The latest expansion for the Sword & Shield series of Pokémon trading cards will be launching August 14th, the set will feature nearly 200 cards including some new Galar discoveries.
Darkness Ablaze will be just the second expansion pack to come out for the Sword & Shield series, following Rebel Clash and the original Sword & Shield pack. The eighth generation of Pokémon has seen a lot of big change, literally. Gigantamax Pokémon were introduced in this generation, what is basically a super-sized and OP version of certain Pokémon species, and carry over into the trading card game as VMAX versions. A new region is also slowly being revealed throughout this generation; Galar offers its own distinct species of Pokémon as well as alternate versions of Pokémon from previous generations, much like the tropical Alolan variants we began seeing in Gen VII.
While some cards from the Japanese release of this expansion won’t be making it to the states, there are several cards that are believed to be coming through a bit later. Darkness Ablaze contains 14 Pokémon V—which are Pokémon with pumped up stats—and half as many VMAX versions, along with bigger, badder Pokémon there will also be 15 trainer cards and three Special Energy cards that will be new to this game. Things like the Struggle Gloves promo, V versions of Centiskorch, Vikavolt, and Mew, and Galarian variants for Mr. Mime and Stirfetch’d will all be found in this expansion pack. But things like the Galarian Cursola and Gardevoir V will likely be held off to include in a later pack, while some, like the special Charizard V and rainbow Charizard VMAX which were used for Japanese trophies in tournament play, will not be coming to the English version at all.
The fact that this game is still growing despite the fact that it’s been going for nearly a quarter of a century is astounding. This Darkness Ablaze expansion pack will be releasing a little later than the August packs usually drop but it will be worth the extra wait time to get some of these XMAX and V Pokémon on your team.
Source: PokéBeach, Pokémon.com
