Pokémon · EX
Dark Ampharos
Team Rocket Returns · #2 · Rare Holo · 2004
Listings
No active listings
From
—
Market reference
$89.27
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
- 2 / 111
- Release year
- 2004
- Rarity
- Rare Holo
- HP
- 120
- Subtype
- Stage 2
- Evolves from
- Dark Flaaffy
- Retreat cost
- 2 energy
- Illustrator
- Emi Miwa
- Pokédex #
- 181
- Series
- EX
Card analysis
Computed from this card's stats and text — not a reposted price.
- Primary role
- Attacker
- Damage efficiency
- 70 damage
- 23.33 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 Dark Ampharos plays — derived from its stats and the rules of the game, not an opinion.
- Its main attack (Shock Bolt) needs 3 Energy — a turn-3 swing on manual attachment — you’ll want Energy acceleration to power it up on time.
- Needs Lightning Energy to attack — your line must supply that color.
- Lightning / Darkness type, weak to Fighting ×2 — a Fighting attacker doing ≥60 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 Dark Flaaffy first).
How to beat Dark Ampharos
- Exploit its Fighting weakness — ≥60 damage one-shots it.
- Gust it before the evolution is set up.
Budget alternatives
Cheaper cards that fill a similar role in Standard decks. Reference prices — most-played option first.
Illustrated by Emi Miwa
Building around Dark Ampharos?
Drop it into the deck builder for a live consistency score, synergy suggestions, and Standard legality checks.
About this card
Poké-Body: Darkest Impulse
As long as Dark Ampharos is in play, whenever your opponent plays an Evolution card from his or her hand to evolve 1 of his or her Pokémon, put 2 damage counters on that Pokémon. You can't use more than 1 Darkest Impulse Poké-Body each turn.
CCRam — 30
LCCShock Bolt — 70
Discard all Lightning Energy attached to Dark Ampharos.
This Pokémon is both Lightning Darkness type.
Weakness:F×2
Retreat cost:CC
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 2026/07/04| Variant | Low | Mid | High | Market | Direct Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | $100.00 | $100.00 | $100.00 | $0.69 | — |
| Holofoil | $75.00 | $121.99 | $999.90 | $89.27 | — |
| Reverse Holofoil | $130.53 | $149.99 | $333.93 | $121.69 | — |
Cardmarket (EUR)
Updated 2026/07/01| Variant | Price |
|---|---|
| 1-day average | €30.00 |
| 7-day average | €21.50 |
| 30-day average | €32.14 |
| Low | €6.95 |
| Trend price | €34.37 |
| Low (excellent+) | €38.00 |
| Reverse holo low | €24.90 |
| reverseHoloAvg1 | €105.00 |
| Reverse holo 7-day | €66.12 |
| reverseHoloSell | €56.65 |
| averageSellPrice | €22.00 |
| Reverse holo 30-day | €58.01 |
| Reverse holo trend | €70.83 |
Frequently asked
How can I tell if my Dark Ampharos is real?
Dark Ampharos 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 Dark Ampharos worth?
As of the latest data, the current market reference price for Dark Ampharos is $89.27; 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 Dark Ampharos from?
Dark Ampharos is from the Pokémon set "Team Rocket Returns" in the EX series, released in 2004.
What rarity is Dark Ampharos?
Dark Ampharos is a Rare Holo card in the Team Rocket Returns set.
Other Dark Ampharos printings
Same Pokémon card across other sets and rarities.
