Starting to collect Pokemon cards can be overwhelming, we know. There are hundreds of sets, thousands of packs, and tens of thousands of cards, where are you even supposed to start? All these alien names like Silver Tempest, Lost Origin, Evolving Skies, what does it all mean? Well, today we’re going to break down the best packs of Pokemon cards to buy in 2023 as well as what makes a pack of Pokemon cards good.

At its core, a pack is often made “good” by its potential for good pulls proportionally to the cost of the pack. Proportionally is the keyword there as there are plenty of vintage, first edition sets like Team Rocket or Jungle that you could probably pull a $10,000 card from which is pretty much unachievable in any modern set but you have to consider that you also are paying several hundred dollars per pack, not to mention that you can’t just buy these cards at your local store, you likely have to buy it from a trusted collector and seller.

Now, compare this to some modern sets where you can buy a whole booster box for around $100 and pull several cards worth more than the whole booster box without even grading it. Of course, it is all completely chance and in essence, you are gambling every time you buy a Pokemon pack but opening a “good pack” is opening a pack where your chances of getting some sort of return on investment are the highest. It just so happens that this is most often the case in modern sets thanks to the introduction of alternate arts in every new set which are basically just money printers for the Pokemon Company as people are willing to throw their money at sets of Pokemon to get their hands on one. 

Sure, opening packs may not be all about making money, and sometimes people just like to collect cards they think are cool and that mean something to them and that’s perfectly okay. Also, some people opening packs are just trying to get some new cards to add to their deck and the value of the cards is just secondary. However, for the most part, people opening Pokemon cards are looking for those big hitters.

Okay so let’s say you’ve got your hands on the packs of your desire, how do you even know if the cards you are pulling are worth anything? Well, for one, 80% of a Pokemon pack is practically guaranteed to be worthless. There are typically only 2 cards in the pack (the rare slot and reverse holographic slot) that have the potential to be worth something and even that is being generous. If you’ve done the card trick right when opening a pack then, the rare and reverse holo should be at the back of the pack and these are the only two cards you need to worry about. A card’s rarity is indicated by the little symbol, whether it be a star, a circle, or a diamond on the bottom left of the card. We are only interested in the cards with the star at the bottom as those are rares and also the only cards that are actually going to be worth anything in modern sets. So, if you have found yourself a rare Pokemon card, you can check its value by going on to sites like pricecharting.com or tcgplayer.com to see what people are willing to pay for it.

Coming in at the number five spot we have the 2022 set, Silver Tempest. This set gathered a lot of hype after the Lugia V alternate art was revealed and since its release, it has remained one of the most expensive alternate arts out there at around $200 ungraded. However, that isn’t the only selling point of this set as although the Lugia is vastly more expensive than any other card in the set there are also several other consistently good pulls in this set that all sell for around $30 ungraded. These cards include Unown V Alternate Art, Rainbow Rare Lugia VStar, Serena (Trainer) Full Art, Regidrago V Alternate Art, and Golden Rare Lugia VStar. Not to mention, this set also contains a trainer gallery which is always a major selling point of a set as a trainer gallery is a whole subset of cards within the set that contains only full arts and this one happens to also contain some great pulls like the Rayquaza VMax. On top of all this, packs currently only sell for around $4 each and a booster box sells for about $120.

Lost Origin, released in 2022 made quite a splash after its mascot and chase card was revealed to be Giratina in one of the coolest alternate arts of the year. It remains the most expensive card of 2022 coming in at around $300 ungraded. Even without this alternate art though the set is still amazing. It contains an Aerodactly V alternate art which is also worth around $120 as well as several other relatively expensive cards. These cards include Rotom V Alternate Art, Galarian Perrserker V Alternate Art, Rainbow Rare Giratine VStar, Trainer Gallery Pikachu VMax, and Trainer Gallery Pikachu V.  Much like Silver Tempest this set also contains a trainer gallery which is always great for collectors who are just interested in cool arts. This set is also made great by the fact that you can easily find packs for around $4 and booster boxes for $115.

