Delibird 21 — what does this card actually do?
This card has 70 HP and a Metal weakness.
Water · Basic · Team Rocket Returns · measured against 20,444 cards on file — card data read July 28, 2026
What does Delibird 21 do in a game?
Delibird 21 is a Water Pokémon card with 70 HP, printed as Basic.
Because of the Metal weakness, any Metal attack printed at 35 damage or more removes it in a single turn.
Delibird 21Team Rocket Returns
Delibird 21 performance summary
70 HP · Water · Basic · retreat 1 · Metal weakness ×2
Strongest on Retreat lightness — top 5.6% 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 |
| Retreat lightness | 94.4% | 1 Energy |
| Attack cost lightness | 43.8% | 2 Energy |
1 attack 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.
Delibird 2170 HPPrinted HP
The ceiling of this archive is 380 HP — 310 HP above this card.
Mega Emboar ex 273380 HPWhat stands out on Delibird 21
- Hit points 70 HP puts it in the ~70 band, where 38.6% of 17,290 cards with printed HP sit.
- Weakness A Metal attack printed at 35 damage or more removes it in a single turn.
- Legality 4 of the 13 prints that carry this name are legal in Standard play.
Delibird 21 at a glance
- What it is. A Water Pokémon card with 70 HP printed as Basic, printed in Team Rocket Returns.
- What it can do. 1 attack printed on the card, the strongest at 0 damage for 0 Energy.
- What it fears. A Metal weakness at ×2, which means 35 printed damage is enough to remove it.
- What it costs to move. 1 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 Delibird 21 cost, and what do they hit for?
Every attack printed on the card, with the Energy it asks for.
| Attack | Energy cost | Cards of Energy | Printed damage | Damage per Energy | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Souvenir | 2 Colorless | 2 | — | — | Flip 3 coins. If 1 of them is heads, put 4 damage counters on the Defending Pokémon. If 2 of them are heads, remove 1 damage counter from the Defending Pokémon. If all of them are heads, put 10 damage counters on the Defending Pokémon. If all of them are tails, remove all damage counters from the Defending Pokémon. |
Retreating costs a further 1 Energy, discarded from this card, and that cost is paid on top of anything in the table.
The Energy this 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.
This card places damage counters, which is not the same as dealing damage
Souvenir puts damage counters on a Pokémon instead of dealing damage to it. The two look alike on the board — one counter is ten damage — but the rules treat them apart: anything that reduces or prevents damage does not stop counters from being placed, and weakness and resistance are not applied to them either.
How does Delibird 21 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 |
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 1 Energy to retreat.
Cards with a retreat cost of 1 typically have 81 HP and print 40 damage.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 5.3% | 914 cards |
| 1 — this card | 49.3% | 8,503 cards |
| 2 | 28.6% | 4,926 cards |
| 3 | 12.6% | 2,168 cards |
| 4 | 4.2% | 729 cards |
That is where Delibird 21 stands highest on HP — number 34 of 97 cards in Team Rocket Returns. 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
- 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 summaryWhat Delibird 21 does without attacking
Delibird 21 carries 1 printed effect that work outside the attack step, so it can matter on a turn the card never attacks.
Why this sits apart from the attacks
An attack costs Energy and ends your turn. What is printed above does neither — it is available while the card is in play, so it is a different kind of cost to a deck. Attack costs are in the section above.
Gift Exchange can only be used once a turn
The words once during your turn are printed in it, which caps it at one use per turn on that one card. Two copies of the card in play are two separate Pokémon, so each carries its own use.
What does being a Water card do for Delibird 21?
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 Metal.
What knocks out Delibird 21 in one hit, and what does it knock out?
Weakness doubles the damage a Metal attack deals to this card, so the bar it has to clear is 35 printed damage rather than 70.
