Pokémon Card of the Day: August 2026
Saturday, August 1st, 2026
Drapion V Lost Origin 118/196
Drapion V is one of the most blatant anti-meta cards ever created. Seemingly designed to counter Mew VMAX’s Fusion deck, this card is optimized solely for that task.
The Mew VMAX deck filled the board with Fusion Strike Pokémon and then dealt huge damage with the Dark-weak Mew VMAX. Drapion’s Wild Style Ability allows it to attack for free with four Fusion Strike cards on your opponent’s field, which was always going to happen with the Mew VMAX deck. Drapion could then deal 380 damage thanks to Weakness and take 3 Prize Cards.
Mew VMAX was one of the most lethal cards in the game when Lost Origin released and this card found its way into many decks.
Sunday, August 2nd, 2026
Regice ex Ascended Heroes 48/217
Regice ex is part of the Ascended Heroes expansion alongside Registeel ex. Both of these cards were originally released in Japan in 2025’s 100 Start Decks. Regirock ex, meanwhile, was included in Destined Rivals a few months earlier. These cards all have Regi Charge and a very similar second attack.
This method of releasing the Legendary Titans matches how the Legendary Beasts were handled in Sword and Shield. Suicune V was printed in Evolving Skies, while almost mechanically identical Raikou and Entei V were released in 2021’s 100 Start Decks.
Unfortunately, Regice ex is not quite as strong as Suicune V was. 140 damage is too little for four Energy, even if the secondary effect is neat.
Monday, August 3rd, 2026
Mismagius Unbroken Bonds 78/214
Mismagius is a card that was actually banned from the Standard and Expanded formats. Its Ability causes it to be Knocked Out but allows you to draw 7 cards. In combination with the Dusk Stone Trainer card, which allowed you to evolve Misdreavus Turn 1, you could chain this Ability very quickly.
The reason why it was so bad to Knock Out Mismagius so quickly is that you could use it alongside ‘comeback’ Trainer cards such as Reset Stamp to destroy your opponent’s hand before they could even play.
Interestingly, along with Bellelba and Brycen-Man, when Mismagius was banned, a new, far weaker version of Mismagius was released as a SM Promo. This bizarre “replacement” was released once Generation 8 had already started, resulting in very little time in Standard.
Tuesday, August 4th, 2026
Snorlax Dragon Frontiers 10/101
Snorlax is a Delta Species card that uniquely has no Attack but a Poké-Power and a Poké-Body. Typically, this is only seen on a card like a BREAK or Lv. X, which can still use an attack from its previous Stage.
Snorlax only having “Abilities” seems to be justified by its capability to still deal damage. Its Bedhead and Dozing Abilities have fantastic synergy which allow Snorlax to Sleep, heal and still deal damage. There is actually no reason for Snorlax to not be Asleep. If you get “unlucky” and Snorlax doesn’t wake up between turns, you can deal 40 damage before play goes back to your side.
Grass type Snorlax is a cool Delta Species, which is an idea that was rehashed with Mosslax in Pokémon: Pokopia on Switch 2.
Wednesday, August 5th, 2026
Keldeo ex White Flare 167/86
Keldeo received an ex in White Flare, which, along with Black Bolt, included a Special Illustration Rare of each ex in the set.
Unfortunately, this card isn’t particularly strong. 120 damage on an ex is far too weak. Maybe Keldeo needed a break, since there have been many extremely strong Keldo cards. This Pokémon hasn’t yet missed getting a 2-prize card since its release. What sets this card apart is that it is the only multi-prize Keldeo card to depict its Ordinary Form. Keldeo EX, GX and V all feature Keldeo in its Resolute Form. Maybe that’s why this one is so much weaker?
Keldeo is in a neat environment with fall leaves and some waterfalls. I think this is Unova Route 20, the only place near its home, Pledge Grove, to feature a waterfall.