Now we have the set that really made alternate arts a staple addition to the Sword & Shield era of Pokemon. A lot of people have complained about the pull rates from this set saying that they are just too unforgiving but for the several chase cards in this set, the punishing pull rates might be worth it. Released in 2021, this set most famously brought about alternate arts of the Galarian version of the legendary birds (Moltres, Zapdos & Articuno), however, it also brought several other pulls that aren’t discussed nearly as much. Despite popular belief, the most expensive pull in this set is actually the Blaziken VMax Alternate Art which is worth around $170, not to mention the several other expensive pulls that this set has such as Golden Rare Snorlax, Zeraora V Alternate Art, Shadow Rider Calyrex VMax Alternate Art, Ice Rider Calyrex VMax Alternate Art and Galarian Rapidash V Alternate Art. Due to the lack of a trainer gallery, this set is chocked full of rare alternate art pulls and almost all of them are worth a little bit of moola. As well as this, despite being released two years ago, packs are still worth about $4 each.

This set very nearly made it to number one because it’s just so amazing but like Chilling Reign it has a big problem with pull rates, but this can be easy to ignore when you see the sheer volume and value of pulls in this set. This set, released in 2021, features some of the most expensive pulls in modern Pokemon history as well as some of the coolest full arts in modern Pokemon history. The set is renowned for its use of the Eeveelutions as the mascots as well as the several alternate arts that consequently came with it, the most famous being the Umbreon VMax Alternate Art also known as the Moonbreon which can now be found selling for more than $520 ungraded. Some of the other insane pulls from this set include Rayquaza VMax Alternate Art, Leafeon VMax Alternate Art, Glaceon VMax Alternate Art, Sylveon VMax Alternate Art, Umbreon V Alternate Art, Dragonite V Alternate Art, Rayquaza V Alternate Art, Espeon V Alternate Art, Glaceon V Alternate Art, Sylveon V Alternate Art and last but not least Leafeon V Alternate art. It’s also worth noting that these are only the super expensive pulls, there are several other relatively rare pulls that are still worth a bit of money when graded. The only downside of this set is that the value of booster packs has been going up as a result of the set’s value meaning that a single booster can cost $8.

Finally, we have the Mac Daddy set that has closed out the Sword & Shield era of Pokemon. This set has one of the biggest trainer galleries, some of the craziest card arts, and the highest volume of rare pulls out of any Pokemon set you’ve ever seen. It was only released this year (2023), so the pulls still have plenty of time to skyrocket in value and even then they are already worth an arm and a leg. This set introduced the Golden Alternate Arts as well as VStar Alternate Arts and the pulls just don’t stop coming. There are over 70 full art pulls in this set and most of them come from the insane trainer gallery. Although Evolving Skies and Chilling Reign may have more expensive pulls than this set, the pull rates in this set are insane. As well as this, Crown Zenith contains cards like Golden Rare Giratina VStar, Mewtwo VStar Alternate Art, Golden Rare Palkia VStar, Golden Rare Arceus VStar, Golden Rare Dialga VStar as well as several other amazing pulls. The best thing about this set is because it’s so new, the packs sell for about $5 each.

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It’s hard to say definitively how much you will have to spend before you get something good as in essence there is no guarantee that you will get something “good”. It depends on what you class as good. If you class anything that isn’t just a standard rare as a good pull such as normal Vs then you can expect to get good pulls about 1 in every 7 or 8 packs. However, if you consider things like secret rares good pulls, they average at about 1 – 2 in every booster box (36 packs). But, if you consider only expensive pulls as good pulls then there is just no saying how much money you will have to spend to get it as you are chasing one or two cards in sets of sometimes hundreds.

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Throughout the history of the Pokemon TCG, there have been hundreds if not thousands of talented illustrators working day in and day out to bring us some of the coolest, most beloved art in trading card history. So then, what better way to show off this artistic talent than through a full art Pokemon card, where the canvas is no longer limited to a small square on the card but instead where they have the whole card to let their creativity run free? This, coupled with the shiny, holographic finish on the card, makes for inevitably brilliant art and the most collectible cards in a set.

