Battling is an art form, and the world of the Pokémon Trading Card Game is filled with beautiful, memorable, and compelling artwork…which makes the Sword & Shield—Battle Styles expansion a perfect marriage of art, strategy, and Pokémon. The soon-to-be released expansion boasts more than 160 cards to help boost your battle artistry. We’ve already showcased some of the exciting cards coming soon. Here is a glimpse of a few more of the cards that will be available in Sword & Shield—Battle Styles!

Rapid Strike Style Mustard

This card allows players to put a Rapid Strike Pokémon from their discard pile onto their Bench. More importantly, the card does not specify that it has to be a Basic Pokémon. Of course, the fact that Rapid Strike Style Mustard has to be the last card in your hand before you can play is a limiting factor, but you do draw five cards after playing it, so the rewards could outweigh the risks. Illustrator Naoki Saito depicts Mustard in the flow of battle—a comfortable state for the former Champion of Galar—with Challenge Beach and the Tower of Waters in the distance behind him. Those familiar with this Pokémon Trainer’s battle history and prowess would be grateful to have him in their deck.

Tower of Darkness

At the start of every Pokémon TCG match, there’s an inevitable rush to get cards out of the deck and into your hand. The Tower of Darkness Stadium card offers each player an opportunity to draw two extra cards per turn, significantly increasing their chance of winning the card race. Of course, this advantage comes at a price: in order to use this Stadium’s effect, a player must discard a Single Strike card from their hand. As you’ll see below, this Stadium card gets a major boost when used in conjunction with the Urn of Vitality Item card. It’s somewhat ironic that the card’s greatest strategic value is achieved when using it in tandem with another Trainer card, while illustrator 5ban Graphics depicts it as a solitary presence on the Isle of Armor. Ultimately, this card will allow you to find the necessary cards to evolve your powerhouse Single Strike Pokémon VMAX, delivering the Knock Out attacks so characteristic of the Single Strike Battle Style.

Urn of Vitality

At first glance, illustrator Toyste Beach’s Urn of Vitality appears deceptively simple: it is, after all, just a big jar. However, the warm glow emanating from the urn’s lid promises something more than an ordinary vessel—and that promise comes to fruition in the form of a thoughtful and effective strategy for the Single Strike Trainer. This Item card is the perfect complement to the Tower of Darkness Stadium card: the Urn of Vitality lets you shuffle two Single Strike Energy cards from your discard pile into your deck.

Given that the Tower of Darkness Stadium allows the player to draw two cards only if they discard a Single Strike card, the Urn of Vitality offers an elegant solution. If the player chooses to discard a Single Strike Energy card in order to draw two more cards, they can then use the Urn of Vitality to recover that discarded Energy card. Balanced against the Tower of Darkness, the Urn of Vitality might just breathe some life—or at least energy—into your gameplay just when you need it.

Single Strike Urshifu VMAX

Illustrator Kinu Nishimura’s Single Strike Urshifu VMAX is striking the ultimate power pose, befitting the Pokémon’s powerhouse Battle Style. With an incredible 330 HP, this Urshifu VMAX can withstand a lot of damage, as mirrored by the Pokémon’s fighting stance. With its legs wide and braced for attack, fists ready for action, and the sky behind it rippling with electricity, Single Strike Urshifu VMAX is not shying away from battle. And with a Beatdown attack that delivers 100 damage and a G-Max One Blow that does a devastating 270 damage and ignores effects on the target, Single Strike Urshifu VMAX’s strategic value is clearly a match for the Pokémon’s intimidating physical presence. Unfortunately, in order to use that powerful second attack, you must discard all of this Pokémon’s attached Energy, so use it wisely.

Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX

Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX’s overwhelming visual presence in this card mirrors the overwhelming feeling of dread your opponent will experience when you play this card. Illustrator KIYOTAKA OSHIYAMA seemingly can’t contain the Wushu Pokémon to the space allowed, spilling beyond the card’s borders. The speed and power of Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX’s flowing Battle Style is captured by the card’s stunning chaos—water swirling and gathering power amidst a flurry of seemingly tiny Cramorant, Arrokuda, and Corviknight.

With a Gale Thrust attack that has the potential to do 150 damage, and a G-Max Rapid Flow attack that does 120 damage to two of your opponent’s Pokémon, Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX is the card you bring into play to devastate your opponent’s morale while wreaking havoc against Benched and Active Pokémon alike. Play it wisely because, as with all Pokémon VMAX, your opponent gets to take 3 Prize cards when Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX is Knocked Out—but with a hefty 330 HP, this Pokémon is not going down without a fight.

Look forward to discovering the power of Battle Styles when the new expansion launches on March 19! Learn more about the Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield—Battle Styles expansion.