Pokémon · XY
Empoleon
BREAKthrough · #38 · Rare Holo · 2015
Listings
No active listings
From
—
Market reference
$0.97
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
- 38 / 165
- Release year
- 2015
- Rarity
- Rare Holo
- HP
- 140
- Subtype
- Stage 2
- Evolves from
- Prinplup
- Retreat cost
- 2 energy
- Illustrator
- Satoshi Shirai
- Pokédex #
- 395
- Series
- XY
Card analysis
Computed from this card's stats and text — not a reposted price.
- Primary role
- Attacker
- Damage efficiency
- 70 damage
- 35 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 Empoleon plays — derived from its stats and the rules of the game, not an opinion.
- Its main attack (Hydro Splash) needs 2 Energy — a turn-2 swing on manual attachment.
- Needs Water Energy to attack — your line must supply that color.
- Water type, weak to Grass ×2 — a Grass attacker doing ≥70 effectively one-shots it.
- A single-prize attacker — prize-trade-positive against ex / V decks that give up two at a time.
- 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 Prinplup first).
How to beat Empoleon
- Exploit its Grass weakness — ≥70 damage one-shots it.
- Gust it before the evolution is set up.
More by Satoshi Shirai
This card was illustrated by Satoshi Shirai.
Building around Empoleon?
Drop it into the deck builder for a live consistency score, synergy suggestions, and Standard legality checks.
About this card
"The three horns that extend from its beak attest to its power. The leader has the biggest horns."
Ability: Dignified Fighter
Each of your Basic Pokémon's attacks does 20 more damage to your opponent's Active Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance).
WCHydro Splash — 70
Weakness:G×2
Retreat cost:CC
Tournament legality
Current legal status across competitive formats.
Recent tournament results
View calendar →Tournaments from the past 30 days where Empoleon was legal.
Tournament play
This printing of Empoleon has no recent tournament appearances, but a different printing is currently a meta staple.
Empoleon ex — Phantasmal Flames
Played in 73 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 2026/07/19| Variant | Low | Mid | High | Market | Direct Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holofoil | $0.51 | $0.95 | $19.98 | $0.97 | — |
| Reverse Holofoil | $0.66 | $1.35 | $19.98 | $1.45 | — |
Cardmarket (EUR)
Updated 2026/03/07| Variant | Price |
|---|---|
| 1-day average | €3.95 |
| 7-day average | €2.69 |
| 30-day average | €2.16 |
| Low | €0.49 |
| Trend price | €2.40 |
| Low (excellent+) | €0.59 |
| Reverse holo low | €0.50 |
| reverseHoloAvg1 | €2.00 |
| Reverse holo 7-day | €3.30 |
| reverseHoloSell | €1.92 |
| averageSellPrice | €2.53 |
| Reverse holo 30-day | €2.74 |
| Reverse holo trend | €2.72 |
Frequently asked
How can I tell if my Empoleon is real?
Empoleon 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 Empoleon worth?
As of the latest data, the current market reference price for Empoleon is $0.97; 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 Empoleon from?
Empoleon is from the Pokémon set "BREAKthrough" in the XY series, released in 2015.
What rarity is Empoleon?
Empoleon is a Rare Holo card in the BREAKthrough set.
Other Empoleon printings
Same Pokémon card across other sets and rarities.
