Pokemonis a media giant with tons of different ways to enjoy. You might be into the Anime, playing the video games, or collecting its cards. Such variety works perfectly for Pokemon, as there are over 1,000 Pokemon to share the spotlight.
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Luckily, one Pokemon that’s subpar in one Pokemon property may excel in another. Maybe a very weak Pokemon is incredible in Pokemon Unite? That is especially true for thePokemon TCG, where a simple Ability can skyrocket an unassuming Pokemon’s usefulness.
10Garbodor
Garbodor has never been a beloved Pokemon. Even when you look past its intentionally offputting design, there isn’t much use in including Garbodor in your team. He has subpar defenses for a tank, a total lack of offense, and little utility.
Whereas in the TCG, Garbodor is one of the strongest disruption tools ever printed. The Ability Garbotoxin has been used in various formats and was incredibly powerful as it negated all other Abilities. Garbodor from the set Guardians Rising set was an amazing attacker with its Trashalance. It even saw play as a Poison spreader from time to time. Regardless, Garbodor is king in the TCG, where it’s a nuisance at most in video games.
9Charizard
This entry may seem out of place, especially for new players; after all, how could Charizard be considered bad in video games? Well, due to very subpar typing and only decent stats, Charizard was not good at all for the longest time. Yes, it has gained some new tools with special forms and great support items like the Heavy-Duty Boots, but Charizard, in its purest form, kinda sucked in the video games.
It would be fair to say that the TCG was ahead of the curve in giving Charizard strong forms. Throughout the game’s history, Charizard has been printed in various sets with varying levels of power. However, it’s always been a great attacker. Charizard cards have always had high-cost, high-damaging attacks, perfect to take out beefy Pokemon. Especially in later years, withRadiant Charizardand others, the popular starter has had a great career in the TCG.
8Greninja
Greninja is an interesting case in that it was already pretty good in video games. The Water-type starter of Kalos has become immensely popular despite its relatively short time in the franchise, and for good reason. Greninja has great stats, decent movepool, and amazing abilities, making it a very good special attacker. Despite all that, Greninjaactually became better in the TCGfor a while.
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Greninja cards in the TCG have always been about dealing damage to your opponent’s bench. Throughout several iterations, Greninja has done that perfectly. With its printings in the sets XY Base Set, Breakpoint, Forbidden Light, and as a Radiant in Astral Radiance, Greninja has had an amazing career in the TCG. This is a case of a great Pokemon somehow becoming even better in another medium.
7Blastoise
Speaking of Water-type starters, Blastoise is another exampleof the TCG treating them right. Blastoise has never been bad necessarily in the video games. It’s been a decent physical tank and a special attacker since Generation One. He also got some new toys in the form of a Mega Evolution, a Gigantamax Form, and access to great moves like Shell Smash.
While Blastoise was decent in the video games, he was incredible in the TCG. Thanks to its signature Ability Deluge accelerating Water-type energy onto your field, Blastoise saw play in myriad decks. From Keldeo-EX to Magikarp & Wailord GX, Blastoise was the lynchpin for many decks.
6Frosmoth
Frosmoth shares a similar career in the TCG to Deluge Blastoise. Its Ability Ice Dance functions very similarly to Deluge and has led to Frosmoth seeing a lot of play in Water-type decks. It would be fair to call Frosmoth the spiritual successor to Blastoise in that regard, replacing it due to rotation and printings.
However, Frosmoth has never been as good as Blastoise in the video games. While it has some interesting tools in Ice Scales and Quiver Dance, Frosmoth always lacked the necessary punch. Thus, its relatively short time under the spotlight in the TCG eclipses its whole career in the video games.
5Zoroark
Zoroark has had one of the most unfortunate debuts in gaming. Its ability, Illusion, was great and could have been fun to utilize, but it got introduced in the same generation that brought in team previews for online battles, completely nullifying the surprise factor. Besides that, barring the occasional meme battle, Zoroark never saw much success due to a useless ability and lacking stats.
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Luckily, the TCG showed Zoroark the love it deserved. Ranging from Zoroark BREAK from BREAKthrough to Hisuan Zoroark VSTAR from Lost Origin, Zoroark has had an incredible series of cards printed. Mostly focusing on its illusory strategies and underhanded tactics, Zoroark cards are always fun to use and are quite powerful.
4Ditto
Ditto is yet another gimmicky Pokemon. This Generation One icon has the ability to transform into any and all other Pokemon. Ditto has actually seen some play in specific formats, especially in Ubers, copying legendaries upon switch with the ability Imposter. However, it’s never been a great inclusion generally.
The TCG has given Ditto some amazing cards, though. Ditto cards usually function by copying attacks of other Pokemon in your Discard Pile. This leads to tons of decks using Ditto as almost an extra copy of their power cards. While still somewhat dependent on the format, Ditto in the TCG is infinitely better than in video games.
3Seismitoad
Seismitoad is a subpar Pokemon who shortly had a niche to counter Dracovish during the Sword and Shield era of the Pokemon games. Besides that, this laidback frog is just a dex-filler with little to no real use, facing fierce competition with other Pokemon with the same typing.
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However, generations earlier, with its debut, Seismitoad was a disruptive force in the TCG. Seismitoad EX from the set Furious Fist has the amazing move Quaking Punch. This move locks the opponent out of playing Item Cards on their next turn. This Seismitoad was used for the whole time it was legal as a disruption tool, commonly alongside Garbodor, to great effect. It made Seismitoad relevant for years,which it really needed.
2Galarian Zigzagoon
Sometimes, a Pokemon is just disappointing in the video games and finds a niche in the TCG. However, sometimes a Pokemon that was never intended to be strong or useful in the first place becomes a staple. Such is the case with Galarian Zigzagoon. This early route rodent doesn’t have much going for it in the games, only being an early encounter with a cute design.
In the TCG, however, Galarian Zigzagoon from the Sword and Shield Base Set turned out to be an amazing card. Its ability Headbutt Tantrum made this Pokemon incredibly useful for many reasons. It lets certain decks reach important damage thresholds, enables some attacks and strategies, and can let you pick of benched Pokemon who have been damaged. A rather forgettable Pokemon became an absolute superstarfor a whole era of the TCG.
1Pikachu
Pikachu, the mascot of Pokemon itself, is a rather weak Pokemon in the video games, surprisingly. Yes, it can serve as a glass cannon with the right items and set-up, but it’s never on the same tier as top Pokemon. The TCG is a whole other story, however.
Pikachu has had many different cards dedicated to it, and most have been as underwhelming as their video game counterpart. Pikachu V and VMAX recently gave the little mouse sizable power, but they didn’t make Pikachu a staple by any means. The card that shot Pikachu into an S Tier Pokemon is theTag Team card, Pikachu & Zekrom GX. This card saw tons of success due to how consistent and powerful it is, and gave Pikachu strength as no video game could.
