Pokemon TCG Pocket: Best Pokemon Abilities

Key Takeaways

• Abilities are crucial in Pokemon TCG Pocket for strategy & victory.
• Cloyster’s Shell Armor ability boosts resilience against attacks.
• Hypno’s Sleep Pendulum disrupts opponents’ strategy by putting them to sleep.

In Pokemon TCG Pocket, abilities play a crucial role in shaping strategies and securing victories. Whether it’s increasing one’s own defense, accelerating energy, spreading damage across the opponent’s Pokemon, or applying negative statuses like poison or asleep, abilities are an essential part of the game.

These effects can turn the tide in favor of the player or disrupt opponents, providing a path to victory. It’s important to be aware of the best abilities in the game to recognize potential threats and plan accordingly.

10 Cloyster

A True Armor In The TCG Pocket

• Stage: 1
• HP: 120
• Type: Water

Cloyster has a simple and straightforward ability that works perfectly in every match. With its ability Shell Armor, Cloyster takes -10 damage from attacks, offering a consistent advantage over the opponent.

Unlike merely having 10 more HP, an ability that reduces incoming damage by 10 significantly boosts its resilience, as taking three or four hits could reduce total damage by 30 or 40. This makes it an excellent early-game card to stall the opponent while setting up powerful attackers on the bench.

9 Victreebel

Target The Opponent’s Basic Pokemon

• Stage: 2
• HP: 140
• Type: Grass

In Pokemon TCG, there is a powerful card called Boss’s Orders, which allows the player to switch one of the opponent’s Benched Pokemon into the Active Spot. This effect is crucial in all strategies, whether to take down a potential threat or a support Pokemon. In Pokemon TCG Pocket, there isn’t a Supporter card with this exact effect, only Sabrina, which sends the Active Pokemon to the Bench, leaving the opponent to choose the new Active Pokemon, making it less effective for targeting specific threats.

However, Fragrance Trap from Victreebel offers a similar effect for Basic Pokemon. If Victreebel is in the Active Spot, the player can switch in one of the opponent’s Benched Basic Pokemon, making it a valuable tool given the meta’s abundance of powerful Basics like Pikachu EX and Mewtwo EX.

8 Butterfree

Heal All Pokemon With Powder Heal

• Stage: 2
• HP: 120
• Type: Grass

One of the most powerful Grass-type decks is the Venusaur EX deck, built around a strong attacker that can heal its own damage using its attack, Erika, and Potion. Butterfree is a card with an effect that perfectly complements this type of strategy with its Powder Heal ability.

Once during a turn, it allows the player to heal 20 damage from each of their Pokemon. The best part is that this effect isn’t restricted to Grass-type Pokemon, making Butterfree a versatile choice for any deck requiring healing support during matches.

7 Magneton

Energy Acceleration For Decks With Lt. Surge

• Stage: 1
• HP: 80
• Type: Electric

Volt Charge from Magneton is an energy acceleration ability, always a welcome feature in Pokemon TCG. Each turn, it allows an extra Electric energy to be attached from the Energy Zone to a Pokemon. At first glance, the ability may not seem impressive, as its attack has a high cost for just 60 damage.

However, when paired with the Lt. Surge Supporter, which transfers all energies from Benched Pokemon to a Raichu, Electrode, or Electabuzz, having a Magneton doubling energy acceleration on the bench becomes an extremely powerful asset.

6 Hypno

Put Opponents To Sleep

• Stage: 1
• HP: 100
• Type: Psychic

In Pokemon TCG Pocket, status conditions can be crucial to securing victory. Hypno’s ability, Sleep Pendulum, flips a coin, and if heads, the opponent’s Active Pokemon is put Asleep. This status prevents the target from attacking or retreating until it wakes up, which only happens if a coin flip lands on heads again.

This can significantly disrupt the opponent’s strategy by delaying their gameplay. Additionally, if the player has two Hypno in play, the chances of putting the target Asleep double, as the ability can be used twice per turn.

5 Greninja

Spread Damage Across The Opponent’s Pokemon

• Stage: 2
• HP: 120
• Type: Water

Greninja possesses an ability that can significantly impact matches. Water Shuriken allows the player, once per turn, to place 20 damage on one of the opponent’s Pokemon. This makes it possible to keep Greninja on the bench, steadily distributing damage throughout the game.

The earlier the player sets up Greninja, the more damage can be spread, often providing the critical damage to secure a knockout or weaken the opponent’s next attacker. Additionally, Water Shuriken is a stackable ability, if the player has two Greninja on the field, they can distribute up to 40 damage per turn.

4 Weezing

A Toxic Pokemon

• Stage: 1
• HP: 110
• Type: Darkness

Like Hypno, Weezing also has an ability to impose negative status conditions on the opponent’s Pokemon. In this case, Weezing features Gas Leak, which, once per turn, poisons the opponent’s Active Pokemon. Unlike Hypno’s ability, this effect does not rely on a coin toss, ensuring its activation every turn.

Poison causes the afflicted Pokemon to take 10 damage at the end of each turn and cannot be cured through a coin toss, offering a persistent disadvantage for the opponent until the Pokemon is knocked out or retreats.

3 Gengar Ex

One Of The Strongest Control Tools

• Stage: 2
• HP: 170
• Type: Psychic

Gengar EX boasts the Shadowy Spellbind ability, which blocks the opponent from using any Supporter Cards as long as Gengar remains in the Active Spot. This restriction prevents cards like Sabrina from forcing Gengar out of play, keeping its control over the match intact.

For decks that depend on Supporters like Lt. Surge, Erika, or similar cards to execute key strategies, Shadowy Spellbind poses a major challenge, disrupting their momentum and limiting tactical options. This ability can create an advantage, forcing opponents to adapt or risk losing control of the match entirely.

2 Pidgeot

Free From Undesirable Opponents

• Stage: Basic
• HP: 120
• Type: N/A

Pidgeot’s Drive Off ability allows the player to send the opponent’s Active Pokemon to the Bench every turn, effectively acting like a Sabrina card each time. Unlike Victreebel’s ability, Drive Off is not limited to Basic Pokemon and can be used even when Pidgeot is not in the Active Spot.

This makes Pidgeot a versatile card that fits into decks focused on controlling the board, especially against slower decks. By constantly shifting the opponent’s Active Pokemon to the Bench, Pidgeot can disrupt their strategy and limit their ability to attack or set up effectively.

1 Gardevoir

Accelerate Energy In An Impressive Way

• Stage: 2
• HP: 110
• Type: Psychic

Gardevoir, with its Psy Shadow ability, is indeed one of the most powerful cards in the Pokemon TCG Pocket meta. Its ability allows for the attachment of a Psychic Energy from the Energy Zone to the Psychic Pokemon in the Active Spot, providing efficient energy acceleration.

This makes it easier to activate powerful attacks from Psychic-type Pokemon, making Gardevoir essential in decks that rely on this acceleration to attack quickly. As long as there are strong Psychic attackers in the game, Gardevoir will remain one of the most powerful and strategic cards in the meta.