Pokémon Trading Card Game: Scarlet & Violet—Destined Rivals is built around a conflict collectors recognized immediately: familiar Trainers and their partner Pokémon on one side, Giovanni and Team Rocket on the other. The expansion released on May 30, 2025, and its strongest full-art scenes have had enough time in the market to separate durable collector favorites from launch-week noise. That makes this a better moment for a defensible chase-card ranking than the first weekend, when scarce listings and excitement can distort almost any price table.
The headline is unusually clear. Five Special Illustration Rare printings occupy the first five pack-pull positions in both current market sources we used, in the same order. Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex is the unmistakable leader; Cynthia’s Garchomp ex and Ethan’s Ho-Oh ex form a second tier; then Team Rocket’s Nidoking ex and Team Rocket’s Moltres ex complete the group. Values still move, but agreement this strong across sources is more useful than relying on one marketplace snapshot or on rarity alone.
This guide ranks exact collectible printings, not character names in the abstract. Destined Rivals includes several versions of Mewtwo, Garchomp, Ho-Oh, Nidoking, and Moltres, and a search result can easily mix them together. Every selection below links to its canonical KLXCards printing page with the correct collector number, rarity, finish, and image. We also exclude Professor Program, Prize Pack, Regional, and set-logo variants because a reader opening ordinary Destined Rivals boosters cannot pull those special-distribution versions.
Set at a glance
Destined Rivals (SV10)
Released May 30, 2025 with 182 numbered cards and 244 canonical card identities in the complete English checklist.
- Tracked printings
- 435
- Featured chase-rarity cards
- 12
- Ranked chase cards
- 5
How the ranking works
How KLXCards chose the five chase cards
“Chase card” is a collector term, not an official rarity or a promise about future value. For this edition, it means a standard English Destined Rivals printing that is obtainable from the set’s ordinary booster packs and that shows sustained collector demand in current market evidence. We began with the complete production set record—244 canonical card identities and 435 tracked printings—then narrowed the field to the most sought-after pack-pull printings. That printing-level filter prevents a promotional Judge, Prize Pack reissue, or stamped parallel from displacing a card that actually belongs in a pack-opening guide.
The ranking uses two independent current price snapshots accessed on August 24, 2026. Pokémon Card List reported TCGplayer market values updated August 22; PokeInvest supplied a separate value and sales-count view. We compared the exact collector numbers rather than matching names alone. The sources agree on all five finalists and their order. The observed ranges shown here span those two sources, rounded only where the source displayed whole cents. They document why the order was chosen; they are not live offers, appraisals, buy recommendations, or guarantees that a card will sell at either endpoint.
Market evidence is only one part of the editorial judgment. We also considered the strength of the character-and-Trainer pairing, the visual distinctiveness of the scene, the difference between the selected printing and lower-rarity alternatives, and whether the result stayed stable when promo-only items were removed. We did not use unverified pull-rate claims, grading-population predictions, investment forecasts, or a simple rarity sort. The set contains twelve Special Illustration Rare identities, yet current demand is far from equal across those twelve; that is precisely why a sourced candidate comparison matters.
- The printing must be a published, non-promo Destined Rivals record that is required by the standard set checklist and has a live canonical KLXCards page.
- The exact collector number must appear in current independent market evidence; character-name matches without printing-level identity are rejected.
- Professor Program, Prize Pack, Regional, set-logo, and other special-distribution variants are excluded from a ranking of ordinary booster-pack pulls.
- Price evidence establishes the current order, while collector appeal and visual identity provide context; no future-value or pull-rate claim is inferred.
