Rarity Ranking
The Rarest Pokémon Cards, Ranked
Short-printed rarities drive Pokémon TCG collecting. This page ranks the 50 rarest cards Catchinary currently tracks across every high-tier rarity slot: Special Illustration Rare, Illustration Rare, Rare Secret, Rare Rainbow, Rare Holo Star, Rare Shining, Hyper Rare, and Double Rare. Sorted by current TCGplayer market price.
Rarity tiers counted as "rarest"
| Tier | Cards indexed | |
|---|---|---|
| Rare Secret | 85 | Browse → |
| Rare Rainbow | 38 | Browse → |
| Special Illustration Rare | 37 | Browse → |
| Rare Holo Star | 25 | Browse → |
| Illustration Rare | 9 | Browse → |
| Rare Shining | 3 | Browse → |
Top 50 rarest by market price
- #1
Mewtwo ★ Holon Phantoms · #103 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$6000.00market - #2
Torchic ★ Team Rocket Returns · #108 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$5984.85market - #3
Rayquaza ★ Deoxys · #107 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$5500.00market - #4
Shining Tyranitar Neo Destiny · #113 · Rare Shining Illustrated by Ken Sugimori$4249.99market - #5
Charizard ★ δ Dragon Frontiers · #100 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$4000.00market - #6
Celebi Skyridge · #145 · Rare Secret Illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita$3999.99market - #7
Groudon ★ Delta Species · #111 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$3499.99market - #8
Pikachu ★ Holon Phantoms · #104 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$3200.00market - #9
Mudkip ★ Team Rocket Returns · #107 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$2800.00market - #10
Latias ★ Deoxys · #105 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$2300.00market - #11
Treecko ★ Team Rocket Returns · #109 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$2250.00market - #12
Lugia Aquapolis · #149 · Rare Secret Illustrated by Naoyo Kimura$2225.00market - #13
Kyogre ★ Delta Species · #112 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$2100.98market - #14
Umbreon VMAX Evolving Skies · #215 · Rare Rainbow Illustrated by KEIICHIRO ITO$2031.51market - #15
Jolteon ★ Power Keepers · #101 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$1701.21market - #16
Metagross ★ Delta Species · #113 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$1562.48market - #17
Mew ★ δ Dragon Frontiers · #101 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$1550.49market - #18
Flareon ★ Power Keepers · #100 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$1499.98market - #19
Umbreon ex Prismatic Evolutions · #161 · Special Illustration Rare$1462.32market - #20
Golem Skyridge · #148 · Rare Secret Illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita$1387.99market - #21
Regice ★ Legend Maker · #90 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$1250.00market - #22
Gyarados ★ δ Holon Phantoms · #102 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$1200.00market - #23
Raikou ★ Unseen Forces · #114 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$1100.00market - #24
Suicune ★ Unseen Forces · #115 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$1100.00market - #25
Charizard Plasma Storm · #136 · Rare Secret Illustrated by Ayaka Yoshida$1075.00market - #26
Alakazam ★ Crystal Guardians · #99 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$1025.00market - #27
Entei ★ Unseen Forces · #113 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$990.00market - #28
Dialga-EX Phantom Forces · #122 · Rare Secret Illustrated by 5ban Graphics$974.97market - #29
Rayquaza Dragons Exalted · #128 · Rare Secret Illustrated by 5ban Graphics$969.69market - #30
Celebi ★ Crystal Guardians · #100 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$950.00market - #31
M Rayquaza-EX Ancient Origins · #98 · Rare Secret Illustrated by 5ban Graphics$908.73market - #32
Latios ★ Deoxys · #106 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$899.00market - #33
Gengar VMAX Fusion Strike · #271 · Rare Rainbow Illustrated by sowsow$863.32market - #34
Mew ex Paldean Fates · #232 · Special Illustration Rare Illustrated by USGMEN$845.41market - #35
Vaporeon ★ Power Keepers · #102 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$839.94market - #36
Ho-oh Skyridge · #149 · Rare Secret Illustrated by Hajime Kusajima$800.00market - #37
Registeel ★ Legend Maker · #92 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$799.00market - #38
Rayquaza VMAX Evolving Skies · #218 · Rare Rainbow Illustrated by Anesaki Dynamic$787.94market - #39
Charizard Dragon · #100 · Rare Secret Illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita$781.65market - #40
Regirock ★ Legend Maker · #91 · Rare Holo Star Illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda$747.00market - #41
Mega Charizard X ex Phantasmal Flames · #125 · Special Illustration Rare Illustrated by danciao$676.25market - #42
Ultra Ball Plasma Freeze · #122 · Rare Secret Illustrated by 5ban Graphics$667.19market - #43
Charizard Stormfront · #103 · Rare Secret Illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita$658.33market - #44
Kingdra Aquapolis · #148 · Rare Secret Illustrated by Mikio Menjo$599.99market - #45
M Charizard-EX Flashfire · #108 · Rare Secret Illustrated by 5ban Graphics$561.26market - #46
Nidoking Aquapolis · #150 · Rare Secret Illustrated by Hironobu Yoshida$560.00market - #47
Mewtwo-GX Shining Legends · #78 · Rare Secret Illustrated by Mitsuhiro Arita$554.02market - #48
Gardevoir Dark Explorers · #109 · Rare Secret Illustrated by 5ban Graphics$544.00market - #49
Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex Destined Rivals · #231 · Special Illustration Rare Illustrated by Iwamoto05$535.01market - #50
M Gengar-EX Phantom Forces · #121 · Rare Secret Illustrated by 5ban Graphics$524.60market
Rarest Pokémon card FAQ
Click any question to expand.
What counts as a "rare" Pokémon card?
Rarity is printed on every card. Common and Uncommon are standard pack fillers. Rare and Rare Holo pull roughly once per pack. Everything above that (Ultra Rare, Secret Rare, Illustration Rare, Rainbow Rare) is short-printed and drives most of the collector market value.
What is an Illustration Rare?
Illustration Rare is a Scarlet & Violet era rarity showing full-bleed artwork. Special Illustration Rare is the even shorter-printed tier with more elaborate art. Both are chase cards in modern packs.
What about 1st Edition and PSA 10 cards?
Those are separate dimensions. 1st Edition refers to the original print run of older sets (Base through Neo). Grading companies like PSA, BGS, and CGC assign condition grades from 1 to 10 to sealed cards. PSA 10 is the top grade and can multiply a card's value by 5 to 50 times. See the First Edition cards page for that ranking.
Are the prices on this page live?
Prices refresh on each ingest run. Source is pokemontcg.io which mirrors TCGplayer daily. The market-price column above reflects the highest-variant value for each card (foil, holo, 1st Edition, etc.).