It’s a common trend that the greater popularity a franchise receives, the more likely it is to ruffle the feathers of people who have nothing to do with it. As a brand, Pokémon has officially been ruffling feathers for thirty years with many branches of the franchise. Nowhere is this more prevalent than the Pokémon Trading Card Game
In an effort to keep the peace, and keep the franchise growing, The Pokémon Company has chosen to ban or alter several cards. Sometimes cards are banned for the unfair advantages they grant players, and other times Pokémon cards get censored due to the suggestive nature of their artwork. Banning and censoring tend to have the opposite effect when it comes to massively popular franchises, and Pokemon is no exception, with fans scrambling to get their hands on cards they’ll never be able to use competitively.
Shaymin EX Let Players Stack Their Hands
WeaknessLx2
Retreat Cost1
ResistanceF-20
HP110
StageBasic
[2] Sky Return (30)
Return this Pokemon and all cards attached to it to your hand.
The Pokémon TCG‘s Roaring Skies expansion set from the XY series introduced one of the most powerful cards of the 2010s. Hailing from Pokémon’s Gen IV Sinnoh region, “Shaymin EX” became a dominant force of the time thanks to its powerful ability. The card managed to stay in competitive play for a few years before it was banned from the Expanded format in November 2020, thanks to a then-new Item card.
When played onto the bench, Shaymin EX’s “Set Up” Ability was already potent, as it allowed players to draw from their deck until they reached six cards. But alongside the “Scoop Up Net” Item card from the 2020 Rebel Clash set, players could exploit Shaymin’s Ability multiple times to keep their hands stacked even in the early stages of a match. The card was kept on the ban list even after the “Scoop Up Net” itself was eventually banned.
Lusamine Heavily Encouraged Recycling Valuable Cards
Another recent card ban, the “Lusamine” Supporter from the Sun & Moon era’s Crimson Invasion set, was scrapped from competitive play for being overpowered. This card was specifically banned from the Expanded format in February 2019 because of how its effect could kill the pacing of a match. Once played, players could put any combination of two Supporter or Stadium cards from the discard pile into their hand.
However, the main issue arose from the exploitable loophole of having two “Lusamine” cards in a deck. With two “Lusamine” cards, players could trigger an infinite loop of recycling discarded cards until games were stalled into ties. It certainly went against the intended spirit and pace of the Pokémon TCG, but unlike some other cards, Lusamine would be unbanned in March 2021.
Sableye & Oranguru Were a Broken Combination
Sableye and Oranguru are two Pokémon cards banned from competitive play for overpowered strategies. The former was introduced in the Black & White series’ Dark Explorers expansion, and the latter in Sun & Moon‘s Ultra Prism. That meant “Sableye” spent several years in the competitive scene, but its “Junk Hunt” Ability proved to unbalance games when used alongside the “Oranguru” card’s “Resource Management.”
Together in a deck, these Pokémon cards could spark a vicious cycle of discard pile recycling by using their Abilities. Sableye’s “Junk Hunt” allowed players to take two cards from the discard pile to put into their hand, while “Resource Management” drew three cards to put at the bottom of the player’s deck in any order. How easily these cards could synergize led to heavy-handed stalling tactics to grind out wins.
Jessie & James Was a Culmination of Hand Disruption Tactics
WeaknessLx2
Retreat Cost3
ResistanceF-20
HP300
StageBasic
[1RWL] Trinity Burn (210)
Jessie and James are two of the most iconic and lovable antagonists from the Pokémon anime. They were often comically incompetent as “villains” in the anime series. However, their card from Pokémon TCG‘s Hidden Fates set from Sun & Moon was too effective for its own good. The Hidden Fates expansion’s “Jessie & James” lets players force their opponent to discard two cards from their hands while the user did the same.
This is a powerful effect, but the game-breaking element was its ability to win matches in just the first couple of turns. As with other banned cards like “Delinquent” and “Red Card,” “Jessie & James” could exploit similar tactics with other cards to force opponents to potentially discard their entire hand before they got a chance to play. It’s a ruthless approach that few, if any, could prepare for.
