Top 10 Most Underrated Cards in GLC
There are multitudes of amazing cards that you can play in a GLC deck. In such a diverse format with so many options, it's hard to decide what to play and what to cut from a 65 card idea to make it into a playable deck.
Because of this there are several cards that continuously go under the radar but are so strong that they should see more play. While a lot of this does come down to personal opinion, I hope you enjoy reading about some of my favorites from this list of underrated cards.
Honorable mentions:
Hustle Belt
If you know me, you know that I have to at least mention Hustle Belt. Hustle Belt is a super strong card that doesn’t see as much play as it should, in my opinion. With cards like Guzma and Hala searching out Frozen City, Hustle Belt, and Rainbow Energy, you can hit up to 190 damage on the first turn of the game with the Spiritomb from Unbroken Bonds! This card also pairs exceptionally well with cards that can get the benefit multiple times, like the Ancient Trait Torchic that attacks twice per turn! It is very easy to use this card with other low HP basics such as Zorua or the Memories of Dawn Mew. This card doesn't make the list for obvious bias reasons, but it is one of my favorite cards.
Chimecho
This card is a great card against specific matchups like Colorless, Water, and Grass that have tons of ability Pokemon. It can also be as strong as preventing entire evolution lines from coming into play, as an attack on a basic Pokemon. This card goes well in most psychic decks as a way to buy time to set up bigger attackers. Decks like Lost Zone Psychic have been using it to great success.
Salamence
Salamence is a very strong attacker with an underrated ability. Big guy in the active like Wailord or Torterra that you just can't deal with? Force your opponent to switch it out every time with a pseudo-gust ability. 170 HP makes this guy quite tanky, with a Pot Helmet even more so. The new Mabostiff from Scarlet and Violet has this ability as well as a stage 1. Both Pokemon have a very strong ability that can create some very interesting mind games and checkmate situations.
10. Capture Energy
Capture Energy is just a good card. This card works great with Guzma & Hala and Tropical Beach, it turns Guzma & Hala into a board setup card. Tropical Beach would be on the list, but it’s beyond expensive unless you can get ahold of a WC version or use proxies. Capture Energy and Jubilife Village is still a great combo if your deck would rather use the Tag Call engine to set up than to launch speedy attacks. Capture Energy is a card that can see play in any deck that has a couple Pokemon that have flexible colorless energy costs as a setup card. Not every deck will play it, but it is a great card that should be considered.
9. Bastiodon
This guy is super cool. Preventing all damage from Pokemon with Special Energy done to ALL of your Metal Pokemon? That autowins decks like Archeops Colorless and is super strong against other decks that rely on special energy like Psychic, Dark, Lightning, and Fighting. This guy can be put into play without too much trouble with Dream Ball or by using Rare Candy on an Unidentified Fossil. Don’t forget about this guy when building your Metal deck if you’re worried about decks with Special Energy in them.
8. BRS Moltres
Another card that has some wonderful Guzma & Hala combos and early game attacking potential that is underexplored. With Capture Energy, Float Stone, and Magma Basin, you can guarantee this guy attacking on turn 1, assuming you discard a fire energy in your opening hand. If you don’t and draw a basic search card, you can still do it without the Capture Energy and use Rainbow Energy. All in all, this is a cool card that could see play in more fire decks to try to win the prize trade faster.
7. Rapid Strike Starmie
A lot of players choose the Space Beacon Starmie over this card, but I don’t think enough players use this Starmie. It can single handedly win games against decks with lower HP Pokemon. I’m not alone in having seen huge attacks like an 11 energy complete board wipe. Builds can compensate for the loss of Space Beacon with Nessa and Superior Energy Retrieval to recover energy. Overall, this card is on the underrated list, not because no one plays it, but because I think not enough players play it.
6. Delinquent
Ah, Delinquent. I’m guessing many GLC players remember the days when Colorless Control was in its prime and “Reset Stamp + Delinquent + Chip Chip Ice Axe” was a thing of nightmares. It is still an extremely strong card in decks such as Psychic and Dragon. When your opponent drops to a 3 card hand size or smaller, go search for it with Buddy Catch or Fast Call and BAM. This card is much better as a surprise tactic, if your opponent sees it in your list in an open list tournament they can try to play around it. However, even using it when your opponent has a larger hand size can be devastating if they were trying to hold onto several combo pieces like Beast Ring, Guzzlord, and Raihan.
5. Chaotic Swell
With the rise of Archeops Colorless in the competitive scene, Chaotic Swell can help mitigate that matchup by preventing Pokemon Research Lab from coming into play. Chaotic Swell is just plain and simple one of the most broken Stadiums of all time, it can destroy the game plans of decks such as Dragon, Psychic, Fire, and Turbo Dark just to name a few. Don’t underestimate the effect that Chaotic Swell can have on a game, especially against decks that don’t play Field Blower.
4. Alolan Meowth
This card is for sure one of my favorite underrated cards. Alolan Meowth is just the perfect T1 donk card. The fact that it takes 0 energy means that capture energy can grab it, or you can use a basic energy to retreat your active and still attack. I’ve won so many games by just playing something like Nest Ball and a basic energy to retreat and saying “game 2?” to my opponent. The threat of this card just sitting as a 1-of in your Dark deck is insane. The attack “Spoil the Fun” is one of the most aptly named attacks I’ve ever seen in the Pokemon TCG.
3. Lickilicky
Licks truly go crazy with this card. The disruptive effect of this card cannot be overstated. A card from their hand, deck, and an energy from their Active Pokemon? Like I said, crazy. If you put a Pot Helmet on this guy it probably won’t die for a couple attacks, allowing it to wreck even more havoc. The card from the opponent’s hand is especially disruptive, if you randomly hit a crucial card that can be a game win then and there. Don’t sleep on this card.
2. Battle Compressor
This card is just overpowered. The type of card that will most likely never get printed again. Early game it can put cards into the discard pile for Rescue Stretcher and VS Seeker or energies for things like Magma Basin and Dynamotor. Mid and late game it can thin setup cards out of your deck like Ball Guy and Gloria when you don’t need them anymore. This card is definitely a card with a high skill ceiling for how to use it, there’s so much this card can do.
1. Girafarig
And finally, the giraffe. Broken enough to be campaigned by many players in Expanded for a ban, this card is so underrated and yet so powerful. Lost zoning two cards from the discard pile seems like a small benefit, but think about how many decks rely on certain cards being in the discard pile. Practically every deck plays VS Seeker and most play Raihan. Lost zoning a couple key supporters and energy can cripple a deck much more than expected. This is all not even including the practically auto-win that this card allows you to have versus most control and lock decks. Amazing card that should see more play, it has a very high skill ceiling.