Pokémon · E-Card

Ariados

E-Card

Aquapolis · #3 · Rare · 2003

Listings

No active listings

From

—

Market reference

$8.97

TCGPlayer

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Current listings on The Game Traders

No active listings for this card right now.

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Card facts

Quick reference for collectors and graders.

Set position: 3 / 182
Release year: 2003
Rarity: Rare
HP: 70
Subtype: Stage 1
Evolves from: Spinarak
Illustrator: Shin-ichi Yoshida
Pokédex #: 168
Series: E-Card

Card analysis

Computed from this card's stats and text — not a reposted price.

Primary role: Status Conditions
Damage efficiency: 20 damage; 10 per Energy
Prize liability: 1 Prize given up; Single-prize attacker — favourable prize trades
Setup: Stage 1; One evolution step from a Basic

Also does

Attacker

Strategy & play

How Ariados plays — derived from its stats and the rules of the game, not an opinion.

Inflicts Paralysis — the Defending Pokémon can’t attack or retreat for a turn. A reliable one-turn lock; chain it to stall the opponent out.
Its main attack (Spider Force) needs 2 Energy — a turn-2 swing on manual attachment.
Needs Grass Energy to attack — your line must supply that color.
Grass type, weak to Fire ×2 — a Fire attacker doing ≥35 effectively one-shots it.
A single-prize attacker — prize-trade-positive against ex / V decks that give up two at a time.
A Stage 1 — one step up from Spinarak; doesn’t help your opening hand, but quick to set up.

How to beat Ariados

Exploit its Fire weakness — ≥35 damage one-shots it.
Gust it before the evolution is set up.
On the receiving end of a condition? Retreat, switch, or evolve to wipe it — conditions only stick to the Active.

Competitive performance

From real Standard tournament decks over the last 180 days.

Meta inclusion: 0% of decks; 2.5 copies on average · 12 decks

Plays well with

Cards most often run alongside this one in tournament decks over the last 180 days — ranked by how distinctive the pairing is.

Spinarak

in 92% of decks · 11 seen

Buddy-Buddy Poffin

in 92% of decks · 11 seen

Boss's Orders

in 100% of decks · 12 seen

Poké Pad

in 83% of decks · 10 seen

Night Stretcher

in 83% of decks · 10 seen

Lillie's Determination

in 83% of decks · 10 seen

Budget alternatives

Cheaper cards that fill a similar role in Standard decks. Reference prices — most-played option first.

Munkidori

$0.33 · in 34% of decks

Frogadier

$0.20 · in 1% of decks

Team Rocket's Zubat

$0.07 · in 1% of decks

Team Rocket's Golbat

$0.18 · in 1% of decks

More by Shin-ichi Yoshida

This card was illustrated by Shin-ichi Yoshida.

View all 52 cards →

Rocket's Mewtwo

Typhlosion

Rocket's Zapdos

Dark Tyranitar

Houndoom

Building around Ariados?

Drop it into the deck builder for a live consistency score, synergy suggestions, and Standard legality checks.

Open the Deck Builder →

About this card

HP: 70Type:GGrassSubtype: Stage 1Evolves from: Spinarak

Poké-Body: Gluey Slime

As long as Ariados is in play, each player must pay an additional Colorless to retreat his or her Active Pokémon. Gluey Slime can't make a player pay more than an additional Colorless to retreat a Pokémon, even if there is more than 1 Ariados in play.

GCSpider Force — 20+

Flip a coin. If heads, this attack does 20 damage plus 10 more damage. If tails, this attack does 20 damage and the Defending Pokémon is now Paralyzed.

Weakness:R×2

Tournament legality

Current legal status across competitive formats.

unlimitedLegal

Pricing reference

Latest snapshot from the upstream catalog. Actual marketplace prices fluctuate by condition, edition, and grade — use this as a reference, not a quote.

TCGPlayer (USD)

Updated 2026/07/05

Variant	Low	Mid	High	Market	Direct Low
Normal	$4.75	$15.90	$159.00	$8.97	—
Reverse Holofoil	$16.50	$16.50	$16.50	$25.00	—

Cardmarket (EUR)

Updated 2026/06/22

Variant	Price
1-day average	€1.99
7-day average	€3.42
30-day average	€3.68
Low	€0.50
Trend price	€3.57
Low (excellent+)	€4.00
Reverse holo low	€1.80
reverseHoloAvg1	€9.96
Reverse holo 7-day	€7.19
reverseHoloSell	€8.27
averageSellPrice	€3.31
Reverse holo 30-day	€6.91
Reverse holo trend	€8.79

Frequently asked

How can I tell if my Ariados is real?

Ariados is not on our list of commonly-counterfeited cards, but counterfeits exist across every set. Check the back-light test (real cards have a black inner layer that blocks light; counterfeits glow through), the rosette dot pattern on the back under magnification, font weight and kerning on the card name, and the holofoil pattern if applicable. For high-value copies we recommend submitting to a professional grader (PSA, BGS, CGC) for tamper-evident authentication.

What is Ariados worth?

As of the latest data, the current market reference price for Ariados is $8.97; there are no active listings on The Game Traders right now. Actual value depends on condition, grading, edition and printing variant — graded high-condition copies (PSA 9–10) trade at a substantial premium over raw copies.

What set is Ariados from?

Ariados is from the Pokémon set "Aquapolis" in the E-Card series, released in 2003.

What rarity is Ariados?

Ariados is a Rare card in the Aquapolis set.