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Top 10 Most Valuable Cards Of Pokémon TCG: Chilling Reign: 5 – 1

Sword & Shield – Chilling Reign is the latest expansion from Pokémon TCG. It focuses on the Legendary Pokémon Galarian Articuno, Galarian Zapdos, Galarian Moltres, Shadow Rider Calyrex, and Ice Rider Calyrex. It continues the Rapid Strike and Single Strike mechanic introduced in Battle Styles. Chilling Reign is known for its inclusion of a large number of Alternate Arts both in the Full Art portion of the set and the Secret Rare portion. These Alternate Arts were popular during the tail end of the Sun & Moon era with fan-favorite sets such as Unified Minds, Cosmic Eclipse, and so on, but Chilling Reign, Battle Styles, and the upcoming Evolving Skies set have made this style of card more popular than ever. Now that we've looked at all the Ultra Rare and above cards in the set and my top ten picks, let's do a bit of market watching. Note that this is not intended to give advice to investors, is not financial advice, and will not speculate on the value of the cards years from now. I'm approaching this from the perspective of helping actual collectors complete their sets.

Cards of Chilling Reign. Credit: Pokémon TCG
Cards of Chilling Reign. Credit: Pokémon TCG
  • 5 – Galarian Zapdos V Alternate Art: Current market value of $69.28 as of this writing. Ah, Road Runner Zapdos. I was initially uncertain about this card compared to the regal Articuno and the iconic Moltres, but fan interest in this one is huge. I was also lucky enough to pull this one myself, and it's quite beautiful in person. We saw the Galarian Moltres take off with a huge rise, but I don't think we'll see the same here. Personally, I'd wait to buy about a month to see if the set will level out. I think we're more likely to see the Articuno go up to meet the Zapdos rather than see the Zapdos go up much more.
  • 4 – Shiny Snorlax Gold Secret Rare: Current market value of $100.27 as of this writing. This was always going to be a major chase card in the set, but $100 is hefty. A modern set with four $100+ cards is also pretty unusual, so I don't see all four of these retaining that high of a value. I'd give this one a month or two before buying.
  • 3 – Shadow Rider Calyrex VMAX Alternate Art Secret Rare: Current market value of $100.76 as of this writing. This is a big, big wait. In the past months, I've watched this card drop from $110 to $90 and now rise to $100. This is going to, in my opinion, follow the pattern of the Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX Alternate Art Secret Rare from Battle Styles. The card started at $150 and has dropped to $80. These new Legendary Pokémon are cool and the artwork on both of these cards drives up the value, but a card needs recognizability with a large portion of the fanbase to maintain such a high value. I see this easily becoming an $80 card in the next two months.
Cards of Chilling Reign. Credit: Pokémon TCG
Cards of Chilling Reign. Credit: Pokémon TCG
  • 2 – Blaziken VMAX Alternate Art Secret Rare: Current market value of $131.05 as of this writing. This is an interesting one to be sure. It goes up and down, but never by much. This was once the most valuable card of Chilling Reign but has since been eclipsed by the Galarian Moltres. While I believe this will maintain a value over $100, I would suggest buyers interested in the single issue hold off for a drop.
  • 1 – Galarian Moltres V Alternate Art: Current market value of $144.62 as of this writing. Finally, this is the chase card of Chilling Reign. This card has shot up to this current value after initially ranking below the Blaziken and Shadow Rider, rising while most of the other cards fall. This is the toughest one, because this has the potential to continue rising… though the only cards we're seeing hit $200+ numbers in this current era are Charizard and Pikachu cards, so I do believe there is a ceiling. (And I also firmly believe Umbreon will break that ceiling next month with Evolving Skies.) My suggestion here is to wait a month or so while keeping a close eye on the value of this card to see if it rises or falls using a site like TCGPlayer or TrollAndToad.

With this series, we will spotlight all of the exciting pulls from Chilling Reign, which you can see as they release by following the set's Bleeding Cool tag. Next time, the spotlight on Pokémon TCG: Sword & Shield – Chilling Reign concludes with a full set review.


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Theo DwyerAbout Theo Dwyer

Theo Dwyer writes about comics, film, and games.
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