Pokémon · Base

Ninetales

Base

Base Set · #12 · Rare Holo · 1999

Counterfeit risk: Medium

Base Set holo; counterfeited primarily in 1st Edition.

Listings

No active listings

From

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Market reference

$36.64

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: 12 / 102
Release year: 1999
Rarity: Rare Holo
HP: 80
Subtype: Stage 1
Evolves from: Vulpix
Retreat cost: 1 energy
Illustrator: Ken Sugimori
Pokédex #: 38
Series: Base

Card analysis

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

Primary role: Attacker
Damage efficiency: 80 damage; 20 per Energy
Prize liability: 1 Prize given up; Single-prize attacker — favourable prize trades
Setup: Stage 1; One evolution step from a Basic

Strategy & play

How Ninetales plays — derived from its stats and the rules of the game, not an opinion.

Its main attack (Fire Blast) needs 4 Energy — a turn-4 swing on manual attachment — you’ll want Energy acceleration to power it up on time.
Needs Fire Energy to attack — your line must supply that color.
Fire type, weak to Water ×2 — a Water 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 Vulpix; doesn’t help your opening hand, but quick to set up.
Seen in 0% of recent tournament decks that can run it, usually 2 copies.

How to beat Ninetales

Exploit its Water weakness — ≥40 damage one-shots it.
Gust it before the evolution is set up.

Competitive performance

From real Standard tournament decks over the last 180 days.

Meta inclusion: 0% of decks; 1.88 copies on average · 60 decks
Match win rate: 37.5%; -9.7 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.

Vulpix

in 83% of decks · 54 seen

Alomomola

in 17% of decks · 11 seen

Reshiram ex

in 28% of decks · 18 seen

Wailmer

in 20% of decks · 13 seen

Wailord ex

in 20% of decks · 13 seen

Misty's Vitality

in 20% of decks · 13 seen

Blaziken

in 34% of decks · 22 seen

Bubbly Water Energy

in 20% of decks · 13 seen

Budget alternatives

Cheaper cards that fill a similar role in Standard decks. Reference prices — most-played option first.

Lillie's Clefairy ex

$1.77 · in 22% of decks

Dreepy

$0.28 · in 21% of decks

Dusknoir

$0.28 · in 10% of decks

Dusclops

$0.25 · in 10% of decks

More by Ken Sugimori

This card was illustrated by Ken Sugimori.

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Building around Ninetales?

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: 80Type:RFireSubtype: Stage 1Evolves from: Vulpix

"Very smart and very vengeful. Grabbing one of its many tails could result in a 1,000-year curse."

CCLure

If your opponent has any Benched Pokémon, choose 1 of them and switch it with his or her Active Pokémon.

RRRRFire Blast — 80

Discard 1 Fire Energy card attached to Ninetales in order to use this attack.

Weakness:W×2

Retreat cost:C

Tournament legality

Current legal status across competitive formats.

unlimitedLegal

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	$17.99	$28.45	$9,999.00	$36.64	—

Cardmarket (EUR)

Updated 2026/07/01

Variant	Price
1-day average	€5.04
7-day average	€17.30
30-day average	€15.58
Low	€1.00
Trend price	€17.07
Low (excellent+)	€6.00
reverseHoloAvg1	€11.14
Reverse holo 7-day	€11.53
averageSellPrice	€15.51
Reverse holo 30-day	€12.92
Reverse holo trend	€19.81

Frequently asked

How can I tell if my Ninetales is real?

Ninetales is classified as medium counterfeit risk: Base Set holo; counterfeited primarily in 1st Edition. 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 Ninetales worth?

As of the latest data, the current market reference price for Ninetales is $36.64; 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 Ninetales from?

Ninetales is from the Pokémon set "Base Set" in the Base series, released in 1999.

What rarity is Ninetales?

Ninetales is a Rare Holo card in the Base Set set.