So, today we are going to be honoring these great artists by counting down the top 15 coolest full-art Pokemon cards. Of course, there is no objective way to make this list, so if you disagree, don’t worry, this list was built purely on opinion.

This card comes from the Sun & Moon holiday set Hidden Fates and can only be found as a promo card in the Elite Trainer Boxes of the set. It was designed by Japanese artist HYOGONOSUKE and features some of the most creative artwork you will probably ever find in an Elite Trainer Box Promo. The card’s art features the three legendary birds in the style of an old stained glass window which feels like it almost emphasizes their monumental status, as though they are being worshipped like gods. Unfortunately, because Hidden Fates ETBs were produced like there was no tomorrow, there is no shortage of this promo meaning they only sell for around $15.

This card popped up out of nowhere in the set Team Up and immediately got the attention of fans. Latias and Latios, whether it be in their name, or their design, are made to appear physically inseparable which is what artist Sanosuke Sakuma appears to be attempting to encapsulate in this art. The card features a Latias and Latios hovering in front of a beautiful sunset as they touch wing-to-wing forming the shape of a heart around the sunset. Truly cinematic stuff. Not to mention, this card doesn’t come at zero cost, it has actually become one of the most expensive cards in recent English Pokemon card history typically selling for around $300 ungraded.

This card is a little different from the previous two as while, like the first entry, it is a promo card, this is a Japanese exclusive promo card. This card could only be acquired through a Pokemon stamp box in the Japanese Postal service and as a result, has become pretty sought-after. Designed by artist Mitsuhiro Arita this card follows a much more traditional style of Japanese art similar to that of the stamps used in Japanese post hence coming as a promo in a Stamp Box. It features three Cramorants diving through the air like Kingfishers, some not so gracefully as the others. Because of the card’s exclusivity, it is worth upwards of $100 even without a grade.

The thing about the previous entry is that it doesn’t just come on its own as a promo and is actually one of two promos that come together out of the stamp box. The Cramorant’s counterpart is as you could probably guess the stamp box Pikachu which is designed with the exact same style by the exact same artist (Sanosuke Sakuma) and even features the lady from the Japanese stamp herself. You can find this card selling for nearly $300 ungraded!

Coming from the Sword & Shield set Chilling Reign, this card, designed by artist Shibuzoh, takes a much more minimalist approach when it comes to color. This card only features 3 prominent colors: red, black, and white, and yet it makes for absolutely awesome artwork. It features the Galarian version of everyone’s favorite legendary bird spanning out its wings in front of a full moon in the night sky. There appear to be ominous red eyes also beaming through the forest it’s flying above but that could just be paranoia. This has actually become one of the most expensive cards in the set, selling for roughly $110 ungraded.

Although Noivern may not be a fan-favorite Pokemon to many people, the pop culture reference of this card is just too awesome not to include in this list. This card, from the, set Evolving Skies and designed again by artist Mitsuhiro Arita, the same guy who designed the stamp box cards, features Noivern dropping from a building in the dead of night in the dimly lit city with his winged spanned like a cape. It’s practically impossible to deny that this card isn’t a reference or at least inspired by the DC poster boy Batman. Unfortunately, the unpopularity of Noivern means that this card isn’t exactly worth a fortune regardless of how cool it may be. It only sells for around $30 ungraded.

Now, we’re taking a brief trip back in time as this next entry comes from the X & Y era of Pokemon in the set Generations from 2016. The card was designed by Kagemaru Himeno and is definitely one of the cutest Pikachu arts you can get your hands on. The card features not just one, not just two, not even just three but four Pikachus on one card. They’re all dogpiling on top of each other to make a loving bundle of Pikachus. It’s a pretty simple art for the most part but for the time it was released, it was a pretty extraordinary art which gives it some extra points in my book. Unfortunately, however, the card isn’t worth much in terms of monetary value as it only sells for around $13 ungraded.

