Arceus ◇ 96 — what does this card actually do?
This card has 160 HP, a top attack printed at 30 damage and a Fighting weakness.
Colorless · Basic Prism Star · Forbidden Light · measured against 20,444 cards on file — card data read July 28, 2026
What does Arceus ◇ 96 do in a game?
Arceus ◇ 96 is a Colorless Pokémon card with 160 HP, printed as Basic Prism Star.
Its strongest attack, Trinity Star, is printed at 30 damage for 1 Energy — 30 damage per Energy card.
Because of the Fighting weakness, any Fighting attack printed at 80 damage or more removes it in a single turn.
Arceus ◇ 96Forbidden Light
Arceus ◇ 96 performance summary
160 HP · Colorless · Basic Prism Star · retreat 1 · Fighting weakness ×2
as of July 28, 2026
damage per Energy card, among cards whose cheapest attack costs 1
Strongest on Attack cost lightness — top 1.8% of the archive. Weakest on Top printed damage — bottom 28.9%.
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 | 81.7% | 160 HP |
| Top printed damage | 28.9% | 30 damage |
| Energy efficiency | 67.1% | 30 per Energy |
| Retreat lightness | 94.4% | 1 Energy |
| Attack cost lightness | 98.2% | 1 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 2,895 at 160 HP.
Arceus ◇ 96160 HPPrinted HP
The ceiling of this archive is 380 HP — 220 HP above this card.
Mega Emboar ex 273380 HPWhat stands out on Arceus ◇ 96
- Hit points 160 HP puts it in the 130~180 band, where 15.5% of 17,290 cards with printed HP sit.
- Energy It returns 30 damage per Energy card against 49.0 for cards whose cheapest attack costs 1.
- Weakness A Fighting attack printed at 80 damage or more removes it in a single turn.
Arceus ◇ 96 at a glance
- What it is. A Colorless Pokémon card with 160 HP printed as Basic Prism Star, printed in Forbidden Light.
- What it can do. 1 attack printed on the card, the strongest at 30 damage for 1 Energy.
- What it fears. A Fighting weakness at ×2, which means 80 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 and Expanded 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 Arceus ◇ 96 cost, and what do they hit for?
The card prints 1 attack. The strongest asks for 1 Energy and returns 30 damage, which is 30 damage for every Energy card attached.
| Attack | Energy cost | Cards of Energy | Printed damage | Damage per Energy | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trinity Star | 1 Colorless | 1 | 30 | 30 | You can use this attack only if you have Grass, Water, and Lightning Pokémon on your Bench. Search your deck for up to 3 basic Energy cards and attach them to your Pokémon in any way you like. Then, shuffle your deck. |
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.
How does Arceus ◇ 96 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 160 HP, which is 42% 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 160 HP.
Cards in the 130~180 band typically print 104 damage and ask 2 Energy to retreat.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| ~70 | 38.6% | 6,669 cards |
| 80~120 | 33.1% | 5,725 cards |
| 130~180 — this card | 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 30.
Cards in the ~30 band typically have 70 HP and ask 1 Energy to retreat.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| ~30 — this card | 42.7% | 6,938 cards |
| 40~60 | 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 1 Energy.
Cards whose cheapest attack costs 1 typically have 93 HP and print 49 damage.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1.8% | 304 cards |
| 1 — this card | 54.4% | 9,392 cards |
| 2 | 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 Arceus ◇ 96 stands highest on HP — number 246 of 2,171 cards in Colorless cards. Cut the archive a different way and the answer moves, which is what the bars below are for.
- Hit points 160 HP
middle half 60–130 HP - Top printed damage 30 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 summaryWhat Arceus ◇ 96 does without attacking
Arceus ◇ 96 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.
Is Arceus ◇ 96 efficient for the Energy it asks for?
Printed damage on its own says nothing — a 30 damage attack that needs 1 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 1 typically return 49.0 damage per Energy card. This card returns 30.
| 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 |
| Arceus ◇ 96 — this card | 30.0 | 30 damage for 1 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 |
| Trinity Star | — | 30 | — |
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 30 is read as high or low rather than merely large.
Is Arceus ◇ 96 strong for a Prism Star card?
