not in play, such as:

  • Retreat cost
  • HP
  • Abilities
  • Weaknesses

This means that you can't search for a V-UNION piece with a Trainer card like Heavy Ball or Level Ball, as they don't have a retreat cost nor HP while sat in your deck. You could, though, use a card like PokeKid or Familiar Bell, as they all share a name.

Are More V-UNION Pokemon Cards Coming?

Pikachu Celebrations' Pikachu V-Union Special Collection

Right now, The Pokemon Company hasn't confirmed it will be doing further V-UNION cards after the Pikachu one later this year.

However, it has specified a rule that states all four cards for each Pokemon must be from the same illustration, suggesting we could be getting alternate art or even further V-UNION Pokemon later down the line.

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