Volcarona-GX 252 — what does this card actually do?
This card has 210 HP, a top attack printed at 160 damage and a Water weakness.
Fire · Stage 1 GX · Cosmic Eclipse · measured against 20,444 cards on file — card data read July 28, 2026
What does Volcarona-GX 252 do in a game?
Volcarona-GX 252 is a Fire Pokémon card with 210 HP, printed as Stage 1 GX.
Its strongest attack, Backfire, is printed at 160 damage for 3 Energy — 53 damage per Energy card.
Because of the Water weakness, any Water attack printed at 105 damage or more removes it in a single turn.
Volcarona-GX 252Cosmic Eclipse
Volcarona-GX 252 performance summary
210 HP · Fire · Stage 1 GX · retreat 3 · Water weakness ×2
as of July 28, 2026
damage per Energy card, among cards whose cheapest attack costs 1
Strongest on Attack cost lightness — top 1.8% of the archive. Weakest on Retreat lightness — bottom 16.8%.
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 | 89.3% | 210 HP |
| Top printed damage | 91.7% | 160 damage |
| Energy efficiency | 91.0% | 53 per Energy |
| Retreat lightness | 16.8% | 3 Energy |
| Attack cost lightness | 98.2% | 1 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 1,503 at 210 HP.
Volcarona-GX 252210 HPPrinted HP
The ceiling of this archive is 380 HP — 170 HP above this card.
Mega Emboar ex 273380 HPWhat stands out on Volcarona-GX 252
- Hit points 210 HP puts it in the 190~230 band, where 6.6% of 17,290 cards with printed HP sit.
- Energy It returns 53 damage per Energy card against 49.0 for cards whose cheapest attack costs 1.
- Weakness A Water attack printed at 105 damage or more removes it in a single turn.
Volcarona-GX 252 at a glance
- What it is. A Fire Pokémon card with 210 HP printed as Stage 1 GX, printed in Cosmic Eclipse.
- What it can do. 2 attacks printed on the card, the strongest at 160 damage for 3 Energy.
- What it fears. A Water weakness at ×2, which means 105 printed damage is enough to remove it.
- What it costs to move. 3 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 Volcarona-GX 252 cost, and what do they hit for?
The card prints 2 attacks. The strongest asks for 3 Energy and returns 160 damage, which is 53 damage for every Energy card attached.
| Attack | Energy cost | Cards of Energy | Printed damage | Damage per Energy | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backfire | 2 Fire + 1 Colorless | 3 | 160 | 53 | Put 2 Fire Energy attached to this Pokémon into your hand. |
| Massive Heat Wave-GX | 1 Fire | 1 | — | — | Discard an Energy from each of your opponent's Pokémon. (You can't use more than 1 GX attack in a game.) |
Retreating costs a further 3 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 Volcarona-GX 252 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 210 HP, which is 55% 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 210 HP.
Cards in the 190~230 band typically print 132 damage and ask 2 Energy to retreat.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| ~70 | 38.6% | 6,669 cards |
| 80~120 | 33.1% | 5,725 cards |
| 130~180 | 15.5% | 2,679 cards |
| 190~230 — this card | 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 160.
Cards in the 130~180 band typically have 198 HP and ask 2 Energy to retreat.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| ~30 | 42.7% | 6,938 cards |
| 40~60 | 22.0% | 3,566 cards |
| 70~120 | 21.8% | 3,535 cards |
| 130~180 — this card | 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 1 Energy.
Cards whose cheapest attack costs 1 typically have 93 HP and print 49 damage.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1.8% | 304 cards |
| 1 — this card | 54.4% | 9,392 cards |
| 2 | 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 3 Energy to retreat.
Cards with a retreat cost of 3 typically have 150 HP and print 99 damage.
| Group | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 5.3% | 914 cards |
| 1 | 49.3% | 8,503 cards |
| 2 | 28.6% | 4,926 cards |
| 3 — this card | 12.6% | 2,168 cards |
| 4 | 4.2% | 729 cards |
That is where Volcarona-GX 252 stands highest on HP — number 1,503 of 17,290 cards in Every card in the archive. Cut the archive a different way and the answer moves, which is what the bars below are for.
