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Journey Together, due to release on 28th March, is the Pokémon TCG’s upcoming set, blending nostalgia and novelty into over 180 cards that hone in on Pokémon-trainer partnerships.
Already, the hype is real. Fervour for fan-favourites, such as N and Iono, has filtered through social media accounts and messaging boards, from local shops to YouTube clips. And that’s not just because the artworks encapsulate teamwork and synergy with cutting visuals. It’s because some of these cards can hold their own in battle too.
This insatiable new set is about to shake up the Pokémon TCG meta. Players can look forward to dynamic new archetypes and key cards that enhance both aggressive and control-based playstyles. At the heart of it all, the protagonists we’ve grown to love across the franchise.
So, what are the top prints from Journey Together that will allow us to rack up prize cards in battle?
1. Hop’s Zacian ex
 | Insta-Strike | 30 |
This attack also does 30 damage to 1 of your opponent's Benched Pokémon. (Don't apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.) | ||
  | Brave Slash | 240 |
During your next turn, this Pokémon can't use Brave Slash. | ||
| Pokémon ex Rule | ||
| When your Pokémon ex is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards. | ||
The standout attacking threat in a loaded and loveable set, Hop’s Zacian ex is about to carve out an archetype in the modern meta, surrounded by a cast of cards bearing Hop’s name.
The legendary Pokémon from the Galar region kicks us off with the attack, Insta-Strike, which for one Colourless Energy does 30 damage to your opponent’s active Pokémon, and also allows you to do 30 damage to one of your opponent’s benches Pokémon. It has all the hallmarks of a solid spread attack, and means you can set up some solid damage across the board as early as turn one (if you go second).
Brave Slash, Hop’s Zacian ex’s second attack, is then there to take the game to the opponent, dealing 240 damage for three Steel Energy and one Colourless Energy. The attack is caveated with the fact it can’t be used in consecutive turns…unless you find a way to switch Hop’s Zacian ex out and back into the active spot.
You may be left thinking that these attacks are good, but are they really that good. By combining this attacker with other cards you can ramp up the damage you deal. Attach Hop’s Choice Band and you’ll do an extra 30 damage and require one less Colourless Energy for attacks. Play the Stadium card Postwick and you’ll do an extra 30 damage again. And there’s even some other Pokémon that can uplift this further, but we’ll get on to that. All of this means you can easily hit over 300 and take out big ex Pokémon.
For a two prize card Pokémon, Hop’s Zacian ex may be on the lower side in terms of bulk, making do with just 230HP. But its potential attacking output offsets this. Swing from the hip with that sword and rack up huge damage.
2. Lillie’s Clefairy ex
Ability | Fairy Zone | |
The Weakness of each of your opponent's dragon-type Pokémon in play is now Psychic. (Apply Weakness as x2.) | ||
 | Full Moon Rondo | 20+ |
This attack does 20 more damage for each Benched Pokémon (both yours and your opponent's). | ||
| Pokémon ex Rule | ||
| When your Pokémon ex is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards. | ||
Already earning acclaim as the Dragon slayer, Lillie’s Clefairy ex looks one heck of a card. Not just because of its incredible artwork variations, but because it’s equipped to take down some of the meta’s top threats.
The 190HP, basic Psychic-type Pokémon has the ability, Fairy Zone, which changes the weakness of all of your opponent’s Pokémon to Psychic type. As you can imagine, this’ll be ideal for Lillie’s Clefairy ex.
Which brings us on to the attack, Full Moon Rondo. This move does 20 damage plus an additional 20 for each benched Pokémon in play (both yours and your opponent’s). Pair this up with Area Zero Underdepths and it can easily hit up to 340 damage, enough to knock out this bulkier ex Pokémon.
While it could synergise well with existing archetypes such as Gardevoir ex, making the most of Psychic Energy acceleration, there’s been suggestions it could carve out a build of its own.
For example, Lillie’s Clefairy ex could work with Xatu's Clairvoyant Sense to bring Energy cards into play, and use the Surging Sparks Pikachu ex to fill the bench. That way, your opponent won’t be able to snipe your bench so easily thanks to Pikachu ex's ability, Resolute Heart.
While Lillie’s Clefairy ex would be the main attacker in this Psychic setup, Azumarill, also from Surging Sparks, could provide an additional supportive threat with its attack, Double Edge. Double Edge does 230 damage with 50 recoil, costing four Psychic Energy. However, if you have a tera Pokémon in play, like Pikachu ex, Azumarill's Glistening Bubbles ability reduces Double Edge’s cost to just one Psychic Energy.
Could we see this in competitive play?
3. N’s Zoroark ex
Ability | Trade |
You must discard a card from your hand in order to use this Ability. Once during your turn, you may draw 2 cards. | |
 | Night Joker |
Choose 1 of your Benched N's Pokémon's attacks and use it as this attack. | |
| Pokémon ex Rule | |
| When your Pokémon ex is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards. | |
Bound by a shared understanding of solitude, N and Zoroark form a bond like no other. Together, they blur the lines between reality and illusion – and they form a powerful pair. That, without doubt, comes across with N’s Zoroark ex.
