Secret Wonders—Spilling the Beans on Deck Strategy

By Steffanie Saw

Synergy is a huge component of deck building; if your Pokémon, Trainer cards, and Energy cards don’t work together, the deck won’t perform up to snuff when times get rough. The latest Pokémon Trading Card Game expansion, Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders, embodies the concept of teamwork with many featured Pokémon that collaborate together very well. Let's take a look at some of the secrets....

Opposites attract, especially in the case of the dynamic duo Plusle (Secret Wonders, 36/132) and Minun (Secret Wonders, 32/132). Both Pokémon have an attack called Tag Play, but each has a different effect when the other Pokémon is in play. If Plusle is on your Bench, Minun’s Tag Play allows you to transfer an Energy card from Minun to 1 of your Benched Pokémon. If Minun is on your Bench, Plusle's Tag Play attack gives you the option to attack 1 of your opponent's Benched Pokémon. This gives you a great opportunity to Knock Out a Pokémon that is barely hanging in there on the Bench.

Your deck is your crowning glory at a tournament; flaunt it with Nidoking (Secret Wonders, 34/132)! Showcasing another great example of teamwork, Nidoking’s Pride Attack delivers a base damage of 60, and gives you the opportunity to deliver 30 more damage for each Nidoqueen on your Bench (with the proper coin flips). Nidoqueen (Mysterious Treasures, 31/123) is the perfect match for Nidoking, since both are Psychic-type and very powerful Pokémon.

Jynx (Secret Wonders, 30/132) can either be played as a Basic Pokémon or as an Evolved Pokémon from Smoochum (Secret Wonders, 67/132). With both Pokémon in your deck, you'll have a powerful pair on your side. Jynx’s Lovely Kiss attack allows you to move 2 damage counters from Jynx to the Defending Pokémon, but if Smoochum is anywhere under Jynx, you can move 4 instead. The ability to recover that precious HP is always useful in a pinch.

Even if a Pokémon isn’t obviously paired with another card, you can still find great ways to create tough teams. One excellent example of this is the combination of Golduck (Secret Wonders, 28/132) and Xatu (Secret Wonders, 44/132).

Golduck's Break Beam attack allows you to do 20 extra damage, but this will leave your Golduck Confused. Normally this would be a bad thing, but you can use this to your advantage if Xatu is on your Bench. Xatu’s Poké-Power Psychic Shift lets you choose a Special Condition from one of your Active Pokémon (such as Golduck’s Confused condition) and transfer the condition to the Defending Pokémon. Are you confused now? No, but your opponent is, so it’s time to attack!

Diamond & Pearl—Secret Wonders is an impressive, well-rounded expansion with many possible combinations. Uncover the secrets for yourself!