Thursday, August 6th, 2026
Rayquaza C Lv. X Supreme Victors 146/147
Rayquaza C Lv. X was part of the Platinum Series’ SP mechanic, where Trainer’s Pokémon received designations based on their Trainer. Rayquaza has a C designation since it is owned by Cynthia, the Champion of Sinnoh.
The thing is, Cythia never owned Rayquaza in the video games or anime. Presumably, the developers wanted to include Rayuaza as an SP and Cynthia was the best fit. Garchomp C Lv. X was another Dragon-type that Cynthia is known for using. Coincidentally, there was a dream sequence in an anime episode where Cynthia did use Rayquaza.
The attack is a little ridiculous, costing three different Energy types. Rayquaza was never seen using this type combination before or since.
Friday, August 7th, 2026
Gyarados Gold Star Holon Phantoms 102/110
Gold Star Pokémon were an extremely rare type of card during Generation 3, which featured a Pokémon’s Shiny form. You could only have one Gold Star Pokémon in your deck, and they were all Basics. These cards were effectively the exact same as Generation 8’s Radiant Pokémon, albeit far rarer.
One cool part of Generation 3 is that multiple game mechanics overlapped, meaning that this Gold Star Gyarados is also Delta Species. Its type is changed to Fire to better match its Shiny colors, which is a nice touch.
Gyarados’ All-out Blast highlights how these cards often had more unusual attack effects. The attack discards cards from your deck until you have just 1 card left. Furthering the connection, Radiant Steelix would later have a very similar attack.
Saturday, August 8th, 2026
Parallel City BREAKThrough 145/162
Parallel City introduced the parallel Stadium cards in the BREAK era. This card represents the story of the BREAK sets, which included a “technology world” and “nature world” colliding.
This Stadium, along with a few others released later, allowed you to decide which side of the Stadium pointed which way the Stadium pointed, with each player receiving the effect on their side. Both of Parallel City’s effects were negative, so you had to choose which negative effect each player received.
If you didn’t have any Fire, Water or Grass types in your deck, you could choose the red side and limit your opponent to three Bench spaces without any drawback.
Sunday, August 9th, 2026
Jirachi V Astral Radiance 170/189
This Full Art Jirachi V is unique in that it was the only way to play Jirachi V for a long time. Released on May 27, 2022 in Astral Radiance, Jirachi V existed as a full art only, as the regular print was taken out of the set to be a promo. This is common, as Virizion V also received this same treatment in the same set. The issue is that the inevitable “Jirachi V Box” never released.
Virizion’s Promo print released in October 2022, a few months later. It wouldn’t be until August 2023 until Jirachi V was released as SWSH299. Even still, this was only in Europe, only reaching the U.S. in September 2024, according to PokeBeach. By this time, Jirachi only had a few months left until it rotated from Standard.
Luckily, Jirachi V isn’t particularly strong. It’s basically a global Exp. Share for Basic V. It’s a neat effect, but not particularly worth the deck space or 2-Prize liability.
Monday, August 10th, 2026
Unown Ancient Origins 30/98
This Common Unown has just 60HP but is a fantastic card. Its Farewell Letter Ability means that it can simply discard itself from the Bench so you can draw a card. This means that a Pokémon search like Nest Ball can become a draw, and Unown can be cycled over and over again thanks to Pokémon retrieval cards.
The Ability to be retrieved from the Discard Pile is the best part of Unown - every recovery card not needed on Turn 1 now becomes a draw card. Unown is extremely valuable in turbo decks, especially in the Expanded format, where games often last just a few turns.
Being able to convert all your Pokémon-related Trainers into draw cards once all your Pokémon are out is a huge way to help your turns become long combos. Thanks to Unown, you can often draw through your whole deck in one turn.
Tuesday, August 11th, 2026
Snorlax Crown Zenith 109/159
Can anyone guess why this Snorlax card is noteworthy? Being part of Crown Zenith, this card is predictably a reprint, in this case from Fusion Strike. The interesting thing is that in Fusion Strike, the card, while functionally the exact same, was a Common card. The version in Crown Zenith is a Rare. I don't think I have ever seen this before - a card being upgraded from Common to Rare in a reprint.
