Pokémon TCG Team Up (SM9): How TAG TEAM GX Changed the Game and What Singles Cost in 2026
By Dexhaul Team · September 15, 2026
Team Up arrived in February 2019 and rewrote the rules of Pokémon TCG.
It was the first English set to feature TAG TEAM GX cards: two fully evolved Pokémon sharing a single card, combined HP, and a GX attack with an optional additional effect. The set contained 181 cards plus six secret rares and launched a four-set arc (Team Up through Cosmic Eclipse) that defined competitive play for more than two years. In 2026, the key singles hold prices that reflect both the mechanic's historical position and straightforward collector demand for the characters involved.
What TAG TEAM GX Actually Is
A TAG TEAM GX card puts two Pokémon together on one card. The combined HP is higher than any single-Pokémon GX could be, and the GX attack typically requires more Energy while delivering effects neither character could produce alone. The optional bonus effect, triggered when you have extra Energy attached, is the defining mechanic of the format.
The cost is structural. When a TAG TEAM GX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes three Prize Cards, not the standard two.
No other single card format in any era before or since applies the same three-prize rule. Pokémon EX, VMAX, single-Prize ex cards in the Scarlet and Violet era, and V-UNION all follow a one-prize or two-prize structure. Only TAG TEAM GX cards carry the three-prize penalty on a single card.
That rule changed deck construction at its core. Every TAG TEAM GX you played was a potential three-Prize concession.
Players either protected TAG TEAMs aggressively or reduced how many they ran. The format rewarded knowing exactly when to commit a TAG TEAM to the Active Spot and when to hold it back.
The Set at a Glance
Team Up released on February 1, 2019 and draws from two Japanese releases: Tag Bolt (SM9) and Night Unison (SM9a), both from December 2018. The English set consolidated the TAG TEAM mechanic from both Japanese sets into a single 181-card release.
The TAG TEAM GX roster in Team Up is Pikachu and Zekrom GX, Celebi and Venusaur GX, Gengar and Mimikyu GX, Eevee and Snorlax GX, and Latias and Latios GX. Each pair appears as a standard holo version and a Full Art version within the main set. The six secret rares, numbered 182/181 through 187/181, add Rainbow Rare treatments for the TAG TEAM GX Full Arts plus a Full Art Textured version of the Trainer Item Pokémon Communication.
The Price Ladder: Entry Level to High End
The budget entry into Team Up singles starts below $15. Cobalion GX 106/181 lists at $4.12, the lowest-priced GX in the set.
Blastoise 25/181 (holo rare) is $7.75. Mimikyu 112/181 runs at $10. These are the standard holo Pokémon in the set without the TAG TEAM designation, priced at the non-TAG TEAM GX floor.
The standard TAG TEAM holos occupy a different tier. Pikachu and Zekrom GX 33/181 lists at $54 to $75 depending on condition and seller. Latias and Latios GX lists at $70.
These are mechanically identical to the Full Art versions at roughly one-third the price. The only difference is the card art: standard holos use a bordered frame, while Full Arts fill the entire card face without a border.
The Trainer Full Art Anomaly
Sabrina's Suggestion Full Art 181/181 lists at $199. That is more expensive than Pikachu and Zekrom GX Full Art 162/181 at $119 to $187. A Trainer card costs more than the set's flagship TAG TEAM GX Full Art.
The reason is position in the set. Sabrina's Suggestion is numbered 181/181, the final card in the main set before the secret rares. Cards at the set-total number print in smaller quantities than Pokémon GX Full Arts, which appear at higher pull rates.
Jasmine Full Art, another Johto Gym Leader Supporter in the same set, lists at $75. The $124 gap between Jasmine and Sabrina's Suggestion is entirely a print-run rarity differential, not a gameplay difference. Both Trainers are from the same Johto Gym Leader theme, and neither was a competitive staple.
Secret Rares: Three Prizes and a Price Premium
The six secret rares in Team Up are Rainbow Rare treatments of the five TAG TEAM GX Full Arts plus a Full Art Textured Pokémon Communication card. Rainbow Rares apply a foil texture across the entire card surface. Pikachu and Zekrom GX 184/181 lists at $125 to $240 across current sellers depending on listing quality.
Eevee and Snorlax GX lists at $292 in Secret form. It is the pricing outlier among the secret rares relative to competitive history.
Eevee and Snorlax GX had no meaningful tournament presence in the TAG TEAM era. No major competitive lists ran it.
Its $292 price tag is entirely a collector premium for two Gen 1 fan-favorite characters on the same card. Eevee and Snorlax share no canonical connection in the games. The pairing exists purely for collector appeal, and the market prices it higher than the competitively dominant TAG TEAMs from the same set.
Gengar and Mimikyu GX Full Art lists at $330, the highest single in the set. Gengar is among the highest-demand Ghost-type characters in the TCG collector market. Mimikyu carries independent fan demand.
The Full Art version, not the Secret Rainbow Rare, holds the top listing price. Both characters driving demand simultaneously at that price point is a character-premium dynamic that holds regardless of the card's absence from competitive history.
The Four Versions of Pikachu and Zekrom GX
Pikachu and Zekrom GX exists in four distinct SM-era printings, more than any other TAG TEAM GX in the entire arc.
The standard holo 33/181 at $54 to $75 and the Full Art 162/181 at $119 to $187 are the two in-set versions. The Secret Rainbow Rare 184/181 at $125 to $240 is the above-set-number version.
The fourth version is the SM248 or SM168 Worlds promo, distributed at the 2019 Pokémon World Championships in Washington D.C. The promo has stamped text and a visual border treatment distinct from all three booster-set prints. It lists at $38 to $191 depending on the specific promo number and condition.
Collecting all four versions as a completionist run costs between $300 and $750 depending on which listings you prioritize. No other TAG TEAM GX in the set has four distinct print versions across standard, full art, secret, and promo designations.
Sealed Product Reality
The Team Up Elite Trainer Box lists at $4,491 sealed. That figure reflects sealed-product scarcity from a 2019 set, not the pack value inside. For singles collectors, sealed Team Up product is a curiosity, not a purchase path.
The Celebi and Venusaur GX TAG TEAM Tin lists at $650 and includes booster packs alongside the exclusive Celebi and Venusaur GX card. TAG TEAM-era sealed product from 2019 commands steep aftermarket premiums on any format: single packs, ETBs, and product tins all sit well above their original retail prices. If you are building a Team Up collection in 2026, purchasing singles directly is the only practical entry path.
Where Team Up Fits in Your Collection
Team Up is the foundational set for anyone collecting the TAG TEAM GX era. The standard holos of every TAG TEAM pair are reachable in the $54 to $75 range, giving you the full mechanical roster of the set's defining cards without the Full Art or Secret premium.
Collectors targeting character-specific cards will find Gengar and Mimikyu GX Full Art at $330 and Eevee and Snorlax GX Secret at $292 as the high-end anchors driven by fan demand rather than competitive history. The Sabrina's Suggestion Full Art 181/181 at $199 is the most underappreciated card in the set for collectors who track supply-side rarity without relying on the name recognition of Pokémon characters.
Search Team Up (SM9) singles and sealed products from independent shops at DexHaul. DexHaul is independent and not affiliated with The Pokémon Company or any of the sellers listed here.