Dark Blastoise 4 — what does this card actually do?
This card has 70 HP, a top attack printed at 40 damage and a Lightning weakness.
Water · Stage 2 · Legendary Collection · measured against 20,444 cards on file — card data read July 28, 2026
What does Dark Blastoise 4 do in a game?
Dark Blastoise 4 is a Water Pokémon card with 70 HP, printed as Stage 2.
Its strongest attack, Rocket Tackle, is printed at 40 damage for 3 Energy — 13 damage per Energy card.
Because of the Lightning weakness, any Lightning attack printed at 35 damage or more removes it in a single turn.
Dark Blastoise 4Legendary Collection
Dark Blastoise 4 performance summary
70 HP · Water · Stage 2 · retreat 2 · Lightning weakness ×2
as of July 28, 2026
damage per Energy card, among cards whose cheapest attack costs 2
Strongest on Retreat lightness — top 54.7% of the archive. Weakest on Hit points — bottom 25.7%.
Each spoke is this card's place among every card in the archive that prints that figure. Further out is stronger — retreat and attack cost are shown as lightness, so a cheap card reaches outward. Counted July 28, 2026.
| Measure | Percentile | Printed value |
|---|---|---|
| Hit points | 25.7% | 70 HP |
| Top printed damage | 42.7% | 40 damage |
| Energy efficiency | 28.4% | 13 per Energy |
| Retreat lightness | 45.3% | 2 Energy |
| Attack cost lightness | 43.8% | 2 Energy |
2 attacks printed on the card. The badge is the Energy it asks for.
Among the 17,290 cards in every card in the archive that carry printed HP, this one is number 10,622 at 70 HP.
Dark Blastoise 470 HPPrinted HP
The ceiling of this archive is 380 HP — 310 HP above this card.
Mega Emboar ex 273380 HPWhat stands out on Dark Blastoise 4
- Hit points 70 HP puts it in the ~70 band, where 38.6% of 17,290 cards with printed HP sit.
- Energy It returns 13 damage per Energy card against 32.5 for cards whose cheapest attack costs 2.
- Weakness A Lightning attack printed at 35 damage or more removes it in a single turn.
Dark Blastoise 4 at a glance
- What it is. A Water Pokémon card with 70 HP printed as Stage 2, printed in Legendary Collection.
- What it can do. 2 attacks printed on the card, the strongest at 40 damage for 3 Energy.
- What it fears. A Lightning weakness at ×2, which means 35 printed damage is enough to remove it.
- What it costs to move. 2 Energy to retreat, discarded from the card itself.
- Where it can be played. Unlimited only.
- What this page does not claim. Deck lists, tournament results and win rates are not published here, because the card files this site reads do not contain them.
What do the attacks on Dark Blastoise 4 cost, and what do they hit for?
The card prints 2 attacks. The strongest asks for 3 Energy and returns 40 damage, which is 13 damage for every Energy card attached.
| Attack | Energy cost | Cards of Energy | Printed damage | Damage per Energy | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hydrocannon | 2 Water | 2 | 30+ | 15 | Does 30 damage plus 20 more damage for each Water Energy attached to Dark Blastoise but not used to pay for this attack's Energy cost. You can't add more than 40 damage in this way. |
| Rocket Tackle | 1 Water + 2 Colorless | 3 | 40 | 13 | Dark Blastoise does 10 damage to itself. Flip a coin. If heads, prevent all damage done to Dark Blastoise during your opponent's next turn. (Any other effects of attacks still happen.) |
Retreating costs a further 2 Energy, discarded from this card, and that cost is paid on top of anything in the table.
What each attack asks a deck to attach before it can be used, drawn as the symbols printed on the card.
One Energy card attaches per turn, so the number of symbols is also the number of turns the attack waits.
Why one of these damage figures carries a symbol
A number on a Pokémon card is not always the number that lands.
- Hydrocannon is printed as 30+, so the printed number is a floor — the attack deals at least that much, and the sentence beside it says what adds to it.
