Introduction
As most of you know, HeyTrainer.org has two parts: a blog and a forum. Our forum is a close-knit community of elite players, comic misfits, and individuals who just love our brand of freedom.
Since it’s great to see everyone’s opinions mesh, we love various contests throughout the year, from online tournaments, to deckbuilding competitions, to even popularity contests! However, it’s been a sweet seven years since we’ve discussed what we consider the greatest cards of all time…
Process
Our nominations process was simple: name any ten cards you like. That’s it. No need to win a tournament, do well, or even be a competitive card – nothing! Because of that, you’ll see some pretty surprising things end up on our list, and some even more surprising snubs.
We received many, many cards, but in the end, only 32 could advance…
Previous Finalists (two cards):
Holon’s Castform DF
Cessation Crystal
To make nominations a bit simpler, I decided to give automatic invites to our champion and runner-up from the last contest. These cards will be the first and second overall seeds.
Holon’s Castform is one of only a precious few Pokemon capable of being attached as Energy without relying on any Ability or Poke-Power, as well as one of the best starter Pokemon from its era. Cessation Crystal is a Garbotoxin on anything.
Five nominations (one card):
Swoop! Teleporter
The most popular card of the nominating process, Swoop! Teleporter is the spiritual predecessor to Ninja Boy from Steam Siege. It’s also an Item card, making it far more useful.
Four nominations (one card):
Pidgeot FRLG
The Fourth seed overall, Pidgeot FRLG’s Quick Search Poke Power is a Computer Search a turn! It is one of the greatest consistency cards of all time, and is the inspiration for our Quick Search card column.
Three nominations (two cards):
Pow! Hand Extension
Scramble Energy
Tied for fifth seed, both of these cards provide devastating effects when behind on prizes.
Two Nominations (16 cards)
Twins
Holon Transceiver
Ancient Technical Machine Rock
Cyrus’s conspiracy
Chatot MD
Weavile UD
Sableye SF
Team Galatic's Invention Power Spray PL
Jirachi (EX Deoxys)
Gengar SF
Regigigas Lv. X SF
Claydol GE
Gyarados SF
Jumpluff HGSS, #6
Vileplume UD
Mew Prime (Triumphant 97)
That’s a pretty big tie for 7th seed, isn’t it! These cards span seven years of competitive Pokemon, and provide the backbone of many of the “retro” decks you see people playing with at Internationals and Worlds.
Wild Cards (10 cards):
Gardevoir SW
Yveltal EX
Luxray GL LV.X
Uxie LA
Gust of Wind
Junk Arm
Call Energy
Accelgor DEX
Charizard Base
Cleffa Neo Genesis
There were many, many cards with only one nomination each, so I decided that I’d round out the bracket with ten I deemed to be among the game’s most legendary. It also includes the sole XY-block card on the list, Yveltal EX.
Snubs and No-Shows
Of course, several cards that did get a single nomination weren’t seconded or otherwise recognized as a wild card, and even more cards weren’t nominated at all! More obvious snubs like Blastoise BCR, Darkrai EX DEX, Eelektrik NVI, and Seismitoad EX FUF are a product of the culture on Heytrainer’s forums. Although our blog is safe reading for all ages, the forums are geared toward an adult audience, so it only makes sense that the nominations of our adult members reflect the eras of the TCG they find most nostalgic.
Final Thoughts, and Conclusion
That’s that! If you’d like to vote for your favorites, adult players should feel free to sign up for or log into heytrainer.org/forum during voting periods. Whether you’re voting or just curious, however, you can check out all the action < a href=” http://challonge.com/HTGreatestCard”>here.
Polls go up tomorrow — good luck, cardboard!!!