With build and battle boxes now available in most stores and pre-orders for the set available, I continue look at Darkness Ablaze and now with the trainers it brings. The set gives us 17 new trainers and three new special energy cards, first let’s look at the new items being added.

Big Parasol

If the Pokemon this card is attached to is in the Active Spot, prevent all effects of attacks from your opponent’s Pokemon done to all your Pokemon.

If Eternatus VMAX doesn’t kill the Dragapult VMAX deck then this is a final nail in the coffin, this will be useful in the future for combating spread damage as well as other attack effects like energy removal and special conditions. Though this can be easily countered with switching effects like Boss’s orders or Great Catcher, I could see this card being played if or we get a Pokémon with annoying in effect on their attack.

Billowing Smoke

If the Pokemon this card is attached to is Knocked Out by damage from an attack from your opponent’s Pokemon, that player discards any Prize cards they would take for that Knockout instead of putting those cards into their hand.

Billowing smoke is a weird card as we haven’t seen anything like it recently and would of suited last format where we had Jirachi prism star as it seems like a direct counter to it, though it is rotating so I can’t see many ideal uses for it. That being said, it could be useful in stall and disruption style decks and I can possibly see a few copies put in such decks.

Cape of Toughness

The Basic Pokemon this card is attached to gets +50 HP, except Pokemon-GX.

This is a great tool for V and single prize Pokémon which don’t rely on VMAX’s an extra 50 health and will always be welcomed in any such deck because it allows survivability and tanking potential, though because I can see this getting a lot of play we may see an increase of Tool Scrapper in decks. An extra 50 in health could be the difference in getting knocked out from one hit or two and thus this will used to try and avoid the 270 range that Eternatus VMAX can easily get with a full bench.

Familiar Bell

Search your deck for a Pokemon with the same name as a Pokemon in your discard pile, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.

There is only one reason I think this card has been made and that is to support the Mad Party deck archetype other than that I see very little play from this card as most of the time you would like to keep all your Pokémon out of the discard until they get knocked out.

Old PC

Flip 2 coins. If both are heads, put a card from your discard pile into your hand.

Old PC is a waste of a card, I could say this is the worst card ever printed in terms of trainers. I can’t see any play for this as getting two heads is a 25% chance which if you play four of these still on average if you play all four of them you will get one card from your discard pile back into your hand. These are not odds I like, yes you could get lucky and get multiple Old PC to work but you could also get unlucky and have four pointless cards in your deck.

Rare Fossil

Play this card as if it were a 70-HP [C] Basic Pokemon. At any time during your turn, you may discard this card from play.

This card can’t be affected by any Special Conditions, and it can’t retreat.

Rare fossil is Sword and Shield’s version of unidentified fossil it gains 10 extra health but loses support cards the unidentified fossil had such as Pokémon Research Lab which would of helped the four new fossil Pokémon we gain from the set as they are all stage one Pokémon. Still if you are playing any of the new fossil Pokémon then you will have to play this card and for that it does its purpose.

Struggle Gloves

If the Pokemon this card is attached to has Weakness to your opponent’s Active Pokémon’s type, its attacks do 30 more damage to your opponent’s Active Pokemon (before applying Weakness and Resistance).

The wording on this card is a bit confusing but what it means is if you are playing Dragapult VMAX with this attached versus Eternatus VMAX then Dragapult VMAX’s damage would be increased by 30. Though no instant uses for this card spring to mind maybe a card to keep hold of in case a deck with a major opponent deck which has your weakness can you need 30 extra damage to OHKO it. But even then, it would have to be the one or two of tech as you won’t always be facing such a deck.

Turbo Patch

Flip a coin. If heads, attach a basic Energy card from your discard pile to 1 of your Basic Pokemon that isn’t a Pokemon-GX.

Turbo Patch is probably the best card of this set even beating Eternatus VMAX as I can see this being put as a four of in almost every deck going forward unless the deck doesn’t even need much energy. I may of earlier, when writing of the old PC, spoke about the luck-based coin flips but here the end effect is so good that even a few tails doesn’t diminish the benefits it can have on your deck. The fact that GX Pokémon can’t be attached to doesn’t mean it won’t see play with them as Energy Switch is in the format and can be played alongside Turbo Patch.

Yell Horn

Both Active Pokemon are now Confused.

Yell Horn is a card in the similar vein as Koga’s Trap, Hypnotoxic laser and Nihilego GX. Unfortunately, special conditions aren’t being capsulized in TCG as they don’t have too much support and confusion on both yours and your opponent’s Pokémon is quite annoying for both players even though we have lots of switching support.