Water-type Pokémon are some of the most well-rounded in the TCG, with strong damage output, board control, and consistency. Discover 12 of the best Water Pokémon in the Standard Format (post-rotation).
With the April 2025 Format rotation, many beloved Water staples like Radiant Greninja and Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR rotated out, leaving a gaping hole in Water deck players.
But it’s not all bad news.
Even though it’s lost some of the best cards in the game, Water is still a flexible Pokémon TCG type, with a lot of attacking and defensive options.
Here are 12 of the most powerful Water-type Pokémon cards to wash away your opponent.
Let’s level up.
Water-Type Overview
Common gameplay traits shared by water-type Pokémon:
Known For
Plenty of options for direct damage, bench sniping, control, and energy acceleration.
Weak (receives x2 damage) Vs
Lightning
Metal
Strong (deals x2 damage) Vs
Fire
Resistance (receives -30 damage) Vs
None
1. Chien-Pao ex
Best overall Water-type balancing energy acceleration with damage scaling.
Strengths:
Shivery Chill Ability offers incredible consistency, searching up to 2 water energy cards from your deck to your hand.
Hail Blade scales 300+ damage with 5 water energy. Combine with damage modifier tools like Maximum Belt or Defiance Band to easily one-hit-KO ex Pokémon.
Great synergy with Baxcalibur for even higher consistency.
Weaknesses:
Fragile 220 HP is easily knocked out in the mid to late game. Keep Chien-Pao on the bench when not needed.
Vulnerable to Metal-type threats like Gholdengo ex and Steven’s Metagross ex. Tech around this by adding attackers without Metal weakness.
2. Baxcalibur
Water energy acceleration powerhouse.
Strengths:
Super Cold lets you flood as much Water energy from your hand to your Pokémon.
Keeps your energy-hungry Water-type attackers fueled.
Combine with energy search like Chien-Pao ex, Superior Energy Retrieval, Earthen Vessel, and Crispin to get Water energy into your hand.
Weaknesses:
Heavy Stage 2 setup is slow in the early game. Needs search and draw support, as well as evolution support from Rare Candy, GrandTree, or TMEvolution.
3. Milotic ex
Tera-immune wall with solid offense.
Strengths:
Sparkling Scales completely negates damage and effects like damage counter placement from Tera Pokémon.
Strong meta matchup versus Tera decks like Dragapult ex, Charizard ex, Eevee box, and Ogerponbox.
Hypno Splash disrupts with sleep and KO’s most ex in 2 to 3 hits.
Weaknesses:
Evolves from Feebas which only has a peasly 30 HP and vulnerable to being sniped on the bench. Field Feebas only if you can evolve it quickly.
Vunerable against Lightning-type attackers. Tech in a Water-type without Lightning weakness to deal with this matchup.
4. Wellspring Mask Ogerpon ex
Best water-type Pokémon for bench sniping.
Strengths:
Torrential Pump hits the Active for a modest 100 damage, but also snipes 120 damage to a benched Pokémon (devastating against evolving Pokémon or fragile support Pokémon).
Great support attacker to knock out key threats in the early game or clinch late-game wins.
Easy to search out using Nest Ball and Ultra Ball.
Weaknesses:
Requires a consistent Water energy supply to keep attacking. Combine Ogerpon with Chien-Pao ex, Baxcalibur, and a strong draw engine to keep it charged up.
5. Iron Bundle
Best Water-type Pokémon for board control.
Strengths:
Hyper Blower is excellent for gusting tanky ex or ability/item-lock Pokémon out of the Active spot. Use it to control the board and take your final Prize cards in the late game.
Easily searched using Nest Ball and Ultra Ball.
Weaknesses:
Ability is one-time use and situational. But timed right, Iron Bundle can secure wins in the late stages of a tight match.
6. Blastoise ex
Bulky Water-type Pokémon with strong offense.
Strengths:
Solid Shell gives Blastoise ex 360+ HP, making it harder to be one-hit-KO’d by popular damage scalers like Raging Bolt ex, Hydrapple ex, and Chien-Pao ex.
Twin Cannons fires a respectable 280 damage. Huge one-hit KO potential when combined with Maximum Belt and DefianceBand.
Larimar Rain is one of the strongest energy accelerators in the current format, attaching any number of energy cards (Basic and Special) from the top 20 cards of your deck to your Pokémon, however you like.
Basic Stage is easily searched using cards like NestBall, Brock’sScouting, Ditto, and Larry.
Weaknesses:
Larimar Rain’s awkward multi-type energy cost. Crispin is essential for setting up quickly and consistently.
Relies on luck to find energy in the top 20 cards. Using a high energy count of 15+ can consistently draw into 10 energy within 2 turns.
8. Froslass
Punish the Ability-heavy meta with this Water-type Pokémon.
Strengths:
Spreads 10 damage per turn to all Pokémon with Abilities (yours and opponent’s), quickly chipping away at many core Pokémon in popular meta decks. Effect can be stacked with multiple Froslass.
Your Pokémon are also affected by Freezing Shroud. Combine with Munkidori to move damage counters from your Pokémon to your opponent’s to punish them further.
9. Kingdra ex
Hit huge numbers with Hydro Pump.
Strengths:
Hydro Pump has huge one-hit KO potential. Combine with energy accelerators like Baxcalibur andLapras ex to get Water energy onto Kingdra.
King’s Order benches Water-type Pokémon directly from the discard pile, removing the need to evolve.
Weaknesses:
Stage 2 evolution and requirement for a heavily energized board make it slow to set up. Having a strong draw, search, and acceleration engine is essential.
10. Kyurem ex
Spread damage-dealer and strong late-game finisher.
Strengths:
Blizzard Burst deals 130 damage to the Active Pokémon and spreads a further 10 damage to each benched Pokémon for each prize card your opponent has taken.
Blizzard Burst struggles against defensive tank and healing decks. It’s best used as a late-game finisher rather than being the main attacker.
11. Palafin ex
Deal 250 damage for a single energy with this tanky Water-type attacker.
Strengths:
Huge 250 damage for a single Water energy is great for early-game pressure and late-game finishing.
With a massive 340 HP, Palafin ex is the tankiest Stage 1 Pokémon in the current format. Able to absorb multiple hits from most Pokémon, including ex.
Weaknesses:
Can only come into play with a dedicated Palafin engine. Mobility tools like Air Balloon, Switch, and Jet Energy are essential to switch Palafin into the Active Spot and trigger Zero to Hero.
12. Garchomp ex
Pick off your opponent’s bench with this dangerous Water-Fighting dual-type.
Strengths:
Does 120 damage to any one of your opponent’s Pokémon- perfect for picking off pre-evolutions, weakened threats, or bench-sitters.
Recycle discarded energy using Hydro Lander to bring in a full-charged benched Garchomp ex for another round of bench damage.
Highly mobile with zero retreat cost.
Weaknesses:
Stage 2 is slow to set up. Make sure you have plenty of evolution support from cards like RareCandy, GrandTree, or even Kingdra ex.
Sonic Dive is potent but also discard-heavy (pair with BoomerangEnergy and strong energy acceleration to attack turn after turn).
Ready To Build A Water-Type Deck?
Water-type Pokémon may not be dominating the Standard meta like they once did, but they’re still incredibly versatile- bringing scaling damage, bench damage, spread attacks, and strong board control.
But that raw power alone won’t win you games.
In order to get the most out of your Water Pokémon, you still need to pick the right cards in a way that gives consistent and reliable gameplay
Be sure to explore our guide on building a successful deck for expert tips on creating seamless synergy for competitive play!
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!
