{ "url": "https://www.moonstonehq.com/articles/strongest-pokemon-card-ever-printed", "slug": "strongest-pokemon-card-ever-printed", "title": "What Is the Strongest Pokemon Card Ever Printed?", "summary": "Across 22,421 English single-card products that carry a printed HP, the biggest number in any attack's damage box is 340, and it belongs to Zacian V-UNION. Assembling that card costs $14.64 at Near Mint. The most damage any single printed condition reaches is 400, on a different card, and its cheapest printing is 57 cents.", "section": "Quant research", "published": "2026-10-12", "readMinutes": 8, "publisher": "moonstone", "findings": [ { "value": "340", "measures": "biggest number in any printed damage box", "basis": "across 22,421 English single-card products carrying a printed HP" }, { "value": "$14.64", "measures": "to assemble the card that prints it", "basis": "Zacian V-UNION, four Near Mint quarters, all quoted 2026-10-09" }, { "value": "16", "measures": "cards print 300 damage or more", "basis": "63 separate printings of them; 7 of the 16 have a printing under $5" }, { "value": "400", "measures": "most damage one printed condition reaches", "basis": "Mega Feraligatr ex, Mortal Crunch 200+, cheapest printing $0.57" } ], "tables": [ { "title": "Every card that prints 300 damage or more, by the biggest number in its damage box", "columns": [ "Card", "Damage box", "HP", "Printings quoted", "Cheapest Near Mint", "Dearest Near Mint" ], "rows": [ { "Card": "[Zacian V-UNION](/card/swshp-SWSH166) (SWSH Black Star Promos)", "Damage box": "340", "HP": "320", "Printings quoted": "4 of 4", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$2.89 SWSH163", "Dearest Near Mint": "$5.78 SWSH166" }, { "Card": "[Mega Dragonite ex](/card/me02.5-152) (Ascended Heroes)", "Damage box": "330", "HP": "370", "Printings quoted": "5 of 6", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$4.78 152/217", "Dearest Near Mint": "$482.58 290/217" }, { "Card": "[Charizard ex](/card/sv03.5-006) (151)", "Damage box": "330", "HP": "330", "Printings quoted": "4 of 4", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$5.96 promo 161", "Dearest Near Mint": "$322.08 199/165" }, { "Card": "[Mega Emboar ex](/card/me02.5-031) (Ascended Heroes)", "Damage box": "320", "HP": "380", "Printings quoted": "3 of 3", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$0.50 promo 035", "Dearest Near Mint": "$40.44 273/217" }, { "Card": "[Charizard VSTAR](/card/swsh9-018) (Brilliant Stars and Crown Zenith)", "Damage box": "320", "HP": "280", "Printings quoted": "4 of 4", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$10.22 Crown Zenith", "Dearest Near Mint": "$67.99 174/172*" }, { "Card": "[Zacian VSTAR](/card/swsh12.5-096) (Crown Zenith)", "Damage box": "310", "HP": "270", "Printings quoted": "1 of 1", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$1.44 096/159", "Dearest Near Mint": "$1.44 096/159" }, { "Card": "[Charizard VMAX](/card/swsh3-20) (Darkness Ablaze and 4 more)", "Damage box": "300", "HP": "330", "Printings quoted": "5 of 5", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$37.70 SWSH261", "Dearest Near Mint": "$202.56 Champion's Path*" }, { "Card": "[Salamence ex](/card/sv09-114) (Journey Together)", "Damage box": "300", "HP": "320", "Printings quoted": "4 of 4", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$0.77 stamped 114/159", "Dearest Near Mint": "$43.26 187/159" }, { "Card": "[Mewtwo V-UNION](/card/swshp-SWSH159) (SWSH Black Star Promos)", "Damage box": "300", "HP": "310", "Printings quoted": "4 of 4", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$10.24 SWSH159", "Dearest Near Mint": "$17.34 SWSH160" }, { "Card": "[Mega Latias ex](/card/me01-100) (Mega Evolution)", "Damage box": "300", "HP": "280", "Printings quoted": "5 of 5", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$0.69 promo 011", "Dearest Near Mint": "$72.73 181/132" }, { "Card": "[Charizard GX](/card/sm3-20) (Burning Shadows, Crimson Storm)", "Damage box": "300", "HP": "250", "Printings quoted": "4 of 4", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$26.57 20/147", "Dearest Near Mint": "$819.94 150/147" }, { "Card": "[Charizard GX](/card/sm115-9) (Hidden Fates, Flare Blitz GX)", "Damage box": "300", "HP": "250", "Printings quoted": "3 of 3", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$9.61 9/68", "Dearest Near Mint": "$13.65 Battle Academy" }, { "Card": "[M Charizard EX](/card/xy2-69) (Flashfire, the X with Wild Blaze)", "Damage box": "300", "HP": "230", "Printings quoted": "2 of 2", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$286.00 69/106", "Dearest Near Mint": "$1,501.23 108/106" }, { "Card": "[M Rayquaza EX](/card/xy6-61) (Roaring Skies)", "Damage box": "300", "HP": "230", "Printings quoted": "1 of 1", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$165.71 61/108", "Dearest Near Mint": "$165.71 61/108" }, { "Card": "[M Charizard EX](/card/xy12-13) (Evolutions and Flashfire, the Y with Crimson Dive)", "Damage box": "300", "HP": "220", "Printings quoted": "4 of 4", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$40.10 Evolutions 13/108", "Dearest Near Mint": "$313.61 Flashfire 107/106" }, { "Card": "[Pikachu ex](/card/me02.5-057) (Ascended Heroes)", "Damage box": "300", "HP": "200", "Printings quoted": "9 of 9", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$3.22 057/217", "Dearest Near Mint": "$301.51 277/217" } ] }, { "title": "The nine cards that print 360 HP or more, and what the cheapest copy costs", "columns": [ "Card", "HP", "Biggest printed box", "Printings quoted", "Cheapest Near Mint", "Dearest Near Mint" ], "rows": [ { "Card": "[Mega Emboar ex](/card/me02.5-031) (Ascended Heroes)", "HP": "380", "Biggest printed box": "320", "Printings quoted": "3 of 3", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$0.50", "Dearest Near Mint": "$40.44" }, { "Card": "[Wailord ex](/card/me05-16) (Pitch Black)", "HP": "380", "Biggest printed box": "270", "Printings quoted": "2 of 2", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$0.69", "Dearest Near Mint": "$3.99" }, { "Card": "[Mega Venusaur ex](/card/me01-003) (Mega Evolution)", "HP": "380", "Biggest printed box": "240", "Printings quoted": "5 of 5", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$0.97", "Dearest Near Mint": "$140.47" }, { "Card": "[Mega Dragonite ex](/card/me02.5-152) (Ascended Heroes)", "HP": "370", "Biggest printed box": "330", "Printings quoted": "5 of 6", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$4.78", "Dearest Near Mint": "$482.58" }, { "Card": "[Mega Feraligatr ex](/card/me02.5-043) (Ascended Heroes)", "HP": "370", "Biggest printed box": "200+, reaches 400", "Printings quoted": "3 of 3", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$0.57", "Dearest Near Mint": "$87.92" }, { "Card": "[Mega Gardevoir ex](/card/me01-060) (Mega Evolution)", "HP": "360", "Biggest printed box": "50x, no printed bound", "Printings quoted": "7 of 7", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$0.77", "Dearest Near Mint": "$177.67" }, { "Card": "[Mega Charizard X ex](/card/me02-013) (Phantasmal Flames)", "HP": "360", "Biggest printed box": "90x, no printed bound", "Printings quoted": "7 of 7", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$5.31", "Dearest Near Mint": "$661.14" }, { "Card": "[Mega Charizard Y ex](/card/me02.5-022) (Ascended Heroes)", "HP": "360", "Biggest printed box": "280 to any 1 of their Pokemon", "Printings quoted": "4 of 4", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$5.25", "Dearest Near Mint": "$300.78" }, { "Card": "[Mega Meganium ex](/card/me02.5-010) (Ascended Heroes)", "HP": "360", "Biggest printed box": "70+, scales per Energy", "Printings quoted": "3 of 3", "Cheapest Near Mint": "$0.67", "Dearest Near Mint": "$69.01" } ] } ], "charts": [ { "title": "Median Near Mint price by the biggest damage box the card prints", "unit": "$", "note": "16,890 printings with a readable damage box and a Near Mint quote. The whole population's median is $1.29.", "points": [ { "label": "Under 100 damage", "value": 0.86, "basis": "12,443 printings" }, { "label": "100 to 149", "value": 1.87, "basis": "2,467 printings" }, { "label": "150 to 199", "value": 2.63, "basis": "1,168 printings" }, { "label": "200 to 249", "value": 3.51, "basis": "607 printings" }, { "label": "250 to 299", "value": 3.57, "basis": "143 printings" }, { "label": "300 and up", "value": 26.11, "basis": "62 printings" } ] } ], "sections": [ "The card with the biggest number is four cards", "Four hundred damage, under a dollar", "The HP ceiling is 380, and three cards hold it", "Strength is priced, and thinly", "What we threw out, and why" ], "method": [ "Source tables: tcgcsv_products (32,868 TCGplayer English Pokemon product rows, the provider's own extendedData parsed for the HP field and the Attack 1 to Attack 4 fields), condition_quotes (the Near Mint row, condition 'NM', price above zero, one quote per product), nm_history (the daily Near Mint tape, used only for the flat-price test in the callout), tcgcsv_groups (published_on, for the year chart), and cards (to verify that every card id linked above exists, and to read the TCGdex HP where we hold one). 