Pokémon Destined Rivals Set Sees Major Price Dip
Posted by Magic Madhouse on 29th Jul 2025
The English tenth (and last) set released for the Scarlet and Violet era of Pokémon, The Trading Card Game releases was released on May the 30th with a pre-release on May the 17th. As seen a lot of times for previous Pokémon sets, the price of the cards from Pokémon Destined Rivals dropped steadily immediately after the pre-release with even the rarest/ most interesting cards traded below the value initially set.
The English tenth (and last) set released for the Scarlet and Violet era of Pokémon, The Trading Card Game releases was released on May the 30th with a pre-release on May the 17th. As seen a lot of times for previous Pokémon sets, the price of the cards from Pokémon Destined Rivals dropped steadily immediately after the pre-release with even the rarest/ most interesting cards traded below the value initially set.
Magic Madhouse reviewed the most interesting (and expensive) cards from Destined Rivals right after the release thus we decided to take a second look almost two months later to see how the overall value of these cards is trending today. Interestingly, while the price for almost all the cards from the set has stabilised substantially, we found two of them have actually increased in value quite steadily. Would you like to take the guess on which cards are we talking about and check with us if you were right?
Factor influencing the price of single cards
Before we look in more detail on Destined Rivals price trends, we wanted to review what factors impact the value of singled cards leading to price drops and spikes. Rarity (or Pull Rate) is usually the primary factor that comes to mind when considering what is influencing the value of a card. The rarest the card, the more difficult is to pull it from sealed products making therefore less copies available on the market to be purchased. This aspect, unfortunately, also includes cases where products are less available due to scalpers...
The demand for a specific card is what then drives the prices up or down. However, it is sometimes difficult to predict if a Pokémon card will be in high demand. Some cards may be very popular as they feature fan-favourite or very collectible Pokémon or because collectors may be interested in the artwork or in the artist behind it. In other cases, really playable cards or cards that can be used in meta-relevant decks will generally hold their value much better than others. This aspect tends to change overtime depending on tournament results, new set being released etc. Overall, considering Pokémon TCG is loved by Collectors and Players alike, both the aesthetic and the playability aspects contribute to the overall market price of the cards featured in a set.
Destined Rivals: Cards to keep an eye on
As mentioned above, the prices for Pokémon Destined Rivals cards showed some strong market fluctuation upon release. Not surprisingly, the price of “Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex (Special Illustration Rare)” is holding quite strongly making it the most expensive card from the set currently on the market. However, while most of the other cards have been experiencing some progressive drop in their price in the last weeks, the price of a few others has been actually increasing. “Cynthia's Garchomp ex (Special Illustration Rare)” and “Team Rocket's Nidoking ex (Special Illustration Rare)” are definitely among this last group with their price on Cardmarket moving from £140 to £160 and from £90 to £127 respectively since the 10th of July (on a 7-day average basis).
The first of these two cards, Cynthia's Garchomp ex, has been very popular among fans and collectors since its first picture was available online. While this card has a low value in terms in gameplay, the artwork illustrated by Hico Kim is what makes this Garchomp stand-out with its strong dynamism and action-driven pose. This also just adds on top of the fact that Garchomp and Cynthia are extremely popular characters filled with Nostalgia.
The second Destined Rivals card that's performing quite well on the market is instead driven by both its collectability and playability. In this case, the cartoonish artwork of Team Rocket's Nidoking ex is still quite evocative although it looks much different from Garchomp's dynamic pose. In addition, Nidoking is a first generation Pokémon thus holding a special place among collectors. In terms of playability, Nidoking ex has two attacks: "Dirty Horn" that does 100 damage and poisons the opponent's active Pokémon for 8 damage counters instead of the usual one 1, and "King Impact" that deals 240 damage to the opponent active Pokémon.
Nidoking works quite well in a Team Rocket deck synergising with supporter cards like Giovanni, Team Rocket's Factory, and Ariana in order to draw more cards. It also counts as a Team Rocket Pokémon to trigger Mewtwo attacks. Overall, it is not a top-tier meta card obviously but it can still have some value especially against certain decks like those using Grimmsnarl.
Should you complete your Destined Rivals set now?
In general, the best moment to buy single cards to complete your set collection would be a few months after the release of such set and around the time a new set releases. By the time a new set releases, in fact, the value of most of the Pokémon cards from a set has largely stabilised although there should be still enough stock around to ensure you can fill your binders without issues.
The price trends for the cards from Destined Rivals have also been impacted by fact that this set is the last of the Scarlet and Violet era as there is a lot of interest on what the next era will bring to the game.
Overall, considering the recent price trend for these cards, it should be a good time to look out for singles and catch the opportunity to fill your binders before stock starts to get low (and drive the prices up). Magic Madhouse has still a good stock of single cards from Destined Rivals you should consider in order to benefit from its trustworthy service and to exploit the free shipment fee offers. In addition, Magic Madhouse is always keeping an eye on market trends thus you can expect to get good deals together as interesting insights into Pokémon card value like the content you are reading.
This can also be obviosly an opportunity to trade for the spare cards you have or to offload. If you are looking for this, always keep in mind that most of the low rarity cards lose value quite quickly but that can be sold as “bulk” at a fixed price per cards. High rarity cards may lose value slower and some of them may actually be good investment as they may gain value progressively. It's possible to guesstimate these trends basing on recent price changes but the release of any new set can bring strong twist in the secondary market thus you should always try to keep as informed as possible.
Of course, this is also the time when sealed products may go on offer and perhaps you can consider to see if you are lucky enough to pull a great hit to close your collection in style. We would love to hear if this is the case of course!