Discussion Neglected Pokémon in the TCG

Welp, it's that time again. Evolutions has released, and I've updated my spreadsheet.

Here is the breakdown!


In Evolutions...
64 Pokemon were last seen in XY sets.
1 Pokemon was last seen in BW sets.
2 Pokemon have never had cards before.
*

*(this includes M-Pidgeot and M-Slowbro)


96% of the Pokemon featured in Evolutions already had cards in XY sets. This high number of familiar faces is largely due to Gen 1 already getting attention in Generations. The only Pokemon returning from a pre-XY set is Onix.

With SM sets right around the corner, the XY set era has come to a close with 46 Pokemon remaining in BW sets, 18 Pokemon in PLAT sets, 10 Pokemon in HGSS sets, 10 Pokemon in D&P sets... and Kadabra.




 
XY still did better than BW did in terms of spreading the spotlight around. Much, much better.
 
Welp, it's that time again. Evolutions has released, and I've updated my spreadsheet.

Here is the breakdown!


In Evolutions...
64 Pokemon were last seen in XY sets.
1 Pokemon was last seen in BW sets.
2 Pokemon have never had cards before.
*

*(this includes M-Pidgeot and M-Slowbro)


96% of the Pokemon featured in Evolutions already had cards in XY sets. This high number of familiar faces is largely due to Gen 1 already getting attention in Generations. The only Pokemon returning from a pre-XY set is Onix.

With SM sets right around the corner, the XY set era has come to a close with 46 Pokemon remaining in BW sets, 18 Pokemon in PLAT sets, 10 Pokemon in HGSS sets, 10 Pokemon in D&P sets... and Kadabra.



Which Pokemon have not yet had cards?
 
Which Pokemon have not yet had cards?
Not counting Gen 7 and Alolan Pokemon, the remaining Pokemon who have had zero cards are all Megas:

Mega Pinsir
Mega Sableye
Mega Medicham
Mega Sharpedo
Mega Camerupt
Mega Banette
Mega Latias
Mega Lopunny
Mega Abomasnow

Mega Salamence and Mega Garchomp haven't had cards yet, but they get them later this month.
 
People have probably brought it up, but I'll reiterate the statement. So disappointed with XY Evolutions including the Bulbasaur line. :(
Leech Seed could've been updated with "Move 2 damage counters from this Pokemon to your opponent's Pokemon" or something like that. They've excluded the Bulbasaur line in several "Kanto reboot TCG eras" already. Not in the "dark" Team Rocket era, not in the Legendary Collection era, among others.
BW Dark Explorers was the last time we saw Bulbasaur and family.

And no, Venusaur-EX and Mega Venusaur don't count. They're too slow to be competitive in the current XY era Stanard format.
 
Didn't Farfetch'd also come back to XY in Evolutions for the first time since BW (Boundaries Crossed)?
 
Didn't Farfetch'd also come back to XY in Evolutions for the first time since BW (Boundaries Crossed)?
Boundaries Crossed was Farfetch'd's most recent full set print, but he had a card in the Kalos Starter Set which was part of the XY-On standard rotation, so I didn't consider him to have returned from the BW era. He was kinda stuck in the middle. Definitely glad to see him return though; I've always liked him.
 
People have probably brought it up, but I'll reiterate the statement. So disappointed with XY Evolutions including the Bulbasaur line. :(
Leech Seed could've been updated with "Move 2 damage counters from this Pokemon to your opponent's Pokemon" or something like that. They've excluded the Bulbasaur line in several "Kanto reboot TCG eras" already. Not in the "dark" Team Rocket era, not in the Legendary Collection era, among others.
BW Dark Explorers was the last time we saw Bulbasaur and family.

And no, Venusaur-EX and Mega Venusaur don't count. They're too slow to be competitive in the current XY era Stanard format.