Its ability, Trade, harks back to Zoroark GX from the Sun and Moon era, and allows the player to discard a card from their hand to be able to draw two cards. It’s a shame Dark Patch will be rotating out come April, as it could allow you to accelerate a Dark Energy from your discard pile back onto your active N’s Zoroark ex. But fear not, as there’s a new Item card that we’ll get to shortly that can help.
It’s not just the ability that makes N’s Zoroark ex a potent threat. Its attack, Night Joker, lets you choose one of your benched N’s Pokémon and use its attack. For two Dark Energy, this means you can have easy access to a solid move pool, including N’s Reshiram’s Powerful Rage, N’s Darmanitan’s Back Draft or Blaze Ball Cannon, or even N’s Sigilyph’s Victory Symbol. All solid options, with the latter letting you instantly win the game if you have one prize card remaining.
4. Banette
| Cursed Speech | |
Your opponent shuffles 3 cards from their hand into their deck (they choose the cards). | ||
| | Spooky Shot | 70 |
The deviant Banette has a new card in Journey Together – a card that could make it the heir apparent to control decks that have been so typically associated with Snorlax. But Snorlax is rotating and there’s a void to fill.
Enter the ghostly 90HP Banette. Its attack, Cursed Speech, costs just one Psychic Energy, and forces the opponent to shuffle three cards from their hand back into their deck. In isolation, this is disruptive but not enough to give you Banette-induced nightmares.
Yet this move comes into its own by pairing it with the Supporter card, Xerosic's Machinations, which makes your opponent discard cards from their hand until they have just three left.
So, there’s your blueprint. Play Xerosic's Machinations so your opponent is forced into a three-card hand, and then use Cursed Words, from as early as the first turn, to rid them of the rest. What makes this move even more evil is that natural draw engines that could help an opponent out of this sticky situation, such as Bibarel, are going to be rotating out. Mwahaha!
5. Hop’s Snorlax
Ability | Big-hearted | |
Attacks used by your Hop's Pokémon do 30 more damage to your opponent's Active Pokémon. This Ability doesn't stack. | ||
| | Dynamic Press | 140 |
This Pokémon does 80 damage to itself. | ||
Remember we mentioned that there might be another Pokémon in this set that can elevate the attacks of Hop’s Zacian ex. Well, look no further. That card is Hop’s Snorlax.
Unlike other Snorlax prints, this one instantly holds an aggressive, action-first aura. Alongside the artwork showing Snorlax thundering along in a stadium, it has the ability, Big-hearted, which will be the card’s USP. Big-hearted boosts the attack damage of all your Hop’s Pokémon by an extra 30 (it doesn’t stack). This, in addition to the swathe of Hop Item cards, can really help some of the attackers to take off. Plonk Snorlax on the bench and you’re good.
If things demand Snorlax to move into the active spot, it can also hit for 140 damage using its Dynamic Press attack, costing three Colourless Energy. This should be a last resort or a means to get you over the line to a late game KO, however, as the move does 80 recoil damage too.
This gigantic, gen one favourite will become more synonymous with its elite support options this time around.
6. N’s PP Up
Attach a Basic Energy card from your discard pile to 1 of your Benched N's Pokémon. |
The first Item card on the list, and one that busts open the potential of N decks, is N’s PP Up. With a name that nods to the main series games, this Item card, set for print in the Japanese Battle Partners, allows you to attach a Basic Energy card from your discard pile to one of your benched N’s Pokémon.
Throw it back to N’s Zoroark ex and you can see exactly how N’s PP Up synergises so well with the ability, Trade. Use Trade to discard an Energy card from your hand so that you may draw two cards, and then use N’s PP Up to recycle that Energy card back into play, accelerating it to your benched N’s Pokémon.
7. Ludicolo
Ability | Vital Samba | |
Your Pokémon in play get +40 HP. This Ability doesn't stack. | ||
 | Hydro Splash | 130 |
Ludicolo, the samba-dancing, sombrero-wearing Water-type from generation three, has got a new card that could see it become a useful component in the meta’s top decks.
That’s because its ability, Vital Samba, provides all your Pokémon in play with an extra 40HP. This could be a huge boon for creating bulkier attackers. Think a Wailord with some extra blubber, or a Hop’s Zacian ex primed to take hits.
Integration into existing archetypes could come in the form of a 1-0-1 line, using Rare Candy to shift from basic to stage two, saving valuable deck space. Though there will be other ideas too, it’s clear Ludicolo holds competitive value.
8. Spike Energy
As long as this card is attached to a Pokémon, it provides 1 Colorless Energy. If the Pokémon this card is attached to is in the Active Spot and is damaged by an attack from your opponent's Pokémon (even if it is Knocked Out), put 2 damage counters on the Attacking Pokémon. |
Spike Energy, the new Special Energy card getting printed in Journey Together, is an amalgamation of a few cards we’ve seen before.
