The eighth expansion for the Scarlet and Violet era of the Pokemon TCG, Surging Sparks, has quickly become one of the most valuable and sought-after sets in recent history. Surging Sparks follows on from the Stellar Crown expansion, introducing several new meta Stellar Tera Pokemon and a bunch of incredible new alternative art cards featuring some of the series’ most popular Pokemon. With so many amazing cards to chase, more than a few collectors have compared Surging Sparks to the infamous Evolving Skies expansion from the Sword and Shield era of the TCG, one of the hardest sets to complete thanks to its low drop rates.
Surging Sparks boasts over 250 cards, making it one of the largest sets to collect in recent memory. That extra space isn’t filled with fluff, either, as this expansion has the pleasure of hosting several of the most valuable cards in all of the Scarlet and Violet era of the TCG, including the first alternative art Pikachu ex.
Here are the 10 most expensive and valuable cards in Surging Sparks, the eighth expansion in the Scarlet and Violet era for the Pokemon TCG.
If you’d like to read some other Pokemon TCG content, including deck guides for the recently released Pokemon TCG Pocket, then you can find more here on KeenGamer:
- Pokémon TCG Pocket | Pikachu EX Deck Guide
- Pokémon TCG Pocket | Mewtwo EX Deck Guide
- Pokémon TCG Pocket | Articuno EX Deck Guide
- 10 Best and Most Expensive Pokemon Stellar Crown Cards
- 10 Best and Most Expensive Pokémon 151 Cards | Pokémon TCG
Surging Sparks
10 Most Expensive Cards in Surging Sparks
Surging Sparks is the eighth Scarlet and Violet mainline set in the Pokemon TCG, following Stellar Crown and preceding the upcoming Prismatic Evolutions special set. There are a total of 252 cards to collect in Surging Sparks, with 191 unique cards, 23 Illustration Rares, 14 Full Art Pokemon, 7 Full Art Trainers, 11 Special Illustration Rares, and 6 Hyper Rares.
The main way we’ll be ranking these is based on their current market price on TCGPlayer as of the 17th of November, which is just over a week since the global release of Surging Sparks. Of course, while the general ranking of the cards will remain largely the same, the actual price of these cards may shift over the coming months, especially when so many of them are especially valuable right now. If you’d like to stay up to date, be sure to regularly check out the Surging Sparks page on TCGPlayer for more information.
Currently, the 10 most expensive and valuable cards in Surging Sparks are:
- Pikachu ex, Special Illustration Rare
- Latias ex, Special Illustration Rare
- Pikachu ex, Hyper Rare
- Milotic ex, Special Illustration Rare
- Hydreigon ex, Special Illustration Rare
- Lisia’s Appeal, Special Illustration Rare
- Alolan Exeggutor ex, Special Illustration Rare
- Latios, Illustration Rare
- Jasmine’s Gaze, Special Illustration Rare
- Night Stretcher, Hyper Rare
Best Cards in Surging Sparks
Night Stretcher, Hyper Rare
Despite being the rarest cards to find, Hyper Rares (also known simply as Gold Cards) rarely grace most expensive card lists, largely on account of them lacking the unique flair of Special Illustration Rares, or even most regular Illustration Rares. Well, Surging Sparks is bucking that trend with not one but two Hyper Rares making it comfortably into the top ten list, starting with the Hyper Rare variant of the Night Stretcher Trainer card.
Sitting at number 251 in the set list, Night Stretcher’s HR is the second to last card in all of Surging Sparks. What makes it so valuable and worthy of making this list is how playable the Night Stretcher card is in general. When played, Night Stretcher will let you recover any Pokemon or Basic Energy from your discard pile and put them in your hand. This card is excellent in basically any deck, allowing you to bring back heavy hitters from the grave or quickly recover Energy which you might need in a pinch.
Players looking to add a bit of bling to one of their most valuable Trainer cards will have to shell out between $25 to $30, with the Night Stretcher Hyper Rare having a current market price of $27.
Night Stretcher Hyper Rare
Jasmine’s Gaze, Special Illustration Rare
Surging Sparks’ other standout is that it has one of the largest Special Illustration Rare catalogues of any mainline Pokemon TCG expansion. There are seven SIR Pokemon and four SIR Supporters and most of them are desirable enough to make this list. The first of these Special Illustration Rares to make it is the SIR version of Jasmine’s Gaze, a new card based on the Generation 2 Steel Gym Leader which sits at number 245 in the Surging Sparks setlist.
