The Most Powerful Pokémon Cards, Ranked (2024)

Pokémon's popularity is nearly unrivaled across its anime series, video games, and even the TCG, thanks to its wealth of noteworthy cards. First introduced in 1998, the Pokémon Trading Card Game replicated the experience of catching and battling Pokémon in a tabletop format. Over the years, fans have spent enormous amounts of money collecting the trading cards.

The Pokémon TCG is among the top-rated trading card games of all time. Players compete at local and global tournaments, with many powerful cards printed over the years. As with any trading card game, these powerful cards quickly become sought-after by casual fans and competitive players, from the various Mewtwo variants to Mega Charizard X.

Updated July 23, 2024, by Antonio Samson: With every new Pokémon TCG set released, there are plenty of new cards that can change the competitive scene. This article was updated to include more Pokémon cards and to meet CBR's editorial and formatting standards.

35 Galarian Zapdos V Brings Lightning-Fast Fury to the Table

Powerful Addition to Any Lightning-Type Deck

Galarian Zapdos V, debuting in the Chilling Reign expansion, offers a thrilling addition to any Lightning-type deck with its lightning-fast strikes and impressive stats. This card enjoys a robust 220 HP, which provides a solid buffer against opponents' attacks. The key feature of Galarian Zapdos V is its "Thunderous Kick" attack, which delivers 130 damage and has the additional effect of discarding a Stadium card from play if the opponent has one in play.

Galarian Zapdos V's "Electrify" ability allows it to charge up its powerful attacks quickly. By attaching a Lightning Energy from the player's hand to this Pokémon, players can accelerate their offensive capabilities, making it a formidable choice in casual and competitive play. This card's unique combination of high HP and disruptive attack makes it a standout choice for Lightning-type enthusiasts looking to add electric excitement to their Pokémon TCG deck.

34 Mimikyu VMAX Stuns with Its Trickery and High Damage Output

Blend of Deceptive Tricks and Powerful Attacks

Mimikyu VMAX, introduced in the Shining Legends expansion, captivates players with its blend of deceptive tricks and powerful attacks. This card has an impressive 320 HP, allowing it to withstand significant damage and remain a persistent threat on the battlefield. Mimikyu VMAX's primary attack, "Max Phantom," deals a substantial 250 damage, making it a formidable offensive option.

One of the most intriguing aspects of Mimikyu VMAX is its "Cursed Shroud" ability, which reduces the damage Mimikyu VMAX receives from attacks by 30, providing an added layer of protection. Combined with its high damage output, this ability makes Mimikyu VMAX a versatile card that can absorb hits and deal significant damage. Whether in a deck designed for competitive play or casual fun, Mimikyu VMAX will surely bring a touch of ghostly mischief to any collection.

33 Lunala GX Shines Bright with Its Lunar Powers and Healing Abilities

Beacon of Power and Support for Psychic-Type Decks

Lunala GX, debuting in the Guardians Rising expansion, is a beacon of power and support with its unique lunar-themed abilities and attacks. This card features a solid 250 HP, providing a robust presence on the battlefield. Lunala GX's "Lunar Blaster" attack deals 150 damage. If the opponent's Active Pokémon has a special condition, this attack's damage is increased by 50, making it a potent offensive choice among Pokémon's Gen VII roster.

Additionally, Lunala GX's "Full Moon Star" GX attack not only deals 200 damage but also heals 50 damage from all of the player's Pokémon, offering offensive power and crucial support. This card's healing ability can turn the tide of a match by restoring health to key Pokémon and ensuring a longer-lasting presence on the field. Lunala GX's blend of damage and healing makes it a valuable asset in any Psychic-type deck, whether aiming for competitive success or casual enjoyment.

32 Incineroar GX Roars with Intense Heat and Powerful Disruption

Fiery Powerhouse with High Damage Output

Incineroar GX, from the Unbroken Bonds expansion, brings a fiery edge to any Fire-type deck with its explosive attacks and disruptive capabilities. This card features a substantial 250 HP, making it a durable choice for players seeking a fiery powerhouse. Incineroar GX's "Darkest Lariat" attack delivers a fierce 150 damage. It has the additional benefit of ignoring any effects on the opponent's Active Pokémon's attacks, allowing it to pierce through defensive strategies.

The "Inferno Fang" GX attack further amplifies Incineroar GX's offensive prowess, dealing 200 damage and potentially discarding an Energy card from the opponent's Pokémon. This attack inflicts heavy damage and disrupts the opponent's ability to retaliate effectively. With its combination of high damage output and disruptive effects, Incineroar GX is a formidable choice for players looking to dominate the battlefield with fiery aggression.

31 Solgaleo & Lunala GX Tag Team Is a Celestial Duo with High Versatility

Durable Tag Team with Offensive and Strategic Versatility

Solgaleo & Lunala GX, featured in the Unified Minds expansion, stands out as a celestial duo offering both offensive and strategic versatility. With a combined 300 HP, this Tag Team card provides substantial durability and can act as a central figure in any deck. The "Cosmic Rays" attack delivers 200 damage. It has the added benefit of allowing players to discard two Energy cards from their hand to heal 50 damage from this Pokémon, combining powerful offense with self-sustainability.

