Pokémon · E-Card
Butterfree
Expedition Base Set · #38 · Rare · 2002
Listings
No active listings
From
—
Market reference
$21.30
TCGPlayer
Current listings on The Game Traders
No active listings for this card right now.
Card facts
Quick reference for collectors and graders.
- Set position
- 38 / 165
- Release year
- 2002
- Rarity
- Rare
- HP
- 80
- Subtype
- Stage 2
- Evolves from
- Metapod
- Illustrator
- Sumiyoshi Kizuki
- Pokédex #
- 12
- Series
- E-Card
Card analysis
Computed from this card's stats and text — not a reposted price.
- Primary role
- Attacker
- Damage efficiency
- 40 damage
- 13.33 per Energy
- Prize liability
- 1 Prize given up
- Single-prize attacker — favourable prize trades
- Setup
- Stage 2
- Needs its evolution line or Rare Candy to set up
Strategy & play
How Butterfree plays — derived from its stats and the rules of the game, not an opinion.
- Its main attack (Spiral Drain) needs 3 Energy — a turn-3 swing on manual attachment — you’ll want Energy acceleration to power it up on time.
- Needs Grass Energy to attack — your line must supply that color.
- Grass type, weak to Fire ×2 — a Fire attacker doing ≥40 effectively one-shots it.
- A single-prize attacker — prize-trade-positive against ex / V decks that give up two at a time.
- A Stage 2 — without Rare Candy you lose ~2 turns setting it up, and it’s gust-bait before it’s online (you must draw Metapod first).
- Seen in 0% of recent tournament decks that can run it, usually 3 copies.
How to beat Butterfree
- Exploit its Fire weakness — ≥40 damage one-shots it.
- Gust it before the evolution is set up.
Competitive performance
From real Standard tournament decks over the last 180 days.
- Meta inclusion
- 0% of decks
- 3.39 copies on average · 23 decks
- Match win rate
- 33.6%
- -13.6 pts vs the 47.2% field average
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.
Budget alternatives
Cheaper cards that fill a similar role in Standard decks. Reference prices — most-played option first.
More by Sumiyoshi Kizuki
This card was illustrated by Sumiyoshi Kizuki.
Building around Butterfree?
Drop it into the deck builder for a live consistency score, synergy suggestions, and Standard legality checks.
About this card
Poké-Power: Miraculous Powder
Once during your turn (before your attack), you may remove all Special Conditions from your Active Pokémon. This power can't be used if Butterfree is affected by a Special Condition.
GCCSpiral Drain — 40
Flip a coin. If heads, remove 2 damage counters from Butterfree.
Weakness:R×2
Tournament legality
Current legal status across competitive formats.
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 | $22.99 | $169.99 | $298.00 | $21.30 | $199.22 |
| Reverse Holofoil | $80.00 | $359.90 | $1,009.90 | $27.05 | — |
Cardmarket (EUR)
Updated 2026/06/22| Variant | Price |
|---|---|
| 1-day average | €7.50 |
| 7-day average | €6.49 |
| 30-day average | €5.13 |
| Low | €0.99 |
| Trend price | €6.52 |
| Low (excellent+) | €2.00 |
| Reverse holo low | €2.20 |
| reverseHoloAvg1 | €6.00 |
| Reverse holo 7-day | €12.43 |
| reverseHoloSell | €14.00 |
| averageSellPrice | €4.33 |
| Reverse holo 30-day | €12.77 |
| Reverse holo trend | €14.36 |
Frequently asked
How can I tell if my Butterfree is real?
Butterfree 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 Butterfree worth?
As of the latest data, the current market reference price for Butterfree is $21.30; 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 Butterfree from?
Butterfree is from the Pokémon set "Expedition Base Set" in the E-Card series, released in 2002.
What rarity is Butterfree?
Butterfree is a Rare card in the Expedition Base Set set.
Other Butterfree printings
Same Pokémon card across other sets and rarities.
