Adaman – Triumphant Light
Date Reviewed: March 24, 2025
Ratings Summary:
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is horrible. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
Otaku
Adaman (A2a 075, 090) is a Trainer-Supporter. When you use Adaman, your (M) Pokémon will take -20 damage from attacks made by your opponent’s Pokémon, during your opponent’s next turn. Adaman is available at the ♦♦ and ★★ rarities.
Unlike in the full TCG, in Pocket there are no card effects that reference “Trainers” as a whole. We do have three that reference Supporters: Gengar (A1 122), Gengar ex (A1 123, 261, 277), and Psyduck (A1 057). Gengar ex prevents the opposing player from using Supporters while Gengar ex itself is Active, via its Ability.
Gengar and Psyduck have single-Energy attacks that do a little damage while preventing the opponent from playing a Supporter during the next turn. No “Supporter support” exists in Pocket. The good news is that those three see little to no competitive play, or at least, successful competitive play. So the real drawback to Adaman is whatever other Supporter (or card in general) you would have run in its stead.
As for the effect itself, I don’t think it’s “great”, but it does seem “good”. Reducing the damage taken by 20, especially for the often high HP Metal Type Pokémon, who sometimes have another effect to reduce damage, can really add up. Even for the smaller ones, or any that don’t have another way to reduce the damage they take, 20 can often be the difference between being a OHKO or a 2HKO. That’s why Giant Cape (A2 147), Potion (P-A 001), and Rocky Helmet (A2 148) are still competitive cards!
Could Adaman reasonably be better? You can always make a card better, it’s just that things get silly quite quickly. In this case, there are two things to consider. One would be a more general approach, but we already have that in the form of Blue (A1a 067, 081). Blue is also a Trainer-Supporter that reduces the damage your Pokémon take, from attacks by opposing Pokémon, during your next turn. Unlike Adaman, Blue only reduces damage by 10 but works for all your Pokémon, regardless of Type.
Reducing damage by another 10 is not the greatest of returns, but it seems inline with many other cards. I’m basing this on how Leaf (A1a 068, 082) is a double X Speed (P-A 002), and how Erika (A1 219, 266) is a double Potion plus 10, but is also restricted to (G) Pokémon. Adaman might have been better if he’d gone the Irida (A2a 072, 087) route, but (W) has Manaphy (A2 050, 162), Misty (A1 220, 267), and Vaporeon (A1a 019, 072) for Energy acceleration, while (M) just has Dialga ex (A2 119, 188, 205, 207).
The main thing I would like to have seen, instead of Adaman reducing damage by more, would be for him to have reduced all damage taken by 20. Neither Adaman nor Blue protect against damage from Abilities, Trainers, or your own Pokémon. Only blocking damage from opposing Abilities is relevant now, but it’s – at worst – an uncommon mechanic in either the full TCG or Pocket.
Rating: 3/5
As the score likely already told you, I had to nitpick to really have anything negative about Adaman. He may not be the most exciting of Supporters, and being reactive means you have to anticipate when he’ll prove most useful, but he’ll help your Active (M) Pokémon soak some damage while also protecting Benched Pokémon. Some against bigger hits, but entirely against weak sniping or spread.
We would love more volunteers to help us with our Card of the Day reviews. If you want to share your ideas on cards with other fans, feel free to drop us an email. We’d be happy to link back to your blog / YouTube Channel / etc. 😉 Click here to read our Pokémon Card of the Day Archive. We have reviewed nearly 5000 Pokémon cards over the last 25 + years!
