LEGO Ideas is giving fans a chance to design their own LEGO Pokémon set in a brand-new challenge unlike anything the platform has done before.
The Pokémon Trading Card Game Challenge: Build Your Card! is live now and offers a chance for you to design the next LEGO Pokémon set, featuring your own full art Pokémon card design of a fan-favourite Pokémon. It’s open to submissions through May 6, 2026, at 6am EST.
LEGO Ideas challenges are usually limited to original ideas or new IPs — this challenge is different. It tasks builders with creating their own Pokémon card design, with the promise of the winning build becoming an official LEGO set.
The idea here is that the build features the frame of a card, but it doesn’t have to be a 2D mosaic; in fact, it probably shouldn’t be. That frame can be played with however you see fit, whether it be having the Pokémon burst through or having the frame as a mere backdrop for the scene you create. The frame has size guidelines that you can find on the challenge page.
Only one Pokémon is permitted to be in the build, since it’s supposed to be a Pokémon card, and the Pokémon you can choose from are limited to a small list, which you can find further down this page. Whatever Pokémon you choose has to have its face clearly visible in the upper half of the card, using no fewer than 400 pieces and no more than 2,500 pieces.
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That’s right — there’s a wide piece count available for this challenge, meaning the winning set can be something small or massive. It’s all up to you.
The trick is that it has to be an original card design; you can’t replicate any existing Pokémon cards.
Once the submission period closes, five models will be chosen to move forward to the fan vote, where LEGO Ideas users will choose which model they want to see turned into an official LEGO Pokémon set. The winner gets the honour as well as typical compensation for an Ideas set, which is 1% of total sales (it’s not a huge percentage, but more than it sounds).
Models in the fan vote that don’t win will receive a prize pack of sets: 72151 Eevee, 72152 Pikachu and Poké Ball, 21358 Minifigure Vending Machine, 21365 Love Birds and 21376 Orange Cat.
The challenge is open now until May 6. The fan vote will then be open from May 28 to June 11, with the winner announced some time after. A timeframe on how long until the winning set will be released has not been given, but it will not be this year.
Here’s the full list of eligible Pokémon. You are not allowed to use any Shiny or regional variants that are not in this list. Good luck!
Alolan Exeggutor
Arceus (Normal-type)
Ceruledge
Chandelure
Darkrai
Dragonite
Garchomp
Gardevoir
Gengar
Giratina (Origin Forme)
Greninja
Gyarados
Hawlucha
Jigglypuff
Joltik
Lucario
Luxray
Machamp
Meowth
Metagross
Mew
Mewtwo
Ninetales
Rowlet
Tinkaton
Torterra
Toxtricity
Tyranitar
Wailord
Zoroark
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