Image courtesy of TCGdex.net
Overview
Caterpie is a basic Grass-type Pokémon card from the Fusion Strike expansion (SWSh8) of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Printed as a common card, it occupies a foundational role in deck construction by enabling early bench development and evolution toward stronger opponents in subsequent turns. The artwork, created by Mitsuhiro Arita, presents Caterpie in a simple, grassy setting that emphasizes its nature as an entry point to the evolutionary line leading to Metapod and ultimately Butterfree. While its offensive presence is modest, the card’s primary utility lies in consistency and tempo—the ability to search for another Caterpie from the deck and accelerate the evolution chain within a single turn can influence how a game unfolds in the early stages of play.
In the broader context of the Fusion Strike set, Caterpie contributes to the long-standing design principle of leveraging basic Pokémon to enable progressive development of a player's board state. The card’s presence reflects a strategic emphasis on building a robust bench and ensuring that the player can access their evolutionary line with minimal disruption. The set’s trademark mechanics often encourage players to optimize sequencing and resource management, and Caterpie’s Flock attack is a quintessential example of a low-cost, high-utility effect that supports those aims.
Card Information
- Card name: Caterpie
- Set: Fusion Strike (SWSh8)
- Rarity: Common
- Card number: swsh8-1
- HP: 50
- Type: Grass
- Stage: Basic
- Illustrator: Mitsuhiro Arita
- Description: Its short feet are tipped with suction pads that enable it to tirelessly climb slopes and walls.
- Evolution: Caterpie → Metapod → Butterfree
- Attacks:
- Flock (Colorless): Search your deck for a Caterpie and put it onto your Bench. Then, shuffle your deck.
- Bug Bite (Grass) 10 damage
- Retreat cost: 1
- Regulation mark: E
- Legal formats: Expanded (Standard legality: not legal for this printing)
- Variants: Normal and Reverse Holo exist; First Edition and holo variants are not listed for this printing in the provided data
- Weakness: Not listed in the provided card data
Gameplay and Strategy
The centerpiece of Caterpie’s utility is its Flock attack, which allows a player to search the deck for another Caterpie and place it on the Bench. This ability is particularly valuable in the Fusion Strike era, where establishing a rapid evolution ladder can set up Metapod’s and Butterfree’s later plays. Although Caterpie itself is a modest offensive option with Bug Bite—performing 10 damage for Grass for a single-energy payment—its real strength lies in deck thinning and early bench development.
Strategically, players can leverage Flock to accelerate their evolutionary progression. By ensuring multiple Caterpie in the deck, a player can consistently bring additional basic Koos (Caterpie) onto the bench, enabling a smoother transition into Metapod on the ensuing turn and, subsequently, into Butterfree, should the deck’s composition support it. In games where the opponent’s early aggression pressures players to accelerate board state, Caterpie serves as a reliable tempo play to keep pace with faster archetypes. Since the card is Common with relatively low HP, it is treated as a disposable resource rather than a primary attacker; smart use of Flock can mitigate this by establishing a more resilient and scalable evolution line.
In terms of deck-building synergies, Caterpie can be paired with Trainer and Supporter cards that help search or draw into the evolution line or that accelerate bench setup. While this specific card’s attacks do not directly affect the opponent’s board beyond its minimal damage output, the ability to fetch Caterpie itself can create a chain that leads to Butterfree, which may bring stronger attacks or utility in later turns. Players often weigh the trade-off between investing in early evolution versus holding bench space for additional attackers, and Caterpie’s low cost and reliable deck-thinning effect typically advocate for the former when aiming to maximize consistency in the early game.
Weakness considerations, retreat cost, and HP also factor into practical usage. With a 50 HP pool, Caterpie is susceptible to being knocked out by several early-game attackers, particularly those with higher power or typing advantages. The Retreat cost of 1 is relatively moderate, requiring basic energy management to ensure Caterpie can be left on the Bench or moved out when necessary. These attributes reinforce Caterpie’s role as a transitional asset—useful for setting up future turns, but not a frontline contender in a direct exchange against stronger Pokémon.
Collector and Market Information
From a collecting and market perspective, Caterpie swsh8-1 is categorized as a Common rarity card in the Fusion Strike set. Its market presence is typical for basic stage cards, offering accessibility to new players and collectors while remaining a staple for older collection goals. The card is printed with a standard rarity distribution, and there is no First Edition printing listed for this particular variant, aligning with the Expanded-legal prints that dominated the Fusion Strike era.
Pricing data, drawn from CardMarket and TCGPlayer, illustrate Caterpie’s status as an inexpensive entry in most collections. CardMarket data (as of late 2025) shows the non-holo variant with an average price around 0.04 EUR, with low prices near 0.02 EUR and short-term upward movement around 0.05 EUR. Holo variants, when present in related sets or reprints, show a higher average around 0.14 EUR and a higher potential peak. The 1-day to 30-day price trends generally reflect modest movement, consistent with a Commons market segment where supply remains plentiful and demand fluctuates with set rotations and reprint cycles.
TCGPlayer reporting mirrors the general trend of affordable commons, with non-holo copies typically trading around 0.07 USD on average, and a low price near 0.01 USD, while peaks can reach as high as 9.99 USD in certain listings due to special editions or mispriced listings (though such extremes are uncommon for a standard common). Reverse holo variants show higher average values—approximately 0.20 USD—with market prices around 0.19 USD in typical listings. As with all TCG market data, prices are subject to supply changes, regional availability, and the overall health of the secondary market. Consumers should consult up-to-date listings for precise pricing when evaluating a purchase or sale.
In summary, Caterpie swsh8-1 remains a practical, low-cost addition for players emphasizing deck-building efficiency and evolutionary strategy, while collectors may appreciate its role within the Fusion Strike print run and its performance as a common staple within trainer-oriented decks of that period.
Art and Lore
The illustration for Caterpie in this printing is attributed to Mitsuhiro Arita, a veteran artist known for classic and recognizable Pokémon card art. Arita’s work on Caterpie captures the creature’s simple, approachable design, aligning with its role as a beginner-friendly Pokémon in both the TCG and anime. The Fusion Strike set maintains a balance between modernized visuals and nostalgic charm, and Caterpie’s artwork contributes to this balance by presenting a straightforward, friendly representation suitable for players of all ages. The on-card flavor text—describing Caterpie’s suction-tad feet that aid in climbing—offers a small glimpse into Caterpie’s physical adaptations that support its early-stage lifestyle in the wild, which fans may recognize from the broader Pokémon world lore surrounding Caterpie and its evolution into Butterfree.
Trivia
- The first printed variant for this set is swsh8-1, indicating Caterpie’s position as the first card in the Fusion Strike numbering for its species within the set.
- The card’s evolution line—Caterpie to Metapod to Butterfree—remains a staple across multiple generations, reflecting the enduring design of early-stage evolution within the Pokémon TCG’s ecosystem.
- Flock represents a deck-thinning mechanic that emphasizes consistency over raw power, a common design philosophy in early-stage and support Pokémon that aim to enable more powerful late-game options.
- Illustrator Mitsuhiro Arita’s long-running influence on Pokémon TCG art is evident in the clean, approachable depiction of Caterpie, a recurring motif in Arita’s body of work across various generations and sets.
- Despite its low attack output, the card’s strategic value in accelerating the evolution chain has kept Caterpie a relevant consideration for players building evolutionary-centric decks, particularly in formats where bench management and sequencing are pivotal.