This new Special Illustration Rare of Mega Lucario ex currently fetches about $280, and it’s easy to see why.

With Aura Jab accelerating Fighting Energy and Mega Brave hitting for a massive 270, Lucario slots perfectly into aggressive decks.

The art, by 5ban Graphics, depicts Lucario mid-leap with fierce energy bursts against a Mega Venusaur, a dynamic visual that mirrors its high-impact playstyle.

9. Mega Gardevoir ex – 178/132

Both sitting as the one of the highest-priced cards in Mega Evolution, and being the most popular, it’s not difficult to understand why this Mega Gardevoir ex is the biggest chase card in the set.

Gardevoir’s Overflowing Wishes accelerates Psychic Energy across your bench, while Mega Symphonia scales into massive damage with enough Energy in play.

Takuya’s art envelops the card in a symphony of pinks and whites, making it as enchanting as it is powerful in Psychic archetypes.

8. Pikachu ex – 238/191

Pikachu ex SIR is partially to blame for the Pokémon TCG boom that kicked off this time last year, and is still rocking on today. After peaking at $485 at the end of 2024, it’s finally stabalized at a much for reasonable $300 at the time of writing.

It’s a good time to snap it up, if you’ve got the cash, but the amount of nostalgia and detailed yet soft artwork on this card will make it climb back up as the Scarlet and Violet era moves into the rearview mirror.

7. Greninja ex – 214/167

Greninja ex SIR is my favorite in this article as I have it graded in a 10 and I’m being completely bias. Joking aside (I’m not) but this is one of the best artworks outside of Prismatic Evolutions in the Scarlet and Violet era.

Twilight Masquerade was a slept on set in my opinion, but the chances of pulling this are stacked. If you have the money upfront, i’d put it into this card instead of trying to rip packs. But I also obviously hate having fun, so the choice is yours.

6. Sylveon ex – 156/131

It’s such a shame Fairy typing didn’t come back for Sylveon ex SIR, because I can’t think of a more Fairy type Pokémon card ever. It’s another stunner with a cute stance and a pastel color pallete that just makes it. There’s that much pink it just works, a fantastic card and its easy to see why it’s over $400, especially as it’s one of the most popular Eeveelutions.

5. Zekrom ex & Reshiram ex – 172/086 / 173/086

The new Black White Rare versions of Zekrom ex and Reshiram ex combine the strong movesets of their Special Illustration Rare counterparts with a prestige look worthy of their legendary status. Zekrom ex uses Slash for [CC] as an easy setup, while Voltage Burst for [LLC] scales with your opponent’s Prize cards, offsetting its 30 recoil thanks to 230 HP and synergy with Flaaffy or Miraidon ex.

Reshiram ex mirrors this on the Fire side, with Slash for [2] into Blaze Burst at [1RR], hitting 130 plus 50 per Prize card taken while discarding just one Energy. Both serve as late-game swing attackers that slot neatly into Lightning or Fire builds.

What sets them apart is the new Black White Rare treatment. The monochrome foil gives a trophy-like finish that makes them true chase pulls, striking a balance between collector prestige and competitive play. They’re the rare kind of cards you can sleeve up to win games or showcase as centerpiece collectibles.

4. Victini – 171/086 / 172/086

Victini as a Black White Rare feels special because it combines flashy collector appeal with real deck potential. At just 80 HP it’s fragile, but V-Force hits for 120 damage with only [RR] if you keep your Bench full, making it a sneaky closer in fast Fire builds that flood the field early.

The monochrome foil treatment looks incredible and gives Victini a prestige feel that stands out, while still being a card you’ll want to try competitively just for the thrill of pulling off big trades with such a tiny attacker. The alternate 172/086 version from the White Flare half of the set is essentially the same card, with a similar price value as well.

3. Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex – 231/182

What a beast of a card! Mewtwo ex SIR captured that Mewtwo’s Revenge energy so hard, immense amounts of nostalgia in this card for me. It looks like everyone agrees considering it’s currently around $450. Destined Rivals cards are up and down day after day, so no doubt we’ll see this settle at a cheaper pricepoint before it crossed the vintage checkpoint in years to come.

2. Mega Lucario ex & Mega Gardevoir ex – 187/132 / 188/132

According to TCGPlayer’s Mega Evolution pull rate data, these “Mega Hyper Rare” cards (what a bizarre rarity name by way) on average only appear one in every 1 out of every 1260 packs of Mega Evolution.

That’s around 35 booster boxes, before you find even potentially find a single one of these cards. Holy bankruptcy, Batman!

The gold finish, courtesy of 5ban Graphics, turns these cards into a gleaming centrepiece. Competitive players want it, collectors covet it, and together they’ve pushed it to the very peak.

The golden Mega Hyper Rare Mega Lucario ex card is topping Pokemon TCG listings charts at a staggering $600 market value, with some listings reaching $1000 or more.

Just like its gold-finished Mega Lucario counterpart, this painfully elusive Mega Gardevoir ex is also sitting at around a $500 market price, with some listings even reaching $1200 right now as well.

1. Umbreon ex – 161/131

Even after Destined Rivals, Black Bolt/White Flare, AND Mega Evolution, this is still the undisputed champ of rare cards. We always knew it was going to be insanely priced, and we needed a cheaper Umbreon chase card after Umbreon VMAX (Moonbreon).

Granted, it’s still a mental market price, and still sitting around $1,000 right now. But it won’t get cheaper solely because it’s Umbreon and almost anything linked to this dark type Eeveelution holds its value, trust me on this. If you’re brave enough to drop $1,000 on Prismatic Eeveelutions boosters, or even this card standalone, I salute your efforts, and your bank account.

Honorable Mentions: Destined Rivals & More

Look here’s the thing, Pokémon cards are expensive. And it can be hard for us to hit absolutely everything that’s worth chasing right now. We only have so much time in the day! But, I still thought it would be worth mentioning several other highly sought after and valuable cards that just missed out on the top ten list.

With new sets coming out every few months, this list can get shaken up a lot, so it’s worth bookmarking and even checking back in every so often to see what else is skyrocketing in value right now.

Highlights from my honorable mentions this time around include Destined Rivals hot shots Ethan’s Ho-Oh ex, Cynthia’s Garchomp ex, and Team Rocket’s Moltres ex, alongside some brand new entries from new series Mega Evolution, such as Mega Venusaur ex which is priced around $220 right now, and the new Mega Latias ex, also sitting at around $200 right now as well.

Honorable Mentions: Eeveelutions

We also can’t finish up without a brief mention of Prismatic Evolutions’ Eeveelutions. The money in these chase cards is insane, and it always will be, which is why these need a dedicated section to themselves.

One of my favorite cards across the whole TCG is Jolteon ex SIR from Prismatic Evolutions. There’s been some banger Jolteon Cards in the past, for me that would be Jolteon from the Brilliant Stars Trainer Gallery and the Jolteon V Sword and Shield Promo Card, but this one has unlimited energy. Just look at how expressive this card is, perfectly showcasing Jolteons speed and agility with one of the coolest backgrounds i’ve seen in a Pokémon card.

Another beautiful pastel artwork with Espeon ex SIR. On top of Espeon being a fan favorite, it’s easy to see why this card is now over $300. I’ve never seen that many shades of purple in such a small space before, such a stunning piece of art, imagine pulling this, getting a 10 then getting it in your slabbed collection? Stuff of dreams.

Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.

This article includes contributions from Robert Anderson and Ben Williams.