Iron Thorns 98 — what does this card actually do?
This card has 140 HP, a top attack printed at 140 damage and a Fighting weakness.
Lightning · Basic Future · Scarlet & Violet Black Star Promos · measured against 20,444 cards on file — card data read July 28, 2026
What does Iron Thorns 98 do in a game?
Iron Thorns 98 is a Lightning Pokémon card with 140 HP, printed as Basic Future.
Its strongest attack, Megaton Lariat, is printed at 140 damage for 4 Energy — 35 damage per Energy card.
Because of the Fighting weakness, any Fighting attack printed at 70 damage or more removes it in a single turn.
Iron Thorns 98Scarlet & Violet Black Star Promos
Iron Thorns 98 performance summary
140 HP · Lightning · Basic Future · retreat 3 · Fighting weakness ×2
as of July 28, 2026
damage per Energy card, among cards whose cheapest attack costs 2
Strongest on Top printed damage — top 11.0% of the archive. Weakest on Retreat lightness — bottom 16.8%.
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 | 76.7% | 140 HP |
| Top printed damage | 89.0% | 140 damage |
| Energy efficiency | 78.2% | 35 per Energy |
| Retreat lightness | 16.8% | 3 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 3,522 at 140 HP.
Iron Thorns 98140 HPPrinted HP
The ceiling of this archive is 380 HP — 240 HP above this card.
Mega Emboar ex 273380 HPWhat stands out on Iron Thorns 98
- Hit points 140 HP puts it in the 130~180 band, where 15.5% of 17,290 cards with printed HP sit.
- Energy It returns 35 damage per Energy card against 32.5 for cards whose cheapest attack costs 2.
- Weakness A Fighting attack printed at 70 damage or more removes it in a single turn.
- Legality 5 of the 5 prints that carry this name are legal in Standard play.
Iron Thorns 98 at a glance
- What it is. A Lightning Pokémon card with 140 HP printed as Basic Future, printed in Scarlet & Violet Black Star Promos.
- What it can do. 2 attacks printed on the card, the strongest at 140 damage for 4 Energy.
- What it fears. A Fighting weakness at ×2, which means 70 printed damage is enough to remove it.
- What it costs to move. 3 Energy to retreat, discarded from the card itself.
- Where it can be played. Unlimited and Standard and Expanded only, and it carries regulation mark H.
- 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 Iron Thorns 98 cost, and what do they hit for?
The card prints 2 attacks. The strongest asks for 4 Energy and returns 140 damage, which is 35 damage for every Energy card attached.
| Attack | Energy cost | Cards of Energy | Printed damage | Damage per Energy | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Destructo-Press | 1 Lightning + 1 Colorless | 2 | 70× | 35 | Reveal the top 5 cards of your deck. This attack does 70 damage for each Future card you find there. Then, discard those Future cards and shuffle the other cards back into your deck. |
| Megaton Lariat | 3 Lightning + 1 Colorless | 4 | 140 | 35 | No extra effect. |
Retreating costs a further 3 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.
- Destructo-Press is printed as 70×, so the printed number is multiplied — the attack deals that much for each thing the sentence beside it counts.
How does Iron Thorns 98 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 140 HP, which is 37% 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 140 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 140.
Cards in the 130~180 band typically have 198 HP and ask 2 Energy to retreat.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| ~30 | 42.7% | 6,938 cards |
| 40~60 | 22.0% | 3,566 cards |
| 70~120 | 21.8% | 3,535 cards |
| 130~180 — this card | 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 3 Energy to retreat.
Cards with a retreat cost of 3 typically have 150 HP and print 99 damage.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 5.3% | 914 cards |
| 1 | 49.3% | 8,503 cards |
| 2 | 28.6% | 4,926 cards |
| 3 — this card | 12.6% | 2,168 cards |
| 4 | 4.2% | 729 cards |
That is where Iron Thorns 98 stands highest on HP — number 3,522 of 17,290 cards in Every card in the archive. Cut the archive a different way and the answer moves, which is what the bars below are for.
- Hit points 140 HP
middle half 60–130 HP - Top printed damage 140 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 Iron Thorns 98 efficient for the Energy it asks for?
Printed damage on its own says nothing — a 140 damage attack that needs 4 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 35.
| 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 |
| Iron Thorns 98 — this card | 35.0 | 140 damage for 4 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 |
| Destructo-Press | — | 35 | — |
| Megaton Lariat | — | 35 | — |
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 140 is read as high or low rather than merely large.
Is Iron Thorns 98 strong for a Future card?
Future 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 Future card in the archive — 70 of them. Each figure is compared with what that group typically prints, not with the archive as a whole.
What does being a Lightning card do for Iron Thorns 98?
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 | 12.6% | 2,173 cards |
| Fire | 9.1% | 1,574 cards |
| Fighting | 10.9% | 1,884 cards |
| Lightning — this card | 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 Lightning weakness.