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If you haven’t heard of this card before, let me introduce you to one of the coolest crossovers you will probably ever see on a Pokemon card if not on any trading card. Designed by Kouki Saito this card features Pikachu in the iconic blue overalls and red hat of Nintendo’s Italian goomba-stomping mascot. The card even has a watermark at the bottom right that reads “MARIO PIKACHU” just in case you didn’t realize. This card came as a Japanese-exclusive promo in the 2016 Mario Pikachu Special Box which could often be found with it’s Luigi counterpart which featured the Luigi Pikachu. Because of this card’s age and exclusivity, it has become one of the most sought-after Pokemon cards in modern Pokemon history selling for around $2000 ungraded.

This is one of the most recent entries on this list as it was actually released this year (2023) in the set Crown Zenith. This set brought about a never-before-seen art style which was the Golden Alternate Art. Previously, a Pokemon would only get one golden full art and that’s it, but in the case of Giratina, Dialga, Palkia, and Arceus, they would go on to get 2 golden full arts each. Granted these were spread out among different sets but it’s interesting nonetheless. Anyway, this artwork was designed by Akira Egawa and features the legendary Pokemon floating above this crazy, hellish orange landscape over a pyramid as the clouds seem to orbit the Arceus in an almost godlike fashion. This art does an amazing job of capturing the scale and power of Arceus better than any card ever has. As a result, it’s one of the most expensive cards in the set and sells for around $100 ungraded despite being released less than a month ago.

Staying on the topic of overpowered legendaries comes the Mewtwo from the 2017 holiday set Shining Legends. This card was designed by an artist who has now made quite a few appearances on this list: Mitsuhiro Arita. This is actually the chase card of the set and it features what appears to be the origin story of Mewtwo as it is floating in some sort of testing tube in a lab. If you look closely, you can even see little illustrations of the anatomy of Mewtwo in the background as, if you aren’t aware, Mewtwo was one of the only Pokemon to be designed in a lab. Ungraded, the card can be found selling for more than $70.

This entry may come as a surprise to some, as Urshifu isn’t exactly the most popular Pokemon in the world, but he does have one of the coolest full arts to the name coming from the 2021 set Battle Styles. Designed by Kiyotaka Oshiyama, it’s pretty hard to deny that this card isn’t somewhat cool. It features a massive Urshifu sitting cross-legged doing some sort of water bending to propel himself into the air with the water. If that isn’t cool enough, with this water bending he’s shooting loads of other water-type Pokemon into the air like Clobbopus as well as other cameos from Pokemon like Cramorant and Corviknight. Unfortunately, the lack of popularity of this card means that it’s only worth around $50 ungraded.

Now comes yet another Japanese exclusive as they just can’t seem to help but make for some of the coolest arts in the entire TCG. This card came as one of many promo cards in the exact same Pikachu Poncho art style including a Rayquaza Poncho, Shiny Rayquaza Poncho, Gyarados Poncho, Mega Charizard X Poncho, Mega Charizard Y Poncho, as well as several other non-full-art Poncho Pikachus. However, in my humble opinion, the coolest of them all is the Magikarp Poncho Pikachu designed by the same man behind the Mario and Luigi Pikachu Kouki Saito. Everything from the crazy patterned background to the Pikachu poking its head out of the Magikarp’s mouth makes this card one of the best full arts out there. As well as this, it’s extremely rare, and as a result, like the Mario and Luigi Pikachu, is one of the most expensive cards in modern Pokemon history. Ungraded, the card is worth around $1000.

This entry actually has not been released in English yet but is set to be in March of this year. It comes from the Scarlet and Violet base set of Pokemon which is reintroducing the 2003 “ex” mechanic. Designed by 5ban Graphics, this card is designed with a strange polygon style which makes for some really unique artwork. As well as this, the Gyarados featured on the card wears a silver crown which for some reason feels really fitting. Strangely enough though, although the English value is yet to be realized, it isn’t really worth that much in Japanese, only selling for around $30 ungraded.

