Pokémon cards come in all different designs, styles, move sets, and artwork. If you don’t know what you’re looking at (or even if you do) you will probably notice the Pokémon card colors are different between them.
There are quite a few different colors and they can vary pretty drastically based on the set that they belong to. We will quickly cover what the colors mean and why they matter.
Let’s jump in!
Pokémon Card Colors Explanation
In the Pokémon world, every Pokémon has a different “type” that refers to the style or element of that Pokémon. The Pokémon Trading card game also runs under those same rules.
So those colors on Pokémon cards refer to those types. They are signified particularly by the symbol in the top right corner of the card.
In the original Pokémon Trading Card Game, there were only 7 types. Those original 7 Pokémon types were Fighting, Fire, Lightning, Colorless, Water, Psychic, and Grass.
The cards below are from a wide range of years and sets, but each one represents one of these 7.
The next 4 Pokémon card types were released later and added as an additional layer to the game. Those were Dragon, Fairy, Dark, and Steel.
There are other elements such as poison, flying, rock, ice, bug, and ghost, but all of those are still categorized under those 11 types in the Pokémon card game. Those types do show up and affect the Pokémon video games, but all fall under one of the above 11 in the Pokémon card game.
Dark and Steel type Pokémon cards were first released in the Neo Genesis set in 2000.
Dragon type Pokémon cards were first released in the Dragon Vault set released in 2012.
Fairy type Pokémon cards were first released in the XY Series released in 2014.
Let’s look into the colors and types
Fighting Type Pokémon Cards
In the Pokémon card game, fighting type Pokémon also share it’s element with Ground and Rock type Pokémon. Fighting type Pokémon tend to have a dark orange color to them.
Fighting type Pokémon are typically strong against Normal, Dark, and Steel and weak against Psychic, Grass, or Water types.
Some of the most popular fighting type Pokémon cards include Zamazenta, Lucario, and Machamp.
Fire Type Pokémon Cards
Fire type Pokémon in the Pokémon card game are less common than most others. They also are known to be incredibly strong with high attack. They also typically are a red color on the cards.
Fire Pokémon are typically strong against Grass and Steel Types and are weak against Water Types.
Some of the most popular Fire type Pokémon cards are Charizard, Moltres, Entei, Ho-Oh, and Reshiram.
Lightning Type Pokémon Cards
Lightning type Pokémon are typically known for their speed and attack. They are strong against Flying and Water types and are weak against Ground. Lightning type cards are usually a yellow color.
Some of the most popular Lightning Pokémon cards are Pikachu, Zapdos, Miraidon, Raikou, and Zekrom.
Colorless Type Pokémon Cards
Colorless are also known as “Normal” type in the Pokémon card game. They tend to be incredibly useful because they can be played and used with any other energy type. Colorless type Pokémon cards tend to be a white color
With that though, Normal type Pokémon cards aren’t strong against anything and are only weak against Fighting type cards.
Some of the most popular Normal type Pokémon cards are Lugia, Snorlax, and Arceus.
Water Type Pokémon Cards
Water type Pokémon tend to be one of if not the most common type of all. They also share their element with Ice types. So in the Pokémon card game, Articuno will have a water symbol as the Ice element doesn’t have its own Type.
Water type Pokémon are strong against Fire and Ground types and are weak against Grass and Electric. They also usually have a blue color on the cards.
Some of the most popular water type Pokémon cards are Gyarados, Articuno, Blastoise, Milotic, Suicune, Kyogre, and Greninja.
Psychic Type Pokémon Cards
Psychic Type Pokémon in the Pokémon Trading Card game started out as unique and strong. They were only weak to other Psychic types and the Ghost types that didn’t have any weakness at all originally.
With the added Darkness and others though, Psychics in the modern Pokémon TCG find themselves weak against Darkness and some other Psychic types. Psychic types do include the Ghost type element as well.
Psychic type Pokémon cards
Some of the most popular Psychic type Pokémon cards are Mew, Mewtwo, Alakazam, Gengar, and Espeon.
Grass Type Pokémon Cards
Grass type Pokémon cards encompass Poison and Bug type elements as well. As you could probably guess, grass is weak against Fire and strong against Water, Ground, and Rock types.
Some of the most popular Grass Type Pokémon cards include Venusaur, Celebi, Vileplume, and Leafeon.
Dark Type Pokémon Cards
Dark Type Pokémon cards when released quickly became known for their ability to fight the notoriously difficult Psychic and Ghost type Pokémon. Their high health and unique attributes made them a unique add to the game.
Dark type as stated above are strong against Psychic and Ghost types and are weak against Grass and Fighting types in the Trading Card game.
Some of the most popular Dark Type Pokémon cards are Absol, Umbreon, Houndoom, and Tyranitar.
Steel Type Pokémon Cards
Steel type Pokémon cards, much like the Fighting/Rock types, are known for incredibly high health and general toughness. They typically have a silver/gray color to them.
Steel type Pokémon cards are weak against Fire and are strong against Grass.
Some of the most popular Steel Type Pokémon cards
Dragon Type Pokémon Cards
Dragon type Pokémon cards were released in the Trading card game in 2012 . They usually have a yellow-green color to them and are unique in that they typically aren’t strong or weak against anything.
Though Dragon type weakness is typically nothing, they do have the occasional Fairy and Dragon weakness and are not strong against any particularly.
The most popular Dragon type Pokémon cards are Dragonite, Zekrom, Reshiram, Giratina, and Rayquaza.
Fairy Type Pokémon Cards
Fairy type Pokémon cards are known for their unique effects and typically cute appearance. They are also usually a pink color.
Fairy Type Pokémon cards are also typically strong against Dark types and weak against Steel types. Don’t let their appearance fool you though, they are very strong.
Fairy type Pokémon were removed from the Trading Card Game in 2020. Those Pokémon’s designations from that point usually fall into Normal or Psychic types.
Some of the most popular Fairy type Pokémon cards are Sylveon, Gardevoir, and Mimikyu.
Summary
Pokémon card colors are there for a very specific reason. Those colors designate the type and therefore the typical strengths and weaknesses of that Pokémon.
While this article speaks to the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the types and weaknesses do differ in the Pokémon video games.
Hopefully this article gave you some insight into Pokémon card colors and what they mean. If I missed anything, send me an email at [email protected]!
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Thanks for reading!