Pokémon · Platinum
Prinplup
Platinum · #59 · Uncommon · 2009
Listings
No active listings
From
—
Market reference
$1.03
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
- 59 / 133
- Release year
- 2009
- Rarity
- Uncommon
- HP
- 80
- Subtype
- Stage 1
- Evolves from
- Piplup
- Evolves to
- Empoleon
- Retreat cost
- 1 energy
- Illustrator
- Mitsuhiro Arita
- Pokédex #
- 394
- Series
- Platinum
Card analysis
Computed from this card's stats and text — not a reposted price.
- Primary role
- Status Conditions
- Damage efficiency
- 50 damage
- 30 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
Strategy & play
How Prinplup 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 (Bubblebeam) needs 3 Energy — a turn-3 swing on manual attachment — you’ll want Energy acceleration to power it up on time.
- Needs Water Energy to attack — your line must supply that color.
- Water type, weak to Lightning ×2 — a Lightning 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 1 — one step up from Piplup; doesn’t help your opening hand, but quick to set up.
How to beat Prinplup
- Exploit its Lightning weakness — ≥40 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
- 1.45 copies on average · 56 decks
- Match win rate
- 31.1%
- -16.2 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.
Piplup
in 100% of decks · 52 seen
Empoleon ex
in 100% of decks · 52 seen
Full Metal Lab
in 65% of decks · 34 seen
Steven's Metang
in 44% of decks · 23 seen
Steven's Beldum
in 44% of decks · 23 seen
Steven's Metagross ex
in 44% of decks · 23 seen
Magnetic Metal Energy
in 38% of decks · 20 seen
Philippe
in 48% of decks · 25 seen
More by Mitsuhiro Arita
This card was illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita.
Building around Prinplup?
Drop it into the deck builder for a live consistency score, synergy suggestions, and Standard legality checks.
About this card
"Because every PRINPLUP considers itself to be the most important, they can never form a group."
WSurf — 30
WWCBubblebeam — 50
Flip a coin. If heads, the Defending Pokémon is now Paralyzed.
Weakness:L+20
Retreat cost:C
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 2026/07/01| Variant | Low | Mid | High | Market | Direct Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | $0.45 | $0.99 | $96.88 | $1.03 | $19.20 |
| Reverse Holofoil | $3.07 | $11.00 | $180.00 | $6.20 | — |
Cardmarket (EUR)
Updated 2026/02/19| Variant | Price |
|---|---|
| 1-day average | €0.12 |
| 7-day average | €0.39 |
| 30-day average | €0.46 |
| Low | €0.03 |
| Trend price | €0.41 |
| Low (excellent+) | €0.10 |
| Reverse holo low | €0.50 |
| reverseHoloAvg1 | €2.49 |
| Reverse holo 7-day | €1.91 |
| reverseHoloSell | €4.70 |
| averageSellPrice | €0.37 |
| Reverse holo 30-day | €1.49 |
| Reverse holo trend | €2.03 |
Frequently asked
How can I tell if my Prinplup is real?
Prinplup 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 Prinplup worth?
As of the latest data, the current market reference price for Prinplup is $1.03; 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 Prinplup from?
Prinplup is from the Pokémon set "Platinum" in the Platinum series, released in 2009.
What rarity is Prinplup?
Prinplup is a Uncommon card in the Platinum set.
Other Prinplup printings
Same Pokémon card across other sets and rarities.
