It’s time for another new set of Black & White Pokémon cards and this time, things are going to get nasty! Dark Explorers is the fifth Black & White set to arrive and the second to star Pokémon-EX, incredibly powerful versions of some of the rarest Pokémon with which to destroy your opponents. The theme here is Dark Pokémon, with several buffs for Dark decks levelling the playing field a little in a format where Psychic is king – including the rebirth of a legend in Darkrai EX!

Fear Of The Dark!
As the name suggest, Dark Explorers puts a real emphasis on the Dark type, not only adding new shadowy monsters with which to crush opponents but also improving the type as a whole with special support cards that really make it playable. With Mewtwo EX everywhere, the common Psychic resistance in Dark types is useful enough on its own, but with cards that boost damage output for Dark decks and offer free retreat to all Dark monsters, expect to see a lot more evil Pokémon in future battles!

Darkrai Returns!
No Dark-themed expansion would be complete without an appearance or two from the lord of shadows himself, so it’s with great pleasure that we reveal that Darkrai EX will probably be the most sought-after card in this new set. His Dark Cloak ability is incredibly useful as it offers any Pokémon that has any Darkness energy attached to it free retreat, plus his attack is no slouch either! Night Spear hits the opponent for 90 plus an extra 30 to a benched monster – decent numbers on their own before you even factor in the damage boosts from special Dark energies and the new support cards, plus bonuses from the abilities of other Pokémon. Has Mewtwo EX met his match? We’ll find out once we get our hands on Dark Explorers and make the two go head-to-head!

EX-ceptional!
As EX-pected, Dark Explorers adds yet more super-powerful Pokémon EX into the mix, each of which can be found in both regular holo and full art variants. Announced so far are Darkrai, Kyogre, Groudon, Tornadus and Raikou, though hopefully there will be a few more to find as well – the Japanese set on which this one is based also featured an Entei EX. What this also means is that all the new EX cards are, once again, Basic Pokémon – this is something which could make the format even faster than it is now and really put pressure on players that still rely on evolution lines. Japan’s latest expansion (which focuses on the all-new Dragon type) follows the same trend as well – will we ever see EX evolutions, as were so popular in the last generation of EX cards? And even if we do, will they be strong or quick enough to compete with the powerful basic EXs we have already. Only time will tell…

Dream Themes
It’s business as usual for the theme decks, with another pair of decent starter sets based on Dark Explorers launching alongside the set. Raiders and Shadows are their names, the preconstructed 60-card decks focusing on Psychic and Dark types and featuring Cofagrigus and Zoroark respectively. The bizarre sarcophagus Pokémon will be looking to wreak havoc with his first attack (which allows players to discard Tool cards from their hand for potentially huge damage), while the illusion fox will be a powerhouse in any Dark deck, especially with all the new support cards this set adds for Dark-type Pokémon. And as ever, the theme decks will come with a code to enable them in the online TCG. Good news all round!

Blister Crocs!
As well as being available individually, Dark Explorers boosters will also be available in a special blister pack that contains several boosters, a Reshiram/Zekrom coin and a full Krookodile evolution line reprinted as holographic cards. It’s a nice bonus and a great incentive to buy even more boosters, something that both collectors and people hungry for the great new Dark Explorers cards alike will surely enjoy!