worse card of all time?
- Thread starter FSULugia
- Start date
Waitaminnit, what does worst mean? Worst for the game or worst for the player?
Tickling Machine has got to be up there. On a flip, either you can't attack or your opponent can't use their hand next turn. Your card, and a 50% chance it will hurt you badly, 50% chance it may inconvenience your opponent.
I just read it. I concede the point.
TheRolesWePlay
New Member
Magikarp (delta) from EX Holon Phantoms. Low HP, better Magikarps in format at any given time (ie Magikarp from Deoxys or Mysterious Treasures), pointless type, but worst of all it took metal energy when metal was a special type energy only. Why would you want to waste one of your 4 special metals on it or any of your other special energy when it could be knocked out by practically anything, especially Deoxys (speed) from the same set...
Also at least you can use Tickling Machine and Thought Wave Machine in place of your attack, Magikarp chances are you won't be able to do anything aside from end your turn, since you know...why waste your special energy on a 30 HP Metal fish that?
Plus it's the greatest punchline.
Also at least you can use Tickling Machine and Thought Wave Machine in place of your attack, Magikarp chances are you won't be able to do anything aside from end your turn, since you know...why waste your special energy on a 30 HP Metal fish that?
Plus it's the greatest punchline.
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But Thought Wave Machine had a pointless effect that ended your turn.
Also Minion of Team Rocket, although the card looked amazing, was also horrible.
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StormFront
New Member
I think we should move onto the most overhyped cards of all time. I'll start with Salamence LvX.
Cool_Porygonz
New Member
i command you to take that back!!!
---------- Post added 03/04/2013 at 05:51 PM ----------
though it was a bad card, there were far worse. Cool Porygon is the BEST card created.
Overrated? I GOT THIS. Kingdra Prime.
"Oh you have a pokemon that's weak to me? Here, lemme substantially drop my power."
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Otaku
Active Member
It isn't a OHKO if you attack twice, which you just said you were; attack once with Porygon, then a follow up attacker. :wink:
Magikarp could always Evolve to Gyarados (barring Shining Magikarp) and you really need to look at both together. Some of them have been really bad, but several of your examples ignore the format they were in.
Magikarp from Base Set had until Fossil where Gyarados was a must-play in Rain Dance... which was during the early phase of the Pokémon fad when the TCG was in crazy demand so even after Fossilcame out it was hard to acquire the cards and get the optimal build. Magkarp wasn't "good", but even Flail sometimes came in handy. So embarrassing when the Magikarp you couldn't pull a PlusPower to OHKO ended up either KOing something injured or doing enough "set-up" damage for the opponent's next attacker to finish you off.
The Team Rocket set version was a definite improvement, and Fighting Resistance plus strong attacks (for the time) made Gyarados (Base Set) still tempting (especially if you lacked Articuno from Fossil). Rain Dance decks easily paid for Rapid Evolution. Giovanni's Magikarp could use Giovanni to Evolve into Giovanni's Gyarados first turn and Recall to use that ":water: to flip for 40" attack so it didn't waste its first turn attack... when that might have been a flip for a donk. Giovanni's Gyarados also had another single Energy attack, but it was less reliable (requires two heads to work) and did 20 to every other Pokémon in play (both players).
Misty's Magikarp actually has an attack that gives it a 50% chance of survival unless the opponent could say burn two Pokémon Catcher (and in the Modified format where it was legal, use a double Double Gust or Warp Point into Double Gust). I wish more Evolving Basic Pokémon had that attack now; it still wouldn't be great but it is a big improvement over
colorless for 10.Shining Magikarp actually was bad; this thing came out and left the game alongside Cleffa (Neo Genesis); same HP but able to hide behind the "Baby Rule" and for (C) let you shuffle your hand into your deck to draw seven cards. Remember, Shining Magikarp doesn't Evolve (Shining Gyarados is a Basic Pokémon).
