Pokémon TCG: Top 10 Best Raichu

In this article, we'll show you the top 10 strongest and most interesting Raichus in Pokémon TCG, considering cards from the Wizards of the Coast era until today.

Raichu is the most popular Pokémon evolution in this franchise - it isn't even behind Pikachu when the matter is the strongest cards in the TCG, particularly if we consider Expanded.

I won't consider Raichu's Alola version because The Pokémon Company only printed a few of those.

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

At the Wizards of the Coast era, this "sniper" Pokémon was always a good pick, even more so because there weren't many Pokémon that could protect your bench.

It is very simple: choose up to 3 Pokémon on your opponent's bench and deal 10 damage to each one. It doesn't really matter if they have less than 3 Pokémon on their bench: it will deal 10 damage regardless.

The only issue this Raichu has is precisely how many energy cards you need to attack, but, at the end of the day, it was always worth it to deal 10 damage to your opponent's Pokémon again and again.

9 - Shining Raichu (Wizards of the Coast Era: Neo Destiny)

Its attack, Thundersquall, is really similar to Raichu FO 14's attack because it is also a "sniper" attack. It also deals damage to your opponent's bench, but it has a downside: its description states that it will deal 10 damage to the Pokémon you picked for each basic Water energy card attached to Shining Raichu.

This means you need to attach Water energy cards to it. The best Pokémon to do this, at the time, was Blastoise BS 2, with its Rain Dance ability.

The quickest way to get the two Electric energy cards left for Shining Raichu was Miracle Energy N4 16.

8 - Raichu GL -Gym Leader- (Diamond/Pearl: Rising Rivals)

In our 8th spot, we have a "GL" card, a Gym Leader card.

Volkner's Raichu has the same essence of all the previous Raichu we showed in this article: it focuses on "sniper" attacks.

The first attack deals 10 damage to two Pokémon on your opponent's bench, so the ideal strategy is to damage all enemy Pokémon, somehow.

That's when you'll use its second attack. Besides dealing 30 base damage to the opponent's active Pokémon, this attack deals 10 damage to all Pokémon on your opponent's bench if they have any damage counters.

Unfortunately, we can't use it in Expanded, but it would be nice if they brought this strategy to a new Raichu in the future.

7 - Raichu (Scarlet/Violet: Paldea Evolved)

Now we'll move on to newer releases. This Scarlet & Violet: Paldea Evolved Raichu is incredibly powerful because it deals 200 damage. Even though it will lose all Electric energy cards attached to it in the process, it is relatively easy to get them back and attach them again with Magnezone FLI 36, and Superior Energy Retrieval PLF 103.

6 - Raichu (Sun/Moon: Cosmic Eclipse)

This Raichu earned this spot because of the iconic Nuzzle deck. It also deals 20 damage for each Electric energy card attached to all your Pokémon, and is really easy to set up.

That is, considering you have a bunch of Pokémon on your bench and your opponent hasn't removed them with a board wipe.

5 - Raichu LV.X (Diamond/Pearl: Stormfront)

This is another Raichu that has a sniper attack: Voltage Shoot.

Note: as it is a LV.X Pokémon, it can use attacks from its previous forms, as well as their abilities!

This means this upgraded Pikachu can use attacks from Pokémon like Raichu MD 45, Raichu AR 27, Raichu MT 15, and Raichu SF 8. Furthermore, this Pokémon's ability, Link Lightning, states that, if you put this Pokémon onto another Raichu on your turn and use Voltage Shoot, you can attack again right afterward. This way, you'll cheat out the Pokémon rule that says you can only attack once per turn.

4 - Raichu ex (Ruby/Sapphire: Emerald)

In the Ruby/Sapphire era, which was dominated by Pokémon ex, its Rai-Shield ability was really useful to take less damage from "ex"-type Pokémon.

This Pokémon's first attack was also a "sniper" attack, but this was optional, just in case you wanted to target a Pokémon on your opponent's bench. And, there's more: if that Pokémon had any Poké-Power, this Raichu would deal even more damage: 30 + 20 damage.

