Pelipper 38 — what does this card actually do?
This card has 100 HP, a top attack printed at 60 damage and a Lightning weakness.
Water · Stage 1 · Sun & Moon · measured against 20,444 cards on file — card data read July 28, 2026
What does Pelipper 38 do in a game?
Pelipper 38 is a Water Pokémon card with 100 HP, printed as Stage 1.
Its strongest attack, Fly, is printed at 60 damage for 3 Energy — 20 damage per Energy card.
Because of the Lightning weakness, any Lightning attack printed at 50 damage or more removes it in a single turn.
Pelipper 38Sun & Moon
Pelipper 38 performance summary
100 HP · Water · Stage 1 · retreat 1 · Lightning weakness ×2
as of July 28, 2026
damage per Energy card, among cards whose cheapest attack costs 2
Strongest on Retreat lightness — top 5.6% of the archive. Weakest on Attack cost lightness — bottom 43.8%.
Each spoke is this card's place among every card in the archive that prints that figure. Further out is stronger — retreat and attack cost are shown as lightness, so a cheap card reaches outward. Counted July 28, 2026.
| Measure | Percentile | Printed value |
|---|---|---|
| Hit points | 56.1% | 100 HP |
| Top printed damage | 57.4% | 60 damage |
| Energy efficiency | 46.1% | 20 per Energy |
| Retreat lightness | 94.4% | 1 Energy |
| Attack cost lightness | 43.8% | 2 Energy |
2 attacks printed on the card. The badge is the Energy it asks for.
Among the 17,290 cards in every card in the archive that carry printed HP, this one is number 6,636 at 100 HP.
Pelipper 38100 HPPrinted HP
The ceiling of this archive is 380 HP — 280 HP above this card.
Mega Emboar ex 273380 HPWhat stands out on Pelipper 38
- Hit points 100 HP puts it in the 80~120 band, where 33.1% of 17,290 cards with printed HP sit.
- Energy It returns 20 damage per Energy card against 32.5 for cards whose cheapest attack costs 2.
- Weakness A Lightning attack printed at 50 damage or more removes it in a single turn.
- Legality 4 of the 16 prints that carry this name are legal in Standard play.
Pelipper 38 at a glance
- What it is. A Water Pokémon card with 100 HP printed as Stage 1, printed in Sun & Moon.
- What it can do. 2 attacks printed on the card, the strongest at 60 damage for 3 Energy.
- What it fears. A Lightning weakness at ×2, which means 50 printed damage is enough to remove it.
- What it costs to move. 1 Energy to retreat, discarded from the card itself.
- Where it can be played. Unlimited and Expanded only.
- What this page does not claim. Deck lists, tournament results and win rates are not published here, because the card files this site reads do not contain them.
What do the attacks on Pelipper 38 cost, and what do they hit for?
The card prints 2 attacks. The strongest asks for 3 Energy and returns 60 damage, which is 20 damage for every Energy card attached.
| Attack | Energy cost | Cards of Energy | Printed damage | Damage per Energy | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courier | 2 Colorless | 2 | — | — | Put 1 of your Benched Pokémon and all cards attached to it into your hand. |
| Fly | 1 Water + 2 Colorless | 3 | 60 | 20 | Flip a coin. If tails, this attack does nothing. If heads, prevent all effects of attacks, including damage, done to this Pokémon during your opponent's next turn. |
Retreating costs a further 1 Energy, discarded from this card, and that cost is paid on top of anything in the table.
What each attack asks a deck to attach before it can be used, drawn as the symbols printed on the card.
One Energy card attaches per turn, so the number of symbols is also the number of turns the attack waits.
How does Pelipper 38 compare with every other card?
Each bar below is the whole archive cut by one printed figure, with the band this card falls into marked. A number on its own says nothing about whether it is high or low — the shape of the archive does.
The ceiling of this archive is Mega Emboar ex at 380 HP — every bar here is measured against it.