- Hit points 210 HP
middle half 60–130 HP - Top printed damage 160 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 summaryWhat Volcarona-GX 252 does without attacking
Volcarona-GX 252 carries 1 printed effect that work outside the attack step, so it can matter on a turn the card never attacks.
Why this sits apart from the attacks
An attack costs Energy and ends your turn. What is printed above does neither — it is available while the card is in play, so it is a different kind of cost to a deck. Attack costs are in the section above.
Flaming Shot can only be used once a turn
The words once during your turn are printed in it, which caps it at one use per turn on that one card. Two copies of the card in play are two separate Pokémon, so each carries its own use.
This effect places damage counters, which is not the same as dealing damage
Flaming Shot puts damage counters on a Pokémon rather than dealing damage to it. One counter is ten damage on the board, but the rules keep them apart: effects that reduce or prevent damage do not stop counters from being placed, and weakness and resistance are not applied to them.
Is Volcarona-GX 252 efficient for the Energy it asks for?
Printed damage on its own says nothing — a 160 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 1 typically return 49.0 damage per Energy card. This card returns 53.
| 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 |
| Volcarona-GX 252 — this card | 53.0 | 160 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 |
| Backfire | — | 53 | — |
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 160 is read as high or low rather than merely large.
Is Volcarona-GX 252 strong for a GX card?
GX cards are built large to begin with, so measuring this one against the whole archive mixes up what the mechanic gives it with what the card itself gives it. Measured inside its own group, the two come apart.
The group is every GX card in the archive — 601 of them. Each figure is compared with what that group typically prints, not with the archive as a whole.
What does being a Fire card do for Volcarona-GX 252?
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 | 14.1% | 2,435 cards |
| Colorless | 12.6% | 2,173 cards |
| Fire — this card | 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 Fire weakness.
What being a Fire card is worth
Groups that most often print a Fire weakness: Grass (2,387 cards) and Metal (925 cards). Against those, this card's printed damage counts double. Going the other way, Fire cards are themselves most exposed to Water.
What knocks out Volcarona-GX 252 in one hit, and what does it knock out?
Weakness doubles the damage a Water attack deals to this card, so the bar it has to clear is 105 printed damage rather than 210.
Inteleon110 damage110 damage becomes 220 against this card
Volcarona-GX 252210 HPWhy this card was picked to stand opposite
Of the 412 cards in the archive that can remove Volcarona-GX 252 in a single attack, this one clears the bar by the smallest margin — 110 printed damage against a bar of 105. 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 weakness printed in the lower-left corner of the card.
| Card | Set | HP | Printed damage | After weakness |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vaporeon ex (23) | Prismatic Evolutions | 280 | 280 | 560 |
| Vaporeon ex (149) | Prismatic Evolutions | 280 | 280 | 560 |
| Wailord ex (16) | Pitch Black | 380 | 270 | 540 |
| Wailord ex (97) | Pitch Black | 380 | 270 | 540 |
| Palafin ex (61) | Twilight Masquerade | 340 | 250 | 500 |
| Palafin ex (193) | Twilight Masquerade | 340 | 250 | 500 |
210 HP against a Water ×2 weakness means any Water attack printed at 105 damage or more is enough. 412 cards in the archive clear that bar.
320 HP
Empoleon ex [70]
320 HP
Empoleon ex [114]
320 HP
Decidueye ex [12]
320 HP
Decidueye ex [100]
320 HP
Decidueye ex [15]
320 HP
Corviknight VMAX [TG19]
3,041 cards in the archive are weak to Fire 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 can you use instead of Volcarona-GX 252?