How does Dark Blastoise 4 compare with every other card?
Each bar below is the whole archive cut by one printed figure, with the band this card falls into marked. A number on its own says nothing about whether it is high or low — the shape of the archive does.
The ceiling of this archive is Mega Emboar ex at 380 HP — every bar here is measured against it.
This card prints 70 HP, which is 18% of that ceiling.
Every figure in this panel is counted the same way: from the card files this site reads, read July 28, 2026, over the 17,290 cards that print an HP figure. Each bar is measured against the tallest HP in the archive, 380 HP.
17,290 cards in the archive carry a printed HP figure. This one has 70 HP.
Cards in the ~70 band typically print 23 damage and ask 1 Energy to retreat.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| ~70 — this card | 38.6% | 6,669 cards |
| 80~120 | 33.1% | 5,725 cards |
| 130~180 | 15.5% | 2,679 cards |
| 190~230 | 6.6% | 1,148 cards |
| 240~280 | 3.3% | 567 cards |
| 290~330 | 2.4% | 412 cards |
| 340+ | 0.5% | 90 cards |
16,246 cards print damage on at least one attack. The highest on this card is 40.
Cards in the 40~60 band typically have 101 HP and ask 1 Energy to retreat.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| ~30 | 42.7% | 6,938 cards |
| 40~60 — this card | 22.0% | 3,566 cards |
| 70~120 | 21.8% | 3,535 cards |
| 130~180 | 9.0% | 1,461 cards |
| 190~250 | 3.8% | 621 cards |
| 260+ | 0.8% | 125 cards |
17,262 cards have at least one attack with an Energy cost. The cheapest on this card asks 2 Energy.
Cards whose cheapest attack costs 2 typically have 116 HP and print 65 damage.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1.8% | 304 cards |
| 1 | 54.4% | 9,392 cards |
| 2 — this card | 26.4% | 4,565 cards |
| 3 | 14.7% | 2,533 cards |
| 4 | 2.4% | 421 cards |
| 5 | 0.3% | 47 cards |
17,240 cards carry a retreat cost. This one costs 2 Energy to retreat.
Cards with a retreat cost of 2 typically have 132 HP and print 79 damage.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 5.3% | 914 cards |
| 1 | 49.3% | 8,503 cards |
| 2 — this card | 28.6% | 4,926 cards |
| 3 | 12.6% | 2,168 cards |
| 4 | 4.2% | 729 cards |
That is where Dark Blastoise 4 stands highest on HP — number 26 of 100 cards in Legendary Collection. Cut the archive a different way and the answer moves, which is what the bars below are for.
- Hit points 70 HP
middle half 60–130 HP - Top printed damage 40 damage
middle half 20–90 damage
- Lowest to highest printed in the archive
- Middle half of the archive
- This card
Each row is stretched from the lowest printed figure to the highest, so the two rows are not on one shared scale — read each row on its own.
Open the group this card falls into
Back to summaryIs Dark Blastoise 4 efficient for the Energy it asks for?
Printed damage on its own says nothing — a 40 damage attack that needs 3 Energy and one that needs two are different cards. Dividing one by the other puts every attack on the same scale.
Each bar is what cards asking that much Energy typically print, divided by the Energy they ask for. The number beside the bar is that figure.
Cards whose cheapest attack costs 2 typically return 32.5 damage per Energy card. This card returns 13.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Energy | 49.0 | 49 damage typical |
| 2 Energy | 32.5 | 65 damage typical |
| 3 Energy | 34.7 | 104 damage typical |
| 4 Energy | 27.8 | 111 damage typical |
| 5 Energy | 41.8 | 209 damage typical |
| Dark Blastoise 4 — this card | 13.0 | 40 damage for 3 Energy |
Further right is a costlier attack, further up is a harder-hitting one, so the cheap and heavy corner is top left. The size of a grey dot is how many cards sit at that Energy cost.
