After three full decades of the Pokémon TCG, there are thousands upon thousands of candidates for the best Pokémon cards of all time. As years pass and sets rotate in and out, powerful cards will rise and fall, but in this list we name and honor the game's all time heroes: the Pokémon cards that dominated the game during their time in the sun. Some are loved, others are infamous, some even courted bans - but they all made their mark on the competitive Pokémon TCG scene. Read on for the all time Pokémon card hall of fame, from golden oldies to fresh hotness.
Warning: don't confuse 'best' with 'valuable'. If you're interested in which cards are worth most cash, read our complete, up to date list of the most expensive rare Pokémon cards instead. Here, we're profiling the strongest Pokémon cards ever added to the game, whose outstanding stats, abilities, and synergies led the pack and shaped the game's tournament meta - and some of them you can pick up for pocket change!
The best Pokémon cards are:
Budew
If there's one type of Pokémon everyone loves, it's a Weird Little Guy. There are squillions of them, obviously, but none in recent memory has proven as wildly powerful in tournaments as Budew: an eight inch tall, 2.6lb flower bud with trash tier HP and attack damage.
How come it's top of our best cards list, then? Well, Budew absolutely sneezed all over the Pokémon TCG meta throughout 2025 and into 2026, and it's all because of the ability attached to its Itchy Pollen attack. The 10 damage is irrelevant, but preventing your opponent from playing Item cards from their hand is almost game breakingly good.
A crap-ton of the strongest Pokémon decks rely on key Item plays to do their thing, especially those that use Rare Candy to guarantee crucial evolutions for their biggest hitters. When Budew returned to the TCG's standard rotation in January 2025's Prismatic Evolutions set, it immediately gave many of the game's most dominant decks hay fever overnight, forcing them to change tactics to deal with it. For that, Budew, Wargamer salutes you!
Dragapult ex
A very active player in the 2025 tournament meta, Dragapult ex is so much simpler than the other cards on this list. It's a stage two Tera Pokémon with a healthy 320 HP and a cheap, powerful attack. Phantom Dive needs just one fire and one psychic energy to activate, deals 200 damage, and lets you spread six damage counters however you like among your opponent's benched Pokémon.
That's a great rate on damage output, and lets you hollow out your opponent's bench no matter what Snorlax-sized damage sponge is sitting in the active spot.
Fezandipiti ex
Fezandipiti ex is a Pokémon played more for its draw power than its actual attacks, but it nails that niche so hard that you'll see this in all sorts of 2026 decks. Consistency is the name of the game here - a Basic 'mon is easy to search for and get into play, meaning you can use it to draw extra cards rather than relying on supporters. Plus, it's always nice to get some sort of reward when your Pokémon get knocked out.
This one works best in a deck with ample bench space to spare. Plus, you never know when that Cruel Arrow attack - or simply sending Fezandipiti in for cannon fodder - will keep you in the game.
Gardevoir ex
Where Lugia VSTAR lets you cheat fully evolved Pokémon into play from your Discard pile, the Paldean Fates printing of Gardevoir ex lets you do the same thing with Psychic energy. Its ability Psychic Embrace allows you to take two Psychic Energy out of your Discard pile and attach them to a Psychic type Pokémon. It takes one damage counter for each energy attached to it this way.
Gardevoir itself is a perfectly reasonable place to put that energy. A Stage 3 Pokémon with 310 health, you can use Psychic Embrace and play one energy from hand to immediately power up its Miracle Force attack, which deals 190 damage and cures Gardevoir of all special conditions.
You can turn that downside into an advantage with some basic Pokémon. While Munki-Dori has any Dark energy attached to it, it can use its Adrena-Brain ability to move up to thirty damage from one of your Pokémon to one of your opponent's. The ancient Pokémon Scream Tail is even simpler: its Roaring Scream deals twenty damage to any one of your opponent's Pokémon for each damage counter on it.
Zoroark GX
Something of a staple of Expanded format decks, Zoroark GX has become a familiar face in Pokémon battles since its release in the Shining Legends expansion. Its Trade ability, which lets you discard a card to draw two more, is especially useful for removing duds from your hand and finding key Trainer cards. Use them to boost its already-powerful Riotous Beating attack, dealing 20 damage for each of your Pokémon in play, and be knocking your opponents with ease.
