Pokemon TCG: The Hottest Cards From Battle Styles Expansion

The newest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion is here, giving players the chance to decide [...]

By Christian Hoffer - March 20, 2021 05:43 pm EDT

The newest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion is here, giving players the chance to decide between two distinct "Battle Styles" to build their deck around. The new "Battle Styles" expansion introduces a new mechanic that offers players distinct synergies and extra abilities for choosing specific cards. Players can build their deck around two Battle Styles, the Single Strike Style or the Rapid Strike Style, both of which are notated with special logos on certain cards. The Battle Styles don't do anything on their own - a Emboar card with a Battle Style doesn't necessarily have an advantage over an Emboar card without a Battle Style - but many of the cards have abilities or boosts that are only activated or affect cards with the same Battle Style.

Not only does the Battle Styles offer some new ways to build Pokemon card decks, it also has some really cool cards that are selling for big bucks on the secondary markets. Pokemon cards are incredibly hot right now, and we expect that a few cards in this new set will definitely will be highly sought after by collectors over the next few months.

To help Pokemon card fans know what cards to keep an eye out for, we've assembled some of the hottest cards from the Battle Styles set. All prices listed come from TCGPlayer, which provided estimated market prices as of March 20, 2021.

Phoebe (Secret Rare)

Market Price: $55

Phoebe is a Supporter card that can be used in any deck that uses VMAX cards. Phoebe prevents a player's Pokemon VMAX cards from having their attacks impacted by an opponent's Abilities. This is especially crucial if you want to ensure that your Pokemon's attack does its maximum damage and scores that critical KO. Expect to see Phoebe in a lot of decks over the next couple of years.

Rapid Strike Urshifu V (Alternate Full Art)

Market Price: $55

You're going to see a lot of Urshifu V and Urshifu VMAX in this set, as its one of the central Pokemon of the entire expansion. Not only are these cards exceptionally powerful, they also have multiple variant cards that help drive up its volume. In the case of Rapid Strike Urshifu V, the Pokemon comes with three versions - a regular version, a Full Art card, and an alternate Full Art card illustrated by Ryota Murayama. The alternate full art card (pictured above) is the one with the highest current market value.

Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX (Secret)

Market Price: $60

Secret Rare versions of popular cards usually are hot sellers, and Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX is no exception. Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX main draw is its ability to attack multiple Pokemon, even if they are on the bench. Targeting vulnerable cards can cripple an opponent's strategy, especially when players can choose their targets. If not for the fact this card also has a Full Art version that's even more popular, we'd expect this card would sell for a lot more.

Houndoom (Secret)

Market Price: $65

Houndoom is going to be a critical card for many Dark-type decks, as it allows players to quickly pull energy from their deck and get it on their Pokemon. Houndoom's Single Strike Roar has the ability to pull Single Strike-branded energy cards from a deck and place them directly on a Pokemon. While the Pokemon who receives this extra energy takes 20 points of damage, Houndoom can still help quickly power up a Single Strike Pokemon so it can unleash one of its powerful attacks. The gold Secret Rare card is a hot seller, as its the rarest version of one of the more meta-relevant cards in the deck.

Single Strike Urshifu VMAX (Alternate Art Secret)

Market Price: $130

The full art version of Single Strike Urshifu VMAX is the first of three cards currently selling for over $100. Not only is this one of the strongest cards in the set, with an attack that does 270 guaranteed damage, it also looks absolutely fantastic. Kinu Nishimura's art looks absolutely awe-inspiring, as Urshifu prepares to deliver a devastating strike. The Full Art cards in the set are an absolute blast, and this one is no exception.

Tyranitar V (Alternate Full Art)

Market Price: $140

The Tyranitar V card is getting attention for its gorgeous alternate artwork. The artwork by HYOGONOSUKE depicts Tyranitar passed out after a hearty meal, with an Emboar sitting nearby. It's unclear if Tyranitar was a welcome guest at this feast, but it sure looks like the Pokemon had a blast! Tyranitar V is a control card - its standard Cragalanche attack forces opponents to discard cards off their deck. Its more powerful Single Strike Crush deals 240 damage, but forces the player to discard cards off the top of their deck as well.

There's not a lot of good images of the English card, so we're showing off the Japanese version so you can get a clear look at the artwork.

Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX (Alternate Art Secret)

Market Price: $220

The crown jewel of the "Battle Styles" expansion is the alternate art "secret" version of the Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX card. Not only is Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX arguably the most powerful of the Rapid Strike Battle Style cards, the alternate artwork featured on the "secret" version of the card by KIYOTAKA OSHIYAMA looks absolutely stunning. Various Pokemon can be seen flying around Urshifu as it prepares a devastating rapid strike, water swirling around its fists. This is a full art card with alternate foil, and is probably one of the coolest Pokemon cards we've seen in a few years.