The Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) may look straightforward at a glance, where having high HP and strong attacks seems to guarantee victory. Yet, while powerful Pokémon hold significance, even the mightiest can be defeated with a solid grasp of type-based weaknesses and resistances.
Currently, there are ten elemental types in the Pokémon TCG, whereas fans of the video games know there are 19. Why the discrepancy? What are the typical weaknesses and resistances for each type? Additionally, what are some exceptions to be aware of? Let’s break it down.
Understanding the Basics
When the Pokémon TCG first emerged in Japan in 1996 and later in 1999 worldwide, predicting weaknesses and resistances was relatively uncomplicated. This simplicity made that era a great introduction to the game’s mechanics.
Almost all Pokémon feature a weakness and/or resistance. While there are exceptions, we will focus on cards that do possess these characteristics to illustrate the concept clearly.
Take Fire-type cards, including the ever-popular original Charizard. Most Fire types are weak against Water. In Charizard’s case, it is also resistant to Fighting. Whenever a Pokémon possesses a weakness to a specific type, it takes double damage from attacks of that type.
A common misunderstanding is that a resistant Pokémon takes only half damage from attacks; this isn’t accurate. Instead, the damage is reduced by 30.
If you discover that some of your older cards show a resistance of -20 instead of -30, there’s no need for concern. For quite some time, the TCG adjusted resistance from -30 to -20, but recently it has reverted to -30.
Let’s see how this works with Charizard. Imagine Dugtrio appears with four Fighting-type Energy cards to use its Earthquake attack, which typically inflicts 70 damage. Since Charizard is resistant, it only takes 40 damage, leaving it with 80 HP from its starting 120. That’s manageable.
However, when Poliwrath steps up with an attack that usually deals 40 damage, the situation changes. Because Charizard is weak against Water types, Poliwrath’s attack doubles to 80 damage, knocking out Charizard.
Weaknesses and Resistances for Each Type
To clarify our earlier points, let’s create a simple table detailing common weaknesses and resistances for the types.
| Type | Common Weaknesses | Common Resistances |
|---|---|---|
| Grass | Fire, Psychic | Water, Fighting |
| Fire | Water | No common resistances |
| Water | Lightning, Grass, Metal | No common resistances |
| Lightning | Fighting | Metal |
| Fighting | Psychic, Grass, Water | No common resistances |
| Psychic | Darkness | Fighting |
| Colorless | Fighting | No common resistances |
| Darkness | Fighting | No common resistances |
| Metal | Fire | Grass |
| Dragon | No common weaknesses | No common resistances |
Understanding Exceptions
People familiar with Pokémon video games and newcomers to the franchise might find the above chart puzzling. Why are so many types scarcely resistant? For instance, why is Grass weak to Psychic, while Fighting is weak to Grass or Water?
The key point to grasp is that the creators of the TCG simplified the 19 types into ten, lumping some types together.
For example, the Poison type, which isn’t represented in the TCG, exists predominantly within Grass and Darkness types. As a result, Grass-type Pokémon cards end up maintaining the Poison-related weaknesses.
This growth of weaknesses and resistances occurs in various unexpected ways. Water types are not weak to Steel elsewhere, but within the TCG, some are weak because of the absence of the Ice type that traditionally would be weak to Steel.
Additionally, Flying types don’t exist in the TCG as a standalone type; most are categorized under Colorless, leading to a bit of confusion. Certain Flying Pokémon are assigned to other types based on defining traits. For instance, Articuno is Water, Zapdos is Lightning, and Moltres is Fire, each typically resisting Fighting.
This explains why Charizard had resistance to Fighting damaging Dugtrio’s Earthquake less than expected; Charizard is actually a Fire/Flying type in the games.
The Exceptions Within Exceptions
Notably, some Pokémon in the TCG operate under different rules. These discrepancies arise for numerous reasons, such as special versions of Pokémon. Since the TCG has been around for a while, various species have several cards from different sets.
Take Galarian Zapdos from the Sword & Shield era, which is a Fighting/Flying type. However, its representation in the TCG doesn’t typically accommodate dual types, so this Zapdos card ends up weak to Psychic, unlike standard Lightning-type Zapdos cards.
Lastly, it’s important to mention Fairy-type cards, which were intentionally left out until now. As of Sword & Shield, Fairy was completely removed—a unique situation in the TCG’s history. Although you won’t see any new Fairy cards, older cards still exist.
In a game that has evolved for so long, exceptions to the standard rules pop up now and then. Some cards might show no weaknesses or resistances at all, while others have unique weaknesses not typically found in that type.
Final Thoughts
If you find this all a bit overwhelming, that’s understandable. We’ve focused heavily on exceptions, but keep in mind that our earlier table correctly represents conditions most of the time.
What matters most is knowing when and why a card takes extra damage or is less affected by an attack from another type. If you can recognize that a Water-type card is vulnerable to Lightning and understand double damage concepts, you’re ahead of the game.
Every Pokémon card has a section for weaknesses and resistances at the bottom. Familiarize yourself with the symbols and, before long, you’ll be recalling these traits like a Pokémon Master.
