📘 Team Aqua's Cacturne — Pokémon TCG

Category: Pokemon TCG · Created: · Updated:

Team Aqua's Cacturne card art from EX4 Team Magma vs Team Aqua

Image courtesy of TCGdex.net

Overview

The card is a Stage 1 Pokémon from the Team Magma vs Team Aqua expansion, part of the ex4 set. It features a dual typing of Grass and Darkness and carries a Rare rarity designation. With 80 HP, it represents an early-EX era approach to multi-typing and hybrid attack design, offering a blend of status-inflicting capabilities and direct damage. The card is tied to the rival dynamics between Team Aqua and Team Magma, reflecting the thematic emphasis on water-adjacent teams and desert-adapted adversaries. As a Stage 1 evolution, it advances from Cacnea and integrates into decks that leverage Darkness Energy alongside Grass-type offense and status effects.

Card Information

  • Name: Team Aqua's Cacturne
  • Set: Team Magma vs Team Aqua (EX4)
  • Dex eligible: 332
  • HP: 80
  • Types: Grass, Darkness
  • Stage: Stage 1
  • Evolves from: Cacnea
  • Attacks:
    • Dark Bind — Cost: Darkness
      Effect: You may discard a Darkness Energy attached to Team Aqua's Cacturne. If you do, the Defending Pokémon is now Paralyzed.
      Damage: 10
    • Poison Barb — Cost: Grass, Colorless, Colorless
      Effect: The Defending Pokémon is now Poisoned.
      Damage: 40
  • Weakness: Fire ×2
  • Illustrator: K. Utsunomiya
  • Rarity: Rare
  • Legal in formats: Standard: No, Expanded: No
  • Variants: Normal, Holo, Reverse
  • Set details: 95 official cards in the official set, 97 total including all variants
  • Notes on evolution and design: The combination of Grass and Darkness typing was characteristic of certain EX-era designs that explored dual-typing and mixed-energy strategies, enabling flexible utilization of Energy attachments and status effects in play.

Gameplay and Strategy

In competitive contexts of its era, this card provides a balance of offense and disruption while introducing parallel status effects. The Dark Bind attack requires a Darkness Energy, highlighting the importance of Darkness Energy acceleration or search in a deck intended to power this card. When used, the effect can paralyze the Defending Pokémon if the attached Darkness Energy is discarded, creating opportunities to slow an opponent’s offense and buy additional turns to set up stronger threats.

The Poison Barb attack delivers a more conventional damage output (40) while inflicting Poison. Poison adds persistent pressure, necessitating the opponent to manage Poison damage each turn and potentially retreat or heal to remove the status. The dual-typing (Grass/Darkness) allows for synergy with Grass-type support and Pokémon with Darkness energy acceleration, although the card’s own energy costs demand careful energy management to maximize both attacks efficiently.

Key strategic considerations include: - Energy banking: Ensuring access to Darkness Energy to enable Dark Bind early can disrupt opponents with a paralysis element, while preparing Grass + Colorless energy to reach Poison Barb for stronger direct damage. - Target selection: Paralyze from Dark Bind can be valuable against Set-Up-heavy decks, while Poison Barb applies ongoing threat to slower opponents, balancing tempo and removal needs. - Weakness management: Fire-type threats in certain metagames can exploit the ×2 weakness, requiring defensive planning or support to mitigate damage when facing Fire-leaning decks. - Evolution timing: As a Stage 1 evolution from Cacnea, it fits into mid-game transitions where the player is ready to advance a Grass/Darkness line without exposing the user to early vulnerability.

Collector and Market Information

Rarity and layout place this card among collectible targets for players and collectors interested in EX-era cards. The set includes multiple print variants, notably holo and reverse holo, which tend to command higher collector values in proportion to demand and condition.

Pricing snapshot (data current as of late 2025):

  • Updated 2025-10-31. Average price: €6.81; Low price: €0.50; Trend: +11.48%. Holo variants average: €6.64; Low holo: €1.50; Holo trend: +13.30%; Avg1 holo: €13.45; Avg7 holo: €11.87; Avg30 holo: €7.22.
  • TCGplayer (USD): Updated 2025-10-31. Holofoil low: $22.14; mid: $22.87; high: $41.70; Market price: $22.14. Reverse holofoil low: $9.02; mid: $13.37; high: $14.99; Market price: $10.50.

Pricing reflects market activity across online marketplaces and varies by condition and edition. Card conditions such as Near Mint or Excellent can significantly affect value, and holo variants typically carry a premium relative to standard prints. The data presented here is intended as a snapshot and may change with market dynamics and new listings.

Art and Lore

The artwork is credited to K. Utsunomiya, a notable illustrator whose contributions span various EX-era cards. The illustration contributes to the distinct visual language of the Team Aqua subset, often featuring darker palettes and dynamic action poses consistent with the rival theme between Team Aqua and Team Magma. While specific lore on this card’s scene is not elaborated within in-game text, the depiction aligns with the broader Arc of Water-dwelling adversaries and desert-adapted Pokémon that appear in this expansion’s narrative frame.

Trivia

  • This card belongs to a subset that centers on the rivalry between Team Magma and Team Aqua, a thematic pairing that recurred across multiple EX-era products.
  • It showcases a dual typing—Grass and Darkness—that was relatively characteristic of certain EX-era designs, enabling unusual energy and attack matchups for the time.
  • Despite its relative utility in status-inflicting plays, the card is not legal in Standard or Expanded formats, reflecting the era-specific rules and rotation that preceded modern formats.
  • The card has holo and reverse holo variants, which are typically sought after by collectors for their glossy finish and rarity within the print run.

References

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