Images courtesy of The Pokémon Company
Pokémon TCG Pocket is releasing their next full expansion set, Space-Time Smackdown! The new set officially launches on Thursday, January 30th, and follows a day behind the much-anticipated trading feature. What can we expect from either innovation? Let’s dive into the details we have so far!
Space For Reasonable Growth
Surprisingly, Space-Time Smackdown features cards from the fourth generation of Pokémon games, as opposed to the second generation. Many players on social media vocally expected the latter; by the same token, however, many were delighted at this twist.
Understandably, the main cards drawing players to this Pokémon TCG Pocket set are Dialga ex and Palkia ex. Dialga and Palkia were the Pokémon adorning the covers of Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl, respectively. Therefore, this information only stands to reason. And here they are!
On Dialga ex and Palkia ex
Dialga ex feels like the standout from this duo of legendary Pokémon. The ability to put two Metal Energy onto any Benched Pokémon you have is going to provide an absurd setup for Melmetal, at the very least. However, hybrid-typed decks that use Pokémon like Mew ex, Pidgeot ex, or Celebi ex could easily be turbo-charged by this new Pokémon ex.
Meanwhile, Palkia ex is mostly going to be strong because of cards like Misty. Unfortunately, Palkia doesn’t feel like the strongest Pokémon ex to fill its role, except as a potential replacement for Gyarados ex. The benefit of this is that Gyarados ex decks use the same kinds of tactics, except at the cost of four deck slots instead of two.
For this build, expect Greninja and Druddigon to continue to carry the control portion of this deck until Palkia ex is charged up with enough Water Energy to blow the game out. However, Gyarados ex has the advantage of not burning through nearly as much Energy. The verdict is currently out on whether Palkia ex will exceed these expectations, but we still have a whole set to look through before we can determine that.
Lucario, A Real Contender
Obviously, this set wouldn’t be without some other amazing cards. As such, The Pokémon Company has also revealed what could be one of the strongest Fighting-type Pokémon to grace Pokémon TCG Pocket thus far. Enter Lucario!
This card is going to be a monster to face off against in battle. As a Stage 1 Pokémon, Lucario will make its appearance very quickly. Don’t be fooled by its base-40 attack damage; its ability, Fighting Coach, turns that into a 60-damage attack. Furthermore — and this is the biggest note to keep in mind — Fighting Coach is worded so that it stacks. For this reason, this card will be even more valuable to a player in multiples.
Starter Pokémon From Pokémon TCG Pocket
Finally, we have the Basic starter Pokémon to look at. These are hardly ever flashy, but at the very least they’re cute and pleasant to look at. So here those are:
There you have it; the starter Pokémon from Space-Time Smackdown are cute and have low-impact attacks. Piplup in particular doesn’t even deal damage, but it is an exceptional early-game stall piece as long as your opponent isn’t running Lightning-type Pokémon. Just keep in mind that once your opponent starts to accelerate their game plan, you’ll want to continue to accelerate your own.
Pokémon TCG Pocket Trade Feature
Furthermore, the day before, on Wednesday, January 29th, Pokémon TCG Pocket will debut their trading feature at long last. The Pokémon Company has now fully publicized the feature’s details. To trade, players will need two types of currency: Trade Hourglasses and Trade Tokens. You will not need Shinedust for this kind of transaction. The Pokémon Company details this further in a press release sent out on Thursday, January 23rd:
Releasing on Jan. 29, 2025, the new trade feature will allow players to trade their digital Pokémon cards with friends, broadening options for growing card collections in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket. Players will need to use two new items, trade hourglasses and trade tokens, in order to trade cards with a rarity of [1 to 4-diamond] and [1-star] with cards of the same rarity. Upon release of the new feature, players will be able to trade certain cards from the Genetic Apex and Mythical Island expansions, with plans currently in place to expand the lineup of tradeable cards in future updates.
There’s Still Plenty Of Time
With a little under a week before any of these features coalesce, we are excited and eager to make use of all of it. How do you feel about the new features for Pokémon TCG Pocket? How about the next set?
Wanna learn more about Pokémon TCG Pocket? Then check out our guide to battling and building decks.
