Summary

• Dark Charizard from Team Rocket remains a coveted card with a market price of $150.32 due to its menacing artwork and cosmos holofoil method.
• Dark Blastoise, priced at $85.78, was a competitive beast with high damage output, particularly valuable among collectors for its Rain Dance archetype use.
• Dark Dragonite's evil appearance in Team Rocket is a stark departure from its usual gentle design, making it highly sought after with a market price of $70.25.

The fourth 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Pokemon TCG set ever released was 2000’s Team Rocket, which was notable for a number of reasons. Perhaps most importantly, the Team Rocket expansion was the⛄ first to feature “dark” versions of popular Pokemon – something that other sets would revisit in later years.

Beyond that, this was the first non-reprint set that featured the far superior cosmos holofoil method, which is both more artistically satisf🍬ying and slightly easier to view versus the origi𒁃nal starlight holofoil method that predated it in the TCG’s first three sets. These notable attributes are likely why these ten Team Rocket cards have retained impressive value nearly 25 years after they debuted.

The card prices quoted all come from 's Market Price History over the past calendar year and may fluctuate over time. Also, no First Editions are included on this list even though they are extremely rare and, thus, wildly more expensive than the Unlimited versions of these cards.

10 Dark Slowbro &nda๊sh; Holofoil

Market Price: $22.25

Seeing as the Team Rocket expansion was the first one to feature “dark” Pokemon (aka evil 🔯versions of their original selves), it’s no surprise that the first ‘mon mentioned (and all Pokemon mentioned, in fact) is a ⭕dark one – Dark Slowbro.

Featuring terrific Mitsuhiro Arita artwork that showcases the normally docile and vacant Slowbro as a villainous-looking ‘mon with “” under the tutelage of a shadowy 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Team Rocket member in the background, this card’s Pokemon Power: Reel In made it an important utility piece for notable decks of the era, as returning Poke♑mon cards from your discard pile to your hand is always useful.

9 ꦑ Dark Hypno🐷 – Holofoil

Market Price: $22.54

This set inc🍷luding “dark” Pokemon was a masterstroke from an art perspective, as this st𝓡rikingly illustrated Dark Hypno card conveys. Absolutely breathtaking Kagemaru Himeno artwork showcases Hypno employing its trademark hypnosis, with the talisman of its mesmerism actually being shown in motion.

While the foil version is the one that commands over $20 on the secondary market these days, the non-foil version allows you to see the brilliant artwork’s background better, which fe🍎atures something that looks like a proto-Trick Room (a famed mainline Pokemon game move).

8 Dark Gyarados – H🌸olofoil

Market Price: $23.65

Dark Gyarados was a fun Pokemon to run in latter-day Rain Dance decks, as it could serve as a notable stalling ‘mon thanks to its Pokemon Power: Final Beam, which, upon winning a coin flip, dealt 20 damage to the 🐼active ‘mon that knocked it out for each water energy attached to it.

Gyarados is a ‘mon that boasts evergreen popularity, and iꦇts “dark” version from Team Rocket still retains an impressive value on the🐻 secondary market. This card even saw a reprint as part of Celebrations “classic collection” in that 2021 TCG set.

7 Dark Machamp – Holofoil 🌠 𒅌

Market Price: $26.39

Another card with absolutely brilliant artwork from master Pokemon illustrator Mitsuhiro Arita, this Machamp artwork features nothing save for a blank, ethereal blue hue as its background – and it works perfectly, as the Machamp seems to be ඣin mid-attack, seemingly leaping off the card from a empty blue void.

Dark Machamp&r𝐆squo;s first attack𒆙 (30 damage for two fighting energy) was fine for the time, but it’s the card’s second attack, Fling, that is the more interesting one. This card serves as a forced Scoop Up, which meant that your foe had to take their active Pokemon and shuffle it and all cards attached to it into their deck – which could really mess up your foe’s strategy if it hit.

