Psychic-type Pokémon are masters at energy acceleration, damage manipulation, and disruptive control. Here are 16 of the strongest Psychic-types in the current format.
Technical players have long loved Psychic over the other nine types in Pokémon TCG due to the type’s adaptability and flexibility.
Evidence is in the results- Psychic persistently ranks in the top meta decks across a variety of formats, past and present.
Whilst some important cards like Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX have been rotated out, a new wave of threats have emerged- spearheaded by Gardevoir ex.
Now, Psychic remains as powerful as ever in the Standard Format, punishing aggressive decks with a combination of energy recursion, board control, and offensive punch.
Here are 16 of the best Psychic-type Pokémon cards to outplay your opponent.
Psychic-Type Overview
Common gameplay traits shared by Psychic-type Pokémon:
Known For
Technical type with strong options in all of the most important aspects of competitive Pokémon TCG gameplay, including board setup, damage output, disruption, control, and tech. Requires carefully-planned combos for maximum effectiveness.
Weak (receives x2 damage) Vs
Darkness-type Metal-type
Strong (deals x2 damage) Vs
Fighting-type
Resistance (receives -30 damage) Vs
Fighting-type
1. Mega Gardevoir ex
New energy-efficient Psychic-type nuke.
Strengths:
Overflowing Wishes floods your bench with Psychic energy from the deck. Pair with Precious Trolley for a powerful one-turn setup.
For just a single energy attachment, Overflowing Wishes quite easily self-scales Mega Symphonia to 250+ damage within the first few turns. Enough to one-hit KO most early-game Pokémon.
Damage output quickly snowballs when paired with Gardevoir ex(same evolution line). Great for mid to late-game sweeps.
Weaknesses:
Stage 2 setup needs support from Kirlia, RareCandy, GrandTree, search, and draw cards.
Overflowing Wishes can spread energy thin across your board. Ensure a high energy count (10+) to mitigate this issue.
2. Gardevoir ex
The Puppet Master of Psychic decks.
Strengths:
Psychic Embrace continues to be one of the strongest energy accelerators in the current format. Attaches limitless Psychic energy from the discard pile.
Psychic Embrace’s damage counter placement turns into an advantage when used to charge up Scream Tail.
Weaknesses:
Self-damage makes your Pokémon even more vulnerable to bench snipes from meta threats like Dragapultex and Dusknoir. Use Munkidori to redistribute damage counters onto the opponent.
3. Scream Tail
Strong Psychic-type single-prizer.
Strengths:
Roaring Scream turns self-inflicted damage from Gardevoir ex into sniping pressure.
Use damage modifier Tools like Defiance Band and Maximum Belt, or HP modifier Tools like Luxurious Cape, Bravery Charm, Survival Brace, and Hero’s Cape to fix damage output and take out tanky threats.
Weaknesses:
Fragile 90 HP makes it a glass cannon. Still, being a single-prize Pokémon makes it a great Psychic-type attacker to take favorable Prize trades against ex Pokémon.
4. Munkidori
Elite bench-sitter for damage counter manipulation.
Strengths:
Adrena-Brain lets you move damage counters from your Pokémon to your opponent’s. Turns Gardevoir ex’s self-damaging Ability into offensive chip pressure.
Ability is stackable with multiple Munkidori on the field.
Weaknesses:
Adrena Brain requires Darkness energy to activate. Use Crispin and Earthen Vessel to dig these from your deck.
5. Frillish
Psychic-type item-lock for the early-game.
Strengths:
Oceanic Gloom prevents your opponent playing Items on their next turn. Extremely disruptive and stalls their setup.
Works great for slowing down Item-heavy aggro decks like Charizard ex and Miraidon ex.
Weaknesses:
80 HP is fragile. Use it as an early-game staller whilst you set up, or evolve it into Jellicent ex asap.
6. Jellicent ex
Best Psychic-type disruptor to lockdown the meta.
Strengths:
Oceanic Curse completely shuts down Item and Tool cards. Incredibly strong in a meta that relies heavily on these card types.
With Psychic-types’ abundance of energy acceleration support, Power Press reliably scales to 160 damage. Respectable damage output when paired with the disruptive lock from Oceanic Curse.
Weaknesses:
High retreat cost makes switching tricky. Include Switch, Jet Energy, or Air Balloon for extra mobility.
Item/tool-lock deactivates if Jellicent is KO’d. Increase staying power with HP modifiers like Hero’s Cape, or heal cards like Poké Vital A and Pokémon Center Lady. Or run multiple Jellicent.
7. Dusknoir
Dangerous Psychic-type finisher.
Strengths:
Cursed Blast lets you place 13 damage counters directly on any target.
Flexible offensive utility across the entire duration of a game. Knockout key support Pokémon in the early-game, soften tanky ex Pokémon in the mid-game, or snipe a benched Pokémon to clutch a win in the late-game.
Weaknesses:
The self-KO drawback requires careful timing to avoid giving your opponent a favorable Prize trade. Best used when you’re ahead on Prizes.
Stage 2 evolution line is slow to set up. Thankfully, it’s pre-evolution, Dusclops, has a similar, albeit less powerful, version of the same Ability.
8. Mimikyu
Wall against ex with this single-prizer.
