Summary
Pokemon TCGis one of the easier trading card games to learn, and its win conditions are usually pretty straightforward. Knock out six of your opponent’s Pokemon to claim six prize cards and win. Run out of cards in your deck? That’s a loss. Knock out your opponent’s last Pokemon in play? Also a win.
These are the basic rules from the manual—boring, right? But what if certain cards let you win outside the rules? Yep, some cards come with wild “instant win” conditions that ignore everything you just read. Pulling them off isn’t easy, but that’s what makes them fun. In this list, we ranked every card with a win condition of its own. Let’s dive in!
8Unown V
Silver Tempest (176/195)
Among all the Unown cards with instant win conditions, Unown V might just be the least exciting of the bunch. While other Unown cards feel like puzzle pieces in a strange cosmic joke, Unown V is more like… the punchline that didn’t land.
Its attack, Victory Symbol, is pricey and only works if you have exactly one Prize card left — at which point, you might as well just knock out something the old-fashioned way. Sure, winning with this mysterious alphabet soup Pokemon is fun in theory, but in practice? Let’s just say this V stands more for “Very underwhelming” than “Victory.”
7Slowbro
BREAKpoint (20/122)
Slowbro’s Walk-Off Homer may share the same instant win condition as Unown V’s Victory Symbol, but somehow it feels even goofier—just like you’d expect fromeveryone’s favorite dopey pink lad.
Sure, there’s no real synergy to build an entire deck around it, and yes, it’s as unreliable as flipping a coin three times and hoping the universe is feeling generous. But back in the day, this was the OG “you win” attack, and it probably caught a few players off guard. If you’re the kind of person who wants to win with style, memes, and a big Slowbro grin, this is your moment.
6Unown
Lost Thunder (92/214)
This particular Unown has one of the more bizarre instant win conditions out there. Thanks to its MISSING ability, if your opponent has 12 or more Supporter cards in the Lost Zone, you win the game. Sounds fun, right? Well, there’s just one tiny issue: if your opponent’s deck doesn’t even have 12 Supporters, Unown becomes about as useful as a Magikarp in a fistfight.
Among the Unowns from the Lost Thunder set, this one definitely drew the short straw. Still, while the others got banned for being too sneaky, this one survives—probably because it’s just tricky enough to be funny, but rarely enough to be broken.
5Slowbro
Unbroken Bonds (43/214)
When it comes to instant win conditions, you probably want yourself to win, right? Enter: Slowbro—honorable mention on this list for flipping that idea on its head. Literally. Its Three Strikes attack flips three coins, dealing 100 damage per heads. Sounds amazing… until you realize that flipping three tails means you lose the game. Instantly. No questions asked.
So if you’re a thrill-seeker who enjoys living dangerously andconsiders coin flips the pinnacle of strategy, Slowbro might be your spirit animal. Just be warned—there’s a 12.5 percent chance this lovable goof hands your opponent the win like it’s a gift-wrapped Poke-present.
4N’s Sigilyph
Journey Together (064/159)
N’s Sigilyphfrom the Journey Together setshares the same instant win attack as Slowbro and Unown V—yep, it’s called Victory Symbol. But what makes this card better isn’t just that it’s got N’s name slapped on it (though that helps the cool factor). The real reason? Synergy.
In the same set, N’s Zoroark has an attack called Night Joker, which lets it copy a benched N’s Pokemon’s attack. That means Zoroark can copy Victory Symbol and potentially win you the game if you’re down to your last prize card. So no, it’s not the best instant win condition—but hey, at least it comes with a plan!
3Lost World
Call Of Legends (81/95)
Lost World, from the Call of Legends set in 2011, was the first card with an instant win condition: if your opponent has six Pokemon in the Lost Zone, you win the game. Compared to Unown with the MISSING ability, this condition is actually more doable.
Pokemon like Gengar, Mime Jr., and Palkia G Lv.X could help you make it happen. Sure, if you’re putting six Pokemon into the Lost Zone, you might already be close to winning by prize cards—but if you target evolved Pokemon, not only is it easier, but you also might just steal the game with Lost World before the prizes even matter. Stylish and sneaky.
2Unown
Lost Thunder (91/214)
Another Unown with a wild instant win condition is the one with the HAND ability. If you have 35 or more cards in your hand, you win the game. Sounds wild, right? But in certain Stall decks, it was totally doable. Of course, your deck needed to be built like a fortress—with unbreakable walls like Hoopa or cards that were immune to specific types.
These decks would weather the storm, stack their hands with Trainer cards, and then boom—Unown HAND steals the win. Naturally, this sneaky tactic didn’t sit well with the game’s balance team, so it didn’t take long for this card to join the Expanded format ban list. Stylishly broken.
1Unown
Lost Thunder (90/214)
This Unown’s instant win condition sounds absurd: if your Pokemon have 66 or more damage counters on them during your turn (yes, that’s 660 total damage), you win the game. It sounds ridiculous, but with the right deck, it was completely possible.
Using cards like Team Magma’s Secret Base, Klefki, Reuniclus, Weavile, and two Magikarp & Wailord GX, players could pull it off and snatch victory as early as turn two. Because nothing says “balanced gameplay” like deliberately hurting your own Pokemon just to win with a literal alphabet letter. Naturally, this gloriously broken strategy earned Unown a spot on the Expanded ban list.
