Pokémon · Base
Poliwrath
Base Set 2 · #15 · Rare Holo · 2000
Listings
No active listings
From
—
Market reference
$19.39
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
- 15 / 130
- Release year
- 2000
- Rarity
- Rare Holo
- HP
- 90
- Subtype
- Stage 2
- Evolves from
- Poliwhirl
- Retreat cost
- 3 energy
- Illustrator
- Ken Sugimori
- Pokédex #
- 62
- Series
- Base
Card analysis
Computed from this card's stats and text — not a reposted price.
- Primary role
- Attacker
- Damage efficiency
- 40 damage
- 10 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 Poliwrath plays — derived from its stats and the rules of the game, not an opinion.
- Its main attack (Whirlpool) needs 4 Energy — a turn-4 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 Grass ×2 — a Grass 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.
- Retreat cost 3 — gets stranded Active if gusted; run Switch / Escape Rope or a Float Stone-style Tool.
- 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 Poliwhirl first).
How to beat Poliwrath
- Exploit its Grass weakness — ≥45 damage one-shots it.
- Gust it before the evolution is set up.
- Trap it Active — 3 retreat means it can’t escape without help.
Budget alternatives
Cheaper cards that fill a similar role in Standard decks. Reference prices — most-played option first.
More by Ken Sugimori
This card was illustrated by Ken Sugimori.
Building around Poliwrath?
Drop it into the deck builder for a live consistency score, synergy suggestions, and Standard legality checks.
About this card
"An adept swimmer at both the front crawl and breaststroke. Easily overtakes the best human swimmers."
WWCWater Gun — 30+
Does 30 damage plus 10 more damage for each Water Energy attached to Poliwrath but not used to pay for this attack's Energy cost. You can't add more than 20 damage in this way.
WWCCWhirlpool — 40
If the Defending Pokémon has any Energy cards attached to it, choose 1 of them and discard it.
Weakness:G×2
Retreat cost:CCC
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 2026/07/07| Variant | Low | Mid | High | Market | Direct Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holofoil | $11.00 | $17.22 | $129.71 | $19.39 | $129.71 |
Cardmarket (EUR)
Updated 2026/07/01| Variant | Price |
|---|---|
| 1-day average | €3.95 |
| 7-day average | €10.40 |
| 30-day average | €12.93 |
| Low | €3.97 |
| Trend price | €14.15 |
| Low (excellent+) | €10.00 |
| reverseHoloAvg1 | €8.00 |
| Reverse holo 7-day | €8.80 |
| averageSellPrice | €12.65 |
| Reverse holo 30-day | €8.75 |
| Reverse holo trend | €8.54 |
Frequently asked
How can I tell if my Poliwrath is real?
Poliwrath 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 Poliwrath worth?
As of the latest data, the current market reference price for Poliwrath is $19.39; 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 Poliwrath from?
Poliwrath is from the Pokémon set "Base Set 2" in the Base series, released in 2000.
What rarity is Poliwrath?
Poliwrath is a Rare Holo card in the Base Set 2 set.
Other Poliwrath printings
Same Pokémon card across other sets and rarities.
