Pokemon TCG: 10 Strongest Cards From Base Set

4. Electabuzz

Another Haymaker Stalwart With Two Terrific Attacks

While Hitmonchan was certainly a major factor in the omnipresent Haymaker deck archetype after the release of Base Set, Electabuzz was likely the main reason for the archetype’s effectiveness. Again featuring a strong one-energy attack in Thundershock (which could paralyze the foe’s active Pokemon with a coin flip), it was Electabuzz’s second attack that was the real star.

Thunder Punch was a two-energy attack that did base 30 damage with a chance to do 10 more damage if a coin flip was won (if lost, Electabuzz did 10 damage to itself). 40 damage for only two energy was a truly staggering rate in the early days of the Pokemon TCG and the ability to do 90 damage over three turns was usually enough to defeat any opposing ‘mon with ease – making Haymaker a lightning-quick deck that was nearly impossible to beat.

3. Gust of Wind

Boss's Orders But Better

While the Pokemon themselves in the TCG’s Base Set had a number of standout cards, the real power of Base Set lied in its Trainer cards. When Base Set debuted, Supporter cards did not exist, so players could drop any number of Trainer cards per turn without limits.

Gust of Wind, in the intervening years, has been reprinted as Boss’s Orders and given the restriction of being a Supporter card – meaning that only one can be played per turn. But in the TCG’s early days, one could play this card, play a card that draws multiple cards and play other extremely powerful Trainer cards – all in the same turn!