This card was inevitably going to make an appearance on this list as let’s face it, it is probably one of the most groundbreaking and amazing artworks on a card in Pokemon history. It was one of the first introductions to alternate arts in the Sword and Shield era of Pokemon, aside from Chilling Reign and it just does not disappoint. The set it comes from, Evolving Skies, also brought about some of the most expensive alternate arts in the current Pokemon landscape such as the Leafeon VMax, Glaceon VMax, and the Rayquaza VMax. Regardless, we’re here to talk about this card; the Umbreon VMax alternate art. It was designed by artist KEIICHIRO ITO and features a Gigantimaxed Umbreon scaling a building and reaching for the moon reminiscent of the Van Gogh painting “The Starry Night”. Ungraded, it would be difficult to find the card for less than $400.

Finally, we have what we believe to be one of if not the best full art of all time and it comes in the form of yet another Japanese exclusive promo. This is a card that some of you may not even know exists if you’re a newer collector but it remains one of the most expensive Japanese exclusive promos released in the last 5 years. The card was purchasable as one of five different options, Psyduck, Rowlet, Eevee, Mimikyu, or Pikachu. They could only be obtained by attending a Pokemon Center in Japan that was participating in the promotional event of the Munch: A Retrospective exhibition. It was the first time that Edvard Munch’s famous painting The Scream would be displayed in Japan so Pokemon centers would grant customers this promo card with the purchase of any two booster packs. As well as this card was completely restricted from the online Pokemon Center, meaning it had to be obtained in person. It was designed by artist Tomokazu Komiya and he does the card so much justice. The card features a Psyduck screaming in the exact style of the Munch painting The Scream as a Haunter and a Gengar from the background seem to approach him. Ungraded, the card can sell for upwards of $700 thanks to how exclusive and awesome the artwork is.

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A major distinction between EX Pokemon cards and regular Pokemon cards is how powerful they are. EX Pokemon cards are generally stronger, with higher stats, more potent abilities and more powerful attacks, which gives players an edge during gameplay and have the potential to completely turn the tides of a game.

Another contrast between EX Pokemon cards and common Pokemon cards is the way they can be obtained. These cards are generally only available in special booster packs or theme decks, making them harder to get than the usual Pokemon cards.

These cards were introduced In 2012 by the Pokemon Company in the Black & White set Next Destinies as an attempt to replace the Lv.X mechanic from the generation before it. It introduced classic EX cards such as Reshiram EX, Zekrom EX, and the Mewtwo EX Full Art. These cards had enhanced artwork and refreshed game mechanics, making them extremely desired by fans and collectors. They would go on to make these cards until 2017 with the introduction of Sun & Moon.

While the name EX and GX may sound quite similar, there are quite a few fundamental differences between the two types of cards.

For one the design of the cards have some key differences between them. EX cards feature art that kind of spills over the inner border of the cards art whereas GX cards don’t even have an inner border.

As well as this, because you can only play one GX card per game, GX cards tend to have much higher HP values than EX cards. However, it’s not just their HP that makes them this much stronger, GX cards also feature GX attacks which can only be used once a game.

While EX nor GX cards are the rarest cards in the world, GX cards are marginally rarer than EX cards.

So in short, GX cards aren’t particularly similar to EX cards apart from the fact that they rhyme and they are ultra rares.

So, if you’re a bit more of a seasoned Pokemon TCG fan, then you may recall that ex-cards were a thing way before 2012. They go as far back as 2003 in the set “EX Ruby & Sapphire” and they weren’t vastly different from EXs as we know them today. These cards were similar to normal Pokemon cards but they would have improved health, and attack a lot like, you guessed it, modern EX cards. The art is obviously a bit better on the more modern cards but for the most part, they are more similar to EXs than GXs.

You might be wondering then why The Pokemon Company would deem it necessary to call a stop to the EX cards if they were so popular and the truth is, it was inevitable. Regardless of how popular a game mechanic is, with each new era of Pokemon, they always like to change things up and scrap one game mechanic to introduce another. We’ve seen this time and time again with EX getting replaced by GX and GX getting replaced by V & VMax and V and VMax soon to be replaced by another mechanic. It’s an easy way for The Pokemon Company to keep the game fresh without stripping away all familiarity with the game so returning players can quickly get straight back into the game.

Now, let’s get into the most expensive EX pokemon cards.

