Pokémon TCG: Top 10 Best Articuno of All Time

Today, we'll show you the top 10 strongest and most interesting Articunos in the history of Pokémon TCG, considering cards since the Wizards of the Coast era until today.

Articuno is one of the three legendary Kanto birds, and, just like the other two, first got a chance to shine in the Pokémon 2000 movie. It has been an iconic Pokémon ever since.

10 - Articuno (Wizards of the Coast Era: Fossil)

This Articuno was one of the iconic Water attackers in the Wizards of the Coast era. It was released in the Fossil set, and was one of the best attackers of its archetype. To get the energies it needed (quite a lot of them, actually), we used Blastoise BS 2's "Rain Dance".

Its first attack Paralyzed your opponent's active Pokémon if you hit heads on your coin toss. Its second attack, on the other hand, was a "sniper" attack that, besides dealing 50 damage to your opponent's active Pokémon, dealt 10 damage to each Pokémon in play (yours and the opponent's). But you also had to hit heads on another coin toss.

9 - Articuno (X/Y: Roaring Skies)

From Roaring Skies, at the peak of the X/Y block with the “Alpha, Omega, and Delta” traits, we have Articuno ROS 17. Its ability is great: ”whenever this Articuno knocks out an enemy Pokémon, you'll draw an extra Prize Card.”

To make its second attack, Tri Edge, work, you need to use either Trick Coin PHF 108 or Glimwood Tangle DAA 162, and fix your coin tosses.

As this is an X/Y card, it is available in Expanded right now.

8 - Articuno (Sun/Moon: Promo Card)

This was a promo card from the Sun/Moon block. It stood out because of its attack, Sheer Cold, which Paralyzed the enemy Pokémon if you hit "heads" on your coin toss. With it, we had to use the same cards we mentioned above to maximize our coin tosses: Trick Coin PHF 108, and Glimwood Tangle DAA 162.

It was also quite easy to set it up; you could use Blastoise PLS 137 or Baxcalibur sv4pt5 130. They'll both move Basic Water Energy sv2 279 from your hand to your Pokémon - in this case, to Articuno PR-SM SM144.

And, if you wanted to deal triple weakness damage against Fire Pokémon, you could use Supereffective Glasses ASR 152, and deal 300 weakness damage instead of 100. This was incredibly strong in Expanded.

You could also use Glimwood Tangle DAA 162 to manipulate your coin tosses.

7 - Articuno (Scarlet/Violet: 151)

Moving on to Scarlet & Violet, the 151 special set: this Articuno is a significantly more refined version of its "predecessor" print, Articuno FO 17. This is because its sniper damage only affects your opponent's benched Pokémon, and it deals way more damage - 110!

Its ability also zeroes your Articuno's retreat cost if it has any Water energies attached, which really helps.

6 - Articuno (Sun/Moon: Team Up)

This Articuno stands out because of its ability, Blizzard Veil: if Articuno TEU 32 is your active Pokémon, it will disable any effects from Supporter cards that affect your benched Pokémon. In other words, it disables cards like Guzma BUS 115 and Boss's Orders RCL 154, and protects your Pokémon.

Additionally, its attack is nice, as it moves two Water energies from Articuno to one of your benched Pokémon, which helps you set up another attacker.

5 - Articuno ex (Ruby/Sapphire: Fire Red/Leaf Green)

Its ability, Legendary Ascent , is almost like a "sudden charge" : if you play Articuno ex from your hand to your bench, you may promote it to the active position, and you also get all Water energies attached to your Pokémon and attach them on Articuno ex. This way, you'll be able to use its attack, Cold Crush, much faster.

4 - Rocket's Articuno ex (Ruby/Sapphire: Team Rocket's Returns)

What stands out about this corrupted Articuno is its ability, Darkness Veil: as long as it has a Darkness Energy EM 86 attached, it is immune to any effects of your opponent's attacks, except damage. For instance, it becomes immune to special statuses (the iconic "bad statuses"), and even "instant K.O." effects.

Its first attack, Freeze Solid is perfect to set up its second attack, Ice Wing.

3 - Plasma's Articuno-EX (Black/White: Plasma Storm)

And, in our third spot, we have Team Plasma's Articuno-EX, whose attacks were upgraded:

► Its first attack, Blizzard, deals 60 damage to the opponent's active Pokémon and also deals 10 damage to all benched enemy Pokémon.

► As for its second attack, Frost Prison: if this Articuno has one Plasma Energy PLS 127 attached, you'll always Paralyze your opponent's active Pokémon!

Feel free to check out more about this strategy by clicking here.

2 - Articuno-GX (Sun/Moon: Celestial Storm)

In our second place, we have this Articuno-GX, which used to be in a formidable control deck. It would destroy your opponent's energy setup because of its GX attack, Cold Crush, which discards energies attached to both active Pokémon.

However, as Articuno-GX only needed one Water energy to use its GX attack, this wasn't an issue. Even more so if you were playing against heavy Pokémon, like Reshiram & Charizard-GX UNB 20, Charizard VMAX PR-SW SWSH261, and Charizard ex sv3pt5 6, for instance.

You may think that “even if it is a great GX attack, there's no way you can keep attacking and sabotaging your opponent over and over.”

Well, this is when you add a surprise Pokémon to this mix:

This card's second effect lets you, if you discard 5 cards from your hand, reset your GX attack and use it again!

So, you'll be able to discard all of your opponent's energies again and again. You can also use Crushing Hammer sv1 168 or Enhanced Hammer GRI 124 to complement this strategy.

1 - Moltres & Zapdos & Articuno TAG TEAM-GX (Sun/Moon: Hidden Fates)

Finally, in our first place, we have Articuno and its other bird friends from Kanto in a powerful combination both because of how much damage it deals and because of its GX attack.

If you'd like to see more about this deck, just click here.

Articuno (Wizards of the Coast Era: Promo)

This is a rare gem from the Wizards of the Coast era. Its ability states: if Articuno is your active Pokémon, your entire bench is protected against enemy attacks, which makes it formidable against sniper attackers!

Articuno ex (Ruby/Sapphire: Promo Card)

This Articuno was a Nintendo "Promo" card, and its ability was interesting. Additionally, its second attack is really nice.

What did you think of our list? What would your list of the top 10 best Articuno look like? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below.

Thank you for reading! See you next time!