This card prints 100 HP, which is 26% of that ceiling.
Every figure in this panel is counted the same way: from the card files this site reads, read July 28, 2026, over the 17,290 cards that print an HP figure. Each bar is measured against the tallest HP in the archive, 380 HP.
17,290 cards in the archive carry a printed HP figure. This one has 100 HP.
Cards in the 80~120 band typically print 56 damage and ask 1 Energy to retreat.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| ~70 | 38.6% | 6,669 cards |
| 80~120 — this card | 33.1% | 5,725 cards |
| 130~180 | 15.5% | 2,679 cards |
| 190~230 | 6.6% | 1,148 cards |
| 240~280 | 3.3% | 567 cards |
| 290~330 | 2.4% | 412 cards |
| 340+ | 0.5% | 90 cards |
16,246 cards print damage on at least one attack. The highest on this card is 60.
Cards in the 40~60 band typically have 101 HP and ask 1 Energy to retreat.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| ~30 | 42.7% | 6,938 cards |
| 40~60 — this card | 22.0% | 3,566 cards |
| 70~120 | 21.8% | 3,535 cards |
| 130~180 | 9.0% | 1,461 cards |
| 190~250 | 3.8% | 621 cards |
| 260+ | 0.8% | 125 cards |
17,262 cards have at least one attack with an Energy cost. The cheapest on this card asks 2 Energy.
Cards whose cheapest attack costs 2 typically have 116 HP and print 65 damage.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1.8% | 304 cards |
| 1 | 54.4% | 9,392 cards |
| 2 — this card | 26.4% | 4,565 cards |
| 3 | 14.7% | 2,533 cards |
| 4 | 2.4% | 421 cards |
| 5 | 0.3% | 47 cards |
17,240 cards carry a retreat cost. This one costs 1 Energy to retreat.
Cards with a retreat cost of 1 typically have 81 HP and print 40 damage.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 5.3% | 914 cards |
| 1 — this card | 49.3% | 8,503 cards |
| 2 | 28.6% | 4,926 cards |
| 3 | 12.6% | 2,168 cards |
| 4 | 4.2% | 729 cards |
That is where Pelipper 38 stands highest on HP — number 1,866 of 5,102 cards in Stage 1 cards. Cut the archive a different way and the answer moves, which is what the bars below are for.
- Hit points 100 HP
middle half 60–130 HP - Top printed damage 60 damage
middle half 20–90 damage
- Lowest to highest printed in the archive
- Middle half of the archive
- This card
Each row is stretched from the lowest printed figure to the highest, so the two rows are not on one shared scale — read each row on its own.
Open the group this card falls into
Back to summaryIs Pelipper 38 efficient for the Energy it asks for?
Printed damage on its own says nothing — a 60 damage attack that needs 3 Energy and one that needs two are different cards. Dividing one by the other puts every attack on the same scale.
Each bar is what cards asking that much Energy typically print, divided by the Energy they ask for. The number beside the bar is that figure.
Cards whose cheapest attack costs 2 typically return 32.5 damage per Energy card. This card returns 20.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Energy | 49.0 | 49 damage typical |
| 2 Energy | 32.5 | 65 damage typical |
| 3 Energy | 34.7 | 104 damage typical |
| 4 Energy | 27.8 | 111 damage typical |
| 5 Energy | 41.8 | 209 damage typical |
| Pelipper 38 — this card | 20.0 | 60 damage for 3 Energy |
Further right is a costlier attack, further up is a harder-hitting one, so the cheap and heavy corner is top left. The size of a grey dot is how many cards sit at that Energy cost.
| Group | Typical printed damage | Damage per Energy card | Cards in this group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest attack costs 0 Energy | 45 | — | 304 |
| Cheapest attack costs 1 Energy | 49 | 49 | 9,392 |
| Cheapest attack costs 2 Energy | 65 | 33 | 4,565 |
| Cheapest attack costs 3 Energy | 104 | 35 | 2,533 |
| Cheapest attack costs 4 Energy | 111 | 28 | 421 |
| Cheapest attack costs 5 Energy | 209 | 42 | 47 |
| Fly | — | 20 | — |
Where this sits once the archive is cut by damage instead
The bars above cut the archive by what an attack asks for. Cut the same archive by what an attack prints and the groups come out differently — the damage ranges on record are gathered on one page, which is where a figure like 60 is read as high or low rather than merely large.