Kicking off this list is the less popular counterpart to the Mega Charizard duo with the Mega Charizard Y EX. This card was released in the 2014 X & Y set Flashfire which would introduce the “Mega Evolution” mechanic from the video game into the card game. As we’ve mentioned in almost every article containing a list, it’s hard to find a “most expensive cards” list without at least one Charizard on it and this is no exception to that rule. Ungraded this card can be found selling for around $20 and in a PSA 10 can be as expensive as $70.

Making a pretty nostalgic entry at number 9 is the fabled ground-type legendary from the Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald era of Pokemon. This card was released in the 2012 set Dark Explorers and further begged the question of whether Kyogre or Groudon was better. This card is a full art and ungraded the card is worth around $60 but in a PSA 10, the card is worth nearly $500.

But if you thought that last entry was nostalgic, get a load of this one. The Mew-EX comes from the same year as the Groudon EX in the set Dragons Exalted. This card is not only expensive for its awesome full-art but also for its amazing gameplay mechanic that would go on to remain a staple card in most psychic decks even as the meta evolved. Even ungraded, the card can be worth around $100 but when in a PSA 10 this card is worth nearly $2000.

This card burst onto the scene in the set Ancient Origins. This is likely one of the coolest EX arts that you can get your hands on (in my humble opinion) thanks to its gold trim, the Japanese text flying around the card, and just having a mega Rayquaza on a card, it just makes for an awesome card art. Ungraded this card is worth more than $100 and in a PSA 10 it’s worth upwards of $600.

And it just wouldn’t be a true celebration of some vintage legendaries without including the Pokemon Silver mascot Lugia. This card was introduced in the set Plasma Storm and is a little different from most of the entries on this list thanks to the fact that it is a “Team Plasma” card. This was a mechanic introduced in the set Noble Victories and would allow other Plasma cards to interact with them in unique ways. This Lugia’s special ability was the attack Plasma Gate. This attack dealt 120 damage on the condition that you had a Plasma Energy in your discard pile. But enough about that, how much is this card worth? Well, ungraded, the card is worth more than $120 and in a PSA 10 the card can be found selling for upwards of $3000.

A really mysterious entry at number 5 (coming from the set Dark Explorers) because let’s face it, if you played Pokemon Platinum or Pearl, chances are you googled on several occasions and spent hours trying to find out “how to get Darkrai”. This nostalgia alone is enough to make people throw all of their money at this card but it gets better. The card art is just pretty cool in itself so it’s no surprise that people want this card so badly. So much so that, ungraded, the card is worth around $103, and in a PSA 10 the card can sell for more than $540.

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You thought we were going to be finished with the Charizards just like that, if so, you are about to be sorely disappointed as this card won’t be the last we see of the flying orange fella. This card was introduced in the set Flashfire and received all the hype you would expect from a Charizard full art card. Ungraded, the card is already worth around $118 and in a PSA 10 the card can be found selling for more than $1500.

Coming in at number 3 we have yet another entry from the set Dragons Exalted and yet again we have ourselves a Rayquaza. This time, however, it comes in the form of a full-art and likely one of the coolest full arts in the set if not the era. It features this crazy fiery background making Rayquaza look like he just flew out of hell to greet you and ungraded the card is worth about $145. In a PSA 10 though, the card can be worth $2400.

This Dialga is where the Pokemon company decided to get a little more experimental with their card art. At its core, it’s still just a regular Dialga ex full art but they have instead given it a glossy silver finish so that all other colors on the card are muted. The only color on the card apart from the text is silver. Granted, it looks pretty damn cool and as a result, the card is worth about $150 even without a grade. Then, in a PSA 10, the card can be found selling for more than $3000.

Finally, the list wouldn’t be complete without a Charizard stealing the number 1 spot, and in an almost poetic ending we are ending this list how we started it, with a Mega Charizard EX from the same set Flashfire. The only difference here is that it is the X version, also known as, the version that everyone prefers way more. He literally has blue fire spewing out of his mouth, how could you not like him more? Anyway, ungraded, this card sells for roughly $250 and in a PSA 10 the card has previously sold for $2000.

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