Magikarp (Expedition) wasn't great, but when it released we were on the second Modified Format and while Recall was gone, we had Memory Berry and Focus Band. Yes, those are both Pokémon Tools but you used Memory Berry the turn after Gyarados had survived being KOed. The Focus Band/Memory Berry combo was legal until the switch from Neon Modified (Neo Genesis through Skyridge in the end) to Eon Modified (Expedition through EX: Hidden Legends in the end), though you could just use it after any "big hit" if your Gyarados didn't have a better attack available all the way until this Magikarp rotated out in the switch to RS-On (pronounced by many fans as "arson") Modified (Ruby/Sapphire through EX: Emerald in the end).
Magikarp (Skyridge) was also fairly good for the time, though not great. I don't think using its attack allowed you to trigger "coming into play" Poké-Powers, which Gyarados (Expedition) had... but this format had Boost Energy, a Special Energy that could only attached to Evolved Pokémon and was discarded at the end of your turn, but which provided
colorless::colorless::colorless! This meant you could break the rules of no Evolving first turn, save yourself using another card to search out Gyrarados, and next turn drop a Boost Energy to hit for 50 points of damage or 100 if the attack's clause was triggered. water::colorless::colorless::colorless was pretty good at the time (amazing T2) and for 100 was pretty spiffy. A lot of players were sick of coin flips by then (see Baby Pokémon and Focus Band).Magikarp (EX: Dragon) allowed you to swarm Magikarp first turn in a format where Rare Candy and Wally's Training existed; it may not have been a dominant deck of the era, but that was a good deal! Magikarp (EX: Fire Red/Leaf Green) wasn't good for swarming, but by this time FTKOs weren't common even for 30 HP Pokémon (still a risk, but not common) and it hardly mattered because of what I just said: Rare Candy (pre-nerf Rare Candy!) and Wally's Training both existed. If you weren't aware, Rare Candy used to allow you to Evolve a Basic Pokémon the first turn it was played and even your first turn of the game (when Item usage rules allowed first turn Items). This included Evolving a Basic Pokémon into its Stage 1 form.
Ironically, Magikarp (EX: Team Rocket Returns) wasn't that good. It wasn't worse than many of the other Magikarp but seriously, Rare Candy and Wally's Training need to be remembered... plus Double Rainbow Energy. This did not survive attacking, and was best Evolved via the appropriate Trainer combo or manually next turn. Call For Family/Friends/etc. attacks actually used to be stronger than they are now. When this debuted, we even still had Dunsparce (EX: Sandstorm)... a 50 HP Basic that for
colorless allowed you to search your deck for and Bench up to three other Basic Pokémon... which the option of then Benching Dunsparce itself and promoting something else!Magikarp (EX: Deoxys) was about the Rage... again it existed at a time when you could both Evolve it immediately (basically how the game stays until HGSS-On and later formats) and while we had tricks for Gyarados to access attacks from lower Stages (though I believe during the time of this card, it required a Pokémon with the appropriate Poké-Body or Poké-Power... even I forget the finer details). :lol:
Magikarp δ (EX: Holon Phantoms) could tap Metal Energy, the Special Energy version (there wasn't a basic Metal Energy at that time), so it could soak 10 points of damage with one... otherwise again, by this point Magikarp is just a placeholder, Evolved right away via Rare Candy or similar effects.
Magikarp (DP: Mysterious Treasures) was again about being Evolved immediately and again, combos that let you use your lower Stage's attacks. Memory Berry even was reprinted during this card's time in Modified (spanning two different formats). Magikarp (DP: Stormfront) was likewise Evolved right away when applicable, and at least if you were stuck opening with one and it wasn't your only Pokémon, you had a 50% chance of drawing one card with no Energy invested; not great but again, better than many Evolving Basic Pokémon and even Stage 1 forms can do now.
Magikarp (DP: Supreme Victors) was again something you wanted to Evolve right away. It wasn't a great card but three for
colorless isn't completely worthless. Still, overshadowed by other versions while still legal. As we had Broken Time-Space and Gyarados (DP: Stormfront) by this time... wasn't a big concern. Yes, that was true of the previous Magikarp as well as any others released before the early rotation to HGSS-On.Magikarp (HeartGold/SoulSilver) is not the version you are thinking of; it actually was a bad card but its Weakness is :lightning:x2. The Call Of Legends reprint was about getting us the alternate art, though this is why I dislike such things. When the first version released, we still had Rare Candy and Broken-Time Space which made any Gyarados a lot better... but this is the last time that holds true. The last Magikarp (BW: Dragons Exalted) is pretty disappointing and wouldn't even have been that great "back in the day".
tl;dr for entire thread: Please make sure you judge card according to their formats. See above for several examples of ignoring this.