First off all, Ivysaur and Venusaur were in the rocket era, but they were promos which were harder to come by in the wizards era. Second off, they were in Legendary Collection, it was Wartortle and Blastoise who were not (they were filled in with the Dark Team Rocket versions). You're right though that Dark Explorers was the last time we saw this line show up.

From a competitive aspect if the EX's are too slow, then so likely would stage 2 evolution lines.

With that said I agree with you, I feel both the Venusaur and Blastoise lines should have been in Evolutions. They were just as great as Charizard in the heyday, perhaps more so.
 
So the official English release for the first Gen VII tcg set has not been announced but we do know the bulk (if not entirety) of them now from the Japanese Sun and Moon sets.

I am so very disappointed! After so much excitement from XY10 and XY11 heralding a Golden Age of neglected Pokemon revival, SM1 seems to continue from XY12 as the end of that Golden Age...

---------

Not a single neglected Pokèmon is included in the new sets(s)*. Literally every Gen I-VI Pokèmon included in SM1 featured at least once in an XY set not to mention BW while some (even excluding babies, Abra and Kadabra) are still unheard of since Gen IV. Shame. Shame. Shame.

--------

For fun, here is a rundown of each returning Pokèmon with a "rigorous scientific analysis" (not really) of each:

1. Caterpie, Metapod, Butterfree:

Role in SM1: 3-form Grass type
Appearances in XY: 3 x Caterpie-Metapod, 2 x Butterfree
Appearances in BW: 0

Alternatives: Bulbasaur-Venusaur (Neglected since BW save for Venusaur EX), Turtwig-Torterra (Neglected since BW, only Gen IV starter not featured in XY)

Grade: C-. Though neglected through Gen V, Gen VI more than made up for the Caterpie line's absence. That being said, the alternatives *did* each get BW prints and the saturation of Venusaur EXs took some attention away from Bulbasaur neglect.

2. Paras-Parasect


Role in SM1: 2-form grass
Appearances in XY: 2
Appearances in BW: 0

Alternatives: Scyther-Scizor (Scyther neglected since BW), Sunkern-Sunflora (Neglected since DP), Deerling-Sawsbuck (Sawsbuck severely neglected since BW), Dwebble-Crustle (neglected since BW), Lileep-Cradily (Neglected since BW)
Grade: D. Paras is way too recent to get more prints when we are waiting on several neglected Pokèmon. Gets a pass for being neglected itself through Gen IV

3. Growlithe-Arcanine

Role in SM1: 2-form Fire type
Appearances in XY: 2 x Growlithe, 2 x Arcanine + 1 BREAK
Appearances in BW: 3 x Growlithe, 2 x Arcanine

Alternatives: Darumaka-Darmanitan (neglected since BW).

Grade: D-. Arguably, Darumaka isn't neglected seeing as it has only missed 1 Gen since appearing, nonetheless-Growlithe-Arcanine had earned a break.

4. Torkoal


Role in SM1: 1 -form Fire type
Appearances in XY: 1 + "Team Magma's Torkoal"
Appearances in BW: 1

Alternatives: None

Grade: A-. Torkoal is not an overused Pokèmon nor does it have a neglected alternative.

5. Psyduck-Golduck

Role in SM1: 2-form water type
Appearances in XY: 1 + Golduck BREAK
Appearances in BW: 2

Alternatives: Squirtle-Wartortle(?) (neglected since BW, however-undesirable as incomplete line), Wailmer-Wailord (Wailmer neglected since BW), Tirtouga-Carracosta (Neglected since BW).

Grade: B. Not Necessarily overused,simply too recent to already getting new cards.


6. Shellder-Cloyster

Role in SM1: 2-form water type
Appearances in XY: 4 x shellder, 3 x cloyster
Appearances in BW: 0

Alternatives: Squirtle-Wartortle(?) (neglected since BW, however-undesirable as incomplete line), Wailmer-Wailord (Wailmer neglected since BW), Tirtouga-Carracosta (Neglected since BW).

