Surging Sparks Latios and Latias Secret Rare Cards Revealed
In a beautifully animated teaser trailer posted to the official Pokemon TCG Twitter account, Pokemon revealed two of the top chase cards from Surging Sparks in English: the gorgeously illustrated Latios and Latias secret rare cards.
Pokemon TCG Surging Sparks: Latios and Latias teaser trailer
Latios and Latias were already expected to be included in the Pokemon TCG: Surging Sparks expansion (releasing everywhere November 8, 2024) given their presence in parallel Japanese expansions. However, getting to see these cards officially revealed in English is still a huge treat for Pokemon TCG fans and collectors.
In the trailer, we see these iconic Pokemon flying in their secret rare card forms around the iconic Alto Mare Pokemon city which is heavily based on Venice Italy. Pokemon movie fans will recognize this as the setting for one of the best Pokemon Movies, Pokemon Heroes, featuring the original trio of friends, Ash, Brock, and Misty.
This was a smart move on Pokemon’s part to lean into some pretty heavy nostalgia around the lore behind Latios and Latias. After all, both of those Pokemon were legendeires you could catch in one of the most successful Pokemon video games ever: Ruby and Sapphire. No doubt plenty of Pokemon fans like myself are excited for the chance ot once again hunt down these rare and valueble Pokemon cards the way we did back in the day.
This is especially timely as recent sets from the Pokemon TCG have been focused on lore from the current Scarlet & Violet game. While that game is great, it’s nice to see some more familiar faces leading the Secret Rare roster this time around
Let’s talk a little bit about each card below and why I’m excited about them.
Latias ex – Special Illustration Rare
First things first let’s talk about Latias ex. Of the two, Latias is going to be the more valuable. It’s a rarer card meaning there’s more intrinsic value to it. Meanwhile, it boasts a powerful Skyliner ability – something that could easily make it a staple in competitive Pokemon TCG decks.
The artwork is gorgeous, featuring Alto Mare in the background at sunset. This is a worthy chase and my prediction is that it will easily be the most valuable of all the cards released in Surging Sparks.
Latios – Illustration Rare
Being only an Illustration Rare will undoubtedly cause this Latios to be less valuable ont he secondary card market. It also doesn’t have a great mechanic attached to it, making it unlikely it will see much competitive play. Still, the artwork is just as gorgeous as Latias ex’s SIR card and will undoubtedly still be worth a decent amount of money.
I should also mention that in the past Latios and Latias secret rare cards have done very well in value. The Latias & Latios GX alternate art card from Sun and Moon is still one of the most valuable Pokemon cards in recent memory. That fact alone makes me think that these cards won’t only be hyped for this expansion, but will be a great longterm investment for those looking for chase cards whose value will stand the test of time.
