Pokémon · Sun & Moon
Bulbasaur
SM Black Star Promos · #SM198 · Promo · 2017
Listings
No active listings
From
—
Market reference
$9.92
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
- SM198 / 250
- Release year
- 2017
- Rarity
- Promo
- HP
- 70
- Subtype
- Basic
- Evolves to
- Ivysaur
- Retreat cost
- 2 energy
- Illustrator
- MPC Film
- Pokédex #
- 1
- Series
- Sun & Moon
Card analysis
Computed from this card's stats and text — not a reposted price.
- Primary role
- Attacker
- Damage efficiency
- 50 damage
- 16.67 per Energy
- Prize liability
- 1 Prize given up
- Single-prize attacker — favourable prize trades
- Setup
- Basic
- Plays straight down — no evolution needed
Strategy & play
How Bulbasaur plays — derived from its stats and the rules of the game, not an opinion.
- A Basic — hits the board turn 1 with no evolution tax.
- Its main attack (Vine Whip) 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 ≥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 1% of recent tournament decks that can run it, usually 2 copies.
How to beat Bulbasaur
- Exploit its Fire weakness — ≥35 damage one-shots it.
Competitive performance
From real Standard tournament decks over the last 180 days.
- Meta inclusion
- 1% of decks
- 2.23 copies on average · 367 decks
- Match win rate
- 43.9%
- -3.3 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.
Mega Venusaur ex
in 100% of decks · 373 seen
Ivysaur
in 100% of decks · 373 seen
Genesect
in 10% of decks · 38 seen
Mega Meganium ex
in 54% of decks · 203 seen
Shuckle
in 6% of decks · 24 seen
Erika's Vileplume ex
in 4% of decks · 14 seen
Erika's Oddish
in 4% of decks · 14 seen
Erika's Gloom
in 4% of decks · 14 seen
Budget alternatives
Cheaper cards that fill a similar role in Standard decks. Reference prices — most-played option first.
More by MPC Film
This card was illustrated by MPC Film.
Building around Bulbasaur?
Drop it into the deck builder for a live consistency score, synergy suggestions, and Standard legality checks.
About this card
"A strange seed was planted on its back at birth. The plant sprouts and grows with this Pokémon."
CRam — 10
GGCVine Whip — 50
Weakness:R×2
Retreat cost:CC
Tournament legality
Current legal status across competitive formats.
Upcoming events
View calendar →Tournaments and releases relevant to Bulbasaur or SM Black Star Promos.
Recent tournament results
View calendar →Tournaments from the past 30 days where Bulbasaur was legal.
Tournament play
This printing of Bulbasaur has no recent tournament appearances, but a different printing is currently a meta staple.
Bulbasaur — Mega Evolution
Played in 130 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 2026/07/18| Variant | Low | Mid | High | Market | Direct Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holofoil | $28.95 | $49.99 | $94.78 | $9.92 | $29.99 |
Cardmarket (EUR)
Updated 2025/11/18| Variant | Price |
|---|---|
| 1-day average | €4.00 |
| 7-day average | €6.15 |
| 30-day average | €6.07 |
| Low | €2.00 |
| Trend price | €6.03 |
| Low (excellent+) | €4.00 |
| reverseHoloAvg1 | €7.90 |
| Reverse holo 7-day | €5.95 |
| averageSellPrice | €6.30 |
| Reverse holo 30-day | €5.59 |
| Reverse holo trend | €6.14 |
Frequently asked
How can I tell if my Bulbasaur is real?
Bulbasaur 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 Bulbasaur worth?
As of the latest data, the current market reference price for Bulbasaur is $9.92; 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 Bulbasaur from?
Bulbasaur is from the Pokémon set "SM Black Star Promos" in the Sun & Moon series, released in 2017.
What rarity is Bulbasaur?
Bulbasaur is a Promo card in the SM Black Star Promos set.
Other Bulbasaur printings
Same Pokémon card across other sets and rarities.
CommonBulbasaur
Mega Evolution · #1
Illustration RareBulbasaur
Mega Evolution · #133
Illustration RareBulbasaur
Stellar Crown · #143
CommonBulbasaur
151 · #1
Illustration RareBulbasaur
151 · #166
PromoBulbasaur
Scarlet & Violet Black Star Promos · #46
CommonBulbasaur
Pokémon GO · #1
Bulbasaur
McDonald's Collection 2021 · #1