Unfortunately, Snorlax is becoming more and more of a bulk card. There used to be a time where Snorlax was almost never an Uncommon, let alone a Common. The new Snorlax cards just seem to be so weak. 160 HP is very high, but not much else is good about the card.
This card has a neat artwork with a crocheted Snorlax. Maybe that's why it's a Rare now.
Wednesday, August 12th, 2026
Wimpod Pokémon GO 25/78
Pokémon Go’s commemorative set included a lot of neat cards that were themed around the mobile game. Why then, was Wimpod included? It’s a neat Pokémon, but it doesn’t really have much to do with Pokémon GO.
The reason why Wimpod was chosen was because Niantic released Wimpod and Golisopod into the game for the first time concurrently with the release of the TCG set. At the time, GO was soon to catch up with the full Pokédex, so individual lines were released instead of a whole generation at once.
Punk Out is a clever Ability to emulate Wimp Out, but I don’t know why it couldn’t have just been called Wimp Out again. Unfortunately, Wimpod was given a Retreat Cost of 3. This is obviously so Punk Out could be useful, but Wimpod’s best stat by far is its 80 Speed.
Thursday, August 13th, 2026
Genesect Promo BW101
This special Shiny Genesect Black Star Promo was released as one of the last of Generation 5. The reason why this Genesect is Shiny is because it was released alongside the Genesect and the Legend Awakened movie.
This movie featured multiple Genesect, including a Shiny red Genesect. There’s no special Shiny designation on the card, and it was simply to commemorate the movie. The card was only available packaged in the DVD release.
Hyper Beam isn’t the worst attack ever, especially since it can be fueled with a Double Colorless Energy. Breaker Bazooka isn’t particularly useful, but has a cool attack name that matches Genesect thematically.
Friday, August 14th, 2026
Pidgeot ex Obsidian Flames 225/197
The Special Illustration Rare of the very powerful Pidgeot ex was featured in Obsidian Flames. This card is a stylized artwork by Jerky, which matches the Illustration Rares of Pidgey and Pidgeotto.
The sign in the background of the artwork features the sign for Route 18. Although there is a Route 18 in Kalos and Unova, the artwork appears to match Kanto Route 18. The coastal road featured must be the Cycling Road, so the city is either Fuschia or Celadon. I would assume that this is Fuschia City since Celadon city isn’t on the coast.
In terms of competitive Ability, Pidgeot is one of the strongest Stage 2 ex cards printed in the Scarlet and Violet era, enabling Charizard ex to be a massive metagame threat.
Saturday, August 15th, 2026
Druddigon Legendary Treasures 106/113
Although Druddigon is a Dragon-type, its first few cards were Colorless-type as Dragons were not added until the middle of Generation 5. Along with Haxorus, Druddigon received very few Colorless cards before Dragons switched over.
What’s interesting about this card is that it was reprinted in Legendary Treasures, after Dragons were introduced in Dragon Vault. Why this card was reprinted after is quite the bizarre choice when multiple Dragon-type Druddigon cards were available.
This card naturally has Druddigon’s infamous Rough Skin Ability, dealing chip damage every time it takes damage. Clutch isn’t an awful attack, especially considering that Double Colorless Energy can be used to fuel it.
Sunday, August 16th, 2026
Hippowdon Lv. X Rising Rivals 107/111
Hippowdon Lv. X is the first and only Hippowdon chase card, released in its debut generation. Its Sand Reset Poké-Power is very fascinating, only allowing you to use it once per game.
Sand Reset allows you to shuffle every card in play, aside from Pokémon, back into each player’s respective deck. This is a really cool Ability that might represent a sandstorm tearing up the entire playing field. The card also says to keep Supporters cards on the field, since, at the time, Supporter cards stayed next to the Active Pokémon for the entire turn they were played. This actually allows the Supporter card to be reused instead of being sent into the Discard Pile.