50 damage was very relevant at the time if we consider how many energy cards we needed to use this attack.

3 - Raichu-GX (Sun/Moon: Shining Legends)

What's interesting about this Raichu is its first attack and GX attack:

- Its first attack deals damage based on the Electric energy cards attached to your Pokémon. In Expanded, we can use Magnezone FLI 36 to help us attach these energy cards. We can also filter our deck with Battle Compressor Team Flare Gear PHF 92 and use Superior Energy Retrieval PLF 103 to get back eight Electric energy cards!

After you use Magnezone FLI 36's ability to attach your energy cards, you'll deal at least 160 damage (20 x 8)!

- Voltail - GX deals 120 damage, but its most important feature is its effect, which Paralyzes the enemy Pokémon and this way prevents them from attacking or retreating.

2 - Raichu V (Sword/Shield: Brilliant Stars)

In our second place, we have Raichu in its V version, which is still in Standard and is incredibly powerful in Miraidon Box. In this deck, this Pokémon knocks out specific Pokémon by dealing loads of damage any time you desperately need to knock down resilient Pokémon. Its attack, Dynamic Spark, is what lets you do these types of plays.

In Standard, this Pokémon depends on Electric Generator sv1 170 to get the energy cards it needs if it's on the bench. You'll soon swap it to the active position.

In Expanded, this card becomes a war machine with Magnezone FLI 36 and the Superior Energy Retrieval PLF 103 combo. With 4 Electric energy cards, you'll deal 240 damage!

1 - Raichu & Alolan Raichu TAG TEAM-GX (Sun/Moon: Unified Minds)

At the top of our podium, we have TAG TEAM Raichu. Its main attack, Tandem Shock, deals 80 damage and has the following effect: if this card is moved from the bench to the active position, you'll deal an extra 80 damage and also Paralyze the enemy Pokémon.

To Paralyze enemy Pokémon again and again, Zeraora-GX LOT 86 is crucial because of its ability: if you activate it, your Pokémon that have any Electric energy cards attached will have no retreat cost.

Its GX attack, Lightning Ride, is more meant for "surprise attacks". What's so fun about it is that if you attach two extra Electric energy cards, it will deal 250 damage. You can even boost this amount of damage if you use Electropower LOT 172a.

Raichu for Strategies with Pokémon V in General

These two Raichu specifically deal with V mechanics in general, more precisely VStar mechanics.

- Raichu LOR 53's second attack states that if you used a VStar mechanic in the match before, it will deal 100 + 120 damage, which totals 220 damage.

- As for Raichu SIT 50, to take full advantage of its first attack, your opponent has to have used their VStar power in the match before. If they have, you'll deal 140 damage. This was quite common in Zoroark EVS 103 decks.

Raichu (Sword/Shield: Evolving Skies)

Its first attack, Big Sparking, deals 50 damage for each V and GX Pokémon in play, be them on your board or your opponent's. In the best-case scenario, you'll deal up to 600 damage!

In 2022's Standard, until the end of the Evolving Skies era in April 2024, this card was strong because of all the Pokémon V that dominated the format. There were even strategies that used Zoroark EVS 103 and its ability to "incorporate" Raichu. This way, you'd also have a deck option to play against the Water archetype.

As for Expanded, if we apply this same line of thought, this card is still a strong option for anyone who likes Raichus.

Tech Raichu to Paralyze Enemy Pokémon (Sun/Moon: Burning Shadows)

For those who like control decks, this Raichu is perfect, as you can lock down your opponent and prevent them from attacking on their turn.

It was really powerful in Expanded thanks to Scoop Up Net RCL 165, but, as this card was banned in 2024, this Raichu no longer could use its ability constantly throughout several turns. This way, we'll have to use Super Scoop Up BUS 124, which depends on a coin toss.

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

Thank you for reading.

See you next time.