This week, we’re looking at Supporter Cards, specifically “Supporter-Supporter” cards. That is to say, supporter cards which lack the Trainer super-type.
In Partner Battles, all cards are played using only the text printed on the cards, so these cards are not considered Trainer cards for any game effects. That means that Skyla can’t search them from your deck, but also that Vileplume and Slowking don’t affect them.
Anyway, here’s the (somewhat short) list of Supporter-Supporter cards that we think are worthy of inclusion in most decks:
| Blaine10/10 |
| It gets any 3 basic Pokémon into your hand. |
| Jose9/10 |
| One of the best Pokemon search Supporters. The cards going to your hand instead of the bench is really the key part, since it allows you to activate “on play” abilities, or at the very least, gives you extra cards in hand. |
| Tony10/10 |
| Unrestricted search for 3 Basic Pokémon, and it puts them in your hand, not straight to your bench. |
(aka PONT)
| Blaine10/10 |
| It gets you a new hand without discarding important cards. |
| Jose9/10 |
| With so many “draw 7” Supporter options available, I usually don’t want to slot this in, but it not being a Trainer makes it worth it. |
| Tony10/10 |
| Shuffle & draw six is pretty solid card draw. |
| Blaine10/10 |
| Unlike Sonia, it allows you to get any combination of basic Pokémon and basic Energy, which makes it great in most scenarios. |
| Jose10/10 |
| A more flexible Pokemon Collector at the cost of only getting 2 cards instead of 3. The flexibility makes me favor it slightly over Pokemon Collector. Sometimes you just need that energy card. |
| Tony8/10 |
| Pretty decent and versatile search card. |
| Blaine10/10 |
| If your opponent only leaves one Pokémon on their bench, you can use this to end the game early. It is also good for getting your utility Pokémon back to hand or removing all damage from a Pokémon on your bench. |
| Jose10/10 |
| This card can give you early wins, I think this is a must-include in every deck for that fact alone. |
| Tony8/10 |
| The Donk-maker! Enough said (I think?). |
| Blaine10/10 |
| It gets you any 2 cards from your deck! The restriction is being behind on Prize Cards, so you can still play it even if your opponent didn’t get a Knock-Out last turn. |
| Jose10/10 |
| Along with Teammates, searching for any 2 cards is one of the best effects in the whole game. |
| Tony10/10 |
| Similar to the newer card Teammates, but only requires you to be behind in prizes. A strong effect that belongs in every deck. |
That’s it for the non-Trainer Supporter cards. It’s a short list, but the pool isn’t very large to begin with.
What do you think? Is there something we missed? Comment below or reach out on any of our social media accounts.
In the next article, we’ll be looking at Trainer-Supporter cards from the all sets prior to Sun & Moon. Most are from BW and XY eras, but there’s one from the EX era. Can you guess which one made the cut?
Format Staples - Part 6: Trainer Supporter Cards 
Format Staples - Part 4: Trainer Cards - A Few We Missed Along The Way