Image courtesy of TCGdex.net
Overview
The card featured here is a Pokémon Trading Card from the POP Series 9 subset, presenting Garchomp as a rare, Stage 2 Pokémon. This release showcases Garchomp in a colorless-energy environment, reflecting the era’s emphasis on multi-purpose colorless typings within the POP line. As a Stage 2 evolution that advances from Gabite, this card highlights the power spike associated with mid- to late-Evolution phases in the POP format, while also underscoring the strategic trade-offs of high-damage attacks that require careful energy management.
Garchomp’s flavor text—“It flies at speeds equal to a jet fighter plane. It never allows its prey to escape.”—emphasizes its predatory mobility and precision, themes echoed in the card’s two attacks. The artwork on this card is contributed by Kagemaru Himeno, a recognized Pokémon TCG illustrator whose work for the series lends a dynamic presence to Garchomp’s aerial, high-speed motif.
Card Information
- Category: Pokémon
- Name: Garchomp
- Set: POP Series 9 (pop9)
- Card Number: pop9-1
- Dex number: 445
- Rarity: Rare
- HP: 130
- Type: Colorless
- Stage: Stage 2
- Evolves from: Gabite
- Illustrator: Kagemaru Himeno
- Flavor text: “It flies at speeds equal to a jet fighter plane. It never allows its prey to escape.”
- Attacks:
- Dragon Rage – Colorless
- Jet Sword – Colorless, Colorless, Colorless
- Attack details:
- Dragon Rage: Damage 80. Effect: Flip 2 coins. If either of them is tails, this attack does nothing.
- Jet Sword: Damage 100. Effect: Discard 2 Energy attached to Garchomp and this attack does 10 damage to each of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)
- Weakness: Colorless × +30
- Retreat: 0
- Legal formats: Standard false, Expanded false
- Variants: First Edition false, Holo false, Normal true, Reverse false, W Promo false
- Pricing (selected sources):
- Cardmarket (EUR): avg €5.32; low €5.50; trend €7.06; 1‑day avg €4.98; 7‑day avg €7.86; 30‑day avg €9.05
- TCGPlayer (USD): avg price around $31.99 (mid), low $30, high $49.99; market price $13.45
- Official set catalog: Card count within POP Series 9 — official 17 cards; total 17 cards
Gameplay and Strategy
This Garchomp card demonstrates the characteristic tension of early POP-era Pokémon cards, balancing power with energy and coin-flip risk. The two attacks define divergent play patterns depending on resource availability and opponent configuration.
Dragon Rage offers a straightforward, high-variance offense. With a requirement of a coin flip, the attack deals 80 damage only if both coins land heads; otherwise, it fails entirely. This introduces a probabilistic element that can pressure an opponent’s board by threatening a strong hit from a relatively moderate energy investment. In practice, Dragon Rage is most effective when paired with chances to maximize coin outcomes or in decks designed to absorb risk while forcing mid-to-late game exchanges.
Jet Sword represents a different strategic axis. It consumes three Colorless energies and requires discarding two Energy from Garchomp after attacking. The payoff is substantial: 100 damage on the active Pokémon plus 10 damage to each of the opponent’s Benched Pokémon. The effect ignores Benched weaknesses and resistances, which can be advantageous in games where bench status and spread damage complicate the matchup. However, Jet Sword’s energy cost and energy-discard requirement reduce the long-term sustainability of Garchomp on the field, making it a decision that hinges on board state and resource management.
In terms of deck-building considerations, Garchomp benefits from a support framework that facilitates rapid Energy attachment and efficient energy recycling or acceleration (within the constraints of POP-era mechanics). Its Stage 2 status means a Gabite must be in play to evolve into Garchomp, so players must plan for the evolving curve and continuity of offense as the game unfolds. The 0 retreat cost aids in reconfiguring the active Pokémon quickly, but the player must still manage retreat options and board position, given the potential for rapid bench damage from Jet Sword.
Because the card is not legal in Standard or Expanded formats, its strategic relevance is largely within historical play and collection contexts. For modern players, its value lies in understanding the evolution of early energy strategies and the design philosophy of POP Series cards, rather than in constructing contemporary tournament-winning decks.
Collector and Market Information
As a Rare card from POP Series 9, Garchomp occupies a specific niche within the Pokémon TCG collectible ecosystem. The POP line marked a distinctive era where collectible card releases accompanied organized play events, often featuring reprints or rider cards with unique set mechanics. This Garchomp is a non-holo, non-first edition example, consistent with the normal variant in this release.
The set’s completeness is defined by POP Series 9’s official card count of 17. This item’s position as pop9-1 indicates its placement at the start of the series’ numbering, contributing to its collector appeal as an early POP release in a short-running subset.
Market pricing in recent years reflects its status as a niche collectible rather than a staple in contemporary play. Cardmarket reports a nuanced EUR pricing curve, with average prices over time around €5.32 and a spread that has shown higher figures in market fluctuations (low around €5.50, up to trails around €9.05 in broader market windows). TCGPlayer data in USD indicates a broader range, with mid prices often around the low-to-mid $30s, but with high values approaching the $50 mark in some listings and a market price around $13.45. These figures illustrate a collector-driven demand pattern rather than a demand tied to current play viability.
Collectors may also consider the card’s notable attributes: rarity, the non-standard legality, the art by Kagemaru Himeno, and its status as a POP Series 9 card with a complete official count. Grading and preservation typically focus on the card’s condition, print era, and any potential misprints associated with older POP-line releases. While price movements can reflect broader market trends for vintage or niche Pokémon TCG pieces, the data here should be interpreted as historical context rather than a forecast of future values.
Art and Lore
The artistry on this Garchomp piece is credited to Kagemaru Himeno, whose work across Pokémon card sets contributes to the recognizable visual language of the era. While modern collectors may emphasize gloss and holo variations, this specific release prioritizes a standard, non-holographic presentation, aligning with POP Series 9’s design approach. The accompanying flavor text reinforces Garchomp’s image as a swift, predatory dragon-like Pokémon, complementing the visual portrayal of a creature built for speed and decisive strikes. The combination of the artwork, multiplicative energy dynamics, and the rapid, high-damage potential of Jet Sword reflects the design ethos of POP-era cards—emphasizing thematic coherence between flavor text, artwork, and gameplay mechanics.
Trivia
- This Garchomp is a non-holo, non-first edition iteration within POP Series 9, emphasizing accessibility and broad distribution within the subset.
- The card’s legal status indicates it is not playable in Standard or Expanded formats, which is common for many POP-era releases that are primarily collector-focused.
- The combination of Dragon Rage’s coin-flip mechanics with Jet Sword’s energy-discard requirement exemplifies the era’s experimentation with risk and reward in single-card design, particularly for Stage 2 evolutions.
- The illustrated art by Kagemaru Himeno is part of a broader portfolio of Pokémon cards from the period, contributing to the visual identity of POP Series 9.
- The card’s price data from Cardmarket and TCGPlayer highlights how rarity and historical release status influence market values, independent of contemporary play viability.