| Group | Typical printed damage | Damage per Energy card | Cards in this group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest attack costs 0 Energy | 45 | — | 304 |
| Cheapest attack costs 1 Energy | 49 | 49 | 9,392 |
| Cheapest attack costs 2 Energy | 65 | 33 | 4,565 |
| Cheapest attack costs 3 Energy | 104 | 35 | 2,533 |
| Cheapest attack costs 4 Energy | 111 | 28 | 421 |
| Cheapest attack costs 5 Energy | 209 | 42 | 47 |
| Hydrocannon | — | 15 | — |
| Rocket Tackle | — | 13 | — |
Where this sits once the archive is cut by damage instead
The bars above cut the archive by what an attack asks for. Cut the same archive by what an attack prints and the groups come out differently — the damage ranges on record are gathered on one page, which is where a figure like 40 is read as high or low rather than merely large.
What does being a Water card do for Dark Blastoise 4?
Type decides two things at once — which cards take double damage from this one, and which cards deal double to it. Both are read from the weakness printed on each group, not from a rule of thumb.
17,249 cards carry an energy type. The note under each name is the weakness printed most often on that group.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Psychic | 13.5% | 2,335 cards |
| Water — this card | 14.1% | 2,435 cards |
| Colorless | 12.6% | 2,173 cards |
| Fire | 9.1% | 1,574 cards |
| Fighting | 10.9% | 1,884 cards |
| Lightning | 8.8% | 1,520 cards |
| Grass | 13.8% | 2,387 cards |
| Metal | 5.4% | 925 cards |
| Darkness | 7.2% | 1,249 cards |
| Dragon | 3.1% | 530 cards |
| Fairy | 1.4% | 237 cards |
Read from the weakness printed on each group. The first row is this card; the rest are groups that most often print a Water weakness.
What being a Water card is worth
Groups that most often print a Water weakness: Fire (1,574 cards). Against those, this card's printed damage counts double. Going the other way, Water cards are themselves most exposed to Lightning.
What knocks out Dark Blastoise 4 in one hit, and what does it knock out?
Weakness doubles the damage a Lightning attack deals to this card, so the bar it has to clear is 35 printed damage rather than 70.
Flaaffy40 damage40 damage becomes 80 against this card
Dark Blastoise 470 HPWhy this card was picked to stand opposite
Of the 871 cards in the archive that can remove Dark Blastoise 4 in a single attack, this one clears the bar by the smallest margin — 40 printed damage against a bar of 35. Anything printed higher removes it just as surely, so this is where the line actually sits, and this print is legal in Standard play today.
Read from the weakness printed in the lower-left corner of the card.
| Card | Set | HP | Printed damage | After weakness |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pikachu ex (57) | Ascended Heroes | 200 | 300 | 600 |
| Pikachu ex (277) | Ascended Heroes | 200 | 300 | 600 |
| Pikachu ex (57) | Surging Sparks | 200 | 300 | 600 |
| Pikachu ex (219) | Surging Sparks | 200 | 300 | 600 |
| Pikachu ex (238) | Surging Sparks | 200 | 300 | 600 |
| Pikachu ex (247) | Surging Sparks | 200 | 300 | 600 |
70 HP against a Lightning ×2 weakness means any Lightning attack printed at 35 damage or more is enough. 877 cards in the archive clear that bar.
80 HP
Ninetales [12]
80 HP
Charmeleon [24]
80 HP
Ninetales [13]
80 HP
Charmeleon [35]
80 HP
Dark Charizard [4]
80 HP
Dark Charizard [21]
724 cards in the archive are weak to Water and sit inside the damage this card can deal. Point at a card to see it full size.Tap a card to open its page.
What is Dark Blastoise as a Pokémon, across every card it has been printed on?
Dark Blastoise 4 is one print of Dark Blastoise. The figures below are about the Pokémon rather than this single card — how many times it has been printed, how tough those prints run, and how many of them can still be played.
