Scarlet & Violet: Paradox Rift: Top 10 Most Expensive Cards From the Set

With the release of Scarlet & Violet: Paradox Rift, which came out on November 3rd, 2023, we now have an estimate of these cards' initial prices, and we can analyze and reflect on them a bit.

Besides that, we can also check out whether we can acquire the cards easier or not, the cards' rates (which are different when you consider different currencies from different countries), the language, and other factors.

We'll consider the market value using the American dollar as a parameter for their ranking, but it's worth pointing out that the market varies daily.

10 - Tulip (Secret Illustration Rare - 259/182)

As an excellent card for the Psychic archetype, it will be incredibly useful for Alakazam ex PR-SV 50, Gardevoir ex sv1 86, Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX ASR TG30 decks.

The artwork has amazingly rich details, close to reality, even in the Pokémon world of fiction, as expected of Akira Egawa.

It costs around US$25.

9 - Professor Sada's Vitality (Secret Illustration Rare - 256/182)

It is a vital card to charge Ancient type Pokémon, and, mostly, it is a "staple" (an essential card) for decks that use Roaring Moon ex.

It costs around US$29.49.

8 - Altaria (Illustration Rare - 253/182)

With an artwork by Jiro Sagumo (2020 Pokémon Company Illustrations Grand Prix Champion , which you can check out here), this card shows its value in this position because of the care with the colors, the aerial view, and the type of Pokémon style this artist is capable of drawing.

Besides this, competitively, this card is another addition to the effects that Regidrago VSTAR SIT 136 can use. Check out more about this combo by clicking here, and going to the 10th position, to check out Altaria ex.

It costs around US$30.

7 - Parasol Lady (Secret Illustration Rare - 255/182)

This card is in here because of its effect, which is great for the first turn when you go second, and, besides the fact you can use Supporter cards as a norm, it has this additional effect of shuffling your hand and drawing up to 8 new cards, which is excellent to speed up your game.

It costs around US$35.

6 - Iron Hands ex (Secret Illustration Rare - 248/182)

This is one of the most promising Pokémon in the set. With its second attack, Amp You Very Much, it can draw an extra Prize Card - in case you knock out an opponent's Pokémon with this attack.

The idea behind this card's art, of this Pokémon taking down several walls with the strength of the palm of its hands, is simply genius, considering it is a "futuristic" version of Hariyama, which is a Pokémon which is a sumo wrestler.

It costs around US$39.

5 - Garchomp ex Terastal (Secret Illustration Rare - 245/182)

With a place in the ranking of most beautiful cards with a "Terastal" effect that exist so far (alongside Charizard ex sv3 223), this card is also a Pokémon which is very underestimated in the competitive scene, considering its excellent plus sides:

1) It can set up the discard pile with 3 Fighting energies for your Pokémon on the bench for the cost of only one Fighting energy, and deal some nice damage as well.

2) It has zero retreat cost.

3) Its second attack is a sniper attack.

Undoubtedly, it is one of the best Pokémon in this set, and shows a lot of promise in the future.

It costs around US$45.

4 - Mela (Secret Illustration Rare - 254/182)

A powerful energy card, Mela is basically some type of Raihan CRZ 140 (per se), and still brings an excellent "draw power" that enables you to draw until you have 6 cards in hand, which will really help Fire archetype decks (even though the card clearly doesn't limit itself to energizing only the Fire archetype).

This illustration was made by rika, who is new to the company. She brought beautiful artworks, such as this Dragonair sv3pt5 181 from the special "151" set.

It costs around US$48.

3 - Gholdengo ex (Secret Illustration Rare - 252/182)

As I mentioned in the article about the strongest cards in the format, Gholdengo ex has an excellent card draw ability that draws dynamically, besides a powerful attack that discards energies from your hand to deal more damage.

As a basic example, with 7 energies being discarded from your hand, it deals 350 damage for the cost of one simple Steel energy!

It costs around US$65.

2 - Iron Valiant ex (Secret Illustration Rare - 249/182)

This card being in this position is because of several things:

1) We have the fandom's favoritism, which appreciates Ralts evolution lines in general, such as Gardevoir and Gallade. The mix of the two has the shape of a real cybernetic knight, skewing more to Gallade's side.

2) We have its playability in Standard, in which, with its ability, it is ideal to match Radiant Alakazam SIT 59. By reducing its movement cost to zero with Clefable ex sv3 82's ability, the player will always be able to activate its ability and place damage counters, ruining your opponent's game plan bit by bit.

Besides that, this artwork is beautiful, and showcases a few future Paradox Pokémon. We even have the Iron Thorns (Future Tyranitar) spoiler, which will probably come in Scarlet & Violet 5, in the Japanese set, Cyber Judge.

It costs around US$109.

1 - Roaring Moon ex (Secret Illustration Rare - 251/182)

We've reached our top 1 most expensive card with this extremely strong card in the format. It has one of the best effects in the game, the famous "Instant Kill" or "Instant K.O.", which is hyped by many players.

It costs around US$110.

Reversal Energy (Gold Full Art - 264/182)

This card is useful for "baby" Pokémon (as stated in the rules for this energy), and can only be activated when you're losing the game regarding the Prize Cards race.

It is very common for this card to be used in Gardevoir CRE 61, Gallade ASR 62 and Luxray sv2 71 decks.

It costs around US$10.

Counter Catch (Gold Full Art - 264/182)

This card returns as a reprint, and comes back in full force as an Item, sparing the use of Supporters like Boss's Orders (Ghetsis) sv2 248 and Boss's Orders PR-SW SWSH251 - considering that, as it is an Item, you can search it more easily using PokéStop PGO 68, for instance, which also improved this card in this sense.

It costs around US$12.

Iron Valiant ex (Gold Full Art - 261/182)

Here we have the same considerations as its special secret rare version, but in the Gold Full Art rarity version.

It costs around US$17.

Roaring Moon ex (Gold Full Art - 262/182)

Here we have the same considerations as its special secret rare version, but in the Gold Full Art rarity version.

It costs around US$25.

Groudon (Illustration Rare - 199/182)

And finally, we have one of the legendary Hoenn trio representatives, which is responsible for the planet's land masses: Groudon. It is Kyogre's rival, is inspired by Behemoth from Jewish mythology, and its incredible artwork is made by Nurikabe, the same artist responsible for Tyranitar sv2 222's artwork from Paldea Evolved.

It costs around US$32.

What did you think of this list? Was it useful as a sort of guide to your investments? Comment your opinion down below.

See you next time.