Pokémon TCG: Top 10 Worst Stadiums

In this article, we'll discuss the worst Stadiums of all time in Pokémon TCG, and they are truly grotesque. Most of them don't make any sense, as they only benefit a specific type of Pokémon, or favor your opponent as well, and are double-edged swords!

10 - Cinnabar City Gym (Wizards of the Coast Era: Gym Challenge)

This card was only viable for decks based on Kanto's Fire gymnasium leader, Blaine, in the Wizards of the Coast era, in the 90s. Only then.

So, if you played other Fire decks, but not Blaine's deck in specific, it made no sense to use this stadium, which made it incredibly limited.

9 - Brock's Pewter City Gym & Misty's Cerulean City Gym (Sun/Moon: Hidden Fates)

These Stadiums have the same problems as the card above.

They were only in Standard for a short time in the Sun/Moon era when Pokémon-GX were meta. In fact, they focused on Brock's Onix-GX, and Misty's Starmie-GX.

We know there are better Pokémon, so it doesn't make much sense to use their stadiums.

8 - Circhester Bath (Sword/Shield: Vivid Voltage)

Circhester Bath simply protects both players' basic Pokémon.

However, the main goal in Pokémon TCG is knocking out enemy Pokémon as fast as possible. So, what's the point of giving your opponent a chance to survive?

7 - All-Night Party (X/Y: BREAKPoint)

If you want to make your opponent Asleep and get ahead with Jynx ex sv3pt5 124, forget about it!

This Stadium states, "when your or the opponent's active Pokémon are Asleep, you can heal 30 points of damage from them".

6 - Pokémon Park (e-Cards Series: Aquapolis)

This stadium is another "double-edged sword" and favors you as well as your opponent. When any of you attach one energy from your hand to one of your Pokémon, you get to remove one damage counter from that Pokémon.

Even though this does help you, it also favors your opponent. The worst part is that this card was "reprinted" in POP Series 2 boosters in the Ruby/Sapphire block:

This card isn't available in Expanded.

5 - Tropical Tidal Wave (World Championship 2005)

All the cards from now on were arguably mistakes by the Pokémon Company. They were given at the World Championships as promo cards, but their effects were terrible. This card in particular was given out in the Ruby/Sapphire era.

This card is incredibly polarizing. It forces you to toss a coin: if you get heads, your opponent has to discard all their Trainer cards in play (any attached cards, that is), but, if you get tails, you'll have to discard your cards.

I'll stress that, years later, in the X/Y era, we got a much better card: Startling Megaphone FLF 97, which only negatively affects your opponent.

Tropical Tidal Wave isn't available in Expanded.

4 - Tropical Wind (World Championship 2004)

This is another terrible World Championship card!

Released at the very end of the Ruby/Sapphire era, Tropical Wind forces you to toss a coin. If you get heads, you get to remove 2 damage counters from your active Pokémon, however, if it's tails, each Active Pokémon is now Asleep.

No one really wants to get any "bad statuses" for free, right?

To make things worse, this card was reprinted in the Diamond/Pearl era.

Tropical Wind isn't available in Expanded.

3 - Paradise Resort (World Championship 2023)

This is a recent example from 2023 (so you can even use it in Standard) of another bad stadium given out at the World Championship.

It simply states, "All Psyduck in play cost one colorless (C) energy less to retreat".

Furthermore, Paradise Resort will be reprinted at the 2024 World Championship in Honolulu, Hawaii.

2 - Primordial Altar (Sword/Shield: Silver Tempest)

It is surreal this card was even approved!

Both players simply get to look at their opponent's top card and discard it. It is, in a sense, a control card.

However, who in their right mind would play this card in their deck? It's the same as playing Riley LOR 166 in your deck, for instance.

1 - All the ACE SPEC Stadiums: Neutral Center and Great Big Three (Scarlet/Violet: Shrouded Fable & Stellar Crown)

Before I tell you why I put these cards in the first place, I'll tell you what they do in detail.

From left to right:

Shrouded Fable - Neutral Center: prevent all damage caused to Pokémon in play if they don't have any Rule Box. Rule Box Pokémon are Pokémon V, VStar, VMax, ex, and Radiant Pokémon (in Expanded: GX, TAG TEAM-GX, EX, VUnion). However, if this card is in your discard pile, you can't return it to your hand or your deck.

Stellar Crown - Great Big Tree: this card applies to both players. If you have any basic Pokémon in play, you get to browse through your "stage 1" cards and put them on that Pokémon to evolve them on the spot. If you do, you also get to look for a "stage 2" card for that Pokémon (if you have the right evolution line) and evolve it again. You can't use this effect if it's your first turn, and you can't choose a Pokémon that was played this turn.

Even though they're excellent stadiums, the problem is that they're ACE SPEC cards, and you can only play one ACE SPEC in your entire deck. This is inefficient because you might need other ACE SPEC "staples", like Secret Box TWM 163, Prime Catcher TEF 157, Maximum Belt TEF 154, or Hero's Cape TEF 152 (the four most popular staples in Standard nowadays). If you use the two cards above, you won't be able to use the best staples in the format because you only have one slot for an ACE SPEC card.

Not to mention that any ACE SPEC stadium in Standard in 2024 is easy to remove with Lost Vacuum LOR 217. In Expanded, you can easily remove them with Field Blower GRI 163.

Twist Mountain (Black/White: Dark Explorers)

This card relies on coin tosses to let you put a "Restored Pokémon ("fossil" Pokémon) in play straight from your hand. However, there are many other easier ways to put these Pokémon in play that don't rely on luck.

PokéStop (Sword/Shield: Pokémon GO)

This card punishes players who don't use many Item cards, as it forces you to discard three cards and only lets you keep the Item cards you discard.

Which of these cards do you think is the worst? Do you know any others? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section down below!

Thank you for reading, and don't forget to share.

See you next time!