Magikarp (Illustration Rare)

Surprise!

Yup, that’s right, the all-but-useless Magikarp is the second highest priced of all of Paldea Evolved’s 270 cards. Which is pure testament to just how brilliant this art is.

Yes, absolutely, this Magikarp evolves into Gyarados, but honestly the Paldea Evolved Gyarados is nothing special. There’s certainly no special art version of it, and while it sports a couple of powerful attacks, it’s hardly the center of any current meta. This Magikarp card’s success is purely down to Shinji Kanda’s phenomenal artwork.

Shinji Kanda is responsible for one of Pokémon TCG’s most expensive modern cards, 2022’s Lost Origin Giratina V Alt Art, still selling for around $300. The Magikarp brings a similar style, with a stunning wealth of detail to just pore over. Because did you notice the Gyarados yet?

It’s hilarious that such a popular card is so spectacularly dreadful to play. As ever, Magikarp can do little more than flap about, although to be fair, it’s a little bit more capable than usual. It’s possible to do as much as 30 damage, should you get lucky two coin flips in a row! Haha.

But given the price for this card is hovering around $50, you might prefer to keep this one sleeved and toploaded.