Amidst the chaos of current developments in the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) product line, there is also an interesting development on the tournament side of things.
A New Tournament Rotation for 2025
It’s been over a month since the Pokémon League in Japan announced the date (January 24) for its new tournament set rotation, and roughly a few weeks since it has come into effect. From here, we can see a rising trend in the Japanese tournament listings showing Dragapult gaining a foothold at the top of deck representations. Dragapult even came out as the tournament winner in the most recent Pokémon City League held in Ōita, Japan.
Out in the west, recent tournament showings from Rio De Janeiro (Brazil), Birmingham (UK), San Antonio, Texas (USA), and most recently, Mérida (Mexico), show Dragapult has demonstrated a growing level of success as players from all over the world are using them at the highest level of competitive play and leaving their mark at the top 10% of player placements. That is no small feat as these tournaments can have a participant population in the thousands.
Dragapult ex was released to the Western market in the Twilight Masquerade expansion back in May 2024. Currently, Dragapult has a tournament regulation mark of [H] in the current Western tournament rotation of [F] - [G] - [H]. But once April 11 arrives, that new rotation will shift into [G] - [H] - [I]. This will safely keep Dragapult in tournament legal status for at least two more years as a tournament set rotation happens once a year.
Dragapult ex Market Prices Gaining Traction
Over at TCGplayer.com, Dragapult ex prices are starting to see a rising market trend. The Ultra Rare (UR) version of the card started out at around $8 back in mid-December and has climbed to an average $12 price tag today. Dragapult’s Double Rare (DR) variant didn’t see the same levels of success but still had an upward trend, starting at $2 and peaking at about $4 last week.
Dragapult ex also has a Special Illustration Rare (SIR) in the newly released Prismatic Evolutions expansion set. Even though it was a less sought-after card, Dragapult ex’s SIR arrived at the second-hand market at $50. Currently, it’s reaching a $150 average with some transactions already moving into the $200 range.
Given its rising tournament success over at the Japanese Pokémon League and its initial sightings in the top 10% of recent Western tournaments, signs of a potential market shift are happening in response. Both competitive players and collectors may want to keep an eye on Dragapult ex - in any of its rarity forms - as the Western rotation date looms closer and closer. It would not be surprising at all to see this card line suddenly shoot up in value overnight.