Champion's Path is finally out, and with it came 3 brand new VMAX cards; Alcremie VMAX, Gardevoir VMAX & Drednaw VMAX! With these 3 new VMAX cards, I wanted to discuss them and see what pairs best with them and how good they are! So let's start with the first VMAX, Alcremie VMAX! 

Alcremie VMAX

Alcremie VMAX is a 310 HP Psychic-type VMAX. It also has 2 different attacks, the first attack Adornment which says, "for each of your benched Pokémon search your deck for a psychic energy & attach it to that Pokémon"  This attack can be decent to power up your benched Pokémon; however, since Alcremie VMAX is a stage 1 it isn't really worth it to play this attack. Instead, it is used to power its second attack up! Its second attack, G-Max Whisk for 2 Psychic energy, does "60 damage for each energy you discard from your Pokémon". So if you have 4 energy on your benched Pokémon, you can do a total of 240 damage; this can be infinite as you discard even 10 energy if possible. Now this attack would be stronger if Malamar was still in standard, but it rotated. The best possible way to use this attack would be with Porygon-Z and using Recycle energy, which can go back to your hand when you discard it with G-Max Whisk, so you can keep re-attaching the energy every turn with Porygon-Z! You could also play Horror Energy in the deck for Alcremie to use its attack G-Max Whisk! Alcremie's biggest downside is that it is weak to metal, which means you get stomped on by Zacian & Zamazenta V. Still if you play Weakness Guard energy, you can bypass the weakness. Overall, the weakness of metal will probably hold Alcremie VMAX back from being too good. 

Gardevoir VMAX

Next up is a fan-favorite Pokémon, Gardevoir! Gardevoir VMAX is also a Psychic-type like Alcremie VMAX and unfortunately carries the same nasty Metal weakness Alcremie has. Unlike Alcremie VMAX, Gardevoir has only 1 attack, Max Cure! Max Cure for 2 Psychics and a Colorless energy does 180 damage and heals 50 damage from Gardevoir VMAX. This attack is a little more flexible than Alcreamie's attack as it can be used with the supporter Rose & Weakness Guard energy! Max Cure also doing 180 damage is solid as that can 2 Shot most VMAXs or Tag Teams and can 1 shot Dedenne GXs and Crobat Vs! The attack also heals 50 damage, which, when combined with Mallow & Lana, heals 170 damage. Or if you play the brand new Suspicious Food Tin, also released in Champion's Path, you can heal 80 extra damage, if you discard a Psychic energy from Gardevoir! Gardevoir VMAX seems to be pretty decent and will, in my opinion, be best with Rose and Weakness Guard energy to get rid of the Metal weakness! 

Drednaw VMAX 

Lastly is Drednaw VMAX, which is a water-type VMAX! This is good, as Fire is powerful now, so having a new Water Type VMAX to work with is nice! While Drednaw is a Water VMAX, I don't think it is as good as Inteleon VMAX, but may better than Lapras VMAX! Drednaw VMAX has an ability which lets it take 30 less damage from attacks, combined with its 320 HP, Drednaw VMAX effectively has 350 HP! And with a 4 retreat cost, you can play buff padding to give it a total of 400 hp! Pretty nice! Drednaw's attack is decent as for 2 water and a colorless energy, it does 160 damage, then you flip a coin if heads the attack does 80 more damage, hitting for 240 damage! This is a decent attack as it can take down most V attackers like Zacian! This attack can combine well with the Stadium card, Glimwood Tangle, to allow you to reflip your attack if you get tails and need to do 240 damage! Drednaw obviously combines the best with Frosmoth to power it up, and with cards like Glimwood and Buff Padding, you can make Drednaw a force to be reckoned with! Drednaw VMAX does have a lighting weakness, which is pretty rough as Pikachu & Zekrom GX is still relatively popular and strong, so once again, play Weakness Guard energy, which can fill up Drednaw's Attack cost! 

These 3 new VMAX cards, while not Meta changing, are pretty cool in their own rights and have some good traits that can be used with some good combos like Frosmoth & Rose! Champion's Path is a good set to pick up as there are many other decent cards in this set, and of course, it has 2 Charizard chase cards to collect!