Hi there. In this Pokemon TCG post, I cover the English revealed cards for Pitch Black. More importantly, the prerelease promo cards are revealed too. I will cover those as well.
Pitch Black is the English version of Japan's Abyss Eye set. It seems that for this 2026 year, the English sets are now 1 to 1 to Japan sets. This results in less cards for each English set. In the past English sets, the sets were much larger as they had cards from 2 Japanese sets plus some promo cards.
Pokebeach had Ghost Veil ability cards. It has been renamed to Hide n Sneak by the Pokemon Company International.
The prerelease promo cards have been revealed. We have:
Prerelease events are casual tournament events where participants can purchase packs/cards before the official release date. Pitch Black prerelease events take place from July 4, 2026 to July 12, 2026. Pitch Black releases on July 17, 2026. It is rare for a Pokemon set to release in July.
Each participant at a prerelease event gets one Build and Battle kit. You get one of four promo cards plus a preconstructed deck with the promo card plus some booster packs.
Miraidon
If you go first, Miraidon can be really aggressive. Two Lightning Energy for 90 damage should knockout any Basic Pokemon your opponent has after turn one/two.
The Photon Cord ability activates when Miraidon is Knocked Out in the Active Spot after damage from an attack from the opponent's Pokemon. You then move up to 2 Lightning Energy from this Miraidon to one of your Benched Pokemon. Energy recycling is powerful given that recovery options are limited or even not available in the prerelease limtied format.
Slowbro
Slowbro is a beatstick attacker. The second attack is not great but the first attack can be super dangerous.
All Out requires 1 Psychic Energy for 50 base damage. This is not too bad. If you have no cards in hand then All Out deals 210 damage. (50 plus 160) This 210 damage is some serious firepower. Having no cards in hand is not great as your options are limited but you have a powerful board state and attacker.
Dhelmise
Dhelmise is a very dangerous attacker in the prerelease format and even in regular standard tournament play.
Vengeful Anchor requires 1 Psychic energy for the attack. It does 30 base damage plus 140 more damage if your have 4 or more Pokemon with the Hide 'n' Sneak ability in the discard pile. Provided that the condition is met, 170 damage from 1 Psychic energy is some serious and easy firepower.
Getting 4 or more Pokemon with the Hide 'n' ability can be a challenge in prereleases though.
Bastiodon
Bastiodon is the evolved form of Shieldon. And Shieldon evolves from an Armor Fossil.
As an attacker, Bastiodon is okay. It does take a bit of time and energy to meet the energy requirements for Hammer In. One hundred sixty damage is decent firepower.
The Ancient Bulwark ability only activates if Bastiodon is on the Bench. You prevent all damage done to each of your Pokemon by attacks from your opponent's Pokemon with 2 or less Energy attached. It is a bit of a stall/control ability.
I do plan to make a more detailed post on these prerelease promos and theorycrafting on what cards are good for prerelease events.
Thank you for reading.
