Pokémon · Base

Bulbasaur

Base

Base Set · #44 · Common · 1999

Listings

No active listings

From

—

Market reference

$2.76

TCGPlayer

List for sale View on TCGPlayer

Current listings on The Game Traders

No active listings for this card right now.

List for sale

Card facts

Quick reference for collectors and graders.

Set position: 44 / 102
Release year: 1999
Rarity: Common
HP: 40
Subtype: Basic
Evolves to: Ivysaur
Retreat cost: 1 energy
Illustrator: Mitsuhiro Arita
Pokédex #: 1
Series: Base

Card analysis

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

Primary role: Attacker
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

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 (Leech Seed) needs 2 Energy — a turn-2 swing on manual attachment.
Needs Grass Energy to attack — your line must supply that color.
Grass type, weak to Fire ×2 — a Fire attacker doing ≥20 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 — ≥20 damage one-shots it.

Competitive performance

From real Standard tournament decks over the last 180 days.

Meta inclusion: 1% of decks; 2.21 copies on average · 418 decks
Match win rate: 44.1%; -3.2 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.

Mega Venusaur ex

in 100% of decks · 431 seen

Ivysaur

in 100% of decks · 432 seen

Genesect

in 11% of decks · 47 seen

Mega Meganium ex

in 53% of decks · 230 seen

Urbain

in 3% of decks · 11 seen

Shuckle

in 6% of decks · 25 seen

Zarude

in 2% of decks · 10 seen

Regigigas

in 22% of decks · 94 seen

More by Mitsuhiro Arita

This card was illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita.

View all 728 cards →

Gengar ex

Umbreon

Rocket's Snorlax ex

Lumra, Bellow of the Woods

Charizard

Mewtwo-GX

Building around Bulbasaur?

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: 40Type:GGrassSubtype: BasicEvolves to: Ivysaur

"A strange seed was planted on its back at birth. Thus, a plant sprouted and now grows with this Pokémon."

GGLeech Seed — 20

Unless all damage from this attack is prevented, you may remove 1 damage counter from Bulbasaur.

Weakness:R×2

Retreat cost:C

Tournament legality

Current legal status across competitive formats.

unlimitedLegal

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 144 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 2026/07/07

Variant	Low	Mid	High	Market	Direct Low
Normal	$0.40	$2.00	$74.99	$2.76	$1.00

Cardmarket (EUR)

Updated 2026/07/01

Variant	Price
1-day average	€4.99
7-day average	€4.90
30-day average	€7.76
Low	€2.00
Trend price	€1.89
Low (excellent+)	€3.00
averageSellPrice	€5.14

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 $2.76; 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 "Base Set" in the Base series, released in 1999.

What rarity is Bulbasaur?

Bulbasaur is a Common card in the Base Set set.