What does being a Water card do for Pelipper 38?
Type decides two things at once — which cards take double damage from this one, and which cards deal double to it. Both are read from the weakness printed on each group, not from a rule of thumb.
17,249 cards carry an energy type. The note under each name is the weakness printed most often on that group.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Psychic | 13.5% | 2,335 cards |
| Water — this card | 14.1% | 2,435 cards |
| Colorless | 12.6% | 2,173 cards |
| Fire | 9.1% | 1,574 cards |
| Fighting | 10.9% | 1,884 cards |
| Lightning | 8.8% | 1,520 cards |
| Grass | 13.8% | 2,387 cards |
| Metal | 5.4% | 925 cards |
| Darkness | 7.2% | 1,249 cards |
| Dragon | 3.1% | 530 cards |
| Fairy | 1.4% | 237 cards |
Read from the weakness printed on each group. The first row is this card; the rest are groups that most often print a Water weakness.
What being a Water card is worth
Groups that most often print a Water weakness: Fire (1,574 cards). Against those, this card's printed damage counts double. Going the other way, Water cards are themselves most exposed to Lightning.
What knocks out Pelipper 38 in one hit, and what does it knock out?
Weakness doubles the damage a Lightning attack deals to this card, so the bar it has to clear is 50 printed damage rather than 100.
Eelektrik50 damage50 damage becomes 100 against this card
Pelipper 38100 HPWhy this card was picked to stand opposite
Of the 765 cards in the archive that can remove Pelipper 38 in a single attack, this one clears the bar by the smallest margin — 50 printed damage against a bar of 50. Anything printed higher removes it just as surely, so this is where the line actually sits, and this print is legal in Standard play today.
Read from the two boxes in the lower-left corner of the card — weakness multiplies incoming damage, resistance subtracts from it.
What the Fighting resistance changes
Damage from Fighting attacks is reduced before it is applied, so an attack printed high enough to knock this card out on paper may not do it. Resistance is a flat subtraction, not a multiplier — it does not scale with the attack.
| Card | Set | HP | Printed damage | After weakness |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pikachu ex (57) | Ascended Heroes | 200 | 300 | 600 |
| Pikachu ex (277) | Ascended Heroes | 200 | 300 | 600 |
| Pikachu ex (57) | Surging Sparks | 200 | 300 | 600 |
| Pikachu ex (219) | Surging Sparks | 200 | 300 | 600 |
| Pikachu ex (238) | Surging Sparks | 200 | 300 | 600 |
| Pikachu ex (247) | Surging Sparks | 200 | 300 | 600 |
100 HP against a Lightning ×2 weakness means any Lightning attack printed at 50 damage or more is enough. 770 cards in the archive clear that bar.
120 HP
Charizard [4]
120 HP
Charizard [3]
120 HP
Darmanitan [25]
120 HP
Moltres [22]
120 HP
Excadrill [57]
120 HP
Arcanine [13]
1,154 cards in the archive are weak to Water and sit inside the damage this card can deal. Point at a card to see it full size.Tap a card to open its page.
What is Pelipper as a Pokémon, across every card it has been printed on?
Pelipper 38 is one print of Pelipper. The figures below are about the Pokémon rather than this single card — how many times it has been printed, how tough those prints run, and how many of them can still be played.
Every Pelipper print on record, split by whether it can still be entered in Standard play.
Legality is read from the print rather than from the Pokémon, so an older copy of the same Pokémon is a different card for tournament purposes.
