Pokémon: Trainer's Toolkit 3.0 Review - Essential for Deckbuilding

Hello! Today I'll bring a review about the Trainer's Toolkit 3.0, of which, along with a nice sleeve and dices, has several cards that enhance your decks. To be precise, the list of cards that will come in these products are:

POKÉMON:

2x Lumineon V PR-SW SWSH250

TRAINERS:

Supporter:

2x Adventurer's Discovery FST 224

2x Raihan EVS 152

2x Boss's Orders BRS 132

2x Professor's Research BRS 147

2x Marnie SSH 169

2x Gloria BRS 141

Item:

2x Rare Candy SSH 180

2x Rescue Carrier EVS 154

2x Fog Crystal CRE 140

2x Evolution Incense SSH 163

2x Power Tablet FST 236

2x Cross Switcher FST 230

2x Crossceiver FST 231

2x Ultra Ball BRS 150

2x Quick Ball FST 237

2x Level Ball BST 129

2x Switch SSH 183

2x Escape Rope BST 125

Tool:

2x Choice Belt BRS 135

2x Tool Jammer BST 136

2x Air Balloon SSH 156

Stadium:

2x Path to the Peak CRE 148

2x Collapsed Stadium BRS 137

2x Magma Basin BRS 144

Special Energy:

2x Fusion Strike Energy FST 244

2x Double Turbo Energy BRS 151

2x Capture Energy RCL 171

I separated some cards that I found most interesting and commented on them, separated by category.

We'll start with the star of this kit that is an important support for most decks these days:

- 2x Lumineon V PR-SW SWSH250, the most important card in this kit, which thanks to its Luminous Sign ability, which has the effect that if played from your hand to your bench in the game, in your turn, you may fetch any Trainer: Supporter card for your hand, making you look for that Supporter card at a crucial point in the game, whether it's a Marnie SSH 169, Professor's Research BRS 147 or a Boss's Orders BRS 132.

The Lumineon V BRS 40 is basically the Tapu Lele-GX CEL 60 in the Sun/Moon generation.

Trainer Cards - Supporter

- Raihan EVS 152 is also useful to complete some power-up on your Pokémon to avoid spending the energy of the turn and still look for a Trainer card you want in the deck, which can be useful in finding Tool cards or some Supporter for the next turn.

- Boss's Orders BRS 132 needs no introduction. Totally useful in any deck to pull the opponent's Benched Pokémon to be the active one and close some knockouts in the game.

- Professor's Research BRS 147, if it's not the most beloved of the public, it's easily one of the most beloved, for its massive draw power that helps to make the game more flexible and help the game go faster, in addition to dealing with a bad hand or speed up turns.

- Marnie SSH 169 controls the opponent's hand, to precisely reduce their actions, if they have many cards, and you manage to have control to prevent them from making too many plays. It basically fits easily into any deck in the current Metagame.

Trainer Cards - Item

- 2x Fog Crystal CRE 140 will be VERY highlighted thanks to the release of Mewtwo VSTAR PGO 31, where it is practically MANDATORY to have it in this type of archetype, because of its search effects of Psychic Pokémon for that type's energy.

- Cross Switcher FST 230 is practically the favorite of many who want to do the same effect as Boss's Orders BRS 132 to pull a Pokémon from the bench to the active position, being practically a card classified as "Item" (without having to consume a "Supporter" per turn - as a rule of thumb, as is the case with Boss's Orders), so you can use it as many times as you want during your turn.

For the old-timers, it's almost similar to the Poké Blower + SF 88, back in the Diamond/Pearl days, where you played two "Poké Blower +" cards that you could draw an opponent's Benched Pokémon to active position, but at the same use effect, in that context/reasoning type.

- Power Tablet FST 236 is most used for Mew VMAX FST 114, where the card grants 30 more damage to attacks from your Fusion Strike-type Pokémon, stacking a power-up for Mew's final damage, which always use this resource to add some extra damage - if it's not combined with Choice Belt BRS 135 to gain 30 more damage against Pokémon-V (whether they are type V, VMax, VUnion or VStar).

