Pokémon · Mega Evolution
Piplup
Phantasmal Flames · #98 · Illustration Rare · 2025
Listings
No active listings
From
—
Market reference
$16.09
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
- 98 / 130
- Release year
- 2025
- Rarity
- Illustration Rare
- HP
- 70
- Subtype
- Basic
- Evolves to
- Prinplup
- Retreat cost
- 1 energy
- Regulation mark
- I
- Illustrator
- Jiro Sasumo
- Pokédex #
- 393
- Series
- Mega Evolution
Card analysis
Computed from this card's stats and text — not a reposted price.
- Primary role
- Search / Tutor
- Damage efficiency
- 20 damage
- 10 per Energy
- Prize liability
- 1 Prize given up
- Single-prize attacker — favourable prize trades
- Setup
- Basic
- Plays straight down — no evolution needed
Also does
Strategy & play
How Piplup plays — derived from its stats and the rules of the game, not an opinion.
- Not a main attacker — its job is search / tutoring. Run it as a consistency hub and protect it, because opponents will target the engine.
- Attacks on any Energy (Colorless cost) — splashable into any deck regardless of type.
- Water type, weak to Lightning ×2 — a Lightning 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.
- Seen in 0% of recent tournament decks that can run it, usually 2 copies.
- Currently Standard-legal — usable in the main rotating format.
How to beat Piplup
- Exploit its Lightning weakness — ≥35 damage one-shots it.
- KO it to choke their draw / search engine.
Competitive performance
From real Standard tournament decks over the last 180 days.
- Meta inclusion
- 0% of decks
- 1.61 copies on average · 250 decks
- Match win rate
- 45.1%
- -2.2 pts vs the 47.3% 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.
Prinplup
in 20% of decks · 51 seen
Empoleon ex
in 100% of decks · 250 seen
Steven's Metang
in 69% of decks · 173 seen
Steven's Beldum
in 70% of decks · 174 seen
Steven's Metagross ex
in 70% of decks · 174 seen
Dialga
in 41% of decks · 102 seen
Deoxys
in 16% of decks · 40 seen
Mega Skarmory ex
in 59% of decks · 147 seen
Budget alternatives
Cheaper cards that fill a similar role in Standard decks. Reference prices — most-played option first.
More by Jiro Sasumo
This card was illustrated by Jiro Sasumo.
Building around Piplup?
Drop it into the deck builder for a live consistency score, synergy suggestions, and Standard legality checks.
About this card
"A poor walker, it often falls down. However, its strong pride makes it puff up its chest without a care."
CCall for Support
Search your deck for a Supporter card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.
CCTackle — 20
Weakness:L×2
Retreat cost:C
Tournament legality
Current legal status across competitive formats.
Upcoming events
View calendar →Tournaments and releases relevant to Piplup or Phantasmal Flames.
Vault Of Games #3 🏆|OFF-SEASON |WEEKLY
Aug 2, 2026
Cusca 3v3 Pro Series #17 ⚡
Aug 2, 2026
OceanicTournamentSeries2026 18/20
Aug 2, 2026
SEASAC League Challenge #6 (SEASON 4) [50 CODES]
Aug 2, 2026
Tournoi amical LEAGUE canto N61°
Aug 2, 2026
Turn Zero Rising! #6 (100 Codes)
Aug 2, 2026
Recent tournament results
View calendar →Tournaments from the past 30 days where Piplup was legal.
Redacted Chaos 2nd Chance #7 (50 Codes)
today
Redacted Chaos #9 (100 Codes)
today
The Stache Series 0: Trial Run
today
4to Torneo Tropical Beach
today
SEASAC League Cup #1 (SEASON 4) [150 CODES]
today
TOURNAMENT OF DOOM! DRAGAPULT IS....
today
Tournament play
This printing of Piplup has no recent tournament appearances, but a different printing is currently a meta staple.
Piplup — Phantasmal Flames
Played in 77 recent decks
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 2026/07/09| Variant | Low | Mid | High | Market | Direct Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holofoil | $12.99 | $18.00 | $121.84 | $16.09 | $20.48 |
Frequently asked
How can I tell if my Piplup is real?
Piplup 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 Piplup worth?
As of the latest data, the current market reference price for Piplup is $16.09; 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 Piplup from?
Piplup is from the Pokémon set "Phantasmal Flames" in the Mega Evolution series, released in 2025.
What rarity is Piplup?
Piplup is a Illustration Rare card in the Phantasmal Flames set.
Other Piplup printings
Same Pokémon card across other sets and rarities.