The Attack is pretty awful, especially for a Stage 3. Hopefully Hippowdon gets an ex soon.
Monday, August 17th, 2026
Team Rocket's Dugtrio Ascended Heroes 239/217
Team Rocket’s Dugtrio is neat since it was one of the new Trainers’ Pokémon in Ascended Heroes. Despite being out of focus while the Mega Evolution era began, Ascended Heroes served as a recap for the entirety of 2025’s releases. This meant that Trainers’ Pokémon were still in play, since they hadn’t received a High Class Pack yet.
Even more unique is that Ascended Heroes/Mega Dream ex created far more new cards than most High Class Packs. Relevant to this card’s existence is that new cards were released for each Trainer’s archetype. This means Team Rocket’s Dugtrio is unique to Ascended Heroes and was never part of Destined Rivals.
The Illustration Rare artwork is neat, but the very small amount of dirt above Dugtrio looks strange.
Tuesday, August 18th, 2026
M Lucario EX Furious Fists 55a/111
This Full-Art version of Mega Lucario EX was released in 2017 as part of the Mega Powers Collection. Mega EX cards did not receive full arts until Primal Clash, instead having gold versions. Mega Lucario EX got this full art card in the Best of XY Japanese set, which was released in the Mega Powers Collection in English.
Mega Lucario EX, along with the other cards in the collection, highlighted the new “Yellow A Alternate” ruling. Any card with this symbol kept the set number of the original it was based on, instead of becoming a Black Star Promo. Despite being released in 2017, this card is technically part of 2014’s Furious Fists, designated 55a/111. This was done to ensure that these cards rotated with their original prints.
Yellow A Alternate became obsolete with the introduction of Regulation Marks.
Wednesday, August 19th, 2026
Jynx Dragon Frontiers 17/101
This Jynx card has the Delta Species attribute, which allows it to have a random type instead of Water or Psychic. In this case, Jynx is Fire type, uses Fire Energy, and even has a Fire-themed attack. Despite this, Jynx is still weak to Psychic, as a normal Jynx card would have been in Generation 3.
Jynx’s Poké-Body, Stages of Evolution, is a unique mechanic relating to Baby Pokémon common in the ex species. Smoochum, as a Baby card, could evolve into the Basic Jynx. Stages of Evolution would only activate if you did this, behaving as a bonus for starting from Smoochum.
Stages of Evolution lowers the Retreat Cost for both Fire and Psychic cards, referencing Jynx’s original type as well as its Delta type.
Thursday, August 20th, 2026
Dusknoir Lv. X Stormfront 96/106
The fact that Level X cards could still use the attacks and Abilities of the previous stage meant that the Level X could experiment with more interesting effects without needing to worry about an attack. Ectoplasm is one of the longest card texts ever, allowing it to become a Stadium card when Knocked Out. However, it could be bumped like any other Stadium, except it returned to your hand.
Although the effect is really cool, having to evolve all the way up to a Stage 3 and then get Knocked out isn't always worth one extra damage counter between turns. However, the Dusknoir from Diamond and Pearl Base Set was extremely strong, so it wasn't completely out of the question for this card to see play.
Friday, August 21st, 2026
Shining Volcanion Shining Legends 27/73
Shining Volcanion is part of the Shining Legends set, which reintroduced the Shining Pokémon mechanic introduced in the Neo sets. The card background is non-holo, but the Pokémon has a very detailed and textured holo printed on its surface.
Shining Pokémon naturally feature the Shiny forms of the featured Pokémon. Shining Volcanion is an interesting example as Volcanion’s Shiny form was not yet obtainable in any Pokémon game. This means that, in a way, this card revealed Volcanion’s Shiny form for the first time. Shiny Volcanion was later obtainable in 2026.
130HP is decent for a basic, but the Energy requirements are too strong and don’t deal enough damage. It’s a very neat collector’s card, however.
