Iono (Ultra Rare)

Nope, it’s not the Iono, but it’s testament to just how wildly popular the card has become that the other full-art version of the card is so highly priced. It’s completely daft, of course, given there’s a regular bulk version of Iono that’s no different when you’re playing. But people want this “influencer” trainer a great deal, hence why this fairly bog-standard trainer art is selling for—gulp—$36

However, it’s a brilliant card when it comes to the TCG, especially given the recent retirement of Marnie. Which…argh! Dammit! My favorite deck to play is based around Lost Origin’s amazing Galarian Perrserker V, which does 20 damage for every card in my hand. My deck has four of the Perrserkers, and then essentially nothing but cards that get other cards out of my deck and into my hand. And it’s glorious! Until anyone played bloody Marnie, making me shuffle my hand back into my deck. I couldn’t wait to see the back of her when she was rotated out earlier this year. Only for Iono to step in.

Even worse (or better), Iono is Marnie crossed with Roxanne, meaning she not only forces both players to shuffle their hands, but then put them at the bottom of the deck, meaning they’re out of reach until the next deck shuffle. Then on top of that, you don’t replace them with four or five cards automatically, but with a card for each of your remaining prize cards. With a strong lead, Iono could see my hand reduced to one or two cards, rendering Perrserker useless! Baahhhhh!