Internal research table
The candidate field
The table preserves the evidence checkpoint used for this edition. Ranges compare two independent market snapshots accessed on the as-of date; they are context, not a price guarantee or appraisal.
| Rank | Printing | Rarity | Observed range | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex 231/182 | Special Illustration Rare | $482.47–$493.70 | high |
| 2 | Cynthia’s Garchomp ex 232/182 | Special Illustration Rare | $225.00–$239.91 | high |
| 3 | Ethan’s Ho-Oh ex 230/182 | Special Illustration Rare | $150.00–$154.01 | high |
| 4 | Team Rocket’s Nidoking ex 233/182 | Special Illustration Rare | $101.99–$104.56 | high |
| 5 | Team Rocket’s Moltres ex 229/182 | Special Illustration Rare | $87.49–$98.18 | high |
| 6 | Misty’s Psyduck 193/182 | Illustration Rare | $62.03–$63.40 | medium |
| 7 | Team Rocket’s Crobat ex 234/182 | Special Illustration Rare | $60.86–$62.23 | medium |
| 8 | Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex 240/182 | Hyper Rare | $58.81–$61.49 | high |
| 9 | Ethan’s Adventure 236/182 | Special Illustration Rare | $37.87–$40.00 | high |
| 10 | Misty’s Lapras 194/182 | Illustration Rare | $30.38–$32.77 | high |
The countdown
Destined Rivals top five chase cards
We count up from number five to the set’s clearest market and collector leader. Every image and link below resolves to the exact printing in the KLXCards database.
Special Illustration Rare · 229/182
#5: Team Rocket’s Moltres ex
$87.49–$98.18 across two market snapshots accessed August 24, 2026
Team Rocket’s Moltres ex 229/182 closes the top five. It is fifth in both market snapshots, despite a wider cross-source spread than Nidoking. PokeInvest showed 1,705 sales—more than either Ho-Oh or Nidoking—while the TCGplayer-derived snapshot placed it just under $100. The combination of stable rank and meaningful activity keeps Moltres ahead of the near-tied Crobat and Psyduck candidates rather than treating fifth place as a subjective art choice.
The card’s scene is saturated with motion and heat. Moltres sweeps through a nighttime city in a spiral of orange and yellow flame while a Team Rocket figure watches from the foreground. It is one of the most immediately legible full-art compositions in the set: the Fire-type identity dominates the palette, and the Team Rocket relationship is part of the story rather than a small label. That visual clarity supports collector appeal without requiring an unsupported claim about future demand.
Moltres also demonstrates why a strict printing filter matters. The database tracks a standard checklist printing and a set-logo version that share the same core artwork, while Destined Rivals also includes lower-rarity Moltres ex identities. The canonical link here is the completion-required 229/182 printing used for ordinary set collection. Set-logo distribution is excluded from the pack-pull candidate table, and its existence does not change the fifth-place market evidence for the standard printing.
10-second card spotlight
Loads only when you press play. Motion background by Veo; exact card artwork and editorial text by KLXCards.
Special Illustration Rare · 233/182
#4: Team Rocket’s Nidoking ex
$101.99–$104.56 across two market snapshots accessed August 24, 2026
Team Rocket’s Nidoking ex 233/182 takes fourth in both current sources and holds a compact $2.57 observed spread. It is the final card in the candidate table whose lower endpoint clears $100 on the as-of date. That threshold is not part of the ranking rule, but it illustrates the gap separating Nidoking from Moltres and from the cluster of honorable mentions around the low-sixty-dollar level. PokeInvest’s displayed 1,139 sales add useful activity context.
The illustration is the group’s stylistic outlier. Nidoking bursts through a manga-like panel with Giovanni directing the action behind it, while debris, speed marks, and heavy outlines replace the polished cinematic lighting seen on several other finalists. That graphic treatment makes the card feel connected to Team Rocket without repeating Mewtwo’s visual language. It also gives the printing a distinctive reason to exist beyond being the highest-rarity Nidoking ex in the checklist.
This is another number-sensitive result. Destined Rivals includes Team Rocket’s Nidoking ex 216/182 as an Ultra Rare and 119/182 as a Double Rare, and market feeds may also surface later Prize Pack distribution. None of those is the fourth-place card. The chase printing is 233/182, the ordinary-set Special Illustration Rare. Its rank is high confidence because both sources preserve the same order and the nearest challenger remains below it in each snapshot.
10-second card spotlight
Loads only when you press play. Motion background by Veo; exact card artwork and editorial text by KLXCards.