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charizard-GX | Hidden Fates Shiny Vault | 250 | 300 | 2 |
| Charizard-GX | Burning Shadows | 250 | 300 | 2 |
| Blaziken-GX | Celestial Storm | 240 | 210 | 1 |
| Reshiram-GX | Hidden Fates Shiny Vault | 180 | 180 | 2 |
| Reshiram-GX | Dragon Majesty | 180 | 180 | 2 |
| Blaziken-GX | Celestial Storm | 240 | 210 | 1 |
This card itself is 210 HP, 160 top damage and 3 retreat, and every card here is Fire like it.
Back to summaryWhich other cards share the Pokémon behind Volcarona-GX 252?
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.
110
Volcarona [BW40]
120
Volcarona [100]
120
Volcarona [16]
210
Volcarona-GX [213]
210
Volcarona V [170]
110
Volcarona [21]
110
Volcarona [15]
110
Volcarona [18]
110
Volcarona [22]
210
Volcarona-GX [35]
100
Volcarona [13]
210
Volcarona V [21]
100
Volcarona [17]
120
Volcarona [13]
120
Volcarona [30]
130
Volcarona [25]
140
Volcarona [41]
140
Volcarona [25]
140
Volcarona [29]
130
Volcarona [24]
20 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 Volcarona-GX 252 in Cosmic Eclipse?
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.
140
Excadrill [246]
170
Steelix [247]
150
Stoutland [248]
270
Venusaur & Snivy-GX [249]
240
Vileplume-GX [250]
270
Charizard & Braixen-GX [251]
270
Blastoise & Piplup-GX [253]
270
Solgaleo & Lunala-GX [254]
170
Oricorio-GX [255]
240
Flygon-GX [256]
200
Alolan Persian-GX [257]
280
Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX [258]
These are the cards numbered either side of #252 in Cosmic Eclipse. 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 Volcarona-GX 252, 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.
The rule printed on this card
“Pokémon-GX rule: When your Pokémon-GX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.”
Prize cards your opponent takes when it is knocked out
Every knockout carries the opponent 2 steps closer to winning, and that is the cost of putting this card on the field whatever it cost to buy.
| 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 November 1, 2019.
Volcarona-GX 252 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, Backfire, needs 3 Energy attached. Energy attaches once a turn, so that attack waits 3 turns from an empty card.
- That works out at 53 damage for every Energy card attached.
- Moving it out of the active spot costs 3 more Energy, discarded from the card itself.
- It cannot start the game in play — Larvesta has to be on the field first.
Where its HP stands, cut four ways
What actually removes it
- A Water attack printed at 105 damage removes it in a single turn — that is the bar, not its 210 HP.
- 412 cards in the archive clear that bar.
- Going the other way, it removes 3,041 cards in one attack.
Volcarona-GX 252 card record
| Hit points | 210 HP | Type | Fire |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weakness | Water ×2 | Retreat cost | 3 Energy |
| Evolves from | Larvesta | Card type | Stage 1 GX |
| Pokédex number | #637 | Set | Cosmic Eclipse |
| Card number | 252 of 236 | Series | Sun & Moon |
| Released | November 1, 2019 | Rarity | Rare Rainbow |
| Illustrator | PLANETA Tsuji | ||
| Tournament legality | Unlimited and Expanded only | ||
| Printed rule | Pokémon-GX rule: When your Pokémon-GX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards. | ||
Read from the printed card face, the set listing and the official format list.
What does Volcarona-GX 252 cost?
This page is about what the card does. The figure below is the one number worth carrying across, read on August 14, 2026.
Volcarona-GX 252 — frequently asked questions
How much damage does it take to knock out Volcarona-GX 252?
What is the strongest attack on Volcarona-GX 252?
What is the retreat cost of Volcarona-GX 252?
How often can you use Flaming Shot?
Does Volcarona-GX 252 deal damage or place damage counters?
What does Volcarona-GX evolve from?
Can Volcarona-GX 252 be played in a tournament?
What does the rule on Volcarona-GX 252 mean?
Does this page say how good Volcarona-GX 252 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.