The most recent expansion of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, called Sword & Shield — Lost Origin, came out on Sept. 9. The new set features many beautiful and powerful cards, such as Giratina VMAX and Hisuian Zoroark VMAX. It's also one of the last of the expansions fans can expect in the Sword & Shield series.
One of the earlier expansions of the Pokémon Sword & Shield TCG series was Chilling Reign, which was released on June 18, 2021. This expansion was one of the first to touch upon Pokémon that debuted in the Crown Tundra DLC for the Sword & Shield video games.
Galarian Articuno V (Alternate Art)
The Galarian Zapdos and Moltres are quite exceptional cards and Articuno is as well, but slightly less so. The alternate art version of the card is a bit pricey but more affordable than many of the other cards in the expansion.
Articuno possesses the ability to draw one card, however, to do so the player must first discard two cards. This can be beneficial to those who purposely want cards in their discard pile. Articuno also possesses one attack which deals a total of 110 damage and automatically confuses the target.
Snorlax (Secret Rare)
Snorlax is one of the most commonly used Pokémon in the Kanto games, so it's no surprise that its secret rare is one of the most sought-after cards in the Chilling Reign expansion. The card can be a strong asset in battle but is sought more for its rarity and art rather than to play.
However, this Snorlax possesses an ability that allows the player to draw 7 cards, though the player's turn ends directly after. Snorlax's attack, Body Slam, deals 100 damage and also gives the opportunity to paralyze the opponent's Pokémon if a coin is heads in a coin toss.
Fog Crystal
Fog Crystal is an item card that is great for players using primarily a psychic deck. This card allows the player to search their deck for either a psychic energy card or a psychic basic card.
This is incredibly helpful to those who use the Shadow Rider Calyrex deck or any strategy that tries to get as much energy down on their Pokémon as possible. The card isn't very rare, and it's likely that players will own multiple of them. Players should use all that they own in a deck, as long as it isn't more than four.
Karen's Conviction
Karen's Conviction bares a member of one of the best Elite Four trainers in Pokémon, Karen, and this card is intended to support Single Strike Pokémon. Its effect is that the player's Single Strike Pokémon does 20 more damage to the opponent's Pokémon for each prize card they have taken thus far.
For players who find themselves slipping further and further away from victory in a battle, this card can be a blessing that might turn the tides in their favor. Players should remember however that this card's effect goes away after it plays, so this will be their one chance to come back if it's the only one in their deck.
Echoing Horn
Echoing Horn could seem like it hurts more than helps given its ability which allows the opponent to take one of their discarded basic Pokémon and place them on their bench.
However, the player who plays the card gets to choose what Pokémon, and choosing a V Pokémon might be their best bet to a quick victory. Due to these stronger cards like V and VMAXs having the flaw of allowing a player to take two to three prize cards if they're defeated, players can take advantage of taking out the same Pokémon again for a faster victory.
Path To The Peak
Path to the Peak is a stadium card that can quickly destroy many players' plans for victory. What this card does is take away any Pokémon cards abilities that possess a rule box.
This will affect multiple cards like V or VMAX cards. With how overpowered some VMAX cards especially have been, this can overthrow opponents who place too much reliance on them. This will be especially helpful in decks for years to come, like against many of the new cards from the Lost Origin expansion.
Galarian Zapdos V (Alternate Art)
This alternate art for one of the strongest legendary Pokémon in Galar, Zapdos features a fun image of Zapdos demonstrating its speed with dust trails in the distance as it travels up the side of a cliff. This is a card worth owning for collection purposes but is also great in battle.
For every V Pokémon the opponent has in play, Zapdos's attack costs one less energy. Its attack, which normally costs a total of four energy, is called Thunderous Kick and deals a total of 170 damage. Before inflicting damage, however, the opposing player must remove one special energy (if they can) from their Pokémon.
Galarian Moltres V (Alternate Art)
The beauty of this card alone makes this Moltres more than worth owning. It's one of the most expensive cards from Chilling Reign and many fans will prefer to keep it in their collection rather than use it to play.
However, it is an exceptional card to use in battle with its strong attack of 190. Though players need to remember that it also does 30 damage to itself every time it uses its attack. It also possesses an ability that allows the player to take one dark energy from the discard pile and attach it to this Pokémon.
Blaziken VMAX (Alternate Art)
One of the coolest designs from Chilling Reign was one of Pokémon's best fire types, Blaziken with its VMAX alternate artwork. This card is currently the most expensive from the expansion (per TCGPlayer) and is one of the many Pokémon that supports Rapid Strike.
Its first attack is its deadly Clutch which keeps the opponent's Pokémon from retreating and deals 60 damage. Its second attack, which requires only two colorless energies, deals a total of 130 damage. The effect of its attack also allows the player to attach up to one energy from their discard pile to two benched Rapid Strike Pokémon of their choice.
Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX
This version of Calyrex is easily one of the best Pokémon cards in the Chilling Reign expansion and was even released with a League Battle Deck that is incredibly fearsome to go up against. Its attack doesn't seem like much initially due to it beginning with a 10+, however, its attack does 30 additional damage for every psychic energy attached to any of the player's Pokémon.
While that alone is going to have Calyrex quite a bit of power, players can take advantage of this even further thanks to Calyrex's ability that allows the player to attach one energy from their hand to any of their benched Pokémon, and they can then immediately draw 2 more cards.