Back to summaryWhat has to be in play before Pelipper 38 can be?
Pelipper evolves from Wingull, so the whole line has to be built before this card reaches the field.
- This card cannot be played from your hand onto an empty spot — it goes on top of Wingull.
- The line runs 2 stages, so the first card has to be in play 1 turn before this one can be.
Every print of a stage is counted, not just the one shown in the chain above, so the bar is the ceiling that stage has reached rather than one card from it.
Is this the strongest Pelipper print, and can the older ones still be played?
16 prints carry this name in the archive. They share a Pokémon but not a card — printed HP, printed damage and tournament legality all move from one print to the next.
Bar height and the number above each bar = highest HP that year; the two digits below = the year.
| Set | Regulation mark | Standard | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pelipper 022 | SV: Scarlet & Violet Promo Cards | Mark G | Legal in Standard |
| Pelipper 204/091 | SV: Paldean Fates | Mark G | Legal in Standard |
| Pelipper 112/168 | SM - Celestial Storm | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
| Pelipper 042/192 | SWSH02: Rebel Clash | Mark D | Not legal in Standard |
| Pelipper 159/193 | Prize Pack Series Cards | Mark G | Legal in Standard |
| Pelipper 039/159 | SV09: Journey Together | Mark H | Legal in Standard |
| Pelipper 19/108 | XY - Roaring Skies | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
| Pelipper 38/149 | SM Base Set | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
| Pelipper 24/99 | Arceus | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
| Pelipper 45/99 | Arceus | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
| Pelipper 48/106 | Great Encounters | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
| Pelipper 21/107 | EX Deoxys | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
| Pelipper δ 26/100 | EX Crystal Guardians | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
| Pelipper δ 014/017 | POP Series 5 | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
| Pelipper 50/100 | EX Sandstorm | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
| Pelipper 19/109 | EX Ruby and Sapphire | No mark printed | Not legal in Standard |
4 of the 16 prints listed here are legal in Standard play. An older print of the same Pokémon is a different card for legality, because legality is read from the print rather than from the name — so owning the cheap old copy does not always mean you can enter with it.
Back to summaryWhat can you use instead of Pelipper 38?
Every card below asks a deck for the same kind of slot, so the comparison is between what they print, not what they cost.
| Card | Set | HP | Top damage | Retreat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gyarados | XY Black Star Promos | 130 | 100 | 3 |
| Gyarados | Base | 100 | 50 | 3 |
| Milotic ex | Emerald | 130 | 70 | 2 |
| Vaporeon | Skyridge | 70 | 40 | 1 |
| Piloswine | Skyridge | 90 | 40 | 3 |
| Misty's Gyarados | Gym Challenge | 100 | 70 | 3 |
This card itself is 100 HP, 60 top damage and 1 retreat, and every card here is Water like it.
Back to summaryWhich other cards share the Pokémon behind Pelipper 38?
Every card below carries the same Pokédex number as this one, so they are the same Pokémon printed as different cards — different stages, different mechanics and different names all sit in this group.
70
Pelipper [21]
70
Pelipper δ [26]
120
Pelipper [22]
70
Pelipper δ [14]
70
Pelipper [50]
70
Pelipper [19]
120
Pelipper [204]
90
Pelipper [24]
80
Pelipper [48]
90
Pelipper [45]
120
Pelipper [112]
100
Pelipper [19]
120
Pelipper [42]
120
Pelipper [39]
120
Pelipper [159]
15 cards in the archive share this Pokédex number. The badge on each card is its printed HP, the figure under the name is its hardest printed attack, and the name sits under the picture. Point at a card to see it full size.Tap a card to open its page.
What was printed next to Pelipper 38 in Sun & Moon?
A card is met inside a set, not on its own, and the number on it is the order that set gave it. The cards either side are the ones a collector actually turns past to reach this one.