Capable of dealing massive damage through straightforward abilities that complement a variety of decks, many builds that couldn't cater to Zoroark became largely obsolete when this Pokémon came along. Others focused entirely on countering it, but, either way, Zoroark came to dictate the game. The power creep of newer sets has since meant players can no longer rely on Zoroark for a comfortable win, but it's enjoyed unmatched longevity, and sheer popularity as the go-to powerhouse-Pokémon for years.
Claydol
If any Pokémon has earned the mantle of single-handedly carrying every deck of which it was part, Claydol would be the clear winner. Released in 2008's Great Encounters, the Pokémon was so critical to the meta, if you didn't have a Claydol to stick in your deck, your opponent was guaranteed to run rings around you. Its Cosmic Power ability let you discard two cards to the bottom of your deck, and refill your hand up to six cards.
A fantastic draw engine, Claydol let you churn through cards, getting rid of the poorer showings, and slowly amassing the best of the bunch in a single hand. All of your opponent's focus would be drawn to this one Pokémon, as they desperately try to prevent you from recycling, letting you quickly finish them off. Later releases tempered Claydol's abilities, and it never regained the same importance as those earlier years. But when Claydol shined, it really shined.
Shaymin ex
Released as part of the Roaring Skies Pokémon set, Shaymin EX quickly became a standard card in Pokémon battles everywhere. Very similar to other famed Pokémon Uxie, its Set Up ability lets you fill your hand with up to six cards when played to your bench. Hugely useful for quickly boring through your deck, handing yourself an advantage, and swarming your enemy before they have a chance to catch up.
Shaymin EX is all about speed, instantly tilting the balance of play in your favor, which must be quickly leveraged before your opponent can recover. It quickly became a prized card among professional and amateur players alike, but was banned from official Pokémon TCG Expanded format tournaments in 2020, because using Set Up ability in conjunction with the Scoop Up Net card (which allows you to place a Pokémon GX card back into your hand) was deemed to be too powerful a combination.
Charizard ex Tera
Introduced in Scarlet and Violet: Twilight Masquerade, Charizard ex Tera is exactly what you want a Charizard to be - a massive, splashy monster that will take over a game as soon as it hits the board. Its Burning Darkness attack only needs two energy, and because it scales in power as your opponent scores prize cards it's going to be relevant at any point in a match.
Charizard ex decks can run extremely light on energy, thanks to its Infernal Reign ability: when you evolve Charizard EX, you can search your deck for three fire energy cards and attach them to any of your Pokémon. It has a very fast, very narrow gameplan: if you can get your Charizard ex in play, you will have the energy to attack with it, and it will hit like a truck, so you best make that happen as fast as you can.
So Charizard EX decks are packed with cards that let you draw cards (like Pidgeot ex), search for cards (like Supporter Arven or Ultra Ball), or speed up evolution (Rare Candy). And because the deck isn't wasting space on energy and has so much ability to search, it can include a few singleton copies of utility cards.
Neo Slowking
Slowking, from the set Neo Genesis became an unstoppable force due to an epic translation error. Its Mind Games ability, which shut down your opponent's trainer cards on a coin flip, was intended to only work when Neo Slowking was your active Pokémon. However, thanks to the misprint, it could be used from the bench.
This meant players could load up their bench with numerous Slowking, making it extremely likely that any trainer cards would make it through their psychic blockade. Wizards of the Coast were reluctant to errata any cards in this period, and refused to make an exception here. So, despite the obvious error, Neo Slowking dominated competitive play from 2000-2002, when it was finally banned.
Cleffa
Back in the good old days of second-generation Pokémon , the best players in the world wouldn't be seen without the humble Cleffa. Although a cutesy, baby-type, pink blob, don't be fooled by its cuddly appearance. Cleffa could stall an opponent with ease. Its passive ability lets you flip a coin anytime your opponent attacks. If the coin lands tails, the attack is cancelled, and your opponent's turn ends.
And its basic attack, hilariously entitled "Eeeeeeek", lets you shuffle your hand into your deck, and draw seven new cards. Cycle through your deck for an optimum hand, all the while preventing your opponent from landing a hit. Combined with no weaknesses, and no retreat cost, it's easy to see why Cleffa was unrivaled in the early days of the Pokémon TCG, and isn't half bad, even now.