Bronzong40 damage40 damage becomes 80 against this card
Delibird 2170 HPWhy this card was picked to stand opposite
Of the 667 cards in the archive that can remove Delibird 21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zacian V-UNION (SWSH163) | SWSH Black Star Promos | 320 | 340 | 680 |
| Zacian V-UNION (SWSH164) | SWSH Black Star Promos | 320 | 340 | 680 |
| Zacian V-UNION (SWSH165) | SWSH Black Star Promos | 320 | 340 | 680 |
| Zacian V-UNION (SWSH166) | SWSH Black Star Promos | 320 | 340 | 680 |
| Zacian VSTAR (96) | Crown Zenith | 270 | 310 | 620 |
| Aggron VMAX (97) | Brilliant Stars | 330 | 270 | 540 |
70 HP against a Metal ×2 weakness means any Metal attack printed at 35 damage or more is enough. 675 cards in the archive clear that bar.
Back to summaryWhat is Delibird as a Pokémon, across every card it has been printed on?
Delibird 21 is one print of Delibird. 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 Delibird 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 summaryIs this the strongest Delibird print, and can the older ones still be played?
15 prints carry this name in the archive, and 13 of them are laid out below. 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delibird 152/132 | ME01: Mega Evolution | Mark I | Legal in Standard |
| Delibird 032/198 | Miscellaneous Cards & Products | Mark E | Not legal in Standard |
| Delibird 57/214 | SM - Lost Thunder | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
| Delibird 26/145 | SM - Guardians Rising | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
| Delibird 046/193 | Miscellaneous Cards & Products | Mark G | Legal in Standard |
| Delibird 105/132 | ME01: Mega Evolution | Mark I | Legal in Standard |
| Delibird 018/086 | ME04: Chaos Rising | Mark J | Legal in Standard |
| Delibird 038/149 | League & Championship Cards | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
| Delibird 21/109 | EX Team Rocket Returns | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
| Delibird 006/017 | POP Series 7 | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
| Delibird 36/106 | Great Encounters | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
| Delibird 05/64 | Neo Revelation | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
| Delibird 049/144 | Skyridge | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
4 of the 13 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 summaryWhich other cards share the Pokémon behind Delibird 21?
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.
60
Delibird [5]
50
Delibird [49]
70
Delibird [6]
70
Delibird [36]
90
Delibird [152]
80
Delibird [38]
90
Delibird [57]
90
Delibird [26]
90
Delibird [32]
90
Delibird [105]
90
Delibird [18]
90
Delibird [46]
12 cards in the archive share this Pokédex number. 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 Delibird 21 in Team Rocket Returns?
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.
120
Dark Dragonite [15]
80
Dark Muk [16]
70
Dark Raticate [17]
70
Dark Sandslash [18]
120
Dark Tyranitar [19]
120
Dark Tyranitar [20]
80
Furret [22]
70
Ledian [23]
50
Magby [24]
60
Misdreavus [25]
80
Quagsire [26]
60
Qwilfish [27]
These are the cards numbered either side of #21 in Team Rocket Returns. 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 Delibird 21, 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 November 1, 2004.
Delibird 21 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.
Where its HP stands, cut four ways
What actually removes it
- A Metal attack printed at 35 damage removes it in a single turn — that is the bar, not its 70 HP.
- 675 cards in the archive clear that bar.
Delibird 21 card record
| Hit points | 70 HP | Type | Water |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weakness | Metal ×2 | Retreat cost | 1 Energy |
| Card type | Basic | Pokédex number | #225 |
| Set | Team Rocket Returns | Card number | 21 of 109 |
| Series | EX | Released | November 1, 2004 |
| Rarity | Rare | Illustrator | Yuka Morii |
| Tournament legality | Unlimited only | ||
Read from the printed card face, the set listing and the official format list.
What does Delibird 21 cost?
This page is about what the card does. The figure below is the one number worth carrying across, read on August 14, 2026.
Delibird 21 — frequently asked questions
How much damage does it take to knock out Delibird 21?
What is the retreat cost of Delibird 21?
How often can you use Gift Exchange?
Does Delibird 21 deal damage or place damage counters?
Can an older Delibird print be played in a tournament?
Can Delibird 21 be played in a tournament?
Does this page say how good Delibird 21 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.