The LEGO Pokemon TCG card building contest has been running since March, and the five finalists have now been officially revealed. The community voted to narrow the field down to Gyarados: Sunset Splash, A Mew Soaring High, Rowlet Razor Leaf, Joltik Charges Up!, and The Mythical Arceus — and now it’s down to the public to pick which one actually becomes a real LEGO set. Voting is open right now through June 11, 2026, and the winner won’t be officially announced until February 4, 2027. Here’s everything you need to know about each finalist and where things stand.
The Contest Rules and How We Got Here
LEGO launched the Pokemon Trading Card Game Challenge back in March 2026, inviting fans to submit original card-inspired builds using a curated list of 30 eligible Pokemon. The list was deliberately restrictive — Pikachu, Charizard, Eevee, and other Pokemon that LEGO has already made official sets around were all excluded. Builders were also limited to featuring just one Pokemon per submission, and copying existing card artwork was explicitly prohibited. Every design had to be entirely original.
The additional TCG-specific criteria pushed builders toward something more ambitious than just a Pokemon display piece. Entrants were encouraged to incorporate card gameplay elements — HP counters, type symbols, attack names, retreat costs — turning each build into a functional-looking card that could theoretically sit in a binder alongside a real collection. The quality of the five finalists reflects how seriously the Pokemon and LEGO communities took the brief.
The Five Finalists — What Each One Is
Gyarados: Sunset Splash — Created by CreativeDynamicBuilder, this design features the serpentine Water-type bursting dramatically out of a sunset-themed card frame, scales catching the warm light of the gradient background. Gyarados is the heavy favourite among the Gen 1-focused community, and the build leans fully into the “Pokemon leaping out of the card” dynamic art style that dominates modern TCG illustration. The community reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, with multiple commenters saying they’d buy it day one regardless of outcome.
A Mew Soaring High — Built by IsleOh, this design shows the Mythical Pokemon floating serenely above a countryside landscape complete with clouds, a river, windmills, and a small town far below. The builder specifically said they wanted to capture the spirit of exploration that runs through the Pokemon games, presented through a bright card-like aesthetic. The main criticism from community members is that it lacks the TCG-specific gameplay elements — type icons, attack text, HP — that the other four finalists incorporated more visibly.
Rowlet Razor Leaf — Submitted by DMWM, this one takes everyone’s favourite derpy Grass-type starter and puts it in full battle mode. The build shows Rowlet mid-attack, leaves flying through a forest-inspired setting, with the creator explicitly wanting to show “a different side” of Rowlet’s personality beyond its usual sleepy owl energy. There’s also reportedly an error in the build — the card reads “Stage 1” instead of “Basic Pokemon,” which some commenters think is a deliberate nod to the beloved error cards in the actual TCG. It might be a dark horse pick given that Rowlet’s starter status makes it familiar to casual fans who might not know the more obscure Pokemon on the list.
Joltik Charges Up! — Built by chrixeleon, this is arguably the most technically creative submission of the five. Joltik — the tiny spider-like Electric-type — is shown bursting through a wall and nibbling on electrical wires, directly inspired by the Pokemon’s Black/White Pokedex entry describing it as having learned to suck electricity from city outlets. The Pokemon figure itself is fully removable and has poseable legs, and the card incorporates all the standard TCG elements including HP, type icon, and an attack. The community is split on whether Joltik’s relative obscurity will hurt it in the popular vote despite the obvious quality of the design.
The Mythical Arceus — Created by livetobuild, this 999-piece build shows the Creator Pokemon emerging from a Poke Ball and flying through a cosmic void of stars and galaxies — a fitting setting for the deity of the Pokemon universe. The Arceus figure features articulated legs, a poseable head, and can be completely removed from the card display to stand as an independent model. It’s the most structurally ambitious of the five in terms of piece count and the removable figure mechanic, and it’s generating significant buzz from fans who find the cosmic presentation genuinely striking.
Who Has the Best Chance of Winning?
Community consensus from PokeBeach, Dexerto, and LEGO fan forums points to a three-way race between Gyarados, Arceus, and Rowlet, with Joltik as a genuine dark horse and Mew slightly behind due to the perceived lack of TCG-specific card elements in the design.
Gyarados benefits enormously from Gen 1 nostalgia — it’s been a staple since Red and Blue, it’s a beloved collector’s card across every era of the TCG, and the sunset splash design is visually the most dramatic of the five. Arceus has the cosmic spectacle and the sheer ambition of the removable 999-piece build. Rowlet has the starter advantage — Pokemon starters consistently poll above more obscure picks when general audiences are involved.
Joltik is fascinating because the design is widely acknowledged to be technically excellent — it’s the one that most fully commits to the TCG card aesthetic with all the gameplay elements intact — but the Pokemon itself is relatively obscure outside of the dedicated fanbase. If the vote skews toward hardcore Pokemon collectors who appreciate TCG accuracy, Joltik could genuinely surprise people.
How to Vote
Voting is live on the official LEGO Ideas website. You’ll need a LEGO account to cast your vote, which is free to create if you don’t already have one. The voting window closes on June 11, 2026. The winner will be announced on February 4, 2027, and the final retail product — while it may vary slightly from the original submission — will be based on the winning design.
Worth noting: there’s also an error in the Rowlet build’s card text — it reads “Stage 1” rather than “Basic Pokemon.” Rowlet doesn’t evolve from another Pokemon, so Basic is the correct designation. Whether this is an intentional error card reference or a mistake that might be corrected in the final retail version is a fun question the community is debating.
What This Means for LEGO Pokemon Going Forward
The contest itself is a sign of how seriously LEGO is taking the Pokemon license since it transitioned from MEGA Bloks at the start of 2026. Rather than just pushing out sets based on fan-favourite Pokemon, the company has built a genuine creative pipeline that involves the community in design decisions. The TCG angle is particularly smart — it connects the physical toy product to one of the most collectable aspects of the franchise, appealing to card collectors and LEGO builders simultaneously.
If the winning set performs well at retail, it wouldn’t be surprising to see LEGO run similar community-driven contests for other Pokemon-themed concepts — different TCG eras, specific regions, game-specific sets. The Pokemon franchise is wide enough to sustain years of creative output, and the level of talent shown by these five finalists suggests the fan design community is more than capable of generating compelling sets that LEGO itself might not have conceived independently.
Vote before June 11. Gyarados and Arceus fans are already mobilising — make sure your pick is counted.
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