Furthermore, the "Sun's Eclipse" GX attack brings a game-changing effect, dealing 250 damage while allowing players to search their deck for up to five cards and put them into their hand. This powerful ability to grab crucial resources from the deck can be pivotal in crafting winning strategies and maintaining momentum.

30 Coalossal VMAX Is A Powerful And Bulky Card

Fighting-Type Giant with High Damage Potential

The first thing to note about the Coalossal VMAX card is the astonishing 330 HP that it marches into battle with. It has a basic Eruption Shot attack that does 40 damage with an additional 90 damage on the table if the player successfully pulls an energy card from the top of the deck.

That energy card is attached to the Pokémon to help barrel the card towards the unbelievable G-Max Boulder attack. Doing a ridiculous 240 damage, the attack requires three fighting and one other type of energy to use. This card is arguably among the best introduced during .

29 Black Kyurem EX Is A Powerful Basic Card

Versatile Dragon-Type with Strong Attacks

On the surface, deeming the Black Kyurem EX card a formidable card might seem like an odd choice given its relatively low 180 HP and solid but not outstanding attack list. The reason for its inclusion centers on it being a basic card, meaning it can be used from the jump without evolving into this form first.

Black Kyurem EX has two attacks, including Dragon Fang, which does 60 damage and has a chance to paralyze based on the flip of a coin. Its major attack is Freeze Shock, which has a chance to stun in addition to the 150 damage that it does.

28 Mega Rayquaza EX Is Daunting With A Single Attack

Well-Rounded Card with Devastating Damage Potential

Mega Rayquaza EX is a well-rounded card that offers attacking and defensive capabilities in relatively equal measure. It comes with 230 HP and is resistant to Water, Fire, Grass, and Electric attacks. Any incoming damage from those sources gets reduced by 20.

Mega Rayquaza EX has one attack, which can be awkward during play but deals devastating damage. Dragon Ascent costs five energy in total (including three fire, one electric, and one colorless) but it does a ridiculous 300 damage on hit. Even though two energy cards must be discarded after use, it's still powerful enough to take down opponents.

27 Gyarados VMAX Is A Great Balance Of Defense And Offense

Water-Type Tank with Potent Attacks

Evolving for the Gyarados V card, the VMAX version is a very tanky option when sitting at 330 HP. In addition, both of its attacks are very potent and without any significant drawbacks that render the card less useful in battle.

The first of these is Hyper Beam (two water and one colorless energy required), an attack that does 120 damage and removes an energy card from the opponent's active Pokémon. Max Tyrant is the Pokémon's major attack, dealing 240 damage to its opponent. This Gyarados card is undoubtedly strong, but players must be prepared to take a calculated risk.

26 Charizard VSTAR Is A Uniquely Powerful Variant Of This Pokémon

Iconic Fire-Type with Hefty HP and High Damage Output

Arguably the most iconic Pokémon in the entire series, the Charizard VSTAR card is one of the most powerful in the creature's catalog. Carrying a hefty 280 HP, this card's attacks set it apart from other versions of the Pokémon from other expansions.

The first of these is Explosive Fire which does 130 damage as standard, increasing to 230 if the Pokémon that the ability targets has damage counters on it. Then there is the bonkers VSTAR Power Star Blaze that does 320 points of damage and is enough to one-shot nearly any enemy in the game.

25 Cleffa Is Surprisingly Useful And Versatile

Colorless Card with Strategic Staying Power

Cleffa may look cute, but its iteration in the Call of Legends set is a surprising nuisance. The Pokémon's typing is a contributing factor as a colorless card, meaning it's easy to fit it into essentially any deck without sacrificing too much.

Cleffa's meager thirty HP might make it look fragile, but its moves are key to its staying power. "Eeeeeeek" allows players to shuffle their hand into their deck before drawing six cards, with Cleffa falling asleep afterward. The Poké-Body ability prevents Cleffa from taking damage while asleep.

24 Arceus VSTAR Lets Players Get The Most Out Of Their Decks

Mythical Pokémon with Powerful Attacks and Strategic Abilities

Across the video games, anime, and Trading Card Game, Arceus is well-known as one of the most powerful Mythical Pokémon. The deity of this world, the beast received a powerful card variant in the Sword & Shield series expansion Brilliant Stars. Arceus VSTAR was an incredible asset in a deck not just for how hard it hits, but also for Trinity Nova's secondary effect and its VSTAR-exclusive ability.

Complementing its 200-power Trinity Nova attack, the move's secondary effect lets players pull three energy cards from their deck to keep Arceus stocked with power. Meanwhile, the VSTAR Power Starbirth lets players search their deck for any combination of two cards to place in their hands.

