Pokémon · Base
Poliwag
Base Set · #59 · Common · 1999
Listings
No active listings
From
—
Market reference
$0.69
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 / 102
- Release year
- 1999
- Rarity
- Common
- HP
- 40
- Subtype
- Basic
- Evolves to
- Poliwhirl
- Retreat cost
- 1 energy
- Illustrator
- Ken Sugimori
- Pokédex #
- 60
- Series
- Base
Card analysis
Computed from this card's stats and text — not a reposted price.
- Primary role
- Attacker
- Damage efficiency
- 10 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 Poliwag 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.
- Needs Water Energy to attack — your line must supply that color.
- Water type, weak to Grass ×2 — a Grass 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.
How to beat Poliwag
- Exploit its Grass weakness — ≥20 damage one-shots it.
More by Ken Sugimori
This card was illustrated by Ken Sugimori.
Building around Poliwag?
Drop it into the deck builder for a live consistency score, synergy suggestions, and Standard legality checks.
About this card
"Its newly grown legs prevent it from running. It appears to prefer swimming over trying to stand."
WWater Gun — 10+
Does 10 damage plus 10 more damage for each Water Energy attached to Poliwag but not used to pay for this attack's Energy cost. Extra Water Energy after the 2nd don't count.
Weakness:G×2
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 2026/07/07| Variant | Low | Mid | High | Market | Direct Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | $0.20 | $0.60 | $9,999.00 | $0.69 | $0.50 |
Cardmarket (EUR)
Updated 2026/06/21| Variant | Price |
|---|---|
| 1-day average | €3.75 |
| 7-day average | €16.15 |
| 30-day average | €12.49 |
| Low | €2.65 |
| Trend price | €9.99 |
| Low (excellent+) | €3.49 |
| averageSellPrice | €21.30 |
Frequently asked
How can I tell if my Poliwag is real?
Poliwag 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 Poliwag worth?
As of the latest data, the current market reference price for Poliwag is $0.69; 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 Poliwag from?
Poliwag is from the Pokémon set "Base Set" in the Base series, released in 1999.
What rarity is Poliwag?
Poliwag is a Common card in the Base Set set.
Other Poliwag printings
Same Pokémon card across other sets and rarities.
