Though 2023 was a hugely exciting year for Pokemon fans (and Trading Card Game, or TCG, players in general), 2024 has kept the momentum going, with plenty of exciting sets and even new game launches (including Star Wars Unlimited, as just one example) to keep players and collectors occupied.
With just a few months left of 2024, there’s still some exciting stuff on the horizon. Though the Paradise Dragona set (which is intended to celebrate the Year of the Dragon), now in the hands of Japanese Pokemon fans, we won’t see many of its cards in English until November, when it’ll be heading West as part of the Surging Sparks set.
Given that Paradise Dragona is out now in Japan, however, it got us thinking: what are the cards that are commanding the highest prices? We took a look at Price Charting to find out what Paradise Dragona cards are the most valuable, which will give us a great idea of what cards to look out for when they’re translated into English.
So without further ado, let’s check out the most valuable cards in the Pokemon TCG set, Paradise Dragona!
1. Lisia’s Appeal – Special Illustration Rare: 91/64
Currently at the very top of the list of the most valuable Paradise Dragona cards is the Special Illustration Rare variant of Lisia’s Appeal. It’s almost always the case that full art Supporter cards occupy the top spot of any most valuable Pokemon cards list, and it seems that the Paradise Dragona set is no exception!
So, given that the card is in Japanese, you may be wondering what exactly Lisia’s Appeal does, in terms of its ability. Lisia’s Appeal allows you to switch one of your opponent’s Benched, Basic Pokemon to the Active Spot, and as an extra bonus, also makes them Confused. It’s worth bearing in mind that, while it has the Confused condition, there’s the chance that your opponent’s Active Pokemon will hurt themselves with an attack, rather than your Pokemon.
Given that you can choose which Pokemon goes in the Active Spot, it’s a pretty effective card all round. So it’s not just style over substance, but given that this particular variant of Lisia’s Appeal is selling for around $225 according to the current Price Charting data, and much higher for graded copies, it’s unlikely that you’ll see this specific card making its way into many decks!
2. Lisia’s Appeal – Secret Rare: 86/64
If you’re not overly familiar with the different rarity levels and card numbering systems in TCGs, you may wonder why cards such as this Lisia’s Appeal have a number that goes above the designated number of cards in a set. To explain: there are 64 cards in the base set of Paradise Dragona, yet this Lisia’s Appeal is card number 86 of 64.
That’s because any cards numbered above the designated number of cards in a set are known as Secret Rares, and these will be alternate art and/or special foil treated variants of cards in the set. So for example, the base set Lisia’s Appeal is card number 63 of 64, but it also appears as card number 86 and (as we’ve seen from our number one card) 91.
Though this variant is slightly less rare, it’s still highly sought after; of course, being a Lisia’s Appeal card, it does exactly the same thing as card number 91/64, but its rarity and illustration makes it slightly less valuable than the Special Illustration Rare card.
Still, according to Price Charting, this card will set you back $54, so this is another card you’re unlikely to see popping up in actual decks; instead, Lisia’s Appeal 63/64, which is at the Uncommon rarity level, is what you’re most likely to see players using to actually play with, rather than just adding to their binders!
3. Alolan Exeggutor ex – Special Illustration Rare: 89/64
Another Special Illustration Rare, this Alolan Exeggutor ex has another aspect that makes it a really special card. It’s not just a Tera Pokemon ex, but rather one of the newly introduced Stellar Pokemon too!
Stellar Pokemon are Pokemon transformed by wearing the Stellar Crown, which is shown in the illustration on each card. In terms of in-game mechanics, they also have another aspect in common, in that at least one of their attacks will require multiple Energy types to use, as is also the case with Dragon Pokemon.
Tera Pokemon are protected from all damage dealt from attacks if they’re on the Bench, rather than the Active Spot, which gives them another bonus feature that makes them very desirable to use.
The Alolan Exeggutor ex has two different attacks: Tropical Fever and Swinging Sphene (note that these are translations from the Japanese text, and may differ when the cards are officially translated into English).
Tropical Fever requires 1 Grass and 1 Water Energy to use; it deals 150 HP of damage, and also allows you to attach any number of Energy cards from your hand to any of your Pokemon. Not bad for an attack that costs just two Energy cards, is it?
Swinging Sphene is a less certain, but still very deadly attack, requiring 1 Grass, 1 Water and 1 Fighting Energy to use; with this attack, you flip a coin to determine its outcome. On a result of Heads, you Knock Out your opponent’s Active Basic Pokemon (it won’t have an effect if your opponent’s Active Pokemon is evolved!). However, on Tails, you instead Knock Out one of your opponent’s Basic Pokemon on the Bench.
This is a card that I can really see shaking up the meta in the Pokemon TCG, and I’m very excited to see it make its way into English sets, especially as it’s a Dragon type, giving it no Weakness to any other Pokemon type!
It’s unsurprising to see this card, given its rarity level, abilities and gorgeous illustration, having a value of $34!
4. Archaludon ex – Special Illustration Rare: 88/64
A more standard Pokemon, Archaludon ex isn’t a Stellar, or indeed a Tera Pokemon, but it does have the ex designation. A Metal type Pokemon, Archaludon ex evolves from Duraludon, and when it does, you can attach 2 Metal Energy from your discard pile to any Metal type Pokemon in any way you like.
