If you’ve been sinking time into Pokemon TCG Pocket like us, you’ve probably been trying to optimise your decks as much as you can. But rather than slotting in more basic Pokemon, or trying to squeeze in more big hitters, you should be looking elsewhere to maximize your power.

We’re talking about fossils. These cards, perhaps niche at a glance, offer some truly powerful versitility to a lot of decks in game, filling two major roles, while not sucking energy away from your core team of powerful Pokemon. It doesn’t make sense in every deck, but for many it’s worth consideration.

Here’s why. As a trainer card that you can place on your board and bench, they provide a 40HP wall that can soak a hit or two. However, unlike other basic Pokemon, they won’t be snatched up by a Pokeball when you’re looking for a specific card to get your monentum building. On top of that, you can discard them from play at any time during your turn, so if you need that bench spot, you haven’t got to wait for one of your team to die to start filling it up and slamming down energy.

Additionally, you may have noticed the Sabrina card getting a lot of play by other players. It’s an excellent trainer option, as it allows you to force swap out the forward Pokemon to a benched one, allowing your opponent to snipe cards you’d otherwise like out of play. With fossil cards, you can just swap it forward for a quick sacrifice. Sure, you lose a card and your oppoent gains a point, but you don’t waste an energy and can continue building up your powerful Pokemon without having to worry about unfortunate deaths.

There are three types of fossils available right now, and you only really need two of them to try this out. Any fossil too, since you aren’t looking to use them as evolution material. Give it a go, and let us know how it works out in the comments below!