Prism Star cards are built large to begin with, so measuring this one against the whole archive mixes up what the mechanic gives it with what the card itself gives it. Measured inside its own group, the two come apart.
The group is every Prism Star card in the archive — 27 of them. Each figure is compared with what that group typically prints, not with the archive as a whole.
What does being a Colorless card do for Arceus ◇ 96?
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 | 14.1% | 2,435 cards |
| Colorless — this card | 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 Colorless weakness.
What being a Colorless card is worth
No group in the archive most often prints a Colorless weakness, so this type gains nothing automatic from the weakness rule. Going the other way, Colorless cards are themselves most exposed to Fighting.
What knocks out Arceus ◇ 96 in one hit, and what does it knock out?
Weakness doubles the damage a Fighting attack deals to this card, so the bar it has to clear is 80 printed damage rather than 160.
80 damage becomes 160 against this card
Arceus ◇ 96160 HPWhy this card was picked to stand opposite
Of the 651 cards in the archive that can remove Arceus ◇ 96 in a single attack, this one clears the bar by the smallest margin — 80 printed damage against a bar of 80. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mega Lucario ex (77) | Mega Evolution | 340 | 270 | 540 |
| Mega Lucario ex (160) | Mega Evolution | 340 | 270 | 540 |
| Mega Lucario ex (179) | Mega Evolution | 340 | 270 | 540 |
| Mega Lucario ex (188) | Mega Evolution | 340 | 270 | 540 |
| Mega Lucario ex (113) | Ascended Heroes | 340 | 270 | 540 |
| Toxtricity ex (100) | Paradox Rift | 260 | 270 | 540 |
160 HP against a Fighting ×2 weakness means any Fighting attack printed at 80 damage or more is enough. 655 cards in the archive clear that bar.
11 cards in the archive are weak to Colorless 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.
Which other cards share the Pokémon behind Arceus ◇ 96?
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.
What was printed next to Arceus ◇ 96 in Forbidden Light?
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.
These are the cards numbered either side of #96 in Forbidden Light. 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 Arceus ◇ 96, 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.
The rule printed on this card
“◇ (Prism Star) Rule: You can't have more than 1 ◇ card with the same name in your deck. If a ◇ card would go to the discard pile, put it in the Lost Zone instead.”
| 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 | Legal | Can be played in 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 and Expanded play. It was released on May 4, 2018.
Arceus ◇ 96 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, Trinity Star, needs 1 Energy attached. Energy attaches once a turn, so that attack waits 1 turn from an empty card.
- That works out at 30 damage for every Energy card attached.
- Moving it out of the active spot costs 1 more Energy, discarded from the card itself.
Where its HP stands, cut four ways
What actually removes it
- A Fighting attack printed at 80 damage removes it in a single turn — that is the bar, not its 160 HP.
- 655 cards in the archive clear that bar.
- Going the other way, it removes 11 cards in one attack.
Arceus ◇ 96 card record
| Hit points | 160 HP | Type | Colorless |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weakness | Fighting ×2 | Retreat cost | 1 Energy |
| Card type | Basic Prism Star | Pokédex number | #493 |
| Set | Forbidden Light | Card number | 96 of 131 |
| Series | Sun & Moon | Released | May 4, 2018 |
| Rarity | Rare Prism Star | Illustrator | Masakazu Fukuda |
| Tournament legality | Unlimited and Expanded only | ||
| Printed rule | ◇ (Prism Star) Rule: You can't have more than 1 ◇ card with the same name in your deck. If a ◇ card would go to the discard pile, put it in the Lost Zone instead. | ||
Read from the printed card face, the set listing and the official format list.
What does Arceus ◇ 96 cost?
This page is about what the card does. The figure below is the one number worth carrying across, read on August 14, 2026.
Arceus ◇ 96 — frequently asked questions
How much damage does it take to knock out Arceus ◇ 96?
What is the strongest attack on Arceus ◇ 96?
What is the retreat cost of Arceus ◇ 96?
Can Arceus ◇ 96 be played in a tournament?
What does the rule on Arceus ◇ 96 mean?
Does this page say how good Arceus ◇ 96 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.