22,770 of the 32,868 rows carry a numeric HP. Exclusions, in order: 342 Jumbo Cards rows, 6 [Set of N] bundle rows, all of them V-UNION sets of four, and 1 row whose HP reads 1210, leaving a universe of 22,421 single-card printings, of which 22,264 carry a Near Mint quote (99.3%). Attack fields are filled on 22,671 rows at slot 1, 12,951 at slot 2, 427 at slot 3 and 42 at slot 4. The damage box is parsed two ways because the provider writes it two ways: a parenthesised figure, and the legacy 'Attack Name - 300' form used in the 23 XY Flashfire rows. A plus attack is scored as its printed base plus the one 'does N more damage' clause in its text, and is ranked separately from the printed box; an attack whose bonus scales, the 'for each' wording, is not totalled at all, and neither is a multiplier. The 22,421 split three ways with nothing counted twice: 17,006 printings carry a readable damage box, 3,496 carry only a plus or a multiplier figure, and 1,919 carry no damage figure in any form. The 191 rows with no attack field at all sit inside that 1,919, alongside 1,728 that have an attack field with no figure in it. Counted across the whole universe instead, 4,249 rows carry a plus attack and 2,213 a multiplier, and those two overlap the 17,006. The bar chart's population is the 16,890 of the 17,006 that also carry a quote. Every median printed here is the average of the two middle values on an even sample, taken to the cent and rounded up at the half cent. Printings are folded to one card by name and by attack text rather than by name alone: a name printed in two sets is one card when the attack text matches, which is why Charizard VSTAR covers Brilliant Stars and Crown Zenith and why the four quarters of a V-UNION count once, and two names on the list are two cards each, Charizard GX (Flare Blitz GX against Crimson Storm) and M Charizard EX (the X with Wild Blaze at 230 HP against the Y with Crimson Dive at 220). That fold is what makes 63 printings 16 cards. Dates: every quote in the two tables and the prose is stamped between 2026-10-03 and 2026-10-11, except the $1,501.23 M Charizard EX secret at 2026-09-19 and the five jumbo quotes in the exclusions, which run from 2026-06-04 to 2026-10-11. The bar chart is looser because it is the whole population: 457 of its 16,890 quotes sit outside that nine day window, 403 of them in the under 100 band, and the oldest is stamped 2025-07-21. The year chart drops every group whose name carries Promo, Prize Pack, Jumbo, Deck Exclusives, League, Championship, Trainer Kit, World Championship or Miscellaneous, because the provider dates a card by its group and those groups carry cards printed years after their stamp: the Prize Pack group is stamped 2022-11-30 and holds 2026 printings, and 135 of the 506 Deck Exclusives rows carry the name and number of a card from a later expansion. It then drops 11 more groups whose published_on is 2026-10-12, the day the file was read, which is a fallback and not a release date (Blister Exclusives, First Partner Pack and POP Series 1 to 9, 311 printings). That leaves 17,467 printings across 155 groups. Both series are value for value identical with those 11 groups left in (17,778 across 166) and identical again with the provider's supplemental groups dropped, so the shape does not rest on where the cut lands. 2026 is ten months of a year. Every price read was issued as a batched primary-key IN lookup against condition_quotes or nm_history, with the query plan checked before each sweep." ], "terms": "Figures are moonstone's own recorded measurements, dated as published. Quote them with the population stated beside them. The article at `url` is the human form of this file." }