The studio 5ban Graphics has illustrated the most Pokémon TCG cards of any credited contributor, with a staggering 1,627 cards to their name — more than any individual artist. As of June 2026, the Pokémon TCG credits 386 distinct illustrators in total, ranging from prolific studios to artists who contributed just a handful of cards.
TL;DR: 5ban Graphics leads all illustrators with 1,627 cards, ahead of Ken Sugimori (1,109) and Mitsuhiro Arita (721). The TCG credits 386 distinct illustrators in total. Figures as of June 2026.
Why a studio sits at the top
5ban Graphics is a digital art collective rather than a solo illustrator, which explains how they pulled so far ahead of any individual. Their clean, high-energy digital style became the go-to look for many EX and GX era cards, and the sheer volume of product the TCG releases each year means a studio with reliable output can accumulate totals that no single artist can match.
The human heavy-hitters
Behind 5ban Graphics, the rankings read like a hall of fame for longtime fans. Ken Sugimori comes second with 1,109 cards — remarkable considering he is also the original character designer for the Pokémon franchise itself, making him arguably the single most influential person in the hobby. Mitsuhiro Arita sits third at 721 cards; collectors who have been around since the very beginning will know his name from the iconic Base Set Charizard, one of the most recognised cards ever printed.
Rounding out the top tier: Kagemaru Himeno (656), Kouki Saitou (651), Masakazu Fukuda (472), Ryo Ueda (463), and Atsuko Nishida (407). Each of those totals represents years of work across dozens of sets and expansions.
Digging into an illustrator's body of work
One of the most satisfying rabbit holes in the hobby is pulling up every card a single artist has produced — seeing how their style evolved, spotting recurring Pokémon they seem to love, or hunting down underappreciated gems buried in older sets. You can do exactly that on NOMEKOP: browse any illustrator's full catalogue — including Ken Sugimori's thousand-plus cards — and build a binder around their work in just a few clicks.
Did you know? If you collected one card from every credited illustrator in the TCG, you would need at least 386 cards — and that number keeps climbing with every new set.