Pokémon TCG: Top 10 Best Groudon of All Time

Today, we'll keep exploring the Hoenn Pokédex, more specifically Groudon, a legendary Ground Pokémon.

It first appeared in the Ruby & Sapphire block as part of the "Weather Trio", representing the earth in particular. Meanwhile, Kyogre, its rival, represents the oceans, and Rayquaza represents the skies. Rayquaza also often mediates their frequent conflicts.

The remakes Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire introduced a new version of their story alongside Mega Evolutions (first introduced in the X/Y block).

These games made these titans even more powerful, as they showed their Primal forms, that is, their original forms when the planet was just forming. That's why Groudon is also a Fire Pokémon in these titles.

The Pokémon Company was inspired by Judeo-Christian culture, more specifically by a creature called "Behemoth".

Animated Series: Pokémon Generations

Japanese episode:

English episode:

Brazilian Portuguese episode:

This Pokémon might not have been very relevant in the meta (apart from Team Magma's Groudon and Primal Groudon-EX), but we'll still show you the most relevant Groudon in each Pokémon TCG block since Ruby & Sapphire, when it first came out.

Let's see the best Groudon ever printed, including its "baby" versions and the stronger, "ultra rare" versions.

10 - Groudon (Ruby/Sapphire: Emerald)

In our 10th spot, we have this "baby" Groudon, which is the most efficient "baby" Pokémon released in the Ruby & Sapphire block. Its second attack doesn't cost a lot of energies (just (F)(C)(C)), and isn't affected by Resistance. Its retreat cost is also pretty efficient: just one colorless energy.

Groudon EM 5 is better than Groudon HL 102 (from Hidden Legends), which, as a drawback, deals damage to all your Benched Pokémon. It is also better than Groudon EM 14 (from the Emerald set), whose second attack, besides quite complicated to use because it costs (F)(C)(C)(C), relies on luck: first, it discards cards from the top of your or your opponent's deck, and then, for each energy discarded this way, it deals 10 extra damage.

9 - Team Magma's Groudon (Ruby/Sapphire: Team Magma VS Team Aqua)

This Groudon was the best legendary Team Magma VS Team Aqua Pokémon, and was very relevant in Standard in 2003/2004 because we could use Team Magma's Claydol MA 8 to move energies to our Team Magma Pokémon. We'd use it to get the third energy we needed for Pulverize, considering this archetype also played Magma Energy MA 87, a special energy.

Groudon couldn't attack if there weren't at least 3 Team Magma Pokémon in play (both yours and your opponent's), so you had to play Team Magma Pokémon with it. Ideally, you should play at least two recursive Pokémon and two Groudon on the board.

8 - Groudon (Sword/Shield: Celebrations)

This Pokémon was relevant because of its attack, Magma Volcano, and, in Standard, it was a "rogue" deck centered around the mid to end game and Volcarona V EVS 21's attack, as shown below. In fact, this deck focused more on basic energies than Trainers and Pokémon so Groudon's attacks always hit on target.

In Expanded, on the other side, cards that filter the top of your deck are more efficient, like Oranguru SSH 148 and Magcargo CES 24, which let you put a card on the top of your deck. Now, you can also play Academy at Night SFA 54 and items like Energy Recycler BST 124.

7 - Groudon (Scarlet/Violet: Paradox Rift)

This version from the Scarlet & Violet block became relevant because of its attack, Magma Purge, which discards energies from your Pokémon (not only from Groudon) to deal more damage. It also doesn't state what type of energy you must discard, so you can use it with Pokémon like Infernape TWM 33 in Standard. More specifically, this Pokémon lets you attach one basic Fire energy and one basic Fighting energy from your hand to your Pokémon.

In Expanded, you can use other Pokémon, like Coalossal RCL 107. It is similar to Infernape, but it lets you get energies from your discard pile.

6 - Groudon (Sun/Moon: Celestial Storm)

This Groudon, from Sun & Moon, deals damage in a very straightforward manner, and its effects are quite good overall. In Expanded, you can easily attach energies to it with Infernape TWM 33 and Coalossal RCL 107.