23 Charizard GX From The Sun & Moon Series Could Devastate Opponents' Decks

High-Damage Fire-Type with Punishing GX Ability

Despite Charizard variants being a dime a dozen in terms of the creature's popularity, they're often uniquely powerful. From the Sun & Moon series' Burning Shadows expansion set, Charizard GX was a particular standout thanks to its brutal assets.

This version of the Pokémon can potentially decimate opponents between its high-damaging attacks and punishing GX ability. Charizard's Raging Out GX forces the opposition to discard the next 10 cards from their deck as if its Crimson Storm attack wasn't enough.

22 Slowking From The English Neo Genesis Release Could Break The Game

Psychic-Type with Game-Changing Poké-Power

The second-ever set of cards from the Pokémon Trading Card Game and first expansion inadvertently spawned a powerhouse in Slowking. It may not have been intentional given the differences in the Japanese and English translations. Regardless, its Poké-Power in the latter version could break the game without being actively played.

Slowking's attack was fairly reliable, but the Poké-Power Mind Games had a 50/50 chance of making the opponent's Trainer Cards useless. In the Japanese print of the card, Slowking could only do this if it was active in battle. Meanwhile, a translation in the English release gave the Pokémon full reign to use Mind Games from the bench. Competitive matches often became races against time before one player managed to play even one or two Slowkings in their reserves to neutralize the opponent's Trainer Cards.

21 Claydol Makes Great Use Of Its Poké-Power

Fighting-Type Supporter with Strong Draw Power

This Claydol was released as part of the TCG Celebrations: Classic Collection. It might not look like much at first glance, but its Poké-Power makes it incredibly strong. Typically, supporters in the Pokémon TCG have a heavy focus on draw power, letting players salvage a bad hand and gain access to their stronger cards if needed.

However, Claydol eliminated this need and allowed supporter cards to focus on other things. This is thanks to Claydol's ability, "Cosmic Power," which lets players discard up to two cards of their choice before drawing six from their deck. This can be done once per turn before attacking, making it very powerful.

20 Mega Gengar EX Turns An Opponent's Strength Into A Weakness

Psychic-Type with Devastating Phantom Gate Attack

Gengar is perhaps the poster child for Ghost-type Pokémon in the franchise. It has powerful cards too, with Mega Gengar EX having an attack called Phantom Gate allowing players to choose one attack from the opponent's Pokémon cards and use it against them. This attack lets the player eliminate one of their opponent's attacks at the cost of just one Psychic energy card.

Mega Gengar EX can be deadly for opponents with overpowered cards such as Mega Mewtwo X or Shadow Lugia. Both of these cards have extremely high damage potential, so being able to hit an opponent with them is extremely strong.

19 Mewtwo EX Was Nearly Insurmountable During Its Era

Legendary Psychic-Type with Powerful Moves

Not every meta-dominating Pokémon card can stay strong forever, but they will be forever remembered by the fans who played throughout its reign. Such is the case for cards like Mewtwo-EX, part of the Black & White Legendary Treasures set, which used to be an unbeatable bully card.

Mewtwo-EX is a tank with nearly 200 health, but its moves make it even more powerful. X Ball deals 20 damage times the number of energy cards attached to him, though the drawback is that it injures Mewtwo alongside the defending Pokémon. Meanwhile, Psydrive does a staggering 120 damage. The only drawback is having to discard energy.

18 Mega Aggron EX Has The Potential For Devastating Damage

Metal-Type Tank with High Damage Output

Mega Aggron EX has an attack called Megaton Slam that allows the player to flip a coin. If the coin lands on heads, it adds 120 damage to the already high 120 base attack. If the coin lands on tails, it does 20 damage to the cardholder's benched Pokémon.

If luck is on the cardholder's side, the overlooked Mega Aggron EX has the potential to one-shot any of the opponent's Pokémon. The damage output is worth it, even if the player might have to risk hurting their own benched cards. This Aggron card's strengths do justice to the tanklike Steel creature.

17 Zoroark GX Has A Great Ability And Move Combo

Darkness-Type with Consistently High Damage

Zoroark-GX is part of the Shining Legends set and effortlessly made its way into almost anyone's deck unless they were running something designed to counter it. Its Trade ability and Riotous Beating move work well together to ensure Zoroark can always pack a powerful punch.

Trade lets players discard one card they don't need and obtain two more, while Riotous Beating deals twenty damage for each Pokémon the player has in play. These two easily combine to ensure that Zoroark inflicts high damage consistently. With over two hundred health, it's not easy to take down either.

16 Mega Venusaur EX Has A Highly Restricting Attack For Opponents

A Grass-Type with Dual Debuffs and High Utility

Though it doesn't get as much attention as Charizard, Venusaur is another classic with some strong cards in the TCG. Mega Venusaur EX is a dangerous card for any opponent. Its special attack is called Crisis Vine, and it paralyzes and poisons the opponent's active Pokémon, inflicting a duo of two debilitating debuffs at once.

Although Mega Venusaur EX only has a 120 damage output, it's best used for locking down an opponent's strongest Pokémon so the player's other cards can easily defeat them. Mega Venusaur EX proves that damage output doesn't equal how deadly a card can be.