Pokémon TCG Pocket has dropped several incredible cards in its Dual Fusion major expansion (C1 set). Featuring jaw-dropping artwork and powerful ex cards as well as regular cards, you must be wondering how the Trainers in this set perform in the meta.
Well, you’ll find the answers to all your questions about the new Trainer cards in Dual Fusion, and trust me, you’ll also be surprised how insanely powerful some of them are! Let’s dig in.
Sweet Honey
Mayday! Mayday! We have a new Lucky Ice Pop, and it’s an Item, so you can use them together. Indeed, dear reader… Sweet Honey is sweet vengeance when your opponent dares to damage your Pokémon. Flip a coin until you get tails, and for each head, you heal 20 DMG from the recipient!
We all know how infuriating it is when you see your opponent healing multiple instances of 20 DMG using the Lucky Ice Pop. Well, now we literally add “Sweet Honey” to the Pop. You can bet this would be one of the most used Items in current and future metas. This Item is so special that it got an Illustration Rare card in this set!
Super Potion
The healing shenanigans in the Dual Fusion set don’t end with Sweet Honey, as we have another Item called Super Potion that heals a whopping 40 DMG, but at the cost of a random Energy. Now, that discarded Energy doesn’t matter usually, since you can simply replace it on the next turn. This is a great card to use in Mega Charizard Y decks, as this Zard takes 50 recoil damage on unleashing its monstrous 250 DMG attack. In fact, this can be used in tandem with Pokémon Center Lady to heal damage on multiple instances if the first victim isn’t a Mega Evolution or tanks Mega Zard Y. Super Potion can also replace the Lady if you want to reserve the deck slot for another card.
However, Super Potion shouldn’t be used on Mega Sceptile ex, Mega Blaziken ex, or Dragon Pokémon using multiple Energy types. Even in cases wherein you need to use more than one attacker, Super Potion can make things tricky for you. This is a fantastic healing Item for specific decks, so pick it wisely.
Full Heal
What are we doing, TCG Pocket? Another healing Item in Dual Fusion?! Alright, alright, we are healing Special Conditions with Full Heal, but still! Jokes aside, Special Conditions can be brutal and often spell endgame for you. If you don’t have space in your deck for Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, this can be used to save the Active Pokémon from those pesky situations. Sure, you can use both Lucky Ice Pop/Sweet Honey/Super Potion and Full Heal, but keep in mind that Pokémon Center Lady is a middle ground that saves deck space.
We now have plenty of Trainers that offer healing support to your mons, so it’s all about creating decks smartly and thinking through which cards suit your deck slots better.
Max Repel
Phew! Finally, we have a non-healing Item in Dual Fusion. The Max Repel Item comes with niche usage against Stage 2 opponents, where you want to switch them out. This tech often goes in vain if your opponent is simply able to retreat the new Active Pokémon (which they choose, lol) and bring back their Stage 2 attacker to destroy you. Max Repel is also useless if your opponent is running a deck full of Basics and/or Stage 1 mons. As such, it brings real value only if you’re able to KO the incoming Pokémon after the Stage 2 is switched out.
Arguably the weakest Item from this set, and it’s the one that doesn’t heal. 🙄
Pokémon Tools are super useful cards that have been available in the physical TCG games and follow these rules in Pokémon TCG Pocket:
- Pokémon Tool cards can be attached to your Active or Benched cards, and they provide some special battle effects.
- They stay attached to the Pokémon in question until it leaves play.
- Like Item cards, you can use as many Pokémon Tool cards as you like during a turn, but each Pokémon can have only one Tool attached at a time.
Light Ball
Light Tool is a custom-built Tool for Pikachu ex, and specifically the Pika from Dual Fusion, since this combination is one of the most devastating forces in Pokémon TCG Pocket.
With Light Ball, Pikachu ex dishes out a jaw-dropping 60 DMG for only 1 Energy, easily OHKOing Babies like Igglybuff, Basics like Charmander, and cripple higher HP opponents. Gathering 3 Energy for Pikachu ex is no big deal, as it gets that assistance from Magneton, the new Pawmot, and Elemental Switch, but when it does, Light Ball takes the damage output to 160 DMG. This is no doubt the best tailor-made item for any Pokémon in TCG Pocket, making Pikachu ex decks the fastest as well.
