Pokémon TCG: Top 10 Most Expensive Team Rocket Cards!

The next base set, Destined Rivals, is predicted to come out in late May this year. It will be the tenth base set of the year: part of it will focus on "Trainer's Partners" and Team Rocket. If you're a collector who enjoys "flavorful" cards like this, this set is a real treasure!

Today, I decided to bring you the 10 most expensive Team Rocket cards, from the classic cards in the Wizards of the Coast era to the most recent ones in the next set. In Japan, this set is known as Glory of Team Rocket or Glory of the Rocket Gang (kanji: ロケット団の栄光 予約), and was released on April 18th, 2025. A few stores have already begun setting their price for the Japanese cards, so we can already predict how much the American cards will cost a month from now.

Please note that we're considering how much these cards cost in American dollars, and that's how we'll rank them. However, please note that nothing is set in stone. Like any market, everything is susceptible to change, so we just listed below the prices we collected on the day this article was written.

10 - Dark Blastoise (Wizards of the Coast: Legendary Collection - Reverse Foil Glitter - 4/110)

To start, we have a "Dark" Pokémon, that is, a Pokémon corrupted by Team Rocket. One peculiar detail is that these Pokémon dealt a lot more damage than other Pokémon from the WotC era, but they also had a lot less HP. This essentially forced us to use Rocket's Hideout N3 63 to give them 20 extra HP.

This one is Dark Blastoise LC 4 but in Reverse Foil and with "glitter" effects. These exclusive details were only featured in a few rare cards in this special set from the classic WotC era.

In particular, this is just one of the 8 "Dark" Pokémon in this special set. It is a favorite among collectors, specially as it is one of the three Kanto starters in this set.

Price: US$299.

9 - Rocket's Mewtwo ex (Ruby/Sapphire: Team Rocket Returns - Foil Card - 99/109)

This base Ruby & Sapphire set paid homage to the classic Team Rocket set from the Wizards of the Coast era, but also introduced a few new mechanics: Pokémon with two types, namely their original type and Dark, and Pokémon that lost their main type and became exclusively Dark Pokémon. This encouraged us to use Darkness Energy AQ 142, which was considered a special energy at the time and also made our Dark Pokémon deal 10 extra damage to the opponent's active Pokémon.

Rocket's Mewtwo ex's attacks are excellent, as they're cheap and diverse. It has three attacks, but the one that stands out the most is Darkness Switch, which lets you transfer all damage counters from Mewtwo to the opponent's active Pokémon.

Price: US$300.

8 - Dark Dragonite (Wizards of the Coast: Legendary Collection - Reverse Foil Glitter - 5/110)

This card is actually Dark Dragonite TR 22, but in Reverse Foil and with "glitter" effects. These exclusive details were only featured in a few rare cards in this special set from the classic WotC era.

In particular, this is just one of the 8 "Dark" Pokémon in this special set. It is a favorite among collectors, as it is the first Dragon Pokémon that is also a "Dark" Pokémon.

Furthermore, its ability was extremely useful: a sort of "Call for Family" but for two basic Pokémon that you can activate as soon as you evolve a Dark Dragonair into a Dark Dragonite from your hand.

Price: US$370.

7 - Dark Vaporeon (Wizards of the Coast: Legendary Collection - Reverse Foil Glitter - 9/110)

This card is actually Dark Vaporeon TR 45, but in Reverse Foil and with "glitter" effects. These exclusive details were only featured in a few rare cards in this special set from the classic WotC era.

In particular, this is just one of the 8 "Dark" Pokémon in this special set. It is the only Dark eeveelution, so it is even more valuable. Its friends, Dark Flareon and Dark Jolteon were only available in the Team Rocket set, and didn't get the same special treatment.

Price: US$400.

6 - Rocket's Mewtwo (Wizards of the Coast: Best of the Game Promo - Reverse Foil Winner Logo - 8/9)

This card is basically a reprint of Rocket's Mewtwo G2 14 from the Gym Challenge set, which also featured "Trainer's Partners".

The difference is that it is an exclusive promo created specifically for the Wizards of the Coast tournaments, which were held from the late 90s to the early 00s. These promo cards were part of a block known as Best of the Game, and were awarded to whoever won these tournaments. That's what makes it so valuable: there are only a few copies of it, and all of them are in English.

Curiously, it is the only card from the Wizard of the Coast era that has three attacks.

Price: US$410.

5 - Rocket's Mewtwo ex (Scarlet/Violet: Glory of the Team Rocket - Secret Illustration Rare - 125/98)

This card, illustrated by Iwamoto05, was their third work for the Pokémon Company. The first was Blissey ex TWM 134.

Its ability states that it can only attack if there are at least four "Team Rocket" Pokémon in play. Its main attack lets you discard a limited number of energies (only two, in fact) from your benched Pokémon to deal 160 base damage plus 60 extra damage for each energy you discarded this way. As such, you can deal up to 280 damage with it.

This wasn't a very relevant card because of its drawback, but, on the other side, it became very valuable to Mewtwo collectors and Team Rocket fans because of its illustration. In fact, with time, it became a lot more expensive and valuable.

Price: US$420.

4 - Rocket's Snorlax ex (Ruby/Sapphire: Team Rocket Returns - Foil Card - 104/109)

Curiously, Rocket's Snorlax ex has been weak gameplay-wise from the very beginning, when it was released in Standard. However, it became more valuable to collectors with time. According to TCG Player, the last Near Mint copy sold cost US$600, though you can find lower prices on eBay.

Price: US$620.

3 - Here Comes Team Rocket! (Ruby/Sapphire: Team Rocket Returns - Secret Card - 111/109)

This is a "reimagining" of Here Comes Team Rocket TR 15 (from the Wizards of the Coast era), but it was illustrated by Ken Sugimori in a 2000s style.

It has been considered valuable ever since it was released, and it only became more expensive as time went on. Now, nearly 25 years later, it costs over US$1000, and you'll hardly find it for less than that.

On eBay, there is only one copy of it in English for sale. Some versions, like the Brazilian one, cost even more than the English version (on the day this article was written), as one of them costs US$2974.90!

Price: US$1329.99.

2 - Here Comes Team Rocket! (X/Y: Promo Cards - Secret Illustration Art - 278/XY-P)

This is a new version of Here Comes Team Rocket!. It was illustrated by Naoki Saito during the X/Y era.

Naoki Saito has worked for the Pokémon Company since Heart Gold/Soul Silver. Their portfolio includes over 240 illustrated cards, as well as a few cards from TCG Pocket.

So far, there are only two copies of it available in English on eBay. PSA graded them both as 10s, but the only available price is in pounds.

Price: US$2995.42.

1 - Giovanni's Scheme (X/Y: Promo Cards - Secret Illustration Art - 277/XY-P)

The most expensive Team Rocket card right now is Giovanni Scheme, a special version of it that was a Japan-exclusive promo during the X/Y block. It was illustrated by the iconic Mitsuhiro Arita.

According to TCGPlayer, no copies of it were sold, and you won't find an ungraded copy of it on eBay. The only available copy, if you want to buy it, is a card PSA graded as a 10 (the top score), and, as such, according to their criteria, it is a perfect copy.

Price: US$22.527.92.

Dark Charizard (Wizards of the Coast: Team Rocket - Foil, 1st Edition - 4/82)

Charizard has always been a favorite among collectors. Its corrupted version, in particularly, is very popular among Pokémon fans.

Price: US$214.

What did you think of these cards? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!