Special Illustration Rare · 230/182
#3: Ethan’s Ho-Oh ex
$150.00–$154.01 across two market snapshots accessed August 24, 2026
Ethan’s Ho-Oh ex 230/182 lands in third with the narrowest cross-source range among the top five. The two snapshots differ by only $4.01, and both position it far above the fourth-place Nidoking. PokeInvest displayed 1,475 sales, supporting a ranking based on an active market rather than a handful of isolated asks. The card therefore has high-confidence placement even though market prices can still change quickly after the as-of date.
Visually, 230/182 is the brightest card in the group. Ho-Oh spreads across the sky with Ethan looking upward, and a starburst near the wing gives the scene a celebratory quality that contrasts with Team Rocket’s darker city and interior settings. The legendary Pokémon, Johto protagonist, and optimistic palette create a distinct collector lane. Someone building an Ethan-focused page or a Ho-Oh collection can recognize the card immediately without relying on the rarity symbol.
As with Mewtwo and Garchomp, Destined Rivals supplies several Ho-Oh ex choices. The gold 239/182 appears lower in current market tables, while 209/182 and the base Double Rare occupy different identities. This guide does not treat them as interchangeable. The third-place evidence specifically follows the Special Illustration Rare 230/182. That exactness matters when a listing title omits the collector number or uses stock text that combines several versions.
10-second card spotlight
Loads only when you press play. Motion background by Veo; exact card artwork and editorial text by KLXCards.
Special Illustration Rare · 232/182
#2: Cynthia’s Garchomp ex
$225.00–$239.91 across two market snapshots accessed August 24, 2026
Cynthia’s Garchomp ex 232/182 is the stable second-place card in both evidence sets. Its observed range sits well below Mewtwo’s but comfortably above Ethan’s Ho-Oh ex, producing a clean three-tier shape at the top of Destined Rivals. PokeInvest displayed 1,899 sales for the exact printing, while the TCGplayer-derived snapshot placed it at $239.91. The sources differ on the precise value, as current markets naturally do, but they do not differ on its rank.
The artwork captures the Champion-and-partner appeal that makes Cynthia cards recognizable across generations. Garchomp charges across the foreground while Cynthia appears at two scales behind it, with stadium lighting and motion lines building the sense of a decisive battle. The full-card scene is both character-focused and action-heavy. That combination helps explain why 232/182 separates itself from the set’s gold Garchomp 241/182 and the Ultra Rare 215/182, even though all three share the same headline Pokémon and Trainer.
Collectors comparing copies should keep the Stage 2 identity and number visible. Search platforms can group 232/182 with 241/182, with lower-rarity Destined Rivals Garchomp ex cards, or even with later special-distribution reprints. Those are not substitutes for this ranking. Here, the evidence belongs to the Special Illustration Rare 232/182. Its runner-up status is high confidence because the two current sources agree and the gap to third place remains substantial in both snapshots.
10-second card spotlight
Loads only when you press play. Motion background by Veo; exact card artwork and editorial text by KLXCards.
Special Illustration Rare · 231/182
#1: Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex
$482.47–$493.70 across two market snapshots accessed August 24, 2026
Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex 231/182 is not merely first; it occupies a category of its own. The lower endpoint of the two-source snapshot is more than twice the upper endpoint for Cynthia’s Garchomp ex, the runner-up. PokeInvest also displayed 2,441 sales beside this exact printing, giving the lead more context than a single scarce listing would. Both sources identify 231/182 as the highest-valued ordinary Destined Rivals pack pull after special-distribution variants are removed.
The illustration supplies the narrative centerpiece collectors expect from this expansion. Mewtwo fills the foreground with Giovanni watching from the side, while a saturated red-and-blue city backdrop frames the confrontation. It is unmistakably a Team Rocket card even at thumbnail size. The composition also makes the Special Illustration Rare feel meaningfully different from Mewtwo’s Double Rare, Ultra Rare, and gold Hyper Rare alternatives in the same set, reducing the chance that demand is attached only to the Pokémon’s name.