Saturday, August 22nd, 2026
Shedinja Vivid Voltage 66/185
This Shedinja is a very bizarre card, being an Evolved Pokémon portrayed as a Basic outside of any special mechanic. Its Shell Survival Ability restricts it to only be playable when Ninjask’s Ability activates on Evolution.
This Ability matches the game mechanic very well, where Shedinja appears in your party when Nincada evolves. However, I don’t see why this card needed to be a Basic. Even if the card was a Stage 1, Shell Survival would still have prevented it from being played. Shedinja wasn’t being reclassified as a Basic, as it returned as a Stage 1 in Generation 9.
I think the reason why Shedinja is a Basic is so it couldn’t use Triple Acceleration Energy, which could fuel Shedinja’s attack in one Energy requirement. Perhaps the developers thought that combo would be too strong.
Sunday, August 23rd, 2026
Tropical Beach Promo BW28
Tropical Beach has a really neat story since it changed how the game developers approached event-exclusive promo cards. Tropical Beach was an award for players that qualified for the World Championships. This Stadium was meant to be a one-off trophy card.
However, as many Stage 2 decks became very powerful, most players didn’t really need to attack on the first turn. In this scenario, Tropical Beach is a great way to end your turn, similarly to how Rotom V behaved for Charizard ex decks.
Tropical Beach became wildly expensive since it was an extremely rare card that was very strong in set-up decks. This prompted the Pokémon Company to make Worlds promos far weaker in the future.
Monday, August 24th, 2026
Chandelure EX Legendary Treasures 77/113
Chandelure EX, along with Excadrill EX, is an interesting case - they are the only EX cards from Black and White that were not Legendary or Mythical Pokémon. Released in the very last Black and White set, Legendary Treasures, Chandelure is a very unassuming, bulk EX card. What it implied about the future of the game, however, was much more fascinating.
The fact that Chandelure was not Legendary was neat but also revealed that all EX cards would be Basic. All Legendaries and Mythicals at the time were Basics, so this fact was not so obvious before. Introducing something like this at the end of the generation is bizarre, but ultimately hinted at the return of EX cards in XY.
Chandelure and Excadrill also both received Mega Evolutions in Legends: Z-A, both featured in Pitch Black.
Tuesday, August 25th, 2026
Rocket's Scizor ex Team Rocket Returns 101/109
Rocket's Scizor ex is a really cool card from the Team Rocket set of Generation 3. It takes on Dark type, being a Rocket's card, but can gain Metal typing if a Metal Energy is attached. The attack is slightly bizarre, allowing you to swap an Energy attached to Scizor with one in the Discard Pile. I guess this could be to turn Metal typing on and off.
The card art is really unique too with a very close up shot of Scizor with a metallic ripple effect in the background. These types of artworks don't really show up anymore in the TCG. What I think is the most interesting part of this card is how it only evolves from Rocket's Scizor ex. Although there was no non-ex Rocket's Scyther in the set, you can't even evolve an older Rocket's Scyther into this card. You must use an ex released in the same set to evolve into this one. This is only seen with Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon, today. A truly bizarre card.
Wednesday, August 26th, 2026
Aggron V Brilliant Stars 96/172
Aggron V is one of the most over-the-top Pokémon V ever made. With an average attack cost of 4 Energy, Aggron is a brutal attacker that can very easily hit for 300 damage. It seems like a lot of effort was put into designing this card, despite its main purpose being to evolve into Aggron VMAX. Is it particularly effective? No, but it still found its way into a rogue deck along with its VMAX and Arceus VSTAR.
This card was originally released in the Start Deck 100 in Japan before being sent to Brilliant Stars in English. Aggron VMAX, along with Kingler, were the last VMAX cards before VSTARs took over. It would be half a year until VMAX cards returned with Machamp and Heatran.
