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Beedrill card art from FireRed & LeafGreen ex6-1

Image courtesy of TCGdex.net

Overview

The Beedrill card from the FireRed & LeafGreen expansion line represents a Grass-type evolution in the early EX-era of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. This Stage 2 Beedrill progresses from Kakuna and occupies a mid-power slot in the set, offering a combination of direct damage and a scalable attack that rewards board presence. As part of the ex6 set, Beedrill reflects the design sensibilities of early 2000s TCG art and mechanics, where stage-based evolutions and multi-attack options were central to deck-building decisions.

With a modest 90 HP and a Grass-type identity, Beedrill sits in a category of Grass-type evolutions that historically emphasized attrition and positional advantage. Its two attacks provide both a reliable early option to apply status conditions and a more explosive late-game payoff that scales with the number of Beedrill in play. The card’s rarity is Rare, signaling its value within booster packs and its potential appeal to collectors who seek complete sets or holofoil variants from the era.

Card Information

Name: Beedrill
Set: FireRed & LeafGreen
Card number: ex6-1
Rarity: Rare
Dex index: 15
Type: Grass
HP: 90
Stage: Stage 2
Evolves from: Kakuna
Illustrator: Hajime Kusajima
Variants: Normal, Holo, Reverse

Attacks and Abilities

The Beedrill card features two attacks that reflect its evolutionary strength and multi-beedrill synergy:

Poison Sting — Cost: Grass
Effect: The Defending Pokémon is now Poisoned.
Damage: 20
Link Needle — Cost: Grass, Colorless, Colorless
Effect: This attack does 50 damage plus 30 more damage for each Beedrill (excluding this one) you have in play.
Damage: 50 base, with scaling as above

Gameplay and Strategy

In historical context, Beedrill's two-attack design encourages a two-pronged approach: establish pressure early via Poison Sting to slow the opponent while stacking Beedrills to magnify Link Needle’s burst damage. The scaling mechanic of Link Needle rewards players who maintain a board presence with multiple Beedrills, creating a potential late-game spike that can overwhelm slower decks.

Key considerations for using Beedrill effectively include:

Board presence: Link Needle scales with the number of Beedrill in play (excluding the current attacker). Players should plan their bench space to maximize Beedrill counts while managing opponent threats.
Evolution timing: As a Stage 2 Pokémon, Beedrill requires Kakuna on the bench earlier in the game. Decks aiming to utilize Beedrill often include Kakuna as a bridging target to accelerate setup.
Weakness considerations: Beedrill’s Fire weakness (×2) makes Fire-type decks a natural pair to watch for in the metagame, and players should account for this in matchup planning.
Support synergy: Grass-energy acceleration and trainer-based control (where available in the era’s format) can help sustain Beedrill’s energy needs and extension into multiple Beedrills.

In contemporary analysis, this Beedrill card is primarily of historical and collectible interest, with limited viability in modern competitive formats due to its age, format restrictions, and the availability of more efficient Beedrill lines in later sets. Enthusiasts often collect holo and reverse-foil variants to complement the broader FireRed & LeafGreen collection, while players curious about early-EX era mechanics study Beedrill as an example of scaling damage and bench pressure strategies from that period.

Collector and Market Information

This Beedrill card is categorized as Rare within its FireRed & LeafGreen set. The ex6 set is recognized for its inclusion of multiple evolved forms and a balanced distribution of holofoil and non-holofoil variants. For collectors, the holo foil version tends to attract greater attention due to its visual appeal and historical rarity from the era.

Pricing data (as of late 2025) reflects a range that captures both non-holo and holofoil printings. Cardmarket data indicates a Euro range with an average around €2.46 and a low near €0.40, with holofoil pricing showing higher values on market listings. On the U.S. market via TCGPlayer, normal non-holo copies show lower-to-mid prices (low around $4.99, mid around $8.25, high around $15), while holofoil copies generally command higher figures (low around $4.87, mid around $8.85, high near $13.91). Market indicators also show holo variants achieving higher prices in certain conditions, aligning with collector demand for holo foil cards from early EX-era sets. These figures are representative of market activity and may fluctuate with supply, grade, and regional availability.

From a collecting perspective, Beedrill ex6-1’s value is influenced by its condition, edition (first edition or unlimited), and whether the card exists in holo or reverse-holo forms. Grading considerations for older cards usually emphasize corners, edges, surface gloss, and print quality, with higher grades typically correlating to premium pricing among both hobbyists and competitive players who maintain curated collections.

Art and Lore

Illustrated by Hajime Kusajima, the Beedrill artwork from this era reflects the bold, angular style characteristic of early 2000s Pokémon card art. Kusajima’s composition often emphasizes the insect's menace and agile posture, aligning with Beedrill’s in-game identity as a fast, stinging attacker. The FireRed & LeafGreen set theme is reinforced by the card’s lyrical connection to the Beedrill line, a natural extension of Kanto’s early Pokedex ecosystem.

In the broader lore, Beedrill is the evolved form of Kakuna, itself a cocoon-stage evolution representing metamorphosis from larval stages to a predator with a potent stinger. The card’s two-attack design also mirrors Beedrill’s in-game role as a support-based, stinging attacker rather than a pure “powerhouse” like some later, high-HP evolutions. While the card’s in-universe lore is not expanded upon in the card text, its placement within the FireRed & LeafGreen arc contributes to the overall depiction of Kanto’s insect-type lineage within the TCG’s early competitive ecosystem.

Trivia

This Beedrill is part of the EX-series era, which featured “EX” branding in many cards and introduced evolving lines from the base set onward in a more accelerated format. Beedrill’s inclusion in ex6 showcases the generation of evolved Grass-types available to players at the time.
Link Needle’s damage scaling is contingent on the number of Beedrill on the field (excluding the attacker), creating a dynamic where board state can substantially alters damage output from a mid-range base to a potentially significant finish.
The card exists in multiple variants (Normal, Holo, Reverse) within the same print run, a common practice in early sets to offer both traditional and foil alternatives to collectors and players alike.
The illustration credit to Hajime Kusajima ties this card to a broader portfolio of Pokémon artwork that populated the early EX-era sets, contributing to the era’s distinctive visual identity.

References and Context

For card data, illustration details, and market pricing, this entry references the Beedrill card from the FireRed & LeafGreen set, identified as ex6-1. Card text, HP, energy costs, and attack effects are drawn from the official card data and collector databases that track print runs and variants across markets. Pricing figures reflect market data from Cardmarket (EUR) and TCGPlayer (USD) as of late 2025, illustrating typical ranges for non-holo and holofoil copies and how rarity and print condition influence value.

Notes on Official Status

According to the card data, this Beedrill is not listed as legal for Standard or Expanded play in modern official formats. Given its age and the evolution of the Pokémon TCG rulesets, players should verify current format legality through official resources when preparing a collection or a historical deck list.

📘 Beedrill (Pokémon TCG Card)