Grade: C+. Similar situation to Psyduck-Golduck except neglected in BW and overused in XY leading to a slightly lower grade

7. Lapras

Role in SM1: Basic UR water type (GX).
Appearances in XY: 2
Appearances in BW: 3

Alternatives: Delibird (Neglected since BW), Basculin (neglected since BW), Cryogonal (Neglected since BW)

Grade: D. Although Lapras gets plenty of love in both Gen V and VI, it gets a pass as there are really no neglected alternatives that fit the mantle of GX.

8. Zubat-Crobat

Role in SM1: 3-form psychic type
Appearances in XY: 2 x Zubat, 2 x Golbat, 1 x Crobat
Appearances in BW: 1 x Zubat, 1 x Golbat, 2 x Crobat

Alternatives: Abra-Alakazam [ :( ].

Grade: B+. Zubat-Crobat are used pretty sparingly and there are as-yet no truly neglected 3-stage psychic types (that can be used) neglected enough to gripe about. Solid pass.

9. Espeon

Role in SM1: Stage 1 UR Psychic type GX
Appearances in XY: 1 (+full art)
Appearances in BW: 3

Alternatives: Darmanitan zen(?)

Grade: B. Espeon has plenty of love and arguably there are many stage-1 psychic types more in need of a card than it but Espeon is exceptional in that it evolved from a necessarily different type (specifically colorless) and is an Eeveelution. As such, there is no solid alternative except maybe Darmanitan (zen) as it a. Is a stage 1 psychic than evolves from a different type and b. has an alternative form. However, Espeon's role is simply too niche for anything other than a pass and more circumstances should have been different.

10. Makuhita-Hariyama

Role in SM1: 2-form fighting type
Appearances in XY: 1
Appearances in: BW: 2

Alternatives: Onix-Steelix (Neglected as an evolutionary line since BW), Phanpy-Donphan (Neglected since BW), Cranidos-Rampardos (Neglected since DP), Throh+Sawk(?)(Neglected since BW), Archen-Archeops (neglected since BW).

Grade: F. Fossils were making a comeback and we still left XY with one neglected since Gen IV!, there were at least 3 better choices than the very fairly treated Makuhita line. Throh and Sawk are arguable since although they are not a basic and Stage 1 to fit the same role, they nonetheless would need to appear in a pair

11. Sandile-Krookodile

Role in SM1: 3-form Dark type
Appearances in XY: 2 x Sandile, 2 x Krokorok, 2 x Krookodile
Appearances in BW: 4 x Sandile, 4 x Krokorok, 5 x Krookodile


Alternatives: None.

Grade: A-. 3-stage Dark types are few and far-between (Deino-Hydreigon being a notable other, however this line is far from neglected). The fact that the dark types use a fairly well-represented 3-stage form aside from a distribution of more neglected 1 and 2 form dark types is arguable a lost opportunity. Nonetheless as far as the specific role goes, it is one of the only options.

12. Skarmory

Role in SM1: 1-form metal type
Appearances in XY: 3 + full art
Appearances in BW 3

Alternatives: None.

Grade: C. Mawile, Jirachi, Dialga and Palkia are all arguably more neglected than Skarmory and therefore could fill the same role- however all made at least 1 appearance each in XY and are far from neglected in their own right.

13. Kangaskhan

Role in SM1: 1-form colorless
Appearances in XY: 2+ full art + Mega + sr Mega
Appearances in BW: 1

Alternatives: Ditto (Neglected since BW save for XY promo), Castform (neglected since DP), Kecleon (Neglected since BW), Zangoose(?) (Neglected since DP save for 'Team Magma's Zangoose')

Grade: F. Kangaskhan fills a role with at least 2 better alternatives and several alternatives not even listed (eg. Audino is more a more neglected colorless basic) despite making several XY appearances and appearing as recently as XY10.

14. Eevee

Role in SM1: Basic colorless, unique evolution dynamic
Appearances in XY: 3
Appearances in BW: 8

Alternatives: Castform(?) (Neglected since DP) Kecleon? (Neglected since BW).