Eviolite
Basic Pokémon are always trending in TCG Pocket, and the Dual Fusion set itself brings some bangers in this category, including Mega Mewtwo X ex, Mew ex, Giratina ex, and Fuecoco ex. With Eviolite, these powerhouses can brush off 20 DMG from the opponent, which is crucial when you’re setting up your battle formation. With a slew of healing support in tow, your Basic can remain in pristine health when it’s finally all set to attack or is done with its job of stalling, but is still healthy enough to not get sniped by the likes of Water Shuriken Greninja.
Lorelei
The Dual Fusion set is chock full of strong ex cards, but it also has some spicy picks. Or should I say “icy spicy” picks, since these originally Ice-type Pokémon (Water in TCG Pocket) distribute high damage output amongst your battlefield courtesy of Lorelei, the Ice-type specialist from the Kanto Region and a member of the Elite Four.
Each of these attackers deals surprise damage to 1 or more of the opponent’s Pokémon, and Lorelei boosts that damage. Of course, the final damage output isn’t high enough to directly score KOs, but they can surely weaken opponents to a great degree. These are some fun cards for sure, they’re decently functional, and they put some serious dents in the opposition’s armor, making it easy for your ex to finish the job.
Blue’s Provocation
Blue’s Provocation rings in true Kanto nostalgia as the powerful Supporter powers up four of the most iconic Gen 1 stars: Venusaur, Charizard, Blastoise, and Pidgeot by switching in a chosen Pokémon from your Bench to the Active Spot, as long as these are in play. Let’s talk about each.
Venusaur
With Venusaur on the Bench, you not only heal 30 DMG from your Active hitter, but also help bring the target to the forefront. This is an excellent addition to the bulky Mega Venusaur ex deck, which also poisons the target and puts it to sleep. Maybe have a Darkrai in handy for some extra chip damage on the asleep Pokémon.
That said, keep in mind that Pokémon and Trainer cards are widely available to keep Special Conditions like Poison and Sleep at bay. So while this deck is strong, it may not go according to plan.
Charizard
No surprise that Charizard is not only the strongest among Blue’s Provocation recipients, but also among the top Pokémon from the Dual Fusion set. For each 
Energy you attach to Zard, you deal 30 chip damage to the opponent’s Active card. And Zard can achieve this while being comfortably seated on the Bench.
In fact, Dual Fusion Charizard is a perfect addition to Mega Charizard Y decks, where this Zard can eliminate Oricorio and put more pressure on an opponent that is already dreading the 250 DMG hit from Mega Charizard Y. It also adds to the damage numbers on the opponent to assist Mega Charizard X, whose firepower at more than half of its HP is relatively low. For these reasons, Dual Fusion Charizard fits like a glove in the infamous Mega Charizard X and Y combo deck, destroying Oricorio and making the setup more intimidating. You can also skip Mega Zard X to include Fuecoco ex into the Zard | Mega Zard Y entourage. In any case, having this powerful Zard in play lets Blue’s Provocation summon a sitting duck for Mega Zard Y to annihilate (ideally a Mega Evolution).
Blastoise
Blastoise is often neglected among the Kanto starters, and the Dual Fusion set is no different, with Blastoise being the worst among the trio. Yes, Blue still drags a Benched Pokémon of your choice, letting you attack the poor, unprepared target, but it’s the ability that is super underwhelming compared to Venu and Zard.
While Venu heals and Zard sends some great chip damage, Blasty Boi/Gurl takes a 
Energy from the Energy Zone and attaches it to… itself! But why, my good ‘Toise? You dish out a meager 100 DMG for 3 Energy; what are you actually doing against those 200+ HP Mega Evolutions? No wonder Blastoise is categorized as the ‘Shellfish’ Pokémon. 😡
Pidgeot
Finally, we have the regional Bird, Pidgeot. Give some respect to its name, as Pidgeot does a clean 100 DMG for only 1 Colorless Energy! This is extremely Energy-efficient and can boost the power of any team, given its Colorless typing. Pidgeot surpasses Blastoise convincingly, and can be tied with Venusaur for utility. Props to this underrated Pokémon as it spices up any deck in TCG Pocket!
