Ampharos
Quick take
- Illustration Rare numbered 090/086, art by Saino Misaki
- Watercolor scene of Ampharos in a field of flowers, called one of the set's better-looking cards at release
- A mid-tier card in a set led by Mega ex and Special Illustration Rares, not a top chase
- Required for a Chaos Rising master set as one of 11 Illustration Rare Pokemon
Collector's readWhat it means for your master set
Set landscapeWhere this card sits in Chaos Rising
VariantsCard variants
Holofoil 90/86 · $4.57 — the only variant this card was printed in (no reverse holo or special pattern), so a master set needs just this one copy.
The storyA quiet watercolor card in a Mega-heavy set
Chaos Rising is the fourth English Mega Evolution Series expansion, and the marketing leans on its Mega ex cards. The Mega ex and the Special Illustration Rares are where the money sits. Ampharos is not one of those. It is an Illustration Rare, the tier just below, and it sells for a fraction of the chase cards.
“Illustration Rare numbered 090/086, art by Saino Misaki”
What it has going for it is the art. Saino Misaki paints Ampharos walking through a field of flowers in a loose watercolor style, and the card reads as soft and calm rather than flashy. In a set stacked with aggressive Mega artwork, that contrast is part of why people single it out. Coverage at release flagged the serene field scene as one of the better looking secret rares in the set.
For master-set builders this is a required card. It is one of 11 Illustration Rare Pokemon in Chaos Rising, so you need it to close out the set regardless of how the market values it. An IR is far easier to land than a Special Illustration Rare or a Mega ex, which keeps it from becoming a wall.
By the numbersMarket analysis
Ampharos sits in the lower-to-middle band of Chaos Rising singles. The Mega ex cards and the Special Illustration Rares command the real premiums. An Illustration Rare like this trades for a small fraction of those. Among the Illustration Rares it holds up better than average because of the art, but it is nowhere near the top of the set.
Prices behave like a freshly released set. Supply is heavy while sealed product is still being opened, which caps how high a card in this tier can climb. Expect the usual post-release softening through the print run, with a slow firming once boxes dry up and collectors who skipped it the first time come back for it.
Treat it as a collector card, not a flip. New Illustration Rares are printed in volume and rarely spike. The realistic upside is a steady, modest climb after the print run ends, driven by Ampharos fans and people completing master sets. A clean copy is a safe hold. Do not expect it to outrun the Mega ex chases.
Raw copies are cheap enough that grading mostly makes sense for gem-mint candidates. A PSA 10 or CGC 10 carries a premium over raw, but with a modern IR in plentiful supply the gap is moderate rather than dramatic. Grade only if the centering and surface are clearly there.
Chaos Rising follows the modern Scarlet & Violet pull structure. Across that framework any Illustration Rare lands around 1 in 12 packs, versus roughly 1 in 90 for any Special Illustration Rare and far longer odds for Hyper Rares. But that 1 in 12 is for ANY Illustration Rare, and Chaos Rising has 11 of them. The odds of pulling this specific Ampharos run much longer, realistically well over a hundred packs per copy. For a master set, buying the single is far cheaper than chasing it from packs.
Among the 11 Illustration Rare Pokemon in the set, Ampharos is one of the more talked-about for its art, but it is not the most valuable card in the tier. The genuine chases live in the Special Illustration Rare and Mega ex tiers above it.
ArtworkWhy the art matters
Saino Misaki is credited as the illustrator on this card across Limitless TCG and TCGPlayer. Beyond the credit, public detail on the artist is thin, so we are keeping this general rather than overstating a body of work.
The Illustration Rare shows Ampharos wandering through a field of flowers, rendered in a soft watercolor style. The mood is gentle and unhurried, a contrast to the high-energy Mega Evolution art that dominates the rest of Chaos Rising. The full-art treatment lets the scene run edge to edge with no card-art frame boxing it in.
Lightning-type Stage 2 Pokemon with 160 HP, evolving from Flaaffy. Full-art Illustration Rare numbered 090/086, sitting above the 86-card main set as a secret-numbered slot. The Ability is Synchro Pulse: if you have the same number of cards in hand as your opponent, this Pokemon's attacks do 80 more damage to the opponent's Active Pokemon before Weakness and Resistance. Its attack, Flashing Bolt, does 140 damage, and it can't use Flashing Bolt again on the following turn. Weakness is Fighting, retreat cost is 2.
The pull is the watercolor field scene. It is the kind of calm, illustration-driven art that reads completely differently from the rest of the set's Mega-focused look, which is why it gets singled out.
BackgroundAbout Ampharos
Ampharos is the final evolution of Mareep, a Generation II Electric-type from the Johto region. It has been a steady fan favorite since Gold and Silver, helped along by Amphy, the lighthouse Ampharos in Olivine City, and by its Mega Evolution, Mega Ampharos, which added a Dragon typing in Generation VI. The line shows up regularly in the TCG and rarely struggles for fan interest.
- ›Long-running Johto favorite with strong nostalgia among older players
- ›Recognizable design that translates well to soft, illustration-style art
- ›Connection to Mega Ampharos keeps the line relevant across eras
- ›This particular card's art being praised at release
- ›Johto-region games starting with Gold and Silver as the Mareep line's final stage
- ›Amphy, the Ampharos that powers the Olivine City lighthouse
- ›Mega Ampharos, introduced in the Generation VI Mega Evolution era
This is a collector card first. Synchro Pulse adds 80 damage when your hand size matches your opponent's, and Flashing Bolt hits for 140 but can't be used the following turn. A Stage 2 with a one-turn attack cooldown is a hard sell against the format's Mega ex decks. Buy it for the binder, not the battle box.
Own it wellCollector guide
Full-art cards show edge whitening and surface scratches easily because the art runs to the border with no frame to hide wear. Check the corners and the holo surface under raking light before buying or submitting.
Worth grading only for clean gem-mint candidates. As a plentiful modern IR, the graded premium is moderate. If centering, corners and surface all look strong, a 10 adds value. Otherwise keep it raw in a sleeve and toploader. Read the grading guide →
Penny sleeve plus toploader for singles, or a side-loading binder page if it lives in your Chaos Rising master set. Keep it out of direct light and away from humidity to protect the holo and the watercolor tones. See the storage guide →
Buy the single rather than ripping packs for it. Raw near-mint copies are inexpensive right now while supply is high, so this is an easy, low-stress pickup for a master set. If you want a graded copy, a pre-graded 10 from a reputable seller often costs less than buying raw plus paying grading fees and waiting. See the singles buying guide →
Counterfeiting risk on a cheap, current IR is low, but basic checks still apply. Confirm the 090/086 number and the Saino Misaki credit, check that the holo pattern behaves like other Chaos Rising IRs, and compare the texture and back print against a known-genuine card from the same set.
Protect your card
Low Chase Score — basic protection is plenty. · Amazon affiliate links · Storage guideWord on the streetCommunity sentiment
Reception to the art has been warm. When the Chaos Rising cards surfaced, the watercolor field scene drew steady praise, and the card was flagged as one of the prettier secret rares in the set.
Release coverage and social posts singled the card out on looks, often with the 'serene' or 'soft' framing collectors use for gentle, illustration-style art. Buzz is steady and art-driven rather than hype-driven. Nobody is treating it as a flip, just a nice card to own.
Good to knowFrequently asked questions
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