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In this article, learn which cards published throughout the history of the Pokemon TCG are considered the rarest.
The Pokemon TCG has a history of releasing cards for various promotional purposes. Due to being limited release, over time these cards become very rare and acquire high value as collector’s items. So in this article, we will look at the rarest Pokemon TCG cards and the reasons behind their rarity.
5 Rarest Pokemon TCG Cards
These cards are considered the rarest in the Pokemon TCG:
- Master’s Key
- No. 1 Trainer
- Tropical Mega Battle Cards
- Charizard Base Set 1st Edition
- Pikachu Illustrator
5) Master’s Key
Master’s Key was a card awarded to the competitors of the 2010 Japan World Championships. Apparently, only 36 copies of this card were handed out. This makes it a very valuable collector’s item.
As for the text on the card, it can be roughly translated to the following:
Draw a card. Then, flip a coin. If heads, shuffle Master’s Key into your deck.
4) No. 1 Trainer
The No. 1 Trainer card has been an award for the winners of the Pokemon TCG World Championships. As such, there are only very few of these cards due to their extremely limited distribution.
The text on the card reads like this, with the years changing each year:
If you won this card at the [this year’s] Pokémon World Championships, you may return to battle the best in [next year].
CONGRATULATIONS!
3) Tropical Mega Battle Cards
The Tropical Mega Battle Half Deck was first released as a Tyranitar Half Deck in conjunction with the release of the fourth Pokemon movie in Japan. This included Pokemon cards owned by Trainers like Rocket’s Tyranitar, as well as a Darkness Energy (as the villain of the movie was a member of Team Rocket and used a “Dark Tyranitar”, this made thematic sense).
However, there was a slightly altered version of this half deck that was given to the participants of the 2001 Tropical Mega Battle. While the deck was mostly the same, unfortunately, both Rocket’s Tyranitar and the Darkness Energy were removed. But there were multiple different language versions in Japanese (12), English (6), and German, French, and Italian (1 each). So, each of the cards in this Half Deck remains extremely rare.
2) Charizard Base Set 1st Edition
Interestingly, the most expensive Charizard card is also amongst the rarest. As of now, an original copy of Charizard from the Base Set can sell for over thousands of dollars even on a lower grade. As for PSA 10 copies, they have average prices of around $180,000.
1) Pikachu Illustrator
Pikachu Illustrator was a card given to the winners of three illustration contests held by Japan’s Corocoro magazine. Only 41 copies of this card exist due to its very limited distribution. However, this card suddenly was on everyone’s mind in 2022 when influencer Logan Paul bought one of them for $5,275,000.
As for the card text, this is the rough English translation:
We certify that your illustration is an excellent entry in the Pokémon Card Game Illust Contest. Therefore, we state that you are an Officially Authorized Pokémon Card Illustrator and admire your skill.
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