Jasmine’s Gaze Special Illustration Rare is illustrated by Fujimoto Gold, a relatively new Pokemon artist who is best known for their beautiful Cramorant Illustration Rare from Twilight Masquerade. The card portrays Fujimoto’s soft lineless art style perfectly, complimenting the cute image of Jasmine munching on some Paldean delicacies. As for what this Supporter actually does, it makes all of your Pokemon, Active and Benched, take 30 less damage during your opponent’s next turn. While most players would prefer to bulk up their offences rather than their defences, Jasmine’s Gaze does have some interesting utility and potential against certain heavier-hitting Pokemon.
Jasmine’s Gaze SIR has a market price of $35 on TCGPlayer but prices are going as high as $45 or $50.
Jasmine’s Gaze SIR
Latios, Illustration Rare
Next up is the only regular Illustration Rare card to make the list and that is Latios’ Illustration Rare. Latios, along with its Mythical counterpart Latias, feature prominently in a lot of Surging Sparks promotional material, with the duo even featuring on one of the pack arts for the expansion. While Latias has received a bit more of the spotlight, it doesn’t mean that Latios has been left in the dust, with its beautiful Illustration Rare (203 in the setlist) coming in as the most expensive IR in all of Surging Sparks.
The Latios IR card was illustrated by OKACHEKE, a prolific TCG artist whose best-known cards include the Alt Art Ice Rider Calyrex V from Chilling Reign, Alt Art Penny from base Scarlet and Violet, and the Plusle and Minum duo from Paradox Rift. OKACHEKE’s best cards all feature some incredible lighting and their Latios and Latias cards are no different, with the iconic Hoenn Mythicals basking in the gorgeous sunset from high up in the clouds.
Latios’ IR and Latias’ SIR form a pair, which is likely why the price of both cards has risen dramatically. Fortunately, Latios isn’t quite as expensive as Latias, with the Illustration Rare Latios coming in at a market price of $40, which is still drastically more expensive than the next Illustration Rare, Ceruledge.
Latios IR
Alolan Exeggutor ex, Special Illustration Rare
In seventh place, we have the first Special Illustration Rare Pokemon from Surging Sparks in the form of Alolan Exeggutor ex’s SIR variant. Alolan Exeggutor is one of several new Stellar Tera Pokemon and one of three Stellar Teras to receive a Special Illustration Rare card. It sits at number 242 in the overall Surging Sparks setlist.
This funky-looking card is illustrated by Yuriko Akase, another newer artist to the Pokemon TCG who previously illustrated the Meditite IR from Stellar Crown as well as the Timbur IR from Twilight Masquerade. While it doesn’t connect as perfectly as the Latias and the Latios or even the Feebas and Milotic, the SIR Alolan Exeggutor ex matches up with the IR Exeggcute (also illustrated by Yuriko Akase) to tell a cute story on a synth-wave-inspired backdrop.
If you’d like to add this goofy but still amazing-looking SIR to your collection, the Special Illustration Rare Alolan Exeggutor ex has a market price of around $48.
Alolan Exeggutor ex SIR
Lisia’s Appeal, Special Illustration Rare
Following on from Alolan Exeggutor ex is our second Special Illustration Rare Supporter with Lisia’s Appeal. Before the set’s official release, this version of Lisia’s Appeal was one of the main cards used to preview the set and, as many predicted, it has easily become one of the set’s best offerings.
Lisia is one of the more memorable characters introduced in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the Generation 3 remake which came out on the 3DS, where she was the main NPC associated with Contests. Well, thanks to this poppy and colourful illustration by Nobusawa/Mochipuyo, the charm and grace Lisia used to win over the hearts of her fans has been translated into an excellent card for both trainers and collectors alike.
Currently, the Special Illustration Rare version of Lisia’s Appeal from Surging Sparks has a market price of $68, marking a significant increase from the market price of Alolan Exeggutor ex. From here on out, the cards from Surging Sparks begin to increase in price quite dramatically, with even the cards in fifth or sixth place rivalling the most valuable cards from recently released Scarlet and Violet sets.
Lisia’s Appeal SIR
Hydreigon ex, Special Illustration Rare
The card which just beat out Lisia’s Appeal for the honour of being in the top five most expensive Surging Sparks cards is another Special Illustration Rare Pokemon. In fact, all but one of the cards in the top five belong to the Special Illustration Rare classification. This time, it’s the iconic pseudo-legendary from the Unova region, Hydreigon ex, whose been given a shiny Stellar Tera crown to enhance its destructive power. This variant of Hydreigon ex is number 240 in Surging Sparks.
Illustrated by the legendary AKIRA EGAWA, who most recently illustrated the incredible Alakazam Illustration Rare from Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Genetic Apex expansion, this card radiates power and showcases the might of Hydreigon in a way we’ve never really seen before. Alongside looking awesome, Hydreigon ex is also a pretty interesting card in the context of the trading card game, offering a new and unique deck format based around forcing your opponent to discard cards from their deck with each of your attacks, something which can prove to be devastating in the right hands.