Mewtwo ex
The most iconic of all the powerful Pokémon, Mewtwo has been a staple of the franchise since Generation I. The Mewtwo EX card quickly came to dominate the TCG's meta when it released as part of the Next Destinies expansion, and with good reason. Unmatched in strength, the only way to defeat a Mewtwo EX was to play one of your own. Battles soon descended into Mewtwo fights, as players tried to hold out long enough to play their version of the card before their opponent.
Years later, after a lot of bittersweet sentiments, Mewtwo EX doesn't hold the same unrivaled prestige it once did - but some players still think the card is viable for deckbuilding. Regardless, Mewtwo EX defined the TCG's meta when it was top of the pile, and has become something of the poster boy for the best Pokémon cards.
Lysandre's Trump Card
Although not a Pokémon, Lysandre's Trump Card certainly deserves a mention. Infamous and widely hated, it didn't take long for this support card to be deemed a little overpowered. Forcing each player to shuffle their entire discard piles back into their decks, Lysandre's Trump Card effectively eliminated the possibility that a player would run out of cards, which would otherwise mean victory for their opponent.
With an entire win condition removed from the game, matches descended into players racing through their decks as fast as possible, discarding frivolously in the knowledge that everything would eventually be reset. It's no surprise that Lysandre's Trump Card was banned from competitive Pokémon TCG tournaments in 2015 for unbalancing play.
M Gengar ex
M Gengar EX becomes a particularly powerful ally if your opponent has something beefy on the board. The Phantom Gate ability lets you choose an attack your opponent's Pokémon can perform - Mega Gengar can now use this attack, giving your rival a nasty taste of their own medicine.
With a reasonable retreat cost and HP count, there are plenty of reasons to play M Gengar EX. And while it's not currently on any banlist, M Gengar EX is one of the pricier Pokémon cards in this guide.
Tapu Lele GX
Tapu Lele GX has some helpful abilities for healing your Pokémon and dealing damage, but its Wonder Tag ability is the main event when it comes to power. When Tapu Lele GX joins your bench during your turn you can search your deck for a Supporter card. Then you can reveal that Supporter and add it to your hand - a helpful way to give your turn a boost.
Being able to search your deck can come in very handy, and Tapu Lele can help you find the perfect card you need at the right time.
Dusknoir
Released in Scarlet & Violet: Shrouded Fable, Dusknoir is a meta-shaping Pokémon which has had some players tearing their hair out since its release. While it suffers from being a Stage 2, Dusknoir can fit into any deck, since you only care about its ability, not its attack.
That ability, Cursed Blast, is absolutely disgusting. You get to put 13 damage counters on one of your opponent's Pokémon. Okay, Dusknoir is also Knocked Out the moment you use this ability but, make no mistake, it goes down laughing.
This power is useful in all kinds of decks, as it handily counters many different strategies. You can take out important Pokémon hiding on the bench, or deal a staggering amount of damage to take down the beefiest Pokémon, by combining Dusknoir with your active Pokémon's attack.
Boss's Orders
Boss's Orders is a Trainer card that, at first, might seem too simple to earn a place in this list. It's not ban-worthy, and it can't rival the immense damage or abilities of the beefiest EX Pokémon. However, it is by far one of the most played cards in the TCG's meta - one database estimates that it appears in half of all currently played decks.
Boss's Orders offers a simple 'gusting' effect that switches an opponent's Active Pokémon with one on the Bench. This can be hugely troublesome for your opponent, who might be shielding vulnerable, damaged Pokémon by keeping them Benched. Alternatively, it could temporarily take a Pokémon that's set to steamroll you out of the Active position.
This ability to interfere in your opponent's plans can make or break a game. While Boss's Orders is so popular that most Standard players expect to see it, it plays such an important role that multiple copies are still recommended to deck-builders.
That's it for our list of the best Pokémon cards of all time! Did we miss out any true big hitters that deserve to be here? Hop into the free Wargamer Discord community and you can let us know, as well as joining in daily discussions across all things tabletop games, competitions, giveaways, and live events.
Alternatively, catch up on your Pokédex with our guide to all Legendary Pokémon, and our definitive answer to the age old question: how many Pokémon are there nowadays?