Pokémon TCG Sun & Moon Expansion Released

The Pokemon Trading Card Game has just announced the Sun & Moon expansion to tie into the 3DS games


Published: February 3, 2017 9:00 AM /

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PTCG Sun & Moon

The newest expansion in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, Sun & Moon, has just hit English store shelves as of today, February 03, 2017. Based on characters, mechanics, and moves from the wildly-popular Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon Nintendo 3DS titles, this 163-card expansion is a compilation of the Japanese sets Collection Sun and Collection Moon and introduces the new "GX" mechanic, which is based on the video game's Z-moves. "Pokémon-GX" card variants behave similarly to Pokémon-EX cards from the various Pokémon X and Pokémon Y era expansion sets, in that they have stronger attacks and higher base health than their normal variants, and Knocking Out an opponent's Pokémon-GX rewards you with two prize cards instead of one.

However, unlike EX variants, each GX variant features a special "GX move" that is multitudes stronger than even other attacks found on GX cards. Much like the in-game Z-moves, players can only use one GX move per game. GX card variants are also printed with their normal evolution stage, unlike EX cards which saw many fully evolved Pokémon printed at the Basic stage.

Three theme decks will also be released alongside the new expansion set, with each theme deck focusing on the three Alolan starter evolutionary trees: "Forest Shadow" is a pure-Grass Energy deck built around the Rowlet line; "Roaring Heat" is a Fire Energy and Fighting Deck centered around Litten and its evolutions; "Bright Tide" is a Water Energy and Lightning Energy focused on Popplio, Brionne, and Primarina. Each theme decks includes a two-player playmat, damage counters, deck box, coin, and a redeemable Sun & Moon booster pack code for use with the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online client.

In addition to now being available for purchase on store shelves, booster packs of Sun & Moon are available for purchase and redemption on the online game client. Players won't have the ability to use cards from Sun & Moon in their Standard, Extended, and Legacy format decks until February 24, 2017, and the Standard format rotation won't be occurring until Autumn of 2017. For information on what cards are in the Sun & Moon expansion, Bulbapedia has a page which lists each of the cards in the expansion, alongside their rarity and collector's number.

The next expansions to be released are Islands Waiting For You and Moonlight of Alola, which - like Collection Sun and Collection Moon - will be compiled into one currently-unnamed set for English release; these sets are currently scheduled for release in Japan on March 23, 2017, with no word on when their English release will be.

Stay tuned to TechRaptor for further information on Sun & Moon product and all things related to the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

What are your thoughts on this new expansion set? Will you be purchasing any Sun & Moon product? Let us know in the comment section below.

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| Former Staff Writer

Brandon is a former TechRaptor Staff Writer, who primarily covered news and Tabletop - especially Magic the Gathering.

More Info About This Game
Learn more about Pokemon Trading Card Game
Release Date
October 1, 1996 (Calendar)