Every Dark Blastoise print on record, split by whether it can still be entered in Standard play.
Legality is read from the print rather than from the Pokémon, so an older copy of the same Pokémon is a different card for tournament purposes.
Back to summaryWhat has to be in play before Dark Blastoise 4 can be?
Dark Blastoise evolves from Dark Wartortle, so the whole line has to be built before this card reaches the field.
- This card cannot be played from your hand onto an empty spot — it goes on top of Dark Wartortle.
- The line runs 3 stages, so the first card has to be in play 2 turns before this one can be.
- Every print in the line shares Pokédex number 009.
Every print of a stage is counted, not just the one shown in the chain above, so the bar is the ceiling that stage has reached rather than one card from it.
Is this the strongest Dark Blastoise print, and can the older ones still be played?
3 prints carry this name in the archive. They share a Pokémon but not a card — printed HP, printed damage and tournament legality all move from one print to the next.
Bar height and the number above each bar = highest HP that year; the two digits below = the year.
| Set | Regulation mark | Standard | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dark Blastoise 03/82 | Team Rocket | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
| Dark Blastoise 004/110 | Legendary Collection | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
| Dark Blastoise 20/82 | Team Rocket | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
0 of the 3 prints listed here are legal in Standard play. An older print of the same Pokémon is a different card for legality, because legality is read from the print rather than from the name — so owning the cheap old copy does not always mean you can enter with it.
Back to summaryWhat can you use instead of Dark Blastoise 4?
Every card below asks a deck for the same kind of slot, so the comparison is between what they print, not what they cost.
| Card | Set | HP | Top damage | Retreat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blastoise | Base | 100 | 40 | 3 |
| Blastoise | Expedition Base Set | 100 | 40 | 2 |
| Dark Blastoise | Team Rocket | 70 | 40 | 2 |
| Politoed | Skyridge | 110 | 70 | 2 |
| Feraligatr | Neo Genesis | 100 | 50 | 3 |
| Politoed | Neo Discovery | 100 | 40 | 3 |
This card itself is 70 HP, 40 top damage and 2 retreat, and every card here is Water like it.
Back to summaryWhich other cards share the Pokémon behind Dark Blastoise 4?
Every card below carries the same Pokédex number as this one, so they are the same Pokémon printed as different cards — different stages, different mechanics and different names all sit in this group.
100
Blastoise [2]
100
Blastoise [4]
140
Blastoise [137]
270
Blastoise & Piplup-GX [215]
70
Dark Blastoise [3]
110
Blastoise δ [2]
120
Blastoise [1]
100
Blastoise [36]
100
Blastoise [37]
180
Blastoise-EX [142]
100
Blastoise [2]
330
Blastoise ex [200]
270
Blastoise & Piplup-GX [253]
240
Blastoise-GX [218]
120
Blastoise [2]
270
Blastoise & Piplup-GX [214]
270
Blastoise & Piplup-GX [38]
70
Dark Blastoise [20]
220
M Blastoise-EX [102]
130
Blastoise [2]
140
Blastoise [31]
220
M Blastoise-EX [30]
220
M Blastoise-EX [18]
160
Blastoise [25]
140
Blastoise [16]
220
M Blastoise-EX [22]
330
Blastoise ex [184]
240
Blastoise-GX [35]
180
Blastoise-EX [17]
150
Radiant Blastoise [18]
180
Blastoise-EX [XY30]
180
Blastoise-EX [29]
220
Blastoise V [SWSH101]
180
Blastoise-EX [21]
330
Blastoise ex [30]
170
Blastoise [17]
37 cards in the archive share this Pokédex number (#009). The badge on each card is its printed HP, the figure under the name is its hardest printed attack, and the name sits under the picture. Point at a card to see it full size.Tap a card to open its page.
What was printed next to Dark Blastoise 4 in Legendary Collection?
A card is met inside a set, not on its own, and the number on it is the order that set gave it. The cards either side are the ones a collector actually turns past to reach this one.