That identity is why collector searches need the full number. Destined Rivals also contains Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex 240/182, a gold Hyper Rare that appears in the honorable-mention tier, plus lower-number versions. Saying “the Mewtwo” is not precise enough. The chase is 231/182: standard holo treatment, Special Illustration Rare, and the exact canonical printing linked here. Current leadership is strong, but the dollar range remains a dated evidence snapshot rather than a promise about tomorrow’s market.
10-second card spotlight
Loads only when you press play. Motion background by Veo; exact card artwork and editorial text by KLXCards.
Beyond the five
Honorable mentions
Misty’s Psyduck 193/182
Misty’s Psyduck 193/182 is the strongest non-ex challenger and a useful reminder that rarity does not dictate demand. The two sources place it around the low-sixty-dollar tier, with PokeInvest showing 2,325 sales—more than any finalist except Mewtwo. Its Illustration Rare classification and quiet character scene give it a different audience from the five cinematic Special Illustration Rares. It misses the countdown because both sources still place Moltres clearly above it, not because it lacks collector interest.
Team Rocket’s Crobat ex 234/182
Team Rocket’s Crobat ex 234/182 sits almost level with Psyduck. One source places Crobat slightly higher, the other places Psyduck higher, so ordering sixth and seventh deserves only medium confidence. Both remain below Moltres in each snapshot. Crobat is still an important set target: it extends the run of Team Rocket Special Illustration Rares immediately after Nidoking and supplies another dark, character-led scene for collectors building the villain side of Destined Rivals.
Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex 240/182
The gold Hyper Rare Mewtwo 240/182 is a genuine chase, but it is not the Mewtwo that leads this set. Both current sources place it near Crobat and Psyduck, far below the Special Illustration Rare 231/182. Collectors who prefer gold treatments may reasonably choose it for a personal binder, yet the evidence does not support transferring the headline Mewtwo value to every version. Keeping these two canonical printings separate is one of the most important practical takeaways from the ranking.
Opening the set
Which Destined Rivals product fits your goal?
No sealed format changes the identity of a Destined Rivals booster pack, and none guarantees any card in this ranking. Choose by verified pack count and by whether the included accessories are useful to you.
1 packSleeved Booster
The smallest verified entry point: one Destined Rivals booster pack. It is appropriate when you want a single opening, but the package makes no promise about any rarity or card in the countdown.
Open product guide
6 packsBooster Bundle
Six verified Destined Rivals booster packs without the accessory loadout of an Elite Trainer Box. Compare the price per pack at the time you shop; KLXCards does not claim current inventory or a guaranteed result.
Open product guide
9 packsElite Trainer Box
Nine verified booster packs plus sleeves, Energy cards, a player’s guide, dice, condition markers, a collector box, dividers, and a Pokémon TCG Live code card. Choose it when those accessories have value to you.
Open product guide
36 packsBooster Box
The largest verified pack-focused format in the KLX catalog, with 36 Destined Rivals booster packs. More packs mean more independent openings, not a KLXCards guarantee of a Special Illustration Rare or a top-five pull.
Open product guideA practical plan
Open packs, buy singles, or build the set?
Begin with the goal, not the product. If the experience of opening Destined Rivals is the point, choose a sealed format whose verified pack count and accessories fit your budget. A Sleeved Booster is one pack; a Booster Bundle is six; an Elite Trainer Box is nine plus its documented accessories; a Booster Box is thirty-six. None of those formats changes which printings belong to the set, and none justifies a claim that one of the five cards is guaranteed. Treat every opening as randomized entertainment rather than as a purchase of a particular card.
If one exact printing is the goal, compare the single-card route with the cost and uncertainty of opening packs. The market ranges in this guide demonstrate how far apart the finalists are, but they are not shopping quotes. Check condition, language, finish, collector number, seller terms, and current completed-sale evidence at the moment you transact. For Mewtwo in particular, a listing that says only “Destined Rivals Mewtwo ex” is incomplete; 231/182 and 240/182 occupy very different market positions.