Unown Nearly Guaranteed Wins
Overpowered abilities are the most consistent reason cards get banned. This is why two Unown cards from the Pokémon TCG Lost Thunder expansion were banned during the game’s Sun & Moon era. Their attacks were nothing to write home about, but things steered into game-breaking territory with their Abilities.
For these two banned “Unown” cards, the abilities “DAMAGE” and “HAND,” which resulted in automatic wins if their conditions were met, were feared to be too easy to come by in the future. This led to the banning of both “Unown” cards in 2019. “Reset Stamp,” a card that could be used to counter these “Unown” abilities, was also banned.
Flabébé Could Trigger a Quick Evolution to Disrupt Hands
WeaknessMx2
Retreat Cost1
ResistanceD-20
HP40
StageBasic
[Y] Secret Blessings
Shuffle 3 in any combination of Pokémon and basic Energy cards from your discard pile into your deck.
The 2018 “Flabébé” from Pokémon TCG‘s Forbidden Light expansion from Sun & Moon was surprisingly strong for such a seemingly unassuming card. Both in its innocent character design and its card’s Ability, the Gen VI Pokémon wasn’t a mechanically broken card on its own. The card’s “Evolutionary Advantage” Ability is undoubtedly useful, but far from game-breaking. But things changed when the 2019 Cosmic Eclipse expansion’s “Floette”—Flabebe’s evolution—was introduced.
The former’s “Evolutionary Advantage” let “Flabébé” evolve immediately if the user went second at the start of the match, which paved the way for Cosmic Eclipse “Floette” to disrupt the opponent’s hand in the same turn. This Floette’s “Flower Picking” Ability was triggered upon evolution to force the opponent to reshuffle a random card from their hand back into their deck. Being able to use such aggressive hand disruption tactics, potentially on turn one, has left Forbidden Light “Flabébé” on the ban list since 2019.
Hex Maniac Heavily Neutralized Abilities
The least amount of fun any player can have in a trading card game is when they lose before they ever have a chance to play. This is why cards with powerful first-turn effects often find themselves on the banned list. The “Hex Maniac” Supporter card from the Pokémon TCG XY series expansion Ancient Origins is a great example.
When played, “Hex Maniac” prevents any Pokémon abilities from being used until the end of the opponent’s next turn. So the player who kicks off the game will have an immense advantage over the player who goes second. A card like “Hex Maniac” is a big reason players can no longer play Supporter cards on the first turn.
Marshadow Made Opponents Watch Their Cards Evaporate
Pokémon TCG‘s Supporter cards are the only cards that created a huge advantage for the player going first. “Marshadow” from the Sun & Moon series’ Shining Legends set also led to devastating outcomes for the player going second. “Marshadow,” when played on the Bench, can force an opponent to shuffle their hand into their deck and draw four cards.
Players automatically go second and have a hand disadvantage at the start of a match. When combined with other cards, this strong mythical Pokémon also led to players going second to start their first turn with no cards in hand. This card was incredibly unbalanced and paved the way for one of the most egregious “hand control” tactics in the game.
Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick Inflicted High Damage in Record Time
Similar to “Unown,” “Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick” from the XY series’ Primal Clash expansion set was preemptively banned due to potential broken strategies from upcoming cards at the time. “Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick,” which allowed players to instantly play a Fighting-Type Pokémon if there were no other cards in that player’s hand, was causing issues with “Archeops” cards.
Pokémon TCG also feared two cards, “Omastar” and “Kabutops” from the Team Up set. This would further result in unfair strategies, particularly to the benefit of players going first. For “Omastar” and “Kabutops,” the player going second would be unable to play Item or Supporter cards.
Blaine’s Quiz Show Was Destined to Create Confusion
“Blaine’s Quiz Show”, from the Sun & Moon series’ Unified Minds, was banned from a World Championship for a unique reason. “Blaine’s Quiz Show” has a very simple premise — the turn player sets a Pokémon face down. The opposing player guesses which attack that Pokémon has. If they guess correctly, they draw four cards. If they guess wrong, the turn player draws four cards.
The problem with “Blaine’s Quiz Show” is that the World Championships are a multilingual event. Because of potential language barriers both in communication and card translations, it was feared “Blaine’s Quiz Show” would cause too much confusion. Naturally, this resulted in its preemptive ban.