Grade: C+. Eevee is uniquely Eevee and so gets a pass despite arguable overuse of it and its evolutionary forms, it also accounts for 2 of the stage 1 GX forms featured in SM1. Minimal tweaking could arguably fix this and we cound instead have multi-form shenagigans with, say, Kecleon or Castform or even Arceus. However, Eevee's role is nonetheless unique as is and therefore get's a solid pass.

15. Spinda

Role in SM1: 1-form colorless
Appearances in XY: 1
Appearances in BW: 2

Alternatives: Ditto (Neglected since BW -XY promo), Castform (neglected since DP), Kecleon (Neglected since BW), Zangoose(?) (Neglected since DP save for 'Team Magma's Zangoose')

Grade: F. See Kangaskhan above. Not as overused as Kangaskhan but not as liked either. Could have held out the spotlight longer for what was a perfect niche for Kecleon.

16. Lillipup-Stoutland


Role in SM1: 3-form colorless
Appearances in XY: 1
Appearances in BW: 4

Alternatives: None.

Grade: B+. Until babies are brought back, Lillipup-Stoutland was arguably the best choice for a 3-form colorless. Assuming a 3 form colorless was necessary.

17. Pinsir

Role in SM1: 1-form grass
Appearances in XY: 2
Appearances in BW: 1

Alternatives: Heracross(?)(EX in XY), Scyther(?) (Neglected since BW), Carnivine (neglected since BW)

Grade D+. Heracross was due for a non-EX, meanwhile Pinsir's inclusion technically means further neglect for its Mega evolution. The inclusion of Scizor EX in XY10 means fan-favourite Scyther has been missing too long, perhaps a Scyther sans Scizor was worth considering.

18. Surskit-Masquerain

Role in SM1: 2-form grass
Appearances in XY: 1
Appearances in BW: 2

Alternatives: Scyther-Scizor (Scyther neglected since BW), Sunkern-Sunflora (Neglected since DP), Deerling-Sawsbuck (Sawsbuck severely neglected since BW), Dwebble-Crustle (neglected since BW)

Grade F. Like Paras above, but worse.

19. Poliwag-Poliwrath

Role in SM1: 3-form Water type
Appearances in XY: 2 (+ 1 x Politoed)
Appearances in BW: 0

Alternatives: Squirtle-Blastoise (Squirtle+Wartortle Neglected since BW)

Grade: B-. Not deserving of a low score let alone a fail but loses points for implicitly neglecting Politoed and taking a place that could have been for squirtle (Though Blastoise's overuse makes neglect of Squirtle increasingly easy)

20. Corsola

Role in SM1: 1 -form water type
Appearances in XY: 2
Appearances in BW: 0

Alternatives: Delibird (Neglected since BW), Basculin (neglected since BW), Cryogonal (Neglected since BW), Qwilfish(?)

Grade: F. Both Qwilfish and Corsola were neglected in BW yet Corsola got 2 XY prints to Qwilfish's 1 and that was back in XY2. Ignoring that, there were at least 3 other better alternatives (Same as Lapras except without the GX issue).

21. Wingull-Pelipper

Role in SM1: 2-form water type
Appearances in XY: 1
Appearances in BW: 0

Squirtle-Wartortle(?) (neglected since BW, however-undesirable as incomplete line), Wailmer-Wailord (Wailmer neglected since BW), Tirtouga-Carracosta (Neglected since BW).

Grade: A. Wingull is technically more neglected than many of its alternatives. Enough even to forgive the recency of the last print.

22. Chinchou-Lanturn

Role in SM1: 2-form lightning type
Appearances in XY: 1
Appearances in BW: 2

Alternatives: None.

Grade: A. Not neglected, not overused and not placeholding against a better contender as of yet.