There are different definitions for the "worst card of all time." To me, a "worst card" is one that appears competitive, one that teases because it seems like it should be playable. When you start testing it out, however, it proves to be far less useful than originally thought. Cards in recent memory that fit this definition are Bicycle, Ether/Dex, and Colress to a degree. All seemed sooo powerful, then in actual testing turned out to be... just okay.
Two cards that stand out in my mind in this regard are Gallade Lv.X and Energy Pickup. Both seemed in my mind to be undeniably powerful. Gallade Lv.X was like Jolteon ex all over again, but then when I started to actually test it out, it sucked. Garchomp Lv.X laughed in its face, and spread damage just proved to be ineffective.
Energy Pickup was a little different, as I tested it out extensively and tried so hard to make it work. Essentially, though, it was just too bad. Coin flips always hurt, and Junk Arm wasn't around at the time. I spent many hours on this card, and all that time was really wasted. And that's why I say these are some of the worst cards of all time -- rather than being unavoidably bad, these cards seemed competitive in nature and strung me along for a good deal of time. I even made trades for Gallade Lv.X and probably gave up pretty good cards for it in the end.
The worst cards are the ones that seem promising, but end up being useless in the end. They trap players into wasting valuable testing time, and they usually have no promising outcome. There are plenty of obviously bad cards out there, but most of the time they never even get placed into a fresh card sleeve.
Two cards that stand out in my mind in this regard are Gallade Lv.X and Energy Pickup. Both seemed in my mind to be undeniably powerful. Gallade Lv.X was like Jolteon ex all over again, but then when I started to actually test it out, it sucked. Garchomp Lv.X laughed in its face, and spread damage just proved to be ineffective.
Energy Pickup was a little different, as I tested it out extensively and tried so hard to make it work. Essentially, though, it was just too bad. Coin flips always hurt, and Junk Arm wasn't around at the time. I spent many hours on this card, and all that time was really wasted. And that's why I say these are some of the worst cards of all time -- rather than being unavoidably bad, these cards seemed competitive in nature and strung me along for a good deal of time. I even made trades for Gallade Lv.X and probably gave up pretty good cards for it in the end.
The worst cards are the ones that seem promising, but end up being useless in the end. They trap players into wasting valuable testing time, and they usually have no promising outcome. There are plenty of obviously bad cards out there, but most of the time they never even get placed into a fresh card sleeve.
That fits more the definition of overrated. A lot of the cards you mentioned arent useless, they were just overhyped. Definitely not bad since you have to compare them to other cards that never had any potential to begin with. A card like Colress is not as bad as compared to Bill (supporter version). There was never any potential in Bill since it is what it is while Colress has potential due to its ability depending on how your deck is built or how your opponent says.
Otaku
Active Member
You left out Double Colorless Energy. :wink: I am beginning to think it is how the designers "justified" Energy Removal and Super Energy Removal; that erroneous thinking of "Card A balances out Card B" ignoring that the two cards dramatically alter the game's landscape in the process and that the inverse relationship does not automatically hold true.
After extensive testing, I am thinking that Professor Oak and Gust of Wind don't belong on there, at least if you nix Computer Search and Item Finder from the early days of the game. Long story short, lacking those two (especially pre-Nightly Garbage Run) makes that discard cost on Professor Oak more important (you can't get anything back!). Without S/ER, you also bring decks like Haymaker down to a sensible level of power.
SolarPichu
Member
How about Shining Steelix from Neo Destiny? For [FFMM] you flip a coin, if tails it does nothing. If heads, it does 80, 10 to all bench. Either way, Steelix can't attack next turn. AND you can only have 4 metal in a deck...
Pretty bad (like all the Shinings and Crystals), but my vote is STILL Thought Wave Machine. Lame effect, always ends your turn, always useless.
