Pokémon · HeartGold & SoulSilver

Ninetales

HeartGold & SoulSilver

HS—Unleashed · #20 · Rare · 2010

Listings

No active listings

From

—

Market reference

$9.83

TCGPlayer

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Current listings on The Game Traders

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Card facts

Quick reference for collectors and graders.

Set position: 20 / 96
Release year: 2010
Rarity: Rare
HP: 90
Subtype: Stage 1
Evolves from: Vulpix
Retreat cost: 1 energy
Illustrator: Hajime Kusajima
Pokédex #: 38
Series: HeartGold & SoulSilver

Card analysis

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

Primary role: Status Conditions
Damage efficiency: 30 damage; 15 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 Ninetales plays — derived from its stats and the rules of the game, not an opinion.

Inflicts Burn — 20 damage between turns, then a coin flip to clear it. Chip damage with a coin-flip tail.
Its main attack (Searing Flame) needs 2 Energy — a turn-2 swing on manual attachment.
Needs Fire Energy to attack — your line must supply that color.
Fire type, weak to Water ×2 — a Water attacker doing ≥45 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 Vulpix; doesn’t help your opening hand, but quick to set up.

How to beat Ninetales

Exploit its Water weakness — ≥45 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; 1.92 copies on average · 64 decks
Match win rate: 38.1%; -9.2 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.

Vulpix

in 80% of decks · 52 seen

Alomomola

in 17% of decks · 11 seen

Reshiram ex

in 23% of decks · 15 seen

Wailmer

in 20% of decks · 13 seen

Wailord ex

in 20% of decks · 13 seen

Misty's Vitality

in 20% of decks · 13 seen

Blaziken

in 29% of decks · 19 seen

Bubbly Water Energy

in 20% of decks · 13 seen

Budget alternatives

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

Munkidori

$0.33 · in 35% of decks

Frogadier

$0.20 · in 1% of decks

Brute Bonnet

$0.16 · in 1% of decks

Team Rocket's Zubat

$0.07 · in 0% of decks

More by Hajime Kusajima

This card was illustrated by Hajime Kusajima.

View all 207 cards →

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Steelix

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Muk

Building around Ninetales?

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: 90Type:RFireSubtype: Stage 1Evolves from: Vulpix

"Some legends claim that each of its nine tails has its own unique type of special mystical power."

RHeat Acceleration

Search your discard pile for up to 3 Fire Energy cards and attach them to 1 of your Pokémon.

RCSearing Flame — 30

The Defending Pokémon is now Burned.

Weakness:W×2

Retreat cost:C

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 2026/07/01

Variant	Low	Mid	High	Market	Direct Low
Normal	$6.38	$8.00	$93.00	$9.83	—
Reverse Holofoil	$14.00	$67.99	$309.80	$23.10	—

Cardmarket (EUR)

Updated 2026/06/27

Variant	Price
1-day average	€1.00
7-day average	€1.73
30-day average	€1.82
Low	€0.05
Trend price	€2.04
Low (excellent+)	€0.30
Reverse holo low	€0.98
reverseHoloAvg1	€13.94
Reverse holo 7-day	€9.84
reverseHoloSell	€3.96
averageSellPrice	€2.01
Reverse holo 30-day	€6.87
Reverse holo trend	€8.64

Frequently asked

How can I tell if my Ninetales is real?

Ninetales 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 Ninetales worth?

As of the latest data, the current market reference price for Ninetales is $9.83; 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 Ninetales from?

Ninetales is from the Pokémon set "HS—Unleashed" in the HeartGold & SoulSilver series, released in 2010.

What rarity is Ninetales?

Ninetales is a Rare card in the HS—Unleashed set.