Destined Rivals chase cards: the top 10 by price, and which are worth grading

Destined Rivals came out on 30 May 2025 and brought back Team Rocket’s Pokémon, plus Pokémon tied to trainers like Cynthia, Ethan, Misty and Arven. Almost all of its money sits in a handful of cards past number 182. This guide ranks them by what they sell for today, shows how hard each one is to pull, and runs the grading sum on the top few so you know which hits to send in and which to sell as they are.

What are the chase cards in Destined Rivals?

The chase cards are the 62 secret rares numbered 183 to 244, above the set’s printed total of 182. The ones people open packs for are the 11 Special Illustration Rares, led by Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex, Cynthia’s Garchomp ex and Ethan’s Ho-Oh ex.

Not sure which symbol is which? The rarity symbols guide explains the stars. One thing to notice here: card for card, a gold Hyper Rare is about as hard to pull as a Special Illustration Rare, yet it sells for far less. Collectors pay for the artwork, not the gold.

What is the most expensive card in Destined Rivals?

Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex 231/182 is the most expensive card in the set, at about $338 raw on 25 October 2026, roughly double the next card. Here are the ten most valuable singles, ranked by what a near mint, ungraded copy sells for.

Three things stand out. Mewtwo is in a league of its own: Team Rocket nostalgia plus Giovanni in the art made it the face of the set. Misty’s Psyduck is the only Illustration Rare in the top ten, and its PSA 10 sells for more than seven times a raw copy, the biggest jump on the list. And the two gold cards that make it in sell for a fraction of their full-art versions. If you’re pricing anything else from the set, the card value guide shows how to read sold prices rather than asking prices.

How rare is Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex?

Very. At TCGplayer’s measured rates, any given pack has about a 1 in 1,033 chance of holding the Mewtwo Special Illustration Rare, so on average you’d open about 29 booster boxes to find one.

TCGplayer found a Special Illustration Rare in 1.06% of packs, about 1 in 94, and the set has 11 of them. A booster box holds 36 packs, so it averages well under one Special Illustration Rare of any kind. TCGplayer’s figures assume each card in a rarity is equally common, and Pokémon doesn’t publish official odds, so treat these as good estimates, not guarantees.

The sum makes the case for buying singles if you want one particular card. A sealed booster box was about $389 on TCGplayer on 25 October 2026, more than a raw Mewtwo, and you’d need dozens of boxes on average to pull one.

Which Destined Rivals cards are worth grading?

Only Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex 231 is a clear yes, for a clean copy. Misty’s Psyduck is worth it if yours is close to flawless, Cynthia’s Garchomp is a coin flip, and almost everything else loses money to grade at today’s prices.

The reason is the gap between a PSA 9 and a PSA 10. On most of these cards a 9 sells for about what a raw copy does, so after fees a 9 is a loss and the whole decision comes down to your odds of a 10. The PSA 9 vs PSA 10 guide covers why modern cards behave this way.

The fee math on a PSA submission

Every card above fits PSA’s cheapest open tier. On 25 October 2026 PSA’s Value tiers were still paused, and Standard cost $59.99 a card for cards worth up to $1,000 after grading, with a 90 to 100 business-day estimate. Add shipping both ways; we assume $40 for a single card, less per card in a batch. eBay takes 13.25% plus $0.40 on each sale, raw or graded. The full breakdown is in what PSA grading costs.

Selling that same card raw keeps you about $293 after eBay’s fee. A PSA 9 keeps you about $208 after everything, so a 9 costs you around $85 against selling raw, and a 10 earns you about $353 more. Grading wins as soon as your odds of a 10 beat roughly one in five. Run the same sum on the other cards and the bar climbs fast.

Two caveats. TCG Charts’ population data shows about 58% of PSA-graded Mewtwo 231s and 60% of Garchomp 232s came back 10, but only about 28% of Psyduck 193s did. Those rates count only the copies people chose to send, so they flatter the odds for a card straight out of a pack. And the gold Mewtwo, Crobat ex and Ethan’s Adventure keep less as a PSA 10 than they do raw, so grading them only makes sense if you want them slabbed for yourself. The is it worth grading guide walks through the same formula with 9s, 8s and weighted odds.

What about TAG or CGC?

For Mewtwo, buyers pay about the same for a TAG 10 as a PSA 10: TCG Charts had a TAG 10 at about $900 against $860 for PSA on 25 October 2026. A CGC 10 was about $515, well below both, so check that a lower fee really makes up the difference before you switch. Compare fees and resale side by side in the best grading company for Pokémon cards.

Should I grade my Destined Rivals pull?

Grade it if it’s the Mewtwo 231 and it passes a careful look, or the Psyduck and it looks perfect. Before you pay a fee, check the four things a grader checks, under a bright light, out of the sleeve.

1. 1Measure the centering, front and back. A PSA 10 needs the front borders within 55/45 and the back within 75/25. Full-art cards have thin borders, so small shifts show. See how to check Pokémon card centering.
2. 2Check the back edges and corners. Modern cards often leave the pack with a white fleck on a back corner or edge. One is enough to cost a 10.
3. 3Tilt it under light for the surface. Look for scratches, dents and print lines across the textured foil. These are what turn pack-fresh hits into 9s.
4. 4Make sure it’s real before you pay to find out. A $338 card is worth faking. The fake card guide covers the checks that work, and Buddy’s fake check compares the lettering, print and foil against the genuine printing. PSA charges its fee even when it rejects a card.
5. 5Price it last. Use today’s sold prices for raw, PSA 9 and PSA 10, not last month’s. These numbers move.

Is Destined Rivals worth opening for chase cards?

Open it for fun, not for profit. If you want one specific card, buying the single is far cheaper than chasing it in packs.

A booster box at about $389 averages less than half a Special Illustration Rare, and only the top three of those sell for more than $100 raw. The one card that makes a box feel like a win, the Mewtwo 231, turns up about once every 29 boxes at TCGplayer’s rates. Buy the Mewtwo, and if you want the thrill of opening, buy a few packs on top. When you do pull a hit, sleeve it and put it in a top loader straight away, since every touch before grading is a risk to that 10.

So, which Destined Rivals chase cards should you go after?

For value, Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex 231 first, then Cynthia’s Garchomp ex 232 and Ethan’s Ho-Oh ex 230. For grading, only the Mewtwo is an easy call, with Misty’s Psyduck the sleeper if your copy is flawless. Everything else in the set is better kept raw or sold raw, unless you want it in a slab for your own shelf. If you’re selling, where to sell Pokémon cards compares the fees.