150
Poliwrath [32]
60
Shellder [33]
120
Cloyster [34]
190
Lapras-GX [35]
80
Corsola [36]
60
Wingull [37]
70
Popplio [39]
90
Brionne [40]
150
Primarina [41]
250
Primarina-GX [42]
140
Crabominable [43]
30
Wishiwashi [44]
These are the cards numbered either side of #38 in Sun & Moon. The badge on each card is its printed HP. Point at a card to see it full size.Tap a card to open its page.
Which rules apply to Pelipper 38, and where can it be played?
Two kinds of rule meet on one card — the sentence printed on the card face, and the rulebook clauses that apply because of what the card carries.
| Clause | What the rulebook says | Cards it applies to | Share of the archive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weakness | Some Pokemon have Weakness or Resistance to Pokemon of certain types, marked in the lower-left corner of the card. | 16,744 cards | 81.9% |
| Retreat | Retreat your Active Pokemon (only once per turn). | 17,244 cards | 84.3% |
| Energy per turn | You can attach Energy just once each turn! | 17,180 cards | 84.0% |
Counted across 20,444 English cards. A clause applies to this card because the card carries the property the clause names, not because we judged it to.
| Format | Status | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Not listed | This card is not listed for this format |
| Expanded | Legal | Can be played in this format |
| Unlimited | Legal | Can be played in this format |
Read from the format list recorded with the card. Formats rotate on a schedule set by the organiser, and that schedule is not published on this page.
Where this card can be played
This card is legal in Unlimited and Expanded play. It was released on February 3, 2017.
Pelipper 38 in depth — what these figures add up to
Three readings of the same card, side by side: what it costs to get going, where it sits among the cards it will be compared with, and what takes it off the field.
What it asks a deck for
- Its hardest attack, Fly, needs 3 Energy attached. Energy attaches once a turn, so that attack waits 3 turns from an empty card.
- That works out at 20 damage for every Energy card attached.
- Moving it out of the active spot costs 1 more Energy, discarded from the card itself.
- It cannot start the game in play — Wingull has to be on the field first.
Where its HP stands, cut four ways
What actually removes it
- A Lightning attack printed at 50 damage removes it in a single turn — that is the bar, not its 100 HP.
- 770 cards in the archive clear that bar.
- Going the other way, it removes 1,154 cards in one attack.
- Damage from Fighting attacks is reduced before it is applied, so an attack that clears the bar on paper may still fall short.
Pelipper 38 card record
| Hit points | 100 HP | Type | Water |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weakness | Lightning ×2 | Retreat cost | 1 Energy |
| Evolves from | Wingull | Card type | Stage 1 |
| Pokédex number | #279 | Set | Sun & Moon |
| Card number | 38 of 149 | Series | Sun & Moon |
| Released | February 3, 2017 | Rarity | Uncommon |
| Illustrator | Sumiyoshi Kizuki | ||
| Tournament legality | Unlimited and Expanded only | ||
Read from the printed card face, the set listing and the official format list.
What does Pelipper 38 cost?
This page is about what the card does. The figure below is the one number worth carrying across, read on August 14, 2026.
Pelipper 38 — frequently asked questions
How much damage does it take to knock out Pelipper 38?
What is the strongest attack on Pelipper 38?
What is the retreat cost of Pelipper 38?
Can an older Pelipper print be played in a tournament?
What does Pelipper evolve from?
Can Pelipper 38 be played in a tournament?
Does this page say how good Pelipper 38 is in a deck?
Where these card facts come from
Card facts are read once from openly published card files and do not change between readings — a printed card cannot gain HP. The places below are where the same information can be checked. Last updated: July 28, 2026 — the counts and rankings on this page were taken from the card files read on that day.
Primary official source
First-party official sources — the body that issues the data itself, such as a government agency, a statutory register or a rights holder publishing its own records.
Industry source
Second-party sources — marketplaces, trade associations, research institutes and companies that compile data about the market.