Given that Archaludon ex’s single attack only costs 3 Metal Energy to use, that’s pretty powerful! That attack, Metal Defender, deals 220 HP of damage too, and also removes Archaludon ex’s Weakness during your opponent’s next turn.
With its own HP set at 300, Archaludon ex is going to prove difficult to deal with! However, this particular variant of Archaludon ex, being a Special Illustration Rare valued at $25, probably won’t be hitting the table very much. Don’t be surprised if you see friends with Metal-focused decks bringing out the Double Rare variant of Archaludon ex though, once they’ve managed to get their hands on it!
5. Drayton – Special Illustration Rare: 90/64
At $20, Supporter card Drayton is pretty reasonably priced, especially when you consider that it’s a Special Illustration Rare variant. So, that beautiful full art and lovely textured foil treatment aside, what makes Drayton so attractive to collectors?
Well, in game terms, Drayton allows you to look at the top 7 cards of your deck, then reveal a Pokemon and a Trainer card you find, then put them immediately into your hand before shuffling the other cards back into your deck.
It’s pretty good for getting the exact cards you need, providing you find them on the top of your deck of course! Drayton’s standard variant is only an Uncommon card, so it’s much more likely that you’ll see this powerful Supporter card in that form during play; it’ll be much cheaper to acquire!
6. Alolan Exeggutor ex – Hyper Rare: 92/64
Though Hyper Rare cards, with their distinctive, golden look and textured foil finish, tend to be rarer and harder to acquire than cards at other rarity levels, you’ll often find that their value isn’t quite as high. That’s because there’s many different factors to take into consideration when collecting Pokemon, and many collectors will prefer the full art found on, say, a Special Illustration Rare to the stylised look of a Hyper Rare.
As that’s the case, this Alolan Exeggutor ex doesn’t hold as much value as its Special Illustration Rare variant, with a current price of $11 according to Price Charting. The card’s aesthetics aside, it’s exactly the same as the Special Illustration Rare version of Alolan Exeggutor ex, which made it to the number 3 position on this list!
7. Jet Energy – Hyper Rare: 94/64
First appearing as an Uncommon card in the Paldea Evolved set, Jet Energy makes a special appearance in Paradise Dragona as a gold Hyper Rare card. What makes it a special appearance, I hear you ask? Well, in most sets, a Hyper Rare will appear that isn’t part of the base set; that’s the case with Jet Energy, which doesn’t make an appearance in Paradise Dragona except as a Hyper Rare.
So what does Jet Energy actually do? Jet Energy provides 1 Colorless Energy to the Pokemon it’s attached to, which is useful in itself, but the real attraction of Jet Energy is that when you attach it to one of your Benched Pokemon, you can immediately switch it with your Active Pokemon.
Of course, as well as its in game usefulness, this Hyper Rare variant of Jet Energy just looks awesome in its golden, textured foil form, so its no wonder that this card currently sells for $11.
8. Counter Gain – Hyper Rare: 93/64
Making a long overdue reappearance in the Pokemon TCG, Counter Gain first appeared in 2018, in the Sun & Moon set, Lost Thunder. It’s a Pokemon Tool card; the Pokemon it’s attached to can use their attacks for one less Energy, as long as you have more Prize Cards left to claim than your opponent.
It’s an excellent way of tipping the scales back in your favour if you fall behind in any given game, and the fact that it’s now returning as a Tournament Legal card is great news. This Hyper Rare variant of the card is currently selling for $10, and it’ll definitely be one to look out for when it’s translated into English.
9. Black Kyurem ex – Secret Rare: 77/64
As one half of the two mascots that head up the 2012 Nintendo DS games, Pokemon Black 2 and Pokemon White 2 (with the other being White Kyurem), Black Kyurem has been around for over a decade. The same is true of Black Kyurem ex, who debuted in the Pokemon TCG in the same year the video games were released.
In fact, Black Kyurem ex’s reappearance in the TCG is long overdue; even longer than that for Counter Gain. It’s sure to prove a popular card amongst Pokemon TCG fans of a certain age, who are undoubtedly going to have plenty of nostalgia for Black Kyurem ex.
This modern form of the card is a Water type Pokemon with 230 HP, and two attacks: Ice Age, which deals 90 HP of damage and paralyzes the opponent’s Pokemon if it’s a Dragon type, is the first, and costs 3 Colorless Energy to use. The second is Black Frost, which costs 2 Water and 2 Colorless Energy, dealing a massive 250 HP of damage, plus 30 HP of damage to Black Kyurem ex itself.
We wouldn’t be surprised to see this card, given its nostalgia value, fetching prices higher than the Japanese version’s current value of $7, when it heads West. Especially as it’s only the second ever full art Black Kyurem ex card, and the first in over a decade! So this is definitely a card we’ll be keeping our eye on.
10. Archaludon ex – Secret Rare: 80/64
Archaludon ex makes another appearance on this list, though this time it’s as a stylised Secret Rare. Though this card is only worth $6, that’s still enough for it to make it to the list of the most valuable Paradise Dragona cards.
As we’ve already seen, even though these cards can be rarer than some of the full art illustration variants, they’re often not as desirable to collectors, though of course if you find one of these as a highly graded card, you can expect to pay several times more than the current, standard selling price.
With that, we conclude our list of the ten most valuable cards in the Paradise Dragona set. Which ones are you keen to see when they make their way out of Japan in the Surging Sparks set? Be sure to let us know on social media; we’re just as excited as you are to see these cards when they’re released outside of Japan!
