Summary
In the Scarlet & Violet base set expansion, some classic rules of thePokemon Trading Card Gamegot altered for the better. A key change was making Pokemon Tool cards become their own category of Trainer rather than being lumped in as Item cards.
This allowed Tool cards to flourish and become a staple in every trainer’s deck with wonderfully strong and useful powers to support your Pokemon bringing in brand-new strategies. With many being printed in every set, there are tons of options to help bolster your power, but this begs the question, which are the most consistently used and best Tool cards?
While there are some Tool cards that are also Ace Spec cards, we have excluded those on this list as their powerful effects come at the drawback of being the one and only Ace Spec in your deck. Our list of thebest Ace Spec cardshas some of these if you want to check out their power. We have also chosen to leave out Technical Machine Tool cards as they work quite differently from regular Tool cards.
10Powerglass
Free Energy Recovery
This Tool is quite underrated but can be a lifesaver for many decks that require quick Energy acceleration. The Powerglass Tool card allows you to accelerate one Basic energy from your discard pile to the attached Pokemon as long as they are in the Active at the end of your turn.
This Tool works wonders for the manyTera-ex Pokemonthat love to discard their Energy after attacking but can work on any type of card that needs constant Energy acceleration. Cards such as Ultra Ball or Professors Research can easily get the Energy you want into your discard pile. With this Tool you can easily get two Energy attachments per turn to speed up your setup as early as turn two.
9Future Booster Energy Capsule / Ancient Booster Energy Capsule
The Power Of The Past And Future
While these two are fundamentally completely different cards, they serve mostly the same purpose, so we have grouped them together here. These two Booster Energy Capsules give Future orAncient Pokemona boost to empower them, allowing them to even use specific abilities and moves.
The Ancient Booster Energy Capsule gives Ancient Pokemon it is attached to an additional 60 HP and heals and prevents all Special Conditions, which works extremely well to help single-prize Ancient decks such as the infamousAncient Box decktank more hits. On the other side, the Future Booster Energy Capsule gives Future Pokemon a damage buff of plus 20 and no retreat cost, meaning they can hit harder and pivot with ease.
8Hop’s Choice Band
The Power Of One Of Galar’s Best
This Trainer’s Pokemon-specific Tool card is a menacing one that makes the Hop deck archetype a fearful one by giving Hop’s Pokemon such as Hop’s Zacian-ex giant two bonuses when attached. Not only does it reduce the cost of attacks by one Colorless Energy, but it also increases the destruction these attacks deal by a whopping 30 damage!
Hop’s archetype is all about buffing the damage his Pokemon deal and this Tool is one of the key pieces that make these decks so strong. For context, Hop’s Zacian-ex from thesought after Japanese Battle Partnersand English Journey Together set has an attack that does 240 damage, and with this Tool alone it can now one-hit knockout a ton of meta-game threats that it faces, such as Bloodmoon Ursaluna-ex.
7Counter Gain
Losing Helps You Win
This fantastic little Tool does one very simple thing that has a ton of power to help you come back from a losing situation as soon as possible. What the Counter Gain does is reduces the attached Pokemon’s attack cost by one Colorless Energy if you are behind on Prizes.
For example, this works great with the threatening Bloodmoon Ursaluna-ex as it already has an ability that makes its 240 damage attack cost less Energy depending on how many Prizes your opponent has taken. Combining it with this Tool allows you to start using it as a free attack as early as them taking four prizes. Many other Pokemon benefit amazingly well just like this, and this Tool is able to turn any dangerous situation into an advantageous one.
6Rescue Board
Retreating Made Easy
One of the most punishing elements of the TCG is the Retreat mechanics, which often times can make or break a win if you are unable to take advantage of it properly and waste all your Energy constantly retreating. This is where the Rescue Board Tool comes in to be a great help as it gives the attached Pokemon one less Retreat Cost.
This may sound weak, but it is useful because of how pivotal Retreating is as a mechanic, especially in the Scarlet & Violet era where the dreaded Boss’s Orders and Prime Catcher are in rotation. The Tool gets even better with its secondary effect as well, giving the Pokemon free Retreat when they are at 30HP or less, which can be game-changing for any Pokemon if the opponent has no way to do bench damage.
5Bravery Charm
If you need your Pokemon to take a little bit more damage to survive a potential one-hit KO from a strong ex-Pokemon look no further than the Bravery Charm. This Tool gives the basic effect of plus 50 HP to whatever Pokemon it is attached to, this includes ex-Pokemon.
Just 50 HP might sound like it is not worth taking up your Tool attachment for a Pokemon but consider how important one extra turn can be. If you can survive with even ten HP, then you get a free turn to potentially heal, set up a follow-up or even knock out your foe instead. Many Pokemon can only hit specific amounts of damage and the Bravery Charm gives you more than enough to survive potential knock outs.
4Binding Mochi
Let The Darkness Embrace You
What might seem like a very situational Tool at first, Binding Mochi, has become a dominating key piece of many decks that involve Pecharunt and Brute Bonnet. This tool has the niche use of allowing any Pokemon it is attached to that is affected by the Poison Special Condition to gain a ridiculous plus 40 to the Active Pokemon.
This has shown to be a game-changing Tool for a ton of attackers, since making your Pokemon Poisoned is very easy right now. There are tons of great options, such as the Janine’s Secret Art Supporter card or Brute Bonnet from Pardox Rift’s ability doing it for free. For a small amount of damage to yourself every Pokemon Checkup, this massive additional damage is borderline broken on certain Pokemon, especially thelegendary Unhinged Scissors Klawf.
3Luxurious Cape
Becoming An Ex-Pokemon
The magnificently Luxurious Cape Tool card will make your Non-Rule Box Pokemon become an unbreakable wall. This Tool gives only Non-Rule Box Pokemon an additional 100 HP at the cost of giving out one more Prize Card when they are knocked out, just like an ex-Pokemon would.
Considering how easy it is to search and use Tool cards, allowing any single-prize Pokemon to be able to tank an extra 100 health is absolutely a must-have for any single-prize deck. It allows these Pokemon to pretty much act as ex-Pokemon anytime you need them. The freedom this Tool gives is great for mixing up your opponent’s plans and catching them off guard.
2Defiance Band
Extra Damage Can Change An Entire Game
Many big-hitting ex-Pokemon, despite being massively strong, cannot one-hit their competition, and with HP pools growing with each expansion, a little boost in damage is much appreciated. The Defiance Band does exactly that, making attacks from the Pokemon it is attached to do 30 more damage as long as you have more Prize Cards left than your opponent.
Sometimes it can be a matter of just a tiny ten HP that stops you from taking a knockout making any kind of damage-modifying Tools are always some of the best in any format. Defiance Band, despite its requirements, is much more reliable and powerful than any of its alternate options as 30 extra damage is impactful at any stage of a match.
1Exp. Share
Passing Down The Energy
This series-staple key item to the games is a defining Pokemon Tool in the TCG that is a wonderful way to save Energy when your Pokemon are taken out. The Exp. Share Tool allows you to move one Energy card from your Active Pokemon to the one that has it attached when the Active is knocked out.
This Tool is super useful for conserving your Energy when a Pokemon is knocked out and can even save you from disaster, as it basically provides passive Energy acceleration. Some decks only contain a few Energy cards, making this Tool vital if they do not have a way to recover them, and it works extra well in any deck that runs multiple of the same attacker, as when one falls, the Energy can be moved onto the others if they all have Exp. Shares.
