The Most Expensive Scarlet & Violet Era Pokemon TCG Cards

The latest generation in the Pokemon TCG is full of cards that are already roaring in value, with others still waiting to reach their potential. While Sword and Shield’s best sets have had some time to simmer, Scarlet & Violet’s are still hot off the presses, offering some incredibly hyped-up cards to collect.

While it will take some time before the real deals can be separated from the pumped-up pretenders, some of Scarlet & Violet’s best cards are shaking out nicely. There’s a healthy blend of eternally valuable Pokemon, like Charizard, along with new Pokemon and trainers representing Paldea with Special Illustration Rares (SIR) and Illustration Rares (IR).

Cards are ordered according to their
TCGPlayer
market prices, which are subject to change.

Updated November 22, 2024, by Andrew Scariati: The most expensive Scarlet & Violet cards continue to change as the generation unfolds, with Surging Sparks marking a major milestone for prices rising in the generation. We’ve updated this list to include the Pikachu ex from Surging Sparks, along with updated prices and one other addition to the most valuable Scarlet & Violet cards.

11 Carmine: Twilight Masquerade (Special Illustration Rare) – $66.53

A Beautiful Art Buffet

Carmine stands alone as the most expensive Trainer card to crack the top ten most valuable cards from Scarlet & Violet. Carmine was slated to be an expensive card from the beginning, but she has seen a further rise in value after release.

However, Carmine has barely had time to be graded and sent back to collectors, let alone have enough time to find a solid market price. For now, Carmine has bounced between $95 and $110 most often, as there’s no clear indication if or when her value will start to dip to more affordable levels.

10 Raging Bolt ex: Temporal Forces (Special Illustration Rare) – $84.70

Towering Above Paradox Pokemon

Though it’s backed away from its previous high above $100, Raging Bolt is still the most valuable card you can get in Temporal Forces, the set released just before Twilight Masquerade. Whether you’re a fan of the new Paradox Pokemon in Scarlet & Violet, or you prefer the original legendary dogs, this artwork is stunning.

Raging Bolt is the main focus, but the attention to detail in the card’s lighting and collection of trees is gorgeous to behold, painting an incredibly lush natural scene before our eyes.

A Tumultuous Promotion

Speaking of cards with a rocky history, the Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat promo card, a.k.a. “Van Gogh Pikachu” is perhaps the most controversial promo card released in the history of Pokemon, due to the widespread theft, scalping, and resale of this card on the secondary market.

It once hovered around $170, but this promo Pikachu tells a cautionary tale of what happens when you buy a card purely on hype, as it lost about 50 percent of its once sky-high valuation before eventually recovering to its current price.

An Unlikely Surge

While the Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat represents the worst things about promo cards, Squirtle offers a slightly more wholesome tale. This card didn’t get much fanfare, but slowly rose in value over time, indicating a strong demand for it.

This simple card was also given away for free – though you had to
purchase something on the Pokemon Center website to receive it.

Once this card was no longer available as a free incentive, it was not restocked often, as the Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat has been, allowing it to maintain a solid value.

7 Charizard ex: Paldean Fates (Special Illustration Rare)– $144.15

Paldea’s Signature On Display

This is getting out of hand; now there are two of them as Charizard sweeps consecutive placements among the most expensive Scarlet & Violet era cards. This shiny Charizard eclipses its 151 counterparts by a small margin, and it may not keep its nose ahead for long.

However, this Charizard art features Terastallization, the signature mechanic from the Scarlet & Violet era, giving it a unique distinction from other Charizard cards, like the most valuable ones from Champion’s Path.

6 Magikarp: Paldea Evolved (Illustration Rare) – $157.11

Paying Homage To Giratina V

The Magikarp Illustration Rare has had a long and difficult journey, but it finally sits atop the throne as the most valuable card in Paldea Evolved, settling for a second-place finish overall in the S&V era.

Magikarp’s climb from the $50 range to its current plateau is an incredible trajectory, as this underdog consistently fights against the current. A surprise appearance from Gyarados in the background gives this card even more to enjoy.

5 Mew ex: Paldean Fates (Special Illustration Rare) – $192.36

A Mischievous Mew Masterpiece

Paldean Fates has had a bit of time to settle in the market, and the shiny Mew EX, also known as “Bubble Mew” is settling at a solid value between $80 and $90. This card’s artwork stands out from the rest of the most valuable Paldean Fates cards.

Even at such a solid value, Mew EX isn’t the most expensive card from its own set, as that distinction belongs to another Kantonian classic.

While it once dropped a long way down from its previous high around $125, Mew made a comeback that pushed it to its current market price, illustrating its incredible popularity.

4 Latias ex: Surging Sparks (Special Illustration Rare) – $201.24

The Sky’s The Limit

Surging Sparks opened up the floodgates to another level of hype in the Pokemon, as some of the most expensive cards in the set debuted at sky-high prices. Latias ex is one of the highlights of the set, earning its place thanks to the incredibly gorgeous scene depicted in the card’s art.

Latias opened at around $180 and shot up past the $200 plateau shortly thereafter. While the set is still incredibly young, this card is likely to maintain most of its value as one of the most desirable cards in the era.

3 Charizard: S&V 151 (Special Illustration Rare) – $203.16

Soaring Into The Stratosphere

On the other side of the spectrum, the Charizard SIR has been available for quite some time and even made it this high on the list despite a series of reprints for 151 in mid-2024.

This card peaked at around $135 after the reprints sent it down toward the $100 mark before Charizard immediately bounced back and soared toward $200. Given the immense popularity of the Pokemon and the set, this card will be among the top cards from the Scarlet & Violet era for years to come.

2 Greninja ex: Twilight Masquerade (Special Illustration Rare) – $329.03

Is This Real Life, Or Just Fantasy?

The Greninja EX SIR’s existence thus far has been one consumed by hype, as this card’s incredible demand is unprecedented. However, given the unnaturally sharp spikes in prices, there’s reason to be skeptical that there might be something unusual going on behind the scenes in the Pokemon market.

Only time will tell how much of this hype is the
result of legitimate demand, and how much of the value is being inflated
by a small group of buyers.

This card continues to climb in value as the set ages, leaving no doubt that Greninja is a genuinely striking card deserving of its high price.

1 Pikachu ex: Surging Sparks (Special Illustration Rare) – $462.90

The New Leader

Pikachu ex takes the lead from Greninja as the most expensive card from the Scarlet & Violet era thus far, exploding into a new stratosphere, as the first raw card of the generation to exceed $500. While Pikachu’s incredible legacy makes it one of the most popular Pokemon to collect, few could have predicted this card’s meteoric rise so soon after release.

While the current market price of this card has dropped from the former highs that exceeded $500, Pikachu is likely to be one of the most valuable cards from this generation with little danger of falling out of the top ten just yet.