The has revealed some new cards that will appear in the upcomingset, including some powerful cards tied to a surprising character. In 2025, the will bring back Trainer's Pokémon, a card gimmick from the earliest days of the game. These Pokémon cards are tied to specific trainers from the franchises and benefit from other cards and abilities that target that trainer's Pokémon. The original Trainer's Pokémon were limited to the Kanto gym leaders and Team Rocket, but the new sets will introduce trainers from more recent games.
Recently, the revealed a new batch of cards from , a Japanese set that will be released in the US and internationally as. As shown on PokeBeach, the new cards include several Trainer's Pokémon tied to Hop, the main rival character in. In addition to Hop having the Legendary Pokémon Zacian, the trainer will also bring a Dubwool, a Snorlax, and a Cramorant in the new set,all of which gain boosted damage thanks to various card synergies. The result is a set of surprisingly powerful cards that can one-shot most Pokémon in the current meta.
While none of Hop's Pokémon appear that impressive on the outset, they all receive major boosts thanks to several cards. For instance,Hop's Snorlax has an ability that gives all of Hop's other Pokémon a boost to their attacks. Additionally, the newly revealed Postwick stadium card also provides a 30 damage boost to all of Hop's Pokémon's attacks. The Hop's Choice Band item card also boosts the attacks of one of Hop's Pokémon and decreases energy costs for attacks by one.
All of these Hop's boosts stack, which means that a player can potentially boost any of Hop's Pokémon to give them 90 extra damage and a lower energy cost. That means that Hop's Cramorant can deal 210 damage for no energy, while Hop's Zacian ex can deal 330 damage for just 3 Metal energy. Hop's Zacian is also an easy counter to Budew, a Pokémon that has emerged as a must-have in new decks.
The inclusion of Hop as a featured trainer was always an
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