When attached to your Pokémon, Spike Energy acts as a Colourless Energy. But it also has the added effect of a Rocky Helmet-style Item; if the Pokémon Spike Energy is attached to is in the active spot and is damaged by an opponent's attack (even if it is KO’d), you get to put two damage counters on the opponent’s attacking Pokémon.
This card is nifty in itself, but it also combines well with the new Journey Together Lycanroc, which can use the move Grabbing Fangs to do 40 damage plus an additional 40 for each damage counter on the opponent’s active Pokémon. In short, Spike Energy can be a bit of a deterrent.
9. Wailord
| | Hydro Pump | 10+ |
This attack also does 50 more damage for each Water Energy attached to this Pokémon. | ||
Wailord, the card with arguably the most aesthetic print in the entire Journey Together setlist, has great competitive potential.
The 240HP leviathan has just one attack, Hydro Pump, which costs four Colourless Energy. Hydro Pump does a base 10 damage, but scales with an extra 50 for each Water Energy attached to Wailord. If you went for four to power up Hydro Pump, that’s instantly a 210 damage attack.
So, it becomes obvious that Wailord needs integration into a Water-centric deck with cards that can accelerate Energy. Bring forward Baxcalibur – the perfect foil for Wailord, synergising so well thanks to its ability, Super Cold. Super Cold allows you to attach as many Water Energy cards from your hand to one of your Pokémon as you like, once per turn.
And while you open the flood gates and have Energy gushing to power-up Wailord, it’s important to remember that Wailord is just a single prize card. So for all its huge attacking threat, it won’t cost you the game if it gets KO’d.
10. Brock’s Scouting
Search your deck for up to 2 Basic Pokémon, or an Evolution Pokémon, and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck. |
Alongside newer faces from the franchise, such as Iono and Hop, Journey Together is also capturing characters that drive nostalgia – namely Brock. In this instance, the trainer from Pewter City is appearing on the card, Brock’s Scouting.
Brock’s Scouting allows you to search your deck for up to two basic Pokemon or an evolution Pokémon, reveal them, and put them into your hand.
Usually the ability to search out evolution Pokémon is caveated by the fact you can only grab one, as we’ve seen with Brigette from XY-BREAKthrough, or has to come from a Pokémon’s search-like ability, such as Pidgeot ex's Quick Search. So Brock’s Scouting is breaking the mould in that regard, making it a card that’s certainly competitively viable.
What else is out there?
As a whole, Journey Together is set loaded with cards that can support one another. And these will likely see new builds born, such as an N’s deck profile and a Lille’s Clefairy ex-Psychic hybrid.
There are more cards that could make up these archetypes too. For example, Iris’s Fighting Spirit, allows you to discard a card from your hand for the opportunity to draw until you have six cards. If you choose to discard an Energy card, you’ll have a neat opportunity to pair it with N’s PP Up.
You can use this card only if you discard a card from your hand. Draw cards until you have 6 cards in your hand. |
Then there’s Hop’s Bag, which is like an OP Buddy-Buddy Poffin for Hop decks. This Item card lets you search your deck for up to two basic Hop’s Pokémon and put them onto your bench. This means anything, from Hop’s Zacian ex to Hop’s Sandaconda.
Search your deck for up to 2 Basic Hop's Pokémon and put them onto your Bench. Then, shuffle your deck. |
Beyond these builds, cards such as Meowscarada are ready to be integrated into existing decks too. With the ability Show Time, the stage two grass type can switch into the active spot from the bench once per turn. This means that it’s essentially a free retreat for the active Pokémon, and a lingering threat for the opponent. That threat is furthered because of its attack, Rising Bloom, which does 90 damage, plus an extra 90 if the opponent’s Pokémon is an ex. Due to weakness, this is enough for a single prize Meowscarada to take down a tera Charizard ex.
Ability | Show Time | |
Once during your turn, if this Pokémon is on your Bench, you may switch it into the Active Spot. | ||
| | Rising Bloom | 90+ |
If your opponent's Active Pokémon is a Pokémon ex, this attack does 90 more damage. | ||
Finally, don’t go sleeping on Mamoswine ex. With 340HP it has ample bulk to deal with the cut-and-thrust of compatible TCG. Couple this with its attack, Reverberating March, which for just two Fighting Energy does 180 damage plus an additional 40 for each stage two Pokémon on your bench and you have a huge tusked threat. To help get those evolutions into play you can also use Mamoswine ex’s Mammoth Carry ability, which allows you to grab any Pokémon card from your deck, reveal it, and put it into your hand, once per turn.
Ability | Mammoth Carry | |
Once during your turn, you may search your deck for a Pokémon and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck. | ||
 | Reverberating March | 180+ |
This attack does 40 more damage for each of your Benched Stage 2 Pokémon. | ||
With so many exciting cards revealed, what are you most looking forward to using in competitive play? Are there any new archetypes you hope to see built out of Journey Together?
Shop the Journey Together release here. Browse our full collection of Pokémon TCG, including boosters, elite trainer boxes and accessories here at Gathering Games.
