Digital Vault Wiki

Image courtesy of TCGdex.net

Overview

Bastiodon is a Metal-type Stage 2 Pokémon card from the POP Series 6 collection, represented in the Pokémon Trading Card Game as a robust defensive option during its era. As a member of the Shieldon family, Bastiodon combines a high defensive presence with a counterattack that rewards players for sustaining an opponent’s offensive pressure. The card is classified as Rare within its set and centers on the concept of shielding your bench from enemy aggression while responding with a measured offensive strike.

In the broader context of the POP Series subset, Bastiodon exemplifies the Promotional/OP-style cards that were distributed through organized play and special events. Its design and mechanics reflect a strategy of walling off vulnerable bench Pokémon while leveraging the shielded potential of a heavily armored steel-type Pokémon. The flavor text emphasizes Bastiodon’s docile nature and its herbivorous diet, aligning with the creature’s role as a stalwart guardian rather than an aggressive ambush predator.

Card Information

Name: Bastiodon
Card number: pop6-1
Rarity: Rare
HP: 130
Type: Metal
Stage: Stage 2
Evolves from: Shieldon
Illustrator: Kazuyuki Kano
Dex number: 411
Set: POP Series 6 (pop6)
Flavor text: “Any frontal attack is repulsed. It is a docile Pokémon that feeds on grass and berries.”

Abilities and Attacks

Ability (Poké-BODY): Protective Wall — Prevent all damage done to your Benched Pokémon by your opponent’s attacks.
Attack: Anger Revenge
Energy Cost: Metal, Metal, Colorless
Base Damage: 60
Effect: If Bastiodon was damaged by an attack during your opponent’s last turn, this attack does 40 damage to 1 of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon. (Weakness and Resistance are applied to the target as usual.)

Weaknesses, Resistances, and Mobility

Weakness: Fire × +40
Resistance: Psychic −20
Retreat Cost: 3

Gameplay and Strategy

Bastiodon’s centerpiece is its Poke-Body, Protective Wall, which curtails damage to any of your Benched Pokémon from your opponent’s attacks. This ability creates a defensive bulwark that can stabilize a game by protecting key bench assets while your active Bastiodon—supported by its 130 HP and solid typing—continues to absorb returns. In practice, the combination of Protective Wall and Anger Revenge enables a two-tier approach: shield the bench to maintain a wider strategic pool and pressure the opponent on the active front with a reliable 60-damage attack that can escalate in late turns when the last-turn damage condition is satisfied. - Defensive tempo: Protective Wall makes Bastiodon a natural anchor in decks built around stall or fortress-like defense. By limiting direct damage to non-active players’ cards, you can prolong the game and force your opponent to expend more resources to break through the wall. - Synergy with damage-driven effects: Anger Revenge rewards you for having sustained damage on Bastiodon in the prior turn, turning the prior aggression into a retaliatory strike for a Benched Pokémon. This mechanic can deter over-commitment to early takedowns, encouraging a calculated risk where opponent resources are stretched to eliminate Bastiodon while your bench remains intact. - Format considerations: Bastiodon’s legal status shows as not legal in Standard or Expanded formats for its time (Standard: No, Expanded: No). In environments where POP Series 6 cards were legal, Bastiodon would have contributed to non-rotating, collector-focused decks, emphasizing the card’s collectible value and nostalgia rather than the current competitive metagame. - Vulnerability profile: Fire-type weakness is a common vulnerability in Metal-types from the era, and the Fire weakness with a +40 modifier means Bastiodon can be susceptible to aggressive Fire-type opponents. This dynamic requires careful matchups and appropriate support from your deck’s overall plan. In practice, Bastiodon functions best as a strategic piece within a slower, defense-oriented build that leverages bench protection to prevent backfiring swings from opponents once their primary attackers are slowed or redirected. It is less effective in fast-paced formats where rapid damage and aggressive resources overshadow protective strategies.

Collector and Market Information

As a Rare card from POP Series 6, Bastiodon holds particular appeal for collectors of early 2000s promotional sets and fans of shield-bearing Steel-type Pokémon. The POP Series lineage often carries a distinct market presence due to its limited distribution compared to core expansions, which can influence price trends and availability in secondary markets.

Pricing data reflects a snapshot of market activity in late 2020s markets. For Card Market (EUR), Bastiodon pop6-1 shows the following recent indicators: updated 2025-10-31; average price around €1.07; low around €0.75; a positive trend indicator of 1.38 over the period; with short-term averages such as avg1 €1.40, avg7 €1.03, and avg30 €1.51. These figures help contextualize Bastiodon’s standing as a collectible card rather than a modern competitive staple.

On TCGPlayer (USD), updated 2025-10-31, the normal market price data indicate a low price near $1.10, a mid price near $1.35, and a high price up to $4.99, with a market price around $1.58. Such data illustrate Bastiodon’s value as a niche collectible card—accessible to casual collectors while occasionally spiking in response to interest in POP Series cards or metal-type defensive archetypes.

Art and Lore

The Bastiodon illustration by Kazuyuki Kano emphasizes the metallic, fossil heritage of the Pokémon while conveying its armored, shield-like silhouette. Kano’s work on Metal-type cards from this period often features strong linework and a polished, mechanical aesthetic that echoes Bastiodon’s role as a stalwart guardian. The design reinforces the in-game concept of a fortress-like Pokémon, with the shell and facial features stylized to emphasize resilience and defensive capability. While the card belongs to a promotional set, its artwork aligns with the broader visual language used for Bastiodon across the Pokémon franchise, including its fossil-inspired lineage from Shieldon.

The flavor text, although succinct, situates Bastiodon within the ecosystem as a docile herbivore that nonetheless wields formidable defense. This juxtaposition mirrors the gameplay dynamic: non-aggressive by nature, yet capable of repelling frontal assaults and turning an initial skirmish into a calculated counterstrike when conditions align.

Trivia

The card is part of POP Series 6, a subset focused on promotional releases associated with Pokémon Organized Play events and related collateral.
Its attack, Anger Revenge, includes a situational additional effect that rewards players for having sustained damage on Bastiodon in the previous turn, illustrating a design intent to reward position-based play and risk management.
Bastiodon’s Poke-BODY, Protective Wall, provides bench protection, which is a relatively unique defensive mechanic that can influence deck construction around safeguarding non-active Pokémon.
In official data, Bastiodon pop6-1 is listed as not legal in Standard or Expanded formats at the time of its current data snapshot, reflecting its status as a collectible promotional card rather than a core-format staple.
Dex number 411 places Bastiodon within the National Pokédex sequence that crosses into the fossil line, aligning with Shieldon as its pre-evolution and reinforcing the fossil-to-armor thematic arc across generations.

📘 Bastiodon — Pokémon TCG