What being a Lightning card is worth
Groups that most often print a Lightning weakness: Water (2,435 cards). Against those, this card's printed damage counts double. Going the other way, Lightning cards are themselves most exposed to Fighting.
What knocks out Iron Thorns 98 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 70 printed damage rather than 140.
Solrock70 damage70 damage becomes 140 against this card
Iron Thorns 98140 HPWhy this card was picked to stand opposite
Of the 736 cards in the archive that can remove Iron Thorns 98 in a single attack, this one clears the bar by the smallest margin — 70 printed damage against a bar of 70. 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 |
140 HP against a Fighting ×2 weakness means any Fighting attack printed at 70 damage or more is enough. 741 cards in the archive clear that bar.
280 HP
Yanmega ex [3]
280 HP
Yanmega ex [206]
280 HP
Yanmega ex [228]
280 HP
Pidgeot ex [164]
280 HP
Pidgeot ex [217]
280 HP
Pidgeot ex [225]
2,323 cards in the archive are weak to Lightning 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 Iron Thorns as a Pokémon, across every card it has been printed on?
Iron Thorns 98 is one print of Iron Thorns. 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 Iron Thorns 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 Iron Thorns print, and can the older ones still be played?
5 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Thorns ex 077/167 | World Championship Decks | Mark H | Legal in Standard |
| Iron Thorns ex 196/167 | SV06: Twilight Masquerade | Mark H | Legal in Standard |
| Iron Thorns ex 032/131 | SV: Prismatic Evolutions | Mark H | Legal in Standard |
| Iron Thorns 098 | SV: Scarlet & Violet Promo Cards | Mark H | Legal in Standard |
| Iron Thorns 062/162 | Miscellaneous Cards & Products | Mark H | Legal in Standard |
5 of the 5 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 Iron Thorns 98?
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.
3 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 Iron Thorns 98 in Scarlet & Violet Black Star Promos?
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.
110
Miraidon [92]
50
Carvanha [93]
130
Bellibolt [94]
30
Cleffa [95]
120
Cyclizar [96]
90
Flutter Mane [97]
50
Shroodle [99]
250
Grafaiai ex [100]
70
Pikachu [101]
270
Houndoom ex [103]
300
Melmetal ex [104]
These are the cards numbered either side of #98 in Scarlet & Violet Black Star Promos. 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 Iron Thorns 98, 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 | Legal | Can be played in 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 Standard and Expanded play. It carries regulation mark H, printed next to the card number. It was released on January 1, 2023.
Which generation of cards does Iron Thorns 98 belong to?
The single letter printed beside the card number groups a card with everything issued under the same rules. Tournament formats are cut along those letters, so the size of a letter is the size of the pool a card sits in.
8,194 cards in the archive carry a regulation mark. Older prints carry none at all, so this is not the whole archive.
The regulation mark is the single letter recorded with each modern card. Older prints carry no mark at all, so this axis covers only the part of the archive that has one.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Mark D | 15.4% | 1,261 cards |
| Mark E | 14.7% | 1,202 cards |
| Mark F | 14.4% | 1,180 cards |
| Mark G | 19.9% | 1,634 cards |
| Mark H — this card | 15.7% | 1,283 cards |
| Mark I | 14.8% | 1,215 cards |
| Mark J | 5.1% | 419 cards |
Iron Thorns 98 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, Megaton Lariat, needs 4 Energy attached. Energy attaches once a turn, so that attack waits 4 turns from an empty card.
- That works out at 35 damage for every Energy card attached.
- Moving it out of the active spot costs 3 more Energy, discarded from the card itself.
Where its HP stands, cut four ways
What actually removes it
- A Fighting attack printed at 70 damage removes it in a single turn — that is the bar, not its 140 HP.
- 741 cards in the archive clear that bar.
- Going the other way, it removes 2,323 cards in one attack.
Iron Thorns 98 card record
| Hit points | 140 HP | Type | Lightning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weakness | Fighting ×2 | Retreat cost | 3 Energy |
| Card type | Basic Future | Regulation mark | Mark H |
| Pokédex number | #995 | Set | Scarlet & Violet Black Star Promos |
| Card number | 98 of 102 | Series | Scarlet & Violet |
| Released | January 1, 2023 | Rarity | Promo |
| Illustrator | Tonji Matsuno | ||
| Tournament legality | Unlimited and Standard and Expanded only | ||
Read from the printed card face, the set listing and the official format list.
What does Iron Thorns 98 cost?
This page is about what the card does. The figure below is the one number worth carrying across, read on August 14, 2026.
Iron Thorns 98 — frequently asked questions
How much damage does it take to knock out Iron Thorns 98?
What is the strongest attack on Iron Thorns 98?
What is the retreat cost of Iron Thorns 98?
What does the × after the damage on Destructo-Press mean?
Can an older Iron Thorns print be played in a tournament?
Can Iron Thorns 98 be played in a tournament?
Does this page say how good Iron Thorns 98 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.