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Pokémon TCG: Brilliant Stars’ Most Important Card Is Not What You’d Expect

Each Pokémon TCG set introduces new Trainers and Pokémon that rise to the top of the standard meta, but Brilliant Stars' best card is neither.

The Pokémon Trading Card Game’s latest set, Brilliant Stars, has introduced many useful Trainers and Pokémon. Decks that rely on Fire-type Pokémon get a significant boost from the Stadium card Magma Basin, while an easy-to-overlook Pokémon like Manaphy prevents Bench-sniping thanks to its ability that protects Benched Pokémon from attack damage. On top of these cards, the expansion’s new VSTAR mechanic is shaking up the standard meta, especially through the use of Arceus VSTAR.

However, the most important card to come out of Brilliant Stars may be its least flashy: the Double Turbo Energy. Fusion Strike’s Mew VMAX may have broken the standard meta as far as most players are concerned, but Double Turbo Energy compounds the problem in a spectacular way that makes it a valuable resource for any deck.

Double Turbo Energy is a Special Energy card that counts as two Colorless Energy. While players can use any Energy to cover the Colorless requirement of an attack, the Colorless Energy itself only counts toward Colorless Energy. Double Turbo Energy is an important addition to the standard format since Double Colorless Energy is not currently in the rotation. Instead, players primarily use Twin Energy from Rebel Clash to get double Colorless Energy. It also differs from Twin Energy in that it does not have restrictions as to which Pokémon it can be attached to. For this reason, Double Turbo Energy is the better choice to include in a deck.

On the flip side, Double Turbo Energy reduces the attack damage of the Pokémon it’s attached to by 20. However, that damage reduction is ultimately negligible. Not only can players use Fusion Strike’s Power Tablet or Brilliant Stars’ Choice Belt to offset the damage, most of the top competitive decks have a high enough damage output that doing 20 damage less won’t matter anyway.

Mew VMAX, Arceus VSTAR, and Durant are some of the key competitive cards that benefit from Double Turbo Energy. Mew VMAX decks are already overpowered, but now Mew VMAX’s Cross Fusion Strike attack can be satisfied with a single Double Turbo Energy. Arceus VSTAR is a Normal-type Pokémon and uses only Colorless Energy, so Double Turbo helps power up both Arceus V and VSTAR faster. Durant is used in one of the competitive scene’s cheekier decks that focuses on discarding an opponent’s draw pile, and now one single Double Turbo Energy can power its key attack, Devour.

Double Turbo Energy is arguably the most important card to come out of Brilliant Stars. This Special Energy does not carry the same restrictions as Twin Energy, allowing it to be played on Pokémon V or VMAX, and its damage reduction is easily recouped. Ultimately, Double Turbo Energy allows players to rework any deck in order to make it more efficient and effective.

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