Its first attack, Wreck, removes unwanted stadiums, while Ground Slash is a bit more expensive, as it costs (F)(F)(C)(C) and forces you to discard an energy. However, you can use it with Supereffective Glasses ASR 152 to deal 3 times as much weakness damage, and, as such, deal 390 instead of 130 damage.

5 - Groudon ex (Ruby/Sapphire: Hidden Legends)

This Groudon ex was one of the best cards in its block, and had many strengths:

- Its ability, Mark of Antiquity, prevents enemy Kyogre ex or Rayquaza ex from attacking.

- Its attack, Rock Tumble, ignores resistance, so it deals 30 base damage or 60 considering weakness.

- Its other attack, Crushing Mantle, either deals 50 damage or deals 50 damage plus 10 extra damage for each energy in your hand you discard.

4 - Kyogre & Groudon "Legend" (Heart Gold/Soul Silver: Undaunted)

This is a LEGEND Pokémon, a mechanic featured in the HG/SS block. It has two attacks:

- Discard the top 5 cards in your deck. This attack deals 30 damage for each energy you discard to each Pokémon on your opponent's bench. (Don't apply weakness and resistance to Benched Pokémon).

- Discard the top 5 cards in your deck. This attack deals 100 damage for each energy you discard this way.

It is a bit risky, as it relies on luck and finding the right cards on the top of your deck. Massive Eruption, in particular, is the riskiest attack because at the time we didn't have many items to recycle basic energies, and attaching them to begin with took a while. We only had Fisherman HS 92 to recycle energies, and it was also quite slow.

In Legacy, this card became more powerful with Water Pokémon, namely Blastoise BCR 31 and its ability, "Rain Dance", and a few alternative attackers, like Keldeo-EX BCR 49, as shown in the video below by LittleDarkFury:

3 - Team Magma's Groudon-EX (X/Y: Double Crisis)

This set, which celebrated Team Magma and Team Aqua Pokémon, also released Team Magma's Groudon-EX DCR 15, which was very similar to Team Magma's Groudon MA 9.

Their abilities are similar, but have different conditions. Instead of at least 3 Team Magma Pokémon (both yours and your opponent's), you need at least 5 Team Magma Pokémon on your board to attack.

Its main attack deals 80 base damage plus 80 extra damage if the opponent has any damage counters.

To use this attack, you should use Team Magma's Camerupt DCR 2 to recycle basic energies, and Energy Switch FFI 89, or Team Magma's Claydol DCR 11's ability. Lastly, you should use it with Double Magma Energy DCR 34, a special energy.

2 - Groudon-EX (Black/White: Dark Explorers)

In Expanded, this Pokémon is perfect as Primal Groudon-EX PRC 86's predecessor in terms of offensive power.

Its attack, Tromp, deals 20 damage to the enemy active Pokémon and 10 damage to the enemy bench, whereas Giant Claw deals 80 damage plus 40 extra damage if the enemy Pokémon has at least 2 damage counters.

Pokémon that let you use attacks of previous evolutions, like Relicanth TEF 84, are critical with Groudon-EX in decks with Primal Groudon-EX.

1 - Primal Groudon-EX (X/Y: Primal Clash)

Our first place is this Primal version that saw a lot of play in Standard and Expanded in a "control deck" that reached its peak in 2018/2019.

In Standard, it was popular at the "Day 1" in 2015. It got second place in the Junior category in the hands of Alejandro Ng-Guzman.

We wrote an article on it in 2023. Click here to check out a Stall/Control list with Primal Groudon-EX!

Here are a few videos that show how relevant this card was throughout the years:

Eight years ago, FourthStarTCG showed us how strong it was in Expanded:

LittleDarkFury showed us a highly aggressive version of this deck with Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX BRS TG30 in 2022:

This Pokémon also stood out for its "Omega ability", which can't be disabled by other Pokémon abilities, stadiums, or effects. It is called "Barrier".

This ability makes this Pokémon immune to Items or Supporters, but doesn't protect it against stadiums or tools. This means cards like Boss's Orders RCL 154, Counter Catcher CIN 91, Great Catcher CEC 192, or similar can't affect this Pokémon!

Its attack, Gaia Volcano removes stadiums and deals extra damage if there is any stadium in play, namely 200 damage!

Do you agree with our picks? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!