The new generation of Pokémon TCG cards, Scarlet & Violet’s base set, has been out for two weeks, giving everyone a chance to get to grips with the new “ex” meta, and allowing time for the resale markets to calm themselves down. With the live game making its official rotation to the new era today (in time for April 14 – 16’s European International Championships in London), now’s a great time to take a look at which cards are proving the most popular…and valuable.
What’s perhaps most striking about this new set, with its freshly redesigned packs, is how only one card has gone big when it comes to price. While cards like 2021’s Evolving Skies Alt Art Umbreon are now fetching over $600, and the ongoing Crown Zenith set’s gold cards are fetching around $100, it’s just Scarlet & Violet’s Special Illustration Rare Miriam that is causing any sort of fuss, floating somewhere between $60 and $100, but coming down fast.
In fact, the whole Scarlet & Violet set has seen its prices crash, and crash hard, in its first fortnight on sale. That’s despite a set that contains some absolutely stunning cards that are enormously collectible. It’s just—and unless you were hoping to make a quick buck, there’s little to regret here—they’re possible to collect at far more sensible prices. There are some breathtaking cards, like the Scovillain or Skwovet Illustration Rares, that you can pick up for just a couple of bucks.
That’s something of a relief given the set’s horrible pull-rates for rarer cards, which is especially difficult to swallow when it’s being released at the same time as Crown Zenith’s incredible generosity. Yes, every pack is guaranteed a holo, but since there are only 19 of them to collect they’re common as confetti, making it all the more frustrating to try to find anything more exciting.
But excitement is there to be found! Alongside the chased Miriam, there’s the beautiful Ralts to Gardevoir triptych to find, some fantastic Special Illustration Rares of Miraidon and Koraidon, the terastalized Gyarados ex full-art, and some truly stunning art like the Special Illustration Penny and Great Tusk, along with many more.
Plus of course there are the cards that are forming core parts of new meta decks for the live game, often easier to pull, and making things interesting during this peculiar time when the ex cards can be mixed with Sword & Shield’s V cards. So, given all this, let’s get cracking with the cards you’ll most want to pull from a pack.