23. Drowsee-Hypno

Role in SM1: 3-form fighting type
Appearances in XY: 1
Appearances in BW: 3

Alternatives: Ekans-Arbok(?), Grimer-Muk(?) (neglected since BW, Alolan form in SM1), Chingling-Chimecho (Neglected since DP), Yamask-Cofagrigus (BW)

Grade: D. Most of Drowzee-Hypno's alternatives have 'buts' attached: Ekans-Arbok were also neglected in BW and only got one XY print waaay bak in XY1...but it still got an XY print, Grimer and Muk are due for a reprint...but have their Alolan form featured, Chimecho is severely neglected and could take this role if paired with Chingling...but Chingling is a baby type which are 'disqualified' for now, Yamask and Cofagrigus should probably have gotten the place over Drowzee-Hypno. Weak pass.

24: Roggenrola-Gigalith

Role in SM1: 2-form psychic type
Appearances in XY: 3 x Drowzee, 2 x Hypno
Appearances in BW: 0

Alternatives: Aron-Aggron(?) (Aron, Lairon neglected since BW save for 'Team Magma's Aron/Lairon'),

Grade: A. Not overused, technically a better contender than it's most neglected alternative.

25. Umbreon

Role in SM1: Stage 1 UR Dark type GX
Appearances in XY: 2 (+full art)
Appearances in BW: 4

Alternatives: None(?)

Grade: C+. See Espeon. Loses points for being slightly more overused

26. Carvanha-Sharpedo


Role in SM1: 2-form dark type
Appearances in XY: 1 x Carvanha, 2 x Sharpedo (including 'Team Aqua's____')
Appearances in BW: 1

Alternatives: Houndour-Houndoom (Houndour neglected since BW)

Grade: C. Nearly a dead heat with the alternative, loses due to Houndour's neglect. Maintains a steady pass.

27. Snubbull-Granbull

Role in SM1: 2-form Fairy type
Appearances in XY: 5 x Snubbull, 4 x Granbull
Appearances in BW: 0

Alternatives: None.

Grade: B. Fairly overused in XY but neglected through BW, no fairy is thus far left behind.

28. Dratini-Dragonite

Role in SM1: 3-form Dragon type
Appearances in XY: 1 x Dratini, 1 x Dragonair, 4 x Dragonite + 2 Full arts
Appearances in BW: 3 x Dratini, 3 x Dragonair, 2 x Dragonite

Alternatives: None.

Grade: A-. Dragonite is technically overused however there is limited choice for 3-form dragon types and so far they are roughly evenly spread.

29. Tauros

Role in SM1: Basic UR colorless type GX
Appearances in XY: 2
Appearances in BW: 0

Alternatives: Ditto (Neglected since BW save for XY promo), Castform (neglected since DP), Kecleon (Neglected since BW), Zangoose(?) (Neglected since DP save for 'Team Magma's Zangoose')

Grade: A-. None of the alternatives are particularly suited for GX. Tauros being neglected through BW also helps
--------------

And that's my take on it anyway:



*The closest to an exception this is Alolan Grimer-Muk seeing as Grimer-Muk have been neglected since BW Plasma Freeze. However, Alolan Grimer and Muk are Gen VII Pokèmon, not the neglected Gen I Pokèmon. No points for effort.
 
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First off all, Ivysaur and Venusaur were in the rocket era, but they were promos which were harder to come by in the wizards era. Second off, they were in Legendary Collection, it was Wartortle and Blastoise who were not (they were filled in with the Dark Team Rocket versions). You're right though that Dark Explorers was the last time we saw this line show up.

From a competitive aspect if the EX's are too slow, then so likely would stage 2 evolution lines.

With that said I agree with you, I feel both the Venusaur and Blastoise lines should have been in Evolutions. They were just as great as Charizard in the heyday, perhaps more so.

Oops. You're right about the Legendary Collection. I didn't remember the Venusaur line was there, but I just checked in bulbapedia. I do remember the Dark Blastoise line from the Dark Raichu theme deck... I guess that's my point. That "Turmoil" theme deck featured Dark Blastoise and Dark Raichu, while the other theme deck "Lava" featured Charizard. Sadly Venusaur was left out again.