If you’d like to start making a Hydreigon ex deck with some style, the Special Illustration Rare version of this card has a market price of $75, which currently rivals the price of some other Scarlet and Violet era cards, such as the Alt Art Charizard from Obsidian Flames.
Hydreigon ex SIR
Milotic ex, Special Illustration Rare
Continuing the streak of SIR cards making the top spot, the fourth most expensive card in Surging Sparks is the Special Illustration Rare variant of Milotic ex, one of the most popular Generation 3 Pokemon. This card is number 237 in the Surging Sparks setlist.
Similar to Latios and Latias, Milotic ex’s Special Illustration Rare has artwork which pairs with another card. This time, Milotic’s art matches up with the Illustration Rare version of its pre-evolution, Feebas (with the talented Kuroimori illustrating both cards), to make an enchanting portrait of Feebas rising from the dark depths to becoming a beautiful Milotic in the beaming sunlight. This is easily one of the most striking cards in all of Surging Sparks, especially if you can pair it with that Feebas IR.
Miltotic ex’s Special Illustration Rare currently has a market price of around $80, although that has fallen from a peak of around $90. Meanwhile, the Feebas IR is much more affordable, with a market price of only $7.
Milotic ex SIR
Pikachu ex, Hyper Rare
Entering the top three most expensive cards from Surging Sparks, we have quite the surprising entry for third place and that’s the Hyper Rare version of Pikachu ex. As we mentioned at the start of this list, Hyper Rare cards rarely ever make it onto the ranking for the best or most expensive card, making Pikachu ex an absolute anomaly. As a gold card, Pikachu ex’s Hyper Rare is one of the last cards in Surging Sparks, with it sitting at number 247 in the setlist.
The art on Pikachu ex’s Hyper Rare is the same as the art on the Full Art Pikachu ex (which actually just narrowly missed out on making the list at twelfth place with a market price of $26) only with a bright, textured gold backdrop. Pikachu ex’s HR has a market price of over $105, making it one of, if not the most, expensive Hyper Rares in the whole Scarlet and Violet era of the Pokemon TCG.
Pikachu ex Hyper Rare
Latias ex, Special Illustration Rare
Before we tackle the most expensive card in all of Surging Sparks, there’s still one more card we need to discuss and it’s arguably the most recognisable card from the entire set. I am, of course, referring to the Special Illustration Rare variant of Latias ex, one of the mascots for Surging Sparks. This card was used a lot in the marketing for Surging Sparks and Super Electric Breaker (the Japanese equivalent to SRS) so it isn’t a surprise to see it here in the second spot.
As we mentioned earlier, the SIR version of Latias matches up with the IR Latios to form a larger image, with the main difference between the two being the distinct Special Illustration Rare texture on the Latias ex card. Either way, both of these cards by OKACHEKE are amazing on their own and they only become better when placed next to each other in a nice binder.
The Latias ex Special Illustration Rare is much more expensive than the Hyper Rare Pikachu, coming in with a market price of a whopping $190, but, somehow, it doesn’t hold a candle to the card in the first place.
Latias ex SIR
Pikachu ex, Special Illustration Rare
If you knew anything about Surging Sparks (or Pokemon in general) before reading this list, it will come as no surprise to say that the most expensive card in all of Surging Sparks is the Special Illustration Rare Pikachu ex. While this isn’t the first time Pikachu has undergone the Illustration Rare treatment in SV (that honour goes to the IR Pikachu from Pokemon 151), it is the most transformative and eye-catching, and it needs to be to be the most valuable card in a set as good as Surging Sparks.
Coming in at number 238 in the setlist, Pikachu ex’s SIR is illustrated by GIDORA, a well-known Pokemon TCG artist who has created some of the most memorable cards in recent memory, including the Perrin and Growlithe combo cards from Twilight Masquerade. While not the most exciting or dynamic card, the illustration of Pikachu ex’s SIR is very charming, bathing the smiling mascot of the entire Pokemon franchise in an array of bright sunlight.
Not only is the SIR Pikachu ex the most valuable Surging Sparks card but it is far and away the most expensive card in the entire set, with its market price being almost five times that of Latias ex’s. Currently, Pikachu ex Special Illustration Rare has a market price of an eye-watering $500, making it easily the most expensive card of the Scarlet and Violet era and one of the most expensive cards in recent memory. Whether that price stabilises like with the Giritina or increases like the Moonbreon is yet to be seen but, either way, Pikachu ex is staying king for quite some time.
Pikachu ex SIR
Those were the ten best and most expensive cards in Surging Sparks, the latest Pokemon TCG expansion for the Scarlet and Violet era.
