Gengar Pull Rate: Buy the Single or Open Sword & Shield Boosters?

For this card, buying the single is statistically the smarter choice. Based on the current pull rate, single price, and booster price, opening packs for one specific Gengar is expected to cost more than buying the card directly.

Recommendation

Buying the single is currently the smarter price decision

For a 50% chance to pull this card you need roughly 23 packs. That costs around 206 €, while the current single price is 12.57 €.

Pull Rate

1:33

Single price

12.57 €

Cardmarket ↗ TCGplayer ↗

Booster price

8.97 €

per Sword & Shield pack

Packs for 50% chance

Estimated packs for a 50% chance to pull this card.

Gengar at a glance

Gengar is a Holo Rare from Sword & Shield with an estimated pull rate of 1:33 packs. At the current booster price of 8.97 €, reaching a 50% pull chance would cost about 206 €, compared with a current single price of 12.57 €.

How many packs for a chance to pull Gengar?

Compare probability thresholds, estimated pack counts, and expected pack cost against buying the single.

Chance	Packs	Pack Cost	Diff vs. Buy
50% Chance	23	206 €	+194 €
75% Chance	46	413 €	+400 €
90% Chance	76	682 €	+669 €
99% Chance	152	1363 €	+1351 €

These pack counts are probability thresholds, not guarantees. A 50% chance means that, statistically, comparable openings would hit the card about half the time by that point.

Buy vs. pull analysis for Gengar

If you specifically want Gengar from Sword & Shield, buying the single is currently the lower-cost option based on the available data. The estimated pull rate is 3.000% per pack, so even reaching a 50% chance requires about 23 boosters.

Opening packs can still make sense if you enjoy the experience, want multiple cards from the set, or value the entertainment of ripping sealed product. As a pure single-card decision, the calculator compares the expected pack cost with the current market price of the card.

Data sources and estimate quality

⚠️ No verified large-sample (500+ pack) community dataset exists specifically for swsh1 (Sword & Shield Base Set). No data found on limitlesstcg, TCGPlayer set articles, or Reddit threads with tracked swsh1 pull rates. Rates are estimated from: (1) known pack slot structure — 5C/3U/1 energy/1 reverse holo/1 rare+ (source: elitefourum.com thread on SWSH1 pack slots); (2) set card counts (202 base + 23 secret rares per Limitless SSH listing); (3) cross-referenced SWSH-era comparable pull data from Crown Zenith (cardshoplive.com, 1000-pack sample: Holo V ~10.5%, VMAX ~5.6%, Secret Rare ~1.5%); (4) Bleeding Cool / community box-level consensus of 6–10 Ultra Rares per 36-pack box. Holo Rare rate reflects the non-V holo slot filling when a hit is not pulled (~45% of packs yield a plain Holo Rare in the rare slot). Ultra Rare here refers to Full Art V/Supporter cards. Treat all figures as rough estimates only; use with caution.

FAQ about Gengar from Sword & Shield

What is the pull rate of Gengar in Sword & Shield?

The estimated pull rate of Gengar in Sword & Shield is 3.000% per booster, roughly 1 out of 33 packs. This is an estimate, not a guarantee.

How many Sword & Shield packs do I need for Gengar?

For a 50% chance you need about 23 packs. For a 90% chance you need about 76 packs. These are probability thresholds, not guaranteed results.

Should I buy Gengar as a single?

Based on the current pull rate, booster price, and single price, buying Gengar as a single is currently the statistically smarter price decision.

What does 1:33 mean for Gengar?

1:33 means that, on average, one copy of Gengar is estimated to appear per 33 booster packs. You could pull it earlier, later, or not at all within that number of packs.

Can I guarantee pulling Gengar by opening enough packs?

No. Booster packs are random, and no pack count can guarantee a specific card. Higher pack counts only increase the probability.

More from Sword & Shield

Sword & Shield pull rates View all Pokémon TCG pull rate sets

The displayed single price is based on the selected market data source where available. External links let you compare current listings on Cardmarket and TCGplayer.

Pull rates are estimates based on available data. Booster openings are random, and actual results can be better or worse than the calculated probability.

Prices updated: May 10, 2026