TBH the XY Evolutions set isn't that great, nostalgia aside. Beedrill is slower and weaker than first anticipated, even with Forest of the Giant Plants. Mewtwo's Psychic attack is good but not great, Gyarados is just pretty-looking and nothing more, Dugtrio is kind of a weaker version to its XY base set counterpart... Images aside, most cards from this set had nothing special. Still, I would have loved to see a Venusaur and Blastoise line, with updated abilities and/or cheaper energy first attacks.
 
Well the main reason I hoped to see Blastoise again was for rain dance resurrection, which we haven't had since the Plasma sets were moved out of standard.

I agree with you that aside from nostalgia Evolutions was a pretty weak set.

Venusaur seems to get left out the most out of all the starters. I mean it got left behind for the Evolution ETB boxes and while I'd like to say it wouldn't have happened if they released a Flashfire ETB or two, it still probably would have happened.
 
Apologies if it's been touched on, put ten pages is a lot to read through!

Great spreadsheet Puurloin, an interesting read through, but what would interest me more is quantities. Does anyone know of a list of quantity rather than recency?
 
Apologies if it's been touched on, put ten pages is a lot to read through!

Great spreadsheet Puurloin, an interesting read through, but what would interest me more is quantities. Does anyone know of a list of quantity rather than recency?
Thanks!

That's actually a really good idea. I'll look into adding Total Number of English Prints per Pokemon in a future update. :D
 
Thanks!

That's actually a really good idea. I'll look into adding Total Number of English Prints per Pokemon in a future update. :D

Would just be really cool to see who needs to more printed love!

As a pokédex card collector, I like to see alternate forms n such, and I too want to see Sawsbuck get a new card! In another season form!
 
It's that time again! Sun & Moon has released, and I've updated my spreadsheet.

Here is the breakdown!

In Sun & Moon...
56 Pokemon were last seen in XY sets.
54 Pokemon have never had cards before.

Obviously this set was going to have a lot of new faces -- and since SM is the new era, a large number of Gen7 Pokemon have yet to appear so they can spread them out across the first few SM sets.

Perhaps less predictable was the lack of any BW-and-earlier Pokemon. The oldest returning Pokemon were those in the Stoutland line, which was last seen in XY base.

As of now, 46 Pokemon remain in BW sets, 18 Pokemon in PLAT sets, 10 Pokemon in HGSS sets, 10 Pokemon in D&P sets... and Kadabra.
 
Thanks for updating this. I too hope for Bulba and Ivysaur this time around. Do you think they actually track something like this? I know there are gonna be unpopular pokemon but it's only fair they all get some love ...
 
Thanks for updating this. I too hope for Bulba and Ivysaur this time around. Do you think they actually track something like this? I know there are gonna be unpopular pokemon but it's only fair they all get some love ...
Around the time I began doing this, the Awakening of the Psychic King set came out (our Fates Collide), and it had a ton of returning faces. Moreso than any XY set leading up to that point.

I'm not taking credit, of course (I doubt any TPCi people read this thread :p), but I think around that time it began to be painfully obvious to everyone that we were seeing the same faces over and over again. Since then we've seen some significant returns, like the old Fossil Pokemon. If they weren't tracking it closely before, I think they definitely are now.

That said, Sun & Moon base did have a lot of Pokemon that we had seen just 1-2 sets earlier. So they do still seem to be "stuck" on certain Pokemon, which makes sense from a business perspective I guess, since it guarantees fans of certain Pokemon will keep coming back. In the long run I think it hurts them though, which is why I think so many of the mid-XY sets felt so stale.
 
With the reveal of SM2 today, we've learned of the eminent return of a few neglected Pokemon!
  • Castform, last seen in 2008's Legends Awakened
  • Wailmer, last seen in 2012's Dragons Exalted
  • Delibird, last seen in 2012's Boundaries Crossed
So happy to see Castform again. :D
 
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