Strengths:
Safeguard Ability completely nullifies damage from Pokémon ex. Effective for stalling high-tier decks like Charizard ex, Gholdengo ex, and Raging Bolt ex.
Can’t deal heavy damage on its own. Best used as a stall tactic to recover and set up plays.
Lost effectiveness compared to the last format. This format has more damage counter spreaders like Froslass, Dragapult ex, and Dusknoir, which can clear Mimikyu quite easily.
9. Mew ex
Draw engine and utility attacker for Psychic decks.
Strengths:
Restart keeps your hand supplied with new cards.
Genome Hacking is an adaptable attack that copies the most powerful meta attacks for a relatively simple 3x colorless energy requirement (easily met with Psychic energy acceleration).
Basic evolution makes Mew ex easy to field and set up using Nest Ball and Precious Trolley. Free retreat cost is great for mobility. Switch it out when needed.
Free retreat cost is great for mobility. Switch it out when needed.
Weaknesses:
Serves as a great draw engine and backup attacker, but due to the fragile 180 HP, keep it out of the Active until it is needed.
10. Latias ex
Give your Basic Pokémon mobility support.
Strengths:
Skyliner gives all your Basic Pokémon (not limited to Psychic-types) free retreat, letting you pivot them in and out of the Active without clogging your deck with switch cards.
Eon Blade hits for 200. Not game-changing but also capable of taking knockouts when needed.
Easily searched using Nest Ball and Precious Trolley.
Weaknesses:
Low 210 HP for a Basic ex. Keep it sat on the bench to prevent giving your opponent 2 easy Prizes.
11. Xatu
All-in-one energy accelerator and draw engine for Psychic decks.
Strengths:
Clairvoyant Sense attaches 1 Psychic energy to a Benched Pokémon and draws 2 cards. Adds consistency to Psychic-type decks.
Synergizes well with the new Mega Gardevoir ex by powering up Mega Symphonia.
Weaknesses:
Stage 1 means it’s slightly slower to field compared to the Mew ex draw engine. Search cards like Ultra Ball are a must. Consider utilizing both MewandXatu engines for maximal consistency.
A 100 HP is vulnerable to being picked off by Dragapult ex, Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex, and other popular bench snipers. Add Shaymin for bench protection.
12. Lillie’s Clefairy ex
Meta tech against Dragon and bench-heavy decks.
Strengths:
Fairy Zone turns your opponent’s Dragon-type Pokémon into a Psychic Weakness- crippling against two of the most dangerous meta decks currently, Raging Bolt ex and Dragapult ex.
For just 2 energy, Full Moon Rondo can scale up to 220 damage with two full benches (yours and opponents) and up to 340 damage with Area Zero Underdepths in play.
Weaknesses:
Base damage can be nullified if your opponent runs a tight bench. Use Clefairy as a simple, effective, and easy tech support to splash into existing Psychic decks, rather than relying on it as your main win condition.
13. Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex
Team Rocket archetype Psychic nuke.
Strengths:
Erasure Ball can reach 280 damage by discarding 2 Energy from the bench. One of the hardest hitters in Psychic.
Pairs perfectly with Gardevoir ex and Tulip to recover and reload discarded energy.
Weaknesses:
Power Saver decreases setup speed. Use Team Rocket’s Proton, Precious Trolley, and search cards like Nest Ball to quickly bring Rocket Pokémon onto the field.
14. Alakazam
Strongest Psychic-type single-prize attacker with built-in draw engine.
Strengths:
Psychic Draw provides an instant 3-card draw when Alakazam evolves. Kadabra has a similar draw effect, but draws 2 cards. Helps set up Alakazam and charge up Powerful Hand.
Powerful Hands deals 200+ damage quite consistently. Grow your hand using Psychic Draw, as well as other draw cards like Mystery Garden, Tulip, Dunsparce, Ferzendipitiex, and Lillie’s Determination.
Weaknesses:
With just 140 HP, Alakazam is not going to last long. Increase survivability with HP Tools like Luxurious Cape, Bravery Charm, Survival Brace, and Hero’s Cape.
15. Mystery Garden
Psychic Stadium to fuel Energy-discard strategies.
Strengths:
Turns Psychic energy discard into draw power, dependent on how many Psychic Pokémon are in play.
Synergizes with the Gardevoir ex engine to accelerate discarded energy back onto your Pokémon.
Weaknesses:
Requires a large bench to maximize draw power. Risky in a meta that is rife with bench and spread damage.
16. Tulip
Best card recycler for Psychic decks.
Strengths:
Retrieves up to 4 Psychic Pokémon or energy from discard to hand. One of the best resource recyclers for Psychic-type decks.
Weaknesses:
Uses your once-per-turn Supporter. Nevertheless, it can be a clutch card in the mid to late-game to get important cards back into play.
Ready To Build A Psychic-Type Deck?
Psychic-type Pokémon cards offer some of the most flexible effects in the TCG. You have plentiful options for control, energy recursion, and heavy-hitting damage.
But it’s also a very technical type that requires careful planning and deck-building.
The individual cards alone won’t win you games. Instead, they thrive when put together to create strong synergies and combos.Check out our Pokémon TCG deck-building guide for expert tips on how to make the perfect Psychic deck!
Kalam is a PTCG gameplay expert and content creator. He started playing and collecting Pokémon cards since 1996. When he’s not working, you can find him nerding out on Anime!