Thursday, August 27th, 2026
VS Seeker Roaring Skies 110/108
This Secret Rare Print of VS Seeker is an example of how Standard format rotation worked before Regulation Marks were introduced - the fact that this card was printed in 2015's Roaring Skies meant that VS Seeker, originally reprinted in 2014's Phantom Forces, stayed in the format for an extra year. In 2026, when a card is reprinted as a Gold or Full Art, it retains its original regulation mark and doesn't cause this issue. Imagine how big of a splash Ascended Heroes would have made otherwise, as it included cards marked H, I and J! Luckily, the old, less expensive printing could still be used.
Mechanically, VS Seeker is a very strong card, allowing you to reuse Supporters and therefore not need to include as many copies in your deck. Discarding Supporters early means that you can "search" them out later with VS Seeker. It's a fantastic item card.
Friday, August 28th, 2026
Claydol Celebrations 15/106
Claydol might be the most deep-cut card resurrected for the 25th anniversary Classic Collection. It isn't a particularly powerful Pokémon and it doesn't highlight any old mechanic. The reason why this card was chosen was that it was very, very playable during the Diamond and Pearl era.
Drawing cards until you have 6 in your hand is worthy of a Supporter card, so being able to do this turn after turn is absolutely absurd. Even more effective is that Claydol lets you put up to two cards at the bottom of the deck before you draw. This pushes the card over the top, since you can save untimely cards at the bottom of the deck until you need them later on in the game. This lets you draw even more cards. Kindly, Claydol only forces you to put back one if you have lots of useful cards already. Cosmic Power is one of the greatest Abilities ever made.
Saturday, August 29th, 2026
Kangaskhan EX Flashfire 78/106
Kangaskhan EX was one of the first of the new type of EX card - one that could represent any Pokémon and potentially Mega Evolve. Unfortunately, this also began the trend of filler EX cards that were simply meant to Evolve into Megas, VMAX, or VSTAR.
Despite this, Kangaskhan isn’t the worst EX card ever made. 180HP is solid, and Triple Draw helps you set up. Kindred Kick is pretty awful, but hopefully be the time you get three Energy, Kangaskhan has already Mega Evolved. Speaking of Energy, Kangaskhan EX can also benefit from Double Colorless Energy.
Kangaskhan was released in the early period for Mega Evolution cards. This means that there is no Kangaskhan Spirit Link, and it is one of only two Mega Evolving EX Pokemon in the set, along with Charizard. Despite this, Kangaskhan EX did see some use along with its Mega as a tank deck, similar to the Mega Kangaskhan ex solo deck in 2026.
Sunday, August 30th, 2026
Team Magma's Rhydon Team Magma vs. Team Aqua 11/95
Team Magma’s Rhydon is an interesting card in that it seems to use the Pokémon Stadium N64 model in the artwork. This model was carried forward into Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness, but it’s still a bizarre choice. In the background of the card appears to be a lopsided Team Magma logo.
If the Stadium model really was used, I wonder how the artist went about making this card. Was he given the model file by the game developers?
Being a Team Magma’s card, Rhydon has the Magma logo in the bottom corner as well as Dark and Fighting type. The first attack uses Dark Energy, while the second uses Fighting Energy. I like how the second attack specifically targets Team Aqua’s Pokémon.
Monday, August 31st, 2026
Snorlax GX Promo SM05
Snorlax GX was the first GX card ever released, being featured in its own GX box before Sun and Moon Base Set. The card isn’t particularly strong, but acted as a neat preview for Generation 7’s new mechanic. Using a Basic is smart as it provides a direct, head-to-head, comparison between a GX and an EX.
Snorlax’s attacks cost a lot of Energy, but do a lot of damage and interact with the Asleep status. Snorlax’s GX attack, Pulverizing Pancake, matches the name of Snorlax’s Z-Move in the Sun and Moon game. Snorlium Z was also a special event for those who bought Sun or Moon early.
Snorlax’s art makes good use of the brand new full card frame and matches the Z-Move animation in the game.
Card Artwork from Pokémon TCG Card Database, used for review purposes.