- The cards referring to Poké Balls, in this case, Ultra Ball BRS 150, Quick Ball FST 237 and Level Ball BST 129 are of extreme importance to search for Pokémon, respecting, of course, what their texts say about it: for the Ultra Ball, you need to discard two cards from your hand to look for any Pokémon (it can be basic or evolution, no matter the classification, as long as it is a Pokémon, even a VUnion part — for decks that use this type) and put it in your hand;

The Quick Ball, where you have to pay a requirement to discard a card from your hand to get a basic Pokémon and put it in your hand (entering there in the search for support Pokémon to speed up the game or even look for others to guarantee your reserve bench);

And finally, the Level Ball, which looks for Pokémon that have up to 90 HP or less and puts it in your hand. Important for practically fitting in any deck you intend to build, based on your need.

- Escape Rope BST 125 (being a reprint card since the Black/White era) deserves a special attention because it can either free a Pokémon from some lock the opponent attempts, or even use it as a bluff to force them at using some Benched Pokémon that they don't want to sacrifice and then amend it with a Boss's Orders BRS 132.

Trainer Cards - Tool

- Choice Belt BRS 135 is practically rice and beans for decks that work with Pokémon-V in general (whether V, VMax, VUnion or VStar), which grants 30 more additional damage against any Pokémon of that rank. It has the same concept as the card Choice Band GRI 121, which was dedicated against Pokémon-GX and Pokémon-EX, and could even be considered a "reprint" in a way, adapting to the current Metagame.

- Tool Jammer BST 136 practically nullifies equipped tools, making stuff like Choice Belt BRS 135 or Air Balloon SSH 156 lose their effects.

- Air Balloon SSH 156 guarantees a retreat of two colorless energies less for Pokémon that have it as equipment, that is, if a Pokémon that has exactly two retreat energy, cost then it will be ZERO, avoiding spending cards like Switch SSH 183 in the game, saving it for a more suitable moment.

Trainer Cards - Stadium

- Path to the Peak CRE 148 is practically an authority on the format to break against dozens of general V-type Pokémon that use abilities, like the one quoted in the Kit, Lumineon V BRS 40, and also against the most used Pokémon in decks with its VStar ability, Arceus VSTAR BRS 123.

- Collapsed Stadium BRS 137 is the weakest of all the ones present, but in some games, if your opponent plays it, it can help to remove some Pokémon from your bench that can be a dead weight, usually a support Pokemon like Crobat V DAA 104, Eldegoss V RCL 19 and Lumineon V BRS 40.

However, if used against the opponent, for example, in a Mew VMAX FST 114, where they need many Genesect V FST 185, they'll have a hard time keeping up with their resources. It's not very common for players to use this card, but it is always possible to surprise us with some line of strategy.

- Magma Basin BRS 144 is ideal for Fire Pokémon to power up quickly, but at the cost of taking two damage counters (20 damage) for each time it can do this effect.

There are possible combos in the Metagame for this, like the Radiant Heatran ASR 27 that gains more damage for each counter placed on it, or Charizard VSTAR BRS 18 that if it has any damage counter, its base attack deals 100 more damage.

Special Energy

- Fusion Strike Energy FST 244 is just for Mew VMAX FST 114 for the most part, although there are other Fusion Strike Pokémon like Meloetta FST 124 within that same deck. So, it's limited to that archetype only, if you want to build it.

- Double Turbo Energy BRS 151 is excellent in that it gives a 20-point damage reduction to the Pokémon that has it attached, in addition to providing two colorless energy, which is practically an initial trigger for Arceus V BRS 122 to be assembled as quickly as possible so that when it evolves into Arceus VSTAR BRS 123, it can do the quick power up combo on the turn, also ensuring its durability in game.

And we can't forget that it's a card that fits with colorless type Pokémon like Blissey V CRE 119, which acts like a "Tanker", being able to combo with its attack effect that can rescue energy from the discard and attach them, and assuming in a scenario where the 4 Double Turbo Energy cards are in the discard pile, it can attach them at the end of the turn, granting an up to 80 damage reduction!

- Capture Energy RCL 171 is basically an alternative use of searching for basic Pokémon for your bench, in case you attach that energy to any of your Pokémon. It's a useful resource if you want to invest a Quick Ball FST 237 for another Pokémon in your strategy.

Conclusion

It's an excellent kit for beginners who wish to attain some "staple" cards of the format in a single product, buying a good part at once and having a good investment for this year, since there will be no rotation (read more about it in this article).

Thanks for reading!