6 Dark Charizard – Ra꧋re

Market Price: $33.84

The only non-Holofoil card on this list shows the overwhelming aඣppetite among fans and collectors for the most famous Pokemon TCG card of all time: Charizard. While Base Set Charizard was reprinted before the release of Team Rocket as part of Base Set 2, it was the new Dark Charizard from Team Rocket that garnered mo🦄re attention at the time of its release.

And with good reason. While Dark Charizard’s Continuous Fireball attack was heavily reliant on both fire energy and coin flips, the damage output was potentially massive. Say you had four fire-type energies attached to Dark Charizard. You use the attack and flip two heads out of four, which deals 100 damage and loses you two fire energies, meaning you probably defeated an important ‘mon and still have enough energy to knock out another ‘mo𓆉n next turn. Not bad!

5 Dark Alaka🅰zam – Holofoil

Market Price: $33.95

Alakazam is another frequently popular ‘mon that saw its first “d🐠ark” version featured in the Team Rocket set. Art-wise, this card features Ken Sugimori’s original Base Set Alakazam artwork changed to a side view with a spotlight seemingly shining on this powerful psychic-type ‘mon.

This makes it look as if Alakazam is about to perform a magic show, but for Dark Alakazam, it&rsq✅uo;s unlikely that anyone would want to be around to watch Team Rocket employ such a pow♔erful Pokemon for their own nefarious, Pokemon-stealing ends.

4 😼Dark Raichu – Holofoil 🀅

Market Price: $47.12

The first-ever “secret rare” in Pokemon TCG history, this card was listed as number 83 out of 82 cards for the Team Rocket set. As such, this card holds impressive value among fans and collectors, and the novelty factorꦜ alone is enough for ൲the card to hold tremendous cache.

Fea🔯turing awesome Mitsuhiro Arita artwork that shows an angry-looking Raichu surrounded by swirling lightning strikes, this card in particular is a terrific showcase for the♑ far-superior cosmos holofoil method. Opening this card in a Team Rocket pack felt incredible, and it’s nice to see the card hold a near-$50 value almost 25 years later.

3 Dark 🍰Dragonite – Holofoil ꧒

Market Price: $70.25

Now we’re getting into the big guns. The original printing of Dragonite occurred in Fossil, which was the set directly preceding Team Rocket, and holofoil Dragonite is actually the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:most valuable card from that release. Dragonite is 🌸normally a Pokemon associated with a vaguely goofy design, and canonically, it’s supposed to be a helpful Pokemon ⭕that comes to those who need aid.

In Team Rocket, however, Dark Dragonite looks notably evil as the trademark “” of Pokemon within this set look downright terrifying on a ‘mon as sweet and gentle as Dragonite. Pseudolegendary Pokemon such as Dragoniꦦte are always popular, so it’s no surprise to see this card attain a price point above $70 on the secondary market.

2 Dark ꧃Blastoise – Holofoil

Market Price: $85.78

Much like pseudolegendaries, starter Pokemon are always popular among collectors and connoisseurs, so seeing Dark Blastoise this high up makes perfect sense. This card in particular was a notable competitive beast when it was released, as its sheer damage output was eminently uꦰseful in the Rain Dance archetype.

While it lacked Base Set Blastoise’s Pokemon Power (the eponymous Rain Danceꦉ) and high HP, this card’s Hydrocannon attack could deal a whopping 70 damage for only four water-type energies. Combine that with singu𒊎larly brilliant artwork from Mitsuhiro Arita and you’re looking at a card that today often reaches the $100 threshold in good condition.

1 💦 𝔍Dark Charizard – Holofoil

Market Price: $150.32

Not unsurprisingly, the second Charizard card ever printed in the TCG retains an impressive price point close to 25 years after it was released. While it is hard-pressed to reach the stratospheric heights of its 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Base Set brother, over $150 on the secondary mꦰarket is nothing to sneeze at.

Showcasing truly menacing artwork from Ken Sugimori – this Charizard looks utterly unhinged – as well as the new cosmos holofoil method, tღhis card certainly deserves its place as one of the most valuable cards from the Pokemon TCG’s first four sets.