80
Alakazam [1]
70
Articuno [2]
120
Charizard [3]
70
Dark Dragonite [5]
60
Dark Persian [6]
70
Dark Raichu [7]
60
Dark Slowbro [8]
60
Dark Vaporeon [9]
70
Flareon [10]
These are the cards numbered either side of #4 in Legendary Collection. The badge on each card is its printed HP. Point at a card to see it full size.Tap a card to open its page.
Which rules apply to Dark Blastoise 4, and where can it be played?
Two kinds of rule meet on one card — the sentence printed on the card face, and the rulebook clauses that apply because of what the card carries.
| Clause | What the rulebook says | Cards it applies to | Share of the archive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weakness | Some Pokemon have Weakness or Resistance to Pokemon of certain types, marked in the lower-left corner of the card. | 16,744 cards | 81.9% |
| Retreat | Retreat your Active Pokemon (only once per turn). | 17,244 cards | 84.3% |
| Energy per turn | You can attach Energy just once each turn! | 17,180 cards | 84.0% |
Counted across 20,444 English cards. A clause applies to this card because the card carries the property the clause names, not because we judged it to.
| Format | Status | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Not listed | This card is not listed for this format |
| Expanded | Not listed | This card is not listed for this format |
| Unlimited | Legal | Can be played in this format |
Read from the format list recorded with the card. Formats rotate on a schedule set by the organiser, and that schedule is not published on this page.
Where this card can be played
This card is legal in Unlimited play. It was released on May 24, 2002.
Dark Blastoise 4 in depth — what these figures add up to
Three readings of the same card, side by side: what it costs to get going, where it sits among the cards it will be compared with, and what takes it off the field.
What it asks a deck for
- Its hardest attack, Rocket Tackle, needs 3 Energy attached. Energy attaches once a turn, so that attack waits 3 turns from an empty card.
- That works out at 13 damage for every Energy card attached.
- Moving it out of the active spot costs 2 more Energy, discarded from the card itself.
- It cannot start the game in play — Dark Wartortle has to be on the field first.
Where its HP stands, cut four ways
What actually removes it
- A Lightning attack printed at 35 damage removes it in a single turn — that is the bar, not its 70 HP.
- 877 cards in the archive clear that bar.
- Going the other way, it removes 724 cards in one attack.
Dark Blastoise 4 card record
| Hit points | 70 HP | Type | Water |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weakness | Lightning ×2 | Retreat cost | 2 Energy |
| Evolves from | Dark Wartortle | Card type | Stage 2 |
| Pokédex number | #009 | Set | Legendary Collection |
| Card number | 4 of 110 | Series | Other |
| Released | May 24, 2002 | Rarity | Rare Holo |
| Illustrator | Mitsuhiro Arita | ||
| Tournament legality | Unlimited only | ||
Read from the printed card face, the set listing and the official format list.
What does Dark Blastoise 4 cost?
This page is about what the card does. The figure below is the one number worth carrying across, read on August 14, 2026.
Dark Blastoise 4 — frequently asked questions
How much damage does it take to knock out Dark Blastoise 4?
What is the strongest attack on Dark Blastoise 4?
What is the retreat cost of Dark Blastoise 4?
What does the + after the damage on Hydrocannon mean?
Can an older Dark Blastoise print be played in a tournament?
What does Dark Blastoise evolve from?
Can Dark Blastoise 4 be played in a tournament?
Does this page say how good Dark Blastoise 4 is in a deck?
Where these card facts come from
Card facts are read once from openly published card files and do not change between readings — a printed card cannot gain HP. The places below are where the same information can be checked. Last updated: July 28, 2026 — the counts and rankings on this page were taken from the card files read on that day.
Primary official source
First-party official sources — the body that issues the data itself, such as a government agency, a statutory register or a rights holder publishing its own records.
Industry source
Second-party sources — marketplaces, trade associations, research institutes and companies that compile data about the market.