Undervalued Pokémon cards are hiding in plain sight all over the Scarlet & Violet era, and once you start looking you honestly can’t stop finding them. This run of sets might be the strongest stretch of card art the game has ever produced, packed with full art Pokémon, moody legendaries, and trainer characters who look like they walked straight off an anime poster.
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There were simply too many amazing pulls dropping every few months, so only a handful of chase cards could hog all the hype and the price tags. That leaves a long list of genuinely gorgeous cards sitting quietly in the bargain bin, and here are fifteen of the best ones worth grabbing before everyone else catches on.
15. Arbok (176/162)
Arbok’s Illustration Rare from Temporal Forces is shot from a wild upside down angle, stalking prey under a full moon in one of the most creative compositions around. It has zero competitive relevance so it was never going to be a chase card, which keeps this genuinely artsy pull nice and cheap.
14. Walking Wake ex (205/162)
Walking Wake ex’s Special Illustration Rare from Temporal Forces catches the Paradox dragon crashing through a wall of water in one of the most kinetic shots of the era. It built a real following in dragon decks, but the set’s attention skewed toward its box topper chase cards, leaving this one priced below its actual usefulness.
13. Erika’s Invitation (196/165)
Erika’s Invitation full art from Scarlet & Violet 151 shows a quiet garden scene that’s just as charming as the fancier Special Illustration Rare version of the same card. That flashier variant soaked up nearly all the attention and the price tag, leaving this one surprisingly affordable.
12. Iono (269/193)
Iono’s Special Illustration Rare from Paldea Evolved caught her mid broadcast and instantly became a fan favorite the moment the set dropped. Newer prints of Iono have since split the demand, leaving this original version priced well below what her ongoing popularity would suggest.
11. Fezandipiti ex (092/064)
Fezandipiti ex’s Special Illustration Rare from Shrouded Fable wraps the Loyal Three legendary in a hauntingly beautiful, shadow drenched scene. As a poison type tech card rather than the set’s headline attacker, it never built the hype of box mate Pecharunt ex, so its price stays modest next to its artwork.
10. Persian (078/064)
Persian’s Illustration Rare from Shrouded Fable leans fully into meme energy with a luxuriously posed cat that collectors instantly loved. Pecharunt ex took basically all of the set’s spotlight, so Persian still trades at a noticeable discount despite real deck utility and one of the set’s most shareable pieces of art.
9. Chi-Yu ex (259/193)
Chi-Yu ex’s Special Illustration Rare from Paldea Evolved drops the Ruinous fire fish into a burning, jewel toned underworld that’s genuinely stunning. It never became a competitive superstar or a mainstream household name, so it floats in the mid teens despite art that rivals cards worth several times more.
8. Ninetales (199/197)
Ninetales’ Illustration Rare from Obsidian Flames places the fox in an elegant, moonlit forest, and plenty of collectors call it the best non ex illustration rare of the whole era. Since it isn’t attached to an ex Pokémon, it missed out on the chase card conversation entirely, which keeps raw copies cheap even as graded ones climb fast.
7. Tyranitar ex (211/197)
Tyranitar ex’s full art from Obsidian Flames delivers a dramatic, rock crushing pose that fans had wanted for years. The set’s spotlight went almost entirely to its Charizard adjacent cards, so this one trades for just a few dollars despite plenty of nostalgia demand.
6. Pidgeot ex (225/197)
Pidgeot ex’s Special Illustration Rare from Obsidian Flames shows the bird banking hard over a golden field, and it’s become a quiet favorite among illustration collectors. It was also a genuine competitive draw engine for a while, yet its price never caught up because it lacks a big name starter or legendary attached to it.
5. Iron Valiant ex (249/182)
Iron Valiant ex’s Special Illustration Rare from Paradox Rift is all glinting blades and motion blur, one of the sharpest Paradox designs around. It launched right next to Roaring Moon ex, whose version costs several times more, even though both cards see similar competitive play.
4. Carmine (217/167)
Carmine’s Special Illustration Rare from Twilight Masquerade leans hard into the set’s masquerade ball theme, all dramatic lighting and striking character design. She has a loyal fan following, yet her price sits noticeably lower than other character SIRs from the same set with similar popularity.
3. Dendra (266/193)
Dendra’s moody, atmospheric Special Illustration Rare hails from Paldea Evolved and rewards anyone who actually stops to look at it. She’s not a headline character, so early speculative hype fizzled fast, leaving this quiet gem trading at a real discount.
2. Great Tusk ex (246/198)
This colossal, sunlit Great Tusk ex comes from the Scarlet & Violet base set, and it’s one of the most detailed illustrations the whole set has to offer. It got completely buried under the base set’s bigger chase cards, so you can grab this monster for pocket change.
1. Miriam (251/198)
Miriam kicked off the whole Special Illustration Rare craze back in the Scarlet & Violet base set, striking a runway pose that basically invented the era’s art style. She launched before the hype train really got going, so her price has cooled to a fraction of what a card this iconic and important should cost.
Spotting an undervalued card is really about separating the artwork from the noise, so look for gorgeous illustrations on Pokémon or characters who just aren’t a set’s built in chase card. Keep an eye on cards that spiked briefly on release week hype and then cooled off once the set rotated out of the spotlight, since that dip usually overshoots how much people still actually want the card. It also pays to compare a card’s raw price against its graded ten multiplier and its real tournament play rate, rather than just going off how famous the Pokémon happens to be. Do that consistently and you’ll keep finding hidden gems like these long before the rest of the market wakes up.
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