With all this talk about MTG on the forum, I started thinking what is the Power 9 of Pokemon?
Im thinking more in terms of the 9 most playble cards of all time, since most people know what the most expensive already are
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It’s easy to look up old school deck lists if you want to research what was dominating the formats at each stage in the game. That’ll give you your answer your looking for most likely.
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I know very little about the TCG itself but I do know that the HGSS Pokémon Collector supporter card was used in at least 2 of the 3 winning 2010 World Championships decks and all 3 of the winning 2011 World Championships decks - it was immortalised in 7 of the 8 retail world championship decks.
I’m sure there are other cards which featured a lot more prominently, mind you, but as a Pichu collector I find that interesting at least. 
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I don’t think Pokemon can ever have an equivalent to the Power 9, because the most-used trainers (eg Bill, Computer Search, Plus Power, Rocket’s Sneak Attack] in the original era don’t have the same iconic factor to collectors today.
There can really only be a “Power 1”
What’s the Power 1? It’s a card that is:
- Introduced in the Alpha set (Base)
- Used in a variety of decks
- Playable in every format until rotated out
- Instantly recognizable, treasured and valuable
- Had a unique factor separating it from all other Pokemon
If you look at a site like jklaczpokemon.wordpress.com/1999-base-set/
You’ll see that only one Pokemon is featured in deck lists from EVERY early format until Base Set rotated, which would include Base only, Base-Jungle, Base-Fossil, Base-Rocket, Base-Gym, and Base-Neo.
It was also used in a MAJORITY of Base and Base-Jungle decks, which would suggest the original Japanese 1997-1998 tournaments, which gave out the highly prized Pikachu trophy cards, were won using this Pokemon. It was also the only Basic Pokemon to ever have 120 HP for years.
The Power 1 in question?
Arguably the greatest Pokemon ever made, Chansey was included in these top decks:
Base Only:
Haymaker [Hitmonchan/Electabuzz] (Chansey)
Damage Swap [Machamp/Alakazam/Chansey] (Chansey)
Raindance [Blastoise/Gyarados] (Chansey)
Base-Jungle:
Damage Swap 2.0 Wall [Alakazam/Mr. Mime/Chansey] (Chansey)
Haymaker 2.0 [Hitmonchan/Electabuzz/Scyther] (Chansey)
Lickitung Stall [Lickitung] (Chansey)
Base-Fossil:
Lickitung/Moltres Stall (Chansey)
Base-Rocket
Lickitung/Moltres Stall (Chansey)
Base-Gym Heroes
Lickitung/Moltres Stall (Chansey)
Base-Neo
Metal Chansey [Chansey/Metal Energy] (Chansey}
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That for sure is an option, but with my knowledge on the TCG as a game and not a collectible it has been ”hard“ knowing what im looking at. As far as I can see Shaymin EX has to be one of the power 9 with how dominent it was for a long time
Wow! This was super interesting to read! Thanks a lot for taking the time to replay in such a good manner! Can this also be one of the reasons why this card have so few PSA 10 since it was played a lot?
@pokemonunboxing, that certainly didn’t help, but the white holo background also shows scratches easily, and Chansey seems notoriously hard to grade with that holo… Base Unlimited and Base 2 are also very low pop, and Evolutions is still POP ZERO, despite 70 PSA 9. Though it is a good research point, since Wigglytuff Base 2 (very playable) is by far the lowest Base 2 PSA 10 pop, despite not being that much of a harder grade than Hitmonchan, Clefairy/Clefable, or Chansey.
Really, your point should be a sixth bullet point for me to add to the list – Chansey has the lowest PSA 10 pop of any card in Base 1st Edition and Base Shadowless, solidifying its position as the “Power 1”.
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no one said Cleffa yet?
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What’s significant about Power 9 to me is that they were broken cards printed in the first set and are power creep proof. If Pokemon had an equivalent vintage format where cards printed from any era are legal then some of the base set trainers would be considered “power”. Lass, Energy Removal, and Super Energy Removal would see play in all decks.
A MtG power 9 equivalent based only on playability and obviously also being from the very first set would be:
Double Colorless Energy
Professor Oak
Computer Search
Item Finder
Gust of Wind
Super energy removal
Energy removal
Plus Power
Scoop Up
With honorable mention to Bill, Lass, Pokemon Breeder and Switch.
this card was so broken that it got banned from the competitive game
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It’s funny how, just like in MTG, the best Pokemon cards were not even Pokemon (or, in MTG’s case, creatures) lol. The best MTG cards (although this has changed in recent years) have never been creatures. The original ‘best’ creatures were cards like Serra Angel or Shivan Dragon. Which are hilariously underpowered relative to the original best noncreature spells (AKA the Power 9 and Sol Ring).
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97/98/99 Pikachu trophies + Illustrator
And those obscure pop 1 cards like the Lugia/Ho-Oh trophies
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Unfortunately in Pokémon the power creep makes the previous generation obsolete. Unless you are Base set Chansey!
It would be cool to see a power 9 for each generation.
This is the right idea. Power creep over time is heavy on the Pokémon but is arguably reverse for the trainers. Things like Lass and Gust of Wind and Computer Search and the Energy Removals would be laughably broken in today’s gameplay. Many of these effects are relegated to one-per-turn supporters (which didn’t exist then) or coin flip items (these were guaranteed). Some like Switch and Double Colorless have been able to be in the game unchanged but a lot of Base trainer cards are just stupid.