Summary
- Drednaw failed to make a splash due to its awkward evolution, high energy cost, and lackluster damage output.
- Galvantula struggles to find a place in Lightning-Type decks, offering either disruptive play or little utility.
- Primeape's new variant falls short compared to its older version, lacking in damage and synergy with popular decks.
Excluding Special Illustration and other rare variants, Pokemon Pocket’s Mythical Island introduced 68 new and reworked cards, with Mew ex as the featured one. The mini-set was generally well-received, and players seem pleased with its impact on the metagame, encouraging more creative deck-building. However, not every card in the Mythical Island expansion was a hit. In fact, some were outright disappointing Pokemon that will likely be forgotten in a few months. Here’s a list of those “not-so-great” cards from Pokemon Pocket’s Mythical Island mini-set.

Pokemon TCG Pocket: Best Full Art Cards, Ranked
These full art cards in Pokemon Pocket deserve the trophy for the most exquisite designs in the current expansion pack, Genetic Apex.
The List’s Criteria
- Abilities and effects: One of the main criteria for this ranking is the card’s text, effect, and damage. Cards with mediocre abilities or Energy-heavy attacks are considered less favorable.
- Synergies with current META decks: Cards with little to no synergy with top-performing decks or those without new synergies are ranked lower.
- Fanbase reception: The overall reactions to the cards in the Mythical Island expansion have also influenced these rankings.
A case could be made for defending all these Pokemon when used in the right deck and played at the right moment. However, the following list focuses on their overall performance, ignoring each card's "conditional success."
6 Drednaw
Drawback: Below-Average Attack ROI
The introduction of cards like Vaporeon in Mythical Island and the rise of Gyarados ex might create the illusion that there’s more room for cards like Drednaw. However, that’s just excessive optimism. Drednaw has failed to find a place in the current metagame for several reasons—all listed below:
- Drednaw is a Stage One Pokemon. The player must spend time and effort evolving it, which isn’t worth it in most META Water-Type decks.
- Drednaw requires three Water Energies. In exchange, it only deals 70 damage and has a “chance” to discard one Energy from the opponent’s Active Pokemon. That’s not a tempting trade-off.
- Drednaw isn’t Retreat-friendly. Even if the player uses their Leaf on Drednaw, it still requires one additional Energy to retreat, thanks to its hefty three-Energy Retreat cost.
5 Galvantula
Drawback: Incongruity with the Archetype
Galvantula is facing an existential crisis in Pokemon Pocket’s current META. It’s probably wondering why it was created in the first place, as the Lightning-Type archetype has no room for this Pokemon. That said, fans have managed to build quirky decks with Galvantula, decks that can frustrate the opponent to the point of an early concession. But is that enough to save Galvantula’s status? Not really.
The issue is that Galvantula is either a game-changing play or just an annoying card to disrupt the opponent. There’s no real middle ground, which is disappointing. While the Pokemon offers consistent damage and effects, it’s not always the best choice in Lightning-Type decks, which is why it ended up on this list.