10 Pokémon TCG Moves That Make No Sense

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10 Pokémon TCG Moves That Make No Sense

The Pokémon TCG has some pretty outlandish moves. But these take the cake. The TCG can be tricky to get to grips with, being both very similar and very different to the mainline games. Since its beginnings with it’s forged its own path, altering and/or simplifying concepts such as typings to make for a dynamic TCG. One major thing you’ll notice about the card game is that it invents outlandish new moves for Pokémon. Some are while others are weak or just plain weird. From Pikachu’s birthday wishes to the attack that somehow makes Magikarp even more worthless than usual, Here are some TCG moves that just can’t be explained away. THEGAMER VIDEO OF THE DAY

Let s Eat Together Pikachu XY Promo 95

Let’s kick things off with Being the de facto mascot of the franchise, it’s no surprise that this little guy gets a tremendous amount of limelight. In the TCG, this means appearances on all kinds of promotion cards, with its XY Promo 95 print having an especially strange move. Let’s Eat Together simply costs one colorless energy. This isn’t an issue at all, but the move’s effect is just beyond baffling: it restores 30 points of HP to both Active Pokémon. While there may be scenarios in which this will be more beneficial to you than your opponent, it’s totally impractical a lot of the time. Promotional cards aren’t necessarily supposed to be competitive, but this is very odd.

Everyone Explode Now Forretress Undaunted 3

If you have prior experience with this (and Steel) Pokémon in the main games, you’ll know that it specializes in three things, tanking any all hits like a darn champion (providing they aren’t Fire-type attacks, naturally), setting up Spikes and all manner of other hazards like they’re going out of fashion, and using Explosion. This latter trait was surely the inspiration for one of the most fantastic attack names in TCG history: Everyone Explode Now. It deals 30 damage times the total number of Pineco and Forretress you have in play, then each of them takes 30 damage in turn. Not only is the move’s name hilarious, it’s darn tough to pull off effectively.

Happy Birthday Present MAX Blank s Pikachu Unnumbered Promotional Card

When it comes to Pikachu, where’s the harm in double dipping? A number of variants of the classic promo card ‘Birthday Pikachu’ have been released over the years, but this version is perhaps the greatest (and strangest) of all. It was given to visitors to the Pokémon Center in Tokyo on their birthdays (proof was needed), and it has two very unique moves that tie into this theme. The first is Happy Birthday. The rules of this move state that the opponent must give you a card of their choice from their collection as a gift if it’s your birthday. You can see how that could be problematic, but there’s more: this move deals no damage at all on its own, but combines with Present MAX. This attack inflicts 30 damage (plus another 20 for each gift card you’ve been given). What a concept!

Walk-Off Homer Slowbro BREAKpoint 20

Now, here’s an intriguing idea. and this particular Slowbro card really plays into that with its unique attack Walk-Off Homer. This move costs three colorless energy and doesn’t deal damage. Instead, if your opponent has just one prize card remaining (of their own, not to collect from you), you automatically win is the attack goes off successfully. There were a few fears that this move would be too strong, but it soon proved to be oddly situational and too much trouble to pull off.

Sweep Away Croconaw Dragon Majesty 23

In any TCG, there’s an element of luck involved that players have to do their best to compensate for. Even the very best decks are going to struggle to get anything done if the player doesn’t draw the right cards at the right time. Draw power, searchers and the like are crucial to overcoming this issue, while discarding cards can be hugely detrimental (depending on the deck). Croconaw’s Sweep Away can be very detrimental as a result, dealing a hefty (especiallyfor a Stage One) 90 damage but requiring the user to discard the top three cards from their deck after use. What if those had been the potential game winners?

Nail Flick Dark Charizard Team Rocket 4

Another has always been considered a force to be reckoned with in the TCG. Its very first card caused a huge furore for its rarity and power, as anyone who was a Pokémon fan in the 90s can attest. This is why Dark Charizard’s Nail Flick is so strange to see. Its second move, Continuous Fireball, has the potential to deal huge damage (50 points times the number of heads from a coin flip for each fire energy attached to it), but Nail Flick deals just 10 damage. It’s as feeble as it sounds.

Data Check Porygon Ancient Origins 64

The average TCG has such a wide range of card and deck options that very few of them are truly useless. Obscure as a card’s function may be, there’ll usually be a deck that can make great use of it. Even with that in mind, Porygon’s Data Check is a tough move to find a good use for. This non-damaging maneuver simply allows the player to look through their deck, then shuffle it. While there’s some niche utility there, this is simply a side effect of searchers, but as a standalone move.

Harmonize Imakuni s Doduo Challenge From The Darkness Promo

The TCG has featured a lot of silly joke cards over its long span. Often, these cards revolve around Tomoaki Imakuni (Imakuni? as his ‘character’ is known), a Japanese musician who has lent his talents (and legendary eccentricity) to the Pokémon series on many occasions. This particular card not only looks ridiculous but plays ridiculously. Its Pokémon Power, Frenzied Escape, means that the user has to physically throw the card when it retreats, as per translation, “because Doduo is running away. Throw the card horizontally with a snap to get the furthest distance!” Sillier still, its move Harmonize causes 30 damage and requires the player to sing a song during its use. Only when their song ends is the damage dealt. Fortunately, this silly promo card isn’t permitted in standard play.

Life Trick-GX Mr Mime-GX Celestial Storm 56

Mr. Mime has always been one of the most around. It’s no surprise, then, that its GX card has some odd moves and odder traits. Firstly, this variant’s Ability is Magic Evens, which prevents it taking any damage from the opponent’s attack if said damage is 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 140, 160, 180, 200, 220, 240, or 260. Secondly, its only damaging move is Breakdown, which puts 1 damage counter on the opponent’s Active Pokémon for every card they hold. Fnally, there’s its GX move, Life Trick-GX, which instantly heals all damage it’s taken. This, again, has situational utility, but it’s a heck of a way to use your one GX move that match. They’re usually reserved for huge bursts of damage.

Flailing Flop Magikarp Legendary Treasures 30

How do you make Magikarp even more hopeless than it already is? This was the tough challenge the TCG faced on the creation of the Legendary Treasures expansion. Originally a BW-P promo card, this little doozy had the answer. Magikarp isn’t particularly bad in the TCG, often sporting moves that allow it to quickly evolve or avoid damage. Flailing Flop, however, is quite possibly the worst attack it’s ever had. It deals a paltry 10 damage, the lowest possible, and even comes with a condition: getting a tails on a coin flip will cause this Magikarp to deal that same damage to itself as well! Why is this a thing? Hasn’t poor Magikarp suffered enough?