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Awesomonewb
Member
I see what you did there :thumb:
Doctor Conkey
New Member
I think the worst card of all time would have to be Ditto from HGSS: Triumphant. It has only 40 hit points (even fossil ditto had 50 hit points), a horrible vanilla 20 damage attack that costs 2 energy, and the worst part about it is that it was a rare. It's only redeeming quality is its ability that only allows both players to have only 4 pokemon on the bench instead of 5. The only application I can see in this ability is to troll V-create victini so that your opponent cannot have 5 benched pokemon to use V-create. Too situational and too frail to be a bench sitter.
As far as the BW- on format goes, here are some of the worst cards I have seen recently:
1. Slowpoke (23/108) from Dark Explorers. With Big Yawn, you put not just your opponent to sleep, but also yourself. In addition, Shot in the Dark is hands down one of the worst moves I have ever seen. You flip 2 coins and if either one of them is tails, this attack does nothing. Even Magikarp from Mysterious Treasures had an attack called dragon rage, which did 60 damage for the same effect. I am not saying that Magikarp is good, I am saying that 2 energy is alot to ask for a move you are not certain to hit with and only does a measly 20 damage. Not to mention, It evolves into the hilariously bad slowbro that cannot attack if you have 2,4, or 6 prizes.
2. Purrloin (90/149) from Boundaries Crossed. It's attack Captivate can have you switch the defending pokemon with one of your opponent's benched pokemon, but only with a coin flip. It also has a low 50 hit points. I just don't like how it has an unreliable attack and it does not do any damage for being a small basic. Also, why would you even use Purrloin, let alone Liepard in this format?
3. Reuniclus (53/101) from Noble Victories. Since when was having a Stage 2 with only 90 Hit Points ever acceptable. Okay, Alakazam had 80 hit points back in base set, but that was over 12 years ago. In a world where a stage 2 should at least have 140 hit points, I find Reuniclus unacceptable to use. Not to mention, it is a rare in a booster pack and a waste of space at that. I bet that most of the time, the poor little solosis would be Knocked out before even using one of Reuniclus's moves.
Speaking of which...
Any basic pokemon that has 30 hit points in the BW-on format is considered one of the worst cards. Solosis, Joltik, Feebas, Hoppip, Tynamo, Magikarp, etc. I do not know what is more mind boggling, the power creep going on these days or that they still make cards that are unacceptable even for base set standards...
As far as the BW- on format goes, here are some of the worst cards I have seen recently:
1. Slowpoke (23/108) from Dark Explorers. With Big Yawn, you put not just your opponent to sleep, but also yourself. In addition, Shot in the Dark is hands down one of the worst moves I have ever seen. You flip 2 coins and if either one of them is tails, this attack does nothing. Even Magikarp from Mysterious Treasures had an attack called dragon rage, which did 60 damage for the same effect. I am not saying that Magikarp is good, I am saying that 2 energy is alot to ask for a move you are not certain to hit with and only does a measly 20 damage. Not to mention, It evolves into the hilariously bad slowbro that cannot attack if you have 2,4, or 6 prizes.
2. Purrloin (90/149) from Boundaries Crossed. It's attack Captivate can have you switch the defending pokemon with one of your opponent's benched pokemon, but only with a coin flip. It also has a low 50 hit points. I just don't like how it has an unreliable attack and it does not do any damage for being a small basic. Also, why would you even use Purrloin, let alone Liepard in this format?
3. Reuniclus (53/101) from Noble Victories. Since when was having a Stage 2 with only 90 Hit Points ever acceptable. Okay, Alakazam had 80 hit points back in base set, but that was over 12 years ago. In a world where a stage 2 should at least have 140 hit points, I find Reuniclus unacceptable to use. Not to mention, it is a rare in a booster pack and a waste of space at that. I bet that most of the time, the poor little solosis would be Knocked out before even using one of Reuniclus's moves.
Speaking of which...
Any basic pokemon that has 30 hit points in the BW-on format is considered one of the worst cards. Solosis, Joltik, Feebas, Hoppip, Tynamo, Magikarp, etc. I do not know what is more mind boggling, the power creep going on these days or that they still make cards that are unacceptable even for base set standards...