Best Pokemon Cards, December 2025
Everyone has their favorite card, but your favorite card may not be the best card to build a competitive deck around. Since each card has unique strengths and weaknesses, looking at HP or damage is not enough to determine which card is best. Instead, the way to determine which cards are best is to see how those cards actually do in top level tournaments. We looked at that top ten finalists from the ten most recent master tournaments to determine which cards are doing the best. The cards that show up the most frequently in the winning decks are the best cards right now. We limit this analysis to the previous ten tournaments to make sure this list reflects the new winning cards and new winning deck strategies.
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17% of Top Decks - 1 Title (since 2025 Worlds)
Gardevoir ex’s Psychic Embrace is one of the most powerful Abilities ever printed, offering unlimited Psychic Energy acceleration from the discard pile. Its “downside” of placing damage counters often benefits attackers like Scream Tail and Drifloon. This ability effectively breaks normal energy rules, making Gardevoir ex a game-changing powerhouse.
17% of Top Decks - 1 Title
Dragapult ex decks emphasize strategy and precision. Its main attack, Phantom Dive, deals 200 damage and spreads six damage counters, enabling multi-prize turns and strong board control. Paired with Dusknoir’s Cursed Blast, it efficiently removes threats. Success depends on planning ahead, managing damage placement, and mastering complex prize and tempo strategies.
15% of Top Decks - 1 Title
Gholdengo ex decks center on Coin Bonus, drawing up to two cards per turn and maintaining strong hand advantage. With bulky 260 HP Pokémon and the Make It Rain attack, the deck delivers consistent, powerful knockouts. Simple yet efficient, Gholdengo ex excels in today’s meta especially with Genesect ex boosting consistency.
15% of Top Decks - 1 Title
Mega Absol ex decks focus on disruption through Claw of Darkness, revealing and discarding key Supporter cards from your opponent’s hand. Supported by Bravery Charm, Mist Energy, and Munkidori, Absol becomes tanky and hard to KO. Paired with Mega Kangaskhan ex for steady card draw, this “Big Basics” deck controls tempo and drains options.
9% of Top Decks - 3 Titles
Charizard-led decks have been on a bit of a run recently, winning three of the last ten tournaments. Overall, however, only 9% of the top decks are Charizard, indicating the deck is feast or famine. Charizard ex is a powerhouse Darkness-type Pokémon with 330 HP and the Infernal Reign Ability, letting you attach three Fire Energy from your deck. Its Burning Darkness attack grows stronger as opponents take Prizes, often delivering one-hit KOs. Supported by Bibarel or Pidgeot, Charizard ex dominates through durability, power, and consistency.
7% of Top Decks - 1 Title
N’s Zoroark ex is both a strong attacker and elite draw engine, offering unmatched consistency. Its Night Joker attack copies benched Pokémon moves, enabling flexible offense while fueling setups. As a fast Stage 1 deck, it punishes slower Stage 2 builds like Gardevoir ex and Dragapult ex effectively.
7% of Top Decks - 1 Title
When you evolve into Marnie’s Grimmsnarl ex, Punk Up gives you an instant energy explosion by letting you attach up to 5 Basic Darkness Energy from your deck to any of your “Marnie’s” Pokémon. This means you skip the slow one-energy-per-turn buildup and instead jump straight into fully powered attacks or multi-threat setups. With the ability to spread the energy across your board however you want, Punk Up enables immediate aggression, fast board development, and even surprise plays the very turn you evolve.