Pokemon Cards Are Getting a Third Battle Style

The Pokemon Trading Card Game is getting a third Battle Style later this year. Pokebeach is reporting that a third Battle Style known as "Fusion" will be added to the Pokemon Trading Card Game later this year and will debut in Japan as part of the "Fusion Arts" expansion. "Fusion Arts" will also likely serve as the official launch of the V-UNION card, a new type of card that involves building a Pokemon made up of four different cards. The "Fusion Arts" set will launch in September in Japan and should be incorporated in an upcoming international expansion.

The Battle Styles mechanic was first introduced in the Pokemon Trading Card Game in the "Battle Styles" expansion earlier this year. Certain cards are marked with a Battle Style - currently, the game has Single Strike Style and Rapid Strike Style cards available. While a card marked with a Style has no extra abilities on its own, they do tend to synergize with other cards of the same style. For instance, a Pokemon card might have an ability that allows its player to search their deck for another card of the same style, or a Pokemon card might have an ability that provides a buff to other Pokemon with the same style. Because of these synergies, players can build decks around a certain style, providing them with a handy theme to build around.

The addition of a third Battle Styles shows that the Pokemon Trading Card Game is committed to this new mechanic and plans to keep building on it for at least a few more expansions. Both "Chilling Reign" and the upcoming "Evolving Skies" expansion also have Single Strike Style and Rapid Strike Style cards available in their sets. In addition to the Battle Styles and the aforementioned V-UNION card, the Pokemon Trading Card Game will also reintroduce Dragon-type Pokemon cards later this year. Dragon-type cards still require multiple kinds of energy to use moves, but they lack resistances or weaknesses due to the removal of Fairy-type cards from the game.

Expect to hear more about the Fusion Style later this year.