Serena’s Choice
Serena’s Choice is a valuable addition to any deck, increasing your drawing power and often helping you find your desired card more quickly. This immediately begs the question of whether it should replace Professor’s Research or Copycat, and the answer is neither. Serena’s Choice literally gives you the choice to pick the most useful card from the top 3 cards of your deck, but its drawing power is still lower than both Professor’s Research and Copycat. It should ideally be used in turns not involving those two (or when Copycat is not feasible).
This Supporter definitely deserves a place in your deck, and in those wherein you use 2 copies of the Professor or Copycat, feel free to replace 1 copy with Serena.
Rika
If you thought Lorelei was strong, meet Rika from Paldea’s Elite Four. She (yes, Rika is a woman) grants 2x 
Energy to 1 of your Whiscash or Paldean Clodsire, two Energy-hungry Pokémon.
Whiscash initially deals only 40 DMG for 1x Energy, which is neat. But if it gains 3 more of that Energy, it deals a shocking 100 DMG! Thanks to Rika, you can manage this in just two turns, with 2 of those Energies coming from successive turns and 2 from Rika.
Now, coming to Paldean Clodsire (Rika’s signature Pokémon), you get an actually strong non-ex mon that is almost as vicious as Hydreigon. Ready in just 2 turns courtesy of Rika, Paldean Clodsire shells out 130 DMG and also sneaks in 20 DMG to each of the opponent’s Benched cards! This is some serious damage output, and establishes Paldean Clodsire as a legit match winner.
Note that both Whiscash and Paldean Clodsire are Stage 1, so their HP can be increased by +30 via the Elegant Cape Tool (Whiscash gets 150 HP and Paldean Clodsire gets 160 HP). Rika is definitely meta!
Poké Mart Guy
If you have successfully managed to build a deck focused on healing and included multiple copies of Super Potion, Max Repel, or Full Heal, the Poké Mart Guy brings any random 2 copies of those. If you include, say, 1x Full Heal and 1x Max Potion, using this Supporter is guaranteed to bring both. To be fair, a deck with so many slots being occupied with these is a bit tough to run, especially when many of your opponents are bulky, hard-hitting Megas. Again, this one’s for the spice.
Rising Star
The Rising Star Supporter provides free retreat, no matter what the retreat cost is. The only limitation is that the deck it’s used in should contain at least 3 different Pokémon types in play. Sounds daunting, but there are some great examples of this archetype:
- Sleep Scam decks consisting of Igglybuff (Colorless), Darkrai (Darkness), and any other type, say Mega Lucario ex (Fighting) or Mega Sharpedo ex/Milotic ex (Water).
- Any deck led by a Dual type such as Mega Mewtwo X ex (Psychic/Fighting) or Mega Greninja ex (Water/Darkness) and joined by a Colorless type or something like Teal Mask Ogerpon ex (Grass type; used for immunity to Special Attacks) or Oricorio (Lightning type; immunity to attacks from ex Pokémon).
Rising Star decks are usually strategy-oriented, so expect to see it in Ranked battles. This is the dark horse of the Dual Fusion set.
Stadiums are Trainer cards whose effects affect all Pokémon in play (both you and your opponent) and can be used once per turn.
- This card stays in play after you use it, unlike Items and Supporters, which are discarded after they are used.
- Only one Stadium can be in play at a time, and you discard it only when a new Stadium enters the battlefield, or a Pokémon/Trainer effect disposes of it.
- You can’t play Stadium cards with the same name while that Stadium is already active.
Abandoned Station
We have a new Stadium card with coin flip shenanigans, and it’s the Abandoned Station, which lets you draw a card if you obtain heads. Definitely a useful card when you get heads more often, and complements decks consisting of Suicune ex or Entei ex pretty well, whether to fill up the Bench in the former or quickly pull the entire Charizard line in the latter.
The Trainer cards from Dual Fusion don’t disappoint, as most of them are excellent additions to the ever-evolving TCG Pocket meta, complementing the strong Pokémon Pokémon from this set.
Happy collecting and battling!