Set builders should use the checklist rather than a top-five list as the completion authority. KLXCards tracks collectible printings separately from canonical card identities, and the standard checklist excludes optional set-logo or special-distribution parallels from required completion. That distinction prevents a visually similar stamp from being mistaken for a missing ordinary-set card. It also lets a collector pursue personal side goals—gold cards, Team Rocket scenes, or Trainer partnerships—without quietly changing what counts as the core set.
Finally, preserve an evidence date. A ranking can remain editorially sound while every dollar figure changes. The five finalists have strong cross-source agreement today, whereas sixth and seventh are close enough to swap. A later edition should repeat the same printing-level checks, not merely update five numbers in place. That restartable process is more honest than presenting an old launch ranking as evergreen truth, and it gives collectors a clear reason when the order eventually changes.
The verdict
Destined Rivals has a decisive chase-card leader. Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex 231/182 combines the set’s central villain story, an unmistakable full-art scene, and a market position that stands well above every ordinary pack pull in both current sources. Cynthia’s Garchomp ex and Ethan’s Ho-Oh ex follow as their own clear tiers, while Team Rocket’s Nidoking ex and Moltres ex complete a top five that remains consistent across the evidence.
The useful collector lesson is precision. Rank the exact printing, exclude distribution variants from a pack-opening question, and keep volatile market context dated. Whether you open a single Sleeved Booster, compare a Booster Bundle with an Elite Trainer Box, or buy one card directly, the canonical links in this guide keep the identity straight. The result is a chase list you can verify instead of a recycled launch-week opinion.
Collector questions
Destined Rivals chase-card FAQ
What is the number-one chase card in Destined Rivals?
Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex 231/182, the Special Illustration Rare, is the clear current leader. Both market snapshots used for this edition rank that exact ordinary-set printing first by a wide margin. The gold Mewtwo 240/182 and special-distribution Mewtwo versions are separate collectibles and are not interchangeable with 231/182.
Can the five ranked cards be pulled from normal Destined Rivals booster packs?
Yes. The ranking is restricted to non-promo, standard Destined Rivals checklist printings associated with ordinary set boosters. Professor Program, Prize Pack, Regional, and set-logo variants are excluded. Booster contents are randomized, however, and KLXCards does not claim that any sealed product guarantees a ranked card or a particular rarity.
Why is the Judge Professor Program card not in the ranking?
One market feed lists a Judge Professor Program variant at a high value, but that card is special-distribution material rather than an ordinary Destined Rivals booster pull. Including it would answer a different question. This guide ranks the chase cards a collector can pursue through the standard set’s booster products, so the Professor Program entry is deliberately filtered out.
Are the observed price ranges live prices or guarantees?
No. They are dated research evidence from two independent sources accessed on August 24, 2026. They explain the ranking and show where the sources agreed or diverged. Card markets, condition, language, seller terms, and transaction timing can change the result, so the ranges are neither appraisals nor promises of a purchase or sale price.
Which Destined Rivals sealed product has the most booster packs?
Among the verified KLXCards product guides linked here, the Booster Box contains 36 Destined Rivals booster packs. The Elite Trainer Box contains nine, the Booster Bundle six, and the Sleeved Booster one. A larger pack count creates more openings but does not guarantee a Special Illustration Rare or any specific card.
Research trail
Sources and update policy
KLXCards checked these sources on 2026-08-24. Market snapshots move; the database identities, collector numbers, rarity labels, and sealed-product specifications are maintained separately from price context.
- Official Destined Rivals prerelease announcement Official release timing and prerelease context for Scarlet & Violet—Destined Rivals.
- Official Destined Rivals product showcase Official expansion and sealed-product context; package specifics are cross-checked against KLX product records.
- TCGdex Destined Rivals provider dataset Printing identities, collector numbers, rarity labels, and source image references used by the KLXCards catalog.
- Destined Rivals TCGplayer market price guide TCGplayer-derived market snapshot updated August 22, 2026, used only as dated ranking evidence.
- Destined Rivals card values and sales counts Independent market and activity snapshot used for order corroboration and promo-variant filtering.
- Destined Rivals price guide Third-party reasonableness check; not used to overwrite the two-source observed ranges in the article.