Keldeo ex
Quick take
- Second-highest mainline art tier in White Flare, below only the Hyper Rares and BWR cards
- Yuu Nishida full art at a mid-tier price, an unusual combination for her work
- A friendly, attainable slot in the White Flare master-set checklist
- Backed by Gen V nostalgia and the Swords of Justice fanbase, not a marquee chase card
Collector's readWhat it means for your master set
Set landscapeWhere this card sits in White Flare
VariantsCard variants
Holofoil 167/86 · $74.25 — 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 Nishida SIR that's a soft landing in a hyped set
White Flare and its sibling Black Bolt are the Scarlet & Violet era's love letter to Generation V. The set leans on Unova nostalgia. Reshiram carries the White Flare half, and the new BWR monochrome cards soak up most of the attention and money. Keldeo ex lives a few rungs below that. It's a Special Illustration Rare, the second-rarest mainline art tier in the set, and it gives you a clean Yuu Nishida full art for a fraction of what the headline cards command.
“Second-highest mainline art tier in White Flare, below only the Hyper Rares and BWR cards”
For a master-set build, that's the appeal. You need every SIR to close the set, and Keldeo is one of the more affordable ones to slot in. Keldeo is also a fan-favorite Unova Mythical with a clear identity, the youngest of the Swords of Justice, so the card has more pull than a random filler SIR. The art reads instantly, and the price doesn't fight your budget the way the Reshiram and Zekrom chase cards do.
It won't anchor a collection on its own. But it's the kind of card that makes the White Flare master set feel attainable, and that matters when you're staring down a full SIR checklist.
By the numbersMarket analysis
Keldeo ex sits in the middle of the White Flare SIR pack, well under the Reshiram and BWR headliners that drive the set. Think of it as an entry-priced Special Illustration Rare, the kind of card you pick up to make progress on the checklist rather than to flip. Live market price is shown elsewhere on this page.
As a 2025 release the card is still in its early life. SIR prices in recent SV sets tend to soften after the initial product wave, then settle once sealed supply thins out. Keldeo has tracked that pattern so far, drifting rather than spiking. The Generation V nostalgia behind White Flare gives the whole set a longer demand tail than a typical filler expansion.
This is a build-the-set card more than an appreciation play. Upside is capped by how many SIRs the set carries and by Keldeo's middling spot in the popularity order. A clean copy or a high grade should hold up on the back of set demand, but don't expect it to behave like the Reshiram chase cards. Buy it because you want the set finished.
Graded gem-mint copies pull a premium over raw, as they do for most modern SIRs, but the spread here is modest compared to the set's top cards. The math only makes sense if the raw copy is near-flawless going in.
White Flare follows the Scarlet & Violet pull-rate patterns. Across the era, any Special Illustration Rare lands roughly once every 90 packs. For reference, Double Rares sit near 1 in 5, Illustration Rares near 1 in 12, Ultra Rares near 1 in 15, and Hyper Rares run deep in the 1-in-300-to-700 range. Those numbers are the odds of hitting any card of that tier. The odds of pulling this specific Keldeo SIR run far longer, since the set carries many SIRs competing for that slot, so a single named card often means hundreds of packs. For a master set you're almost always better buying the single than ripping for it.
Note the numbering. This card is 167 in a set that ends at 086. The cards above the main set number are the secret-numbered rares, and the SIRs like Keldeo sit in that band above the regular checklist.
ArtworkWhy the art matters
Yuu Nishida is one of the most followed illustrators in the modern game. She won the first Pokemon Card Game Illustration Grand Prix in 2019 with a Gardevoir piece and has been an official Pokemon TCG illustrator since then. She also drew the first-ever Sprigatito card, the Black Star Promo that opened the Scarlet & Violet era. Her warm, glowing style is her signature, and her stated aim is art that fills the viewer with warmth.
The SIR places Keldeo in a bright outdoor scene with water and a sense of motion, leaning into the Pokemon's blade-and-water identity. The palette is warm and lively, with the cool blue of Keldeo's mane set against the surrounding color. It's a full-art treatment, so the illustration runs edge to edge with no standard card frame breaking it up.
Special Illustration Rare, number 167 in a set numbered to 086, which marks it as one of the secret-numbered cards above the main set. Full-art holo treatment with the textured SIR finish used across Scarlet & Violet. Water-type Basic Pokemon ex, 210 HP, with the Gale Thrust and Sonic Edge attacks on the playable side.
You're buying a Nishida full art at a mid-tier price. Her marquee pieces run expensive, so a recognizable Nishida SIR you can actually afford for a set build is the real draw here.
BackgroundAbout Keldeo ex
Keldeo is the Mythical fourth member of the Swords of Justice, alongside the Legendary Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion, introduced in the Generation V games set in Unova. It's a Water and Fighting colt that draws a sword-like horn in its Resolute Forme. White Flare's whole identity is built on Gen V nostalgia, which makes Keldeo a natural fit rather than a tacked-on inclusion.
- ›Member of the beloved Swords of Justice quartet from the Unova games
- ›Strong, simple visual identity that translates well to full-art treatment
- ›Rides the broad Generation V nostalgia wave that powers White Flare
- ›Mythical status gives it more weight than an ordinary expansion filler
- ›Debuted in Pokemon Black and White as the Mythical Swords of Justice colt
- ›Featured in the Generation V animated film tied to the Swords of Justice
The SIR is a collector card first. The playable Keldeo ex is a Water-type Basic with 210 HP and the Gale Thrust and Sonic Edge attacks, but the value here is the art, not the tournament table.
Own it wellCollector guide
Full-art SIRs show edge whitening and surface scratches quickly because the holo runs to the borders. Check the corners and the dark areas of the art under angled light before you commit, and watch for print lines that catch the holo.
Worth grading only if the raw copy looks gem-mint out of the sleeve. The graded premium on a mid-tier SIR is modest, so a 9 rarely justifies the fee. Grade for a 10 or keep it raw and protected. Read the grading guide →
Penny sleeve plus a snug top-loader or a one-touch, kept out of direct light to protect the holo. For a master-set binder, use side-loading pages so the textured surface doesn't rub on the way in and out. See the storage guide →
Buy the single rather than chasing it in packs. Look for centered copies with clean front corners, since centering is the most common knock on these. Prices drift as supply settles, so there's no rush to overpay on a mid-tier set card. See the singles buying guide →
Modern fakes of recent SV cards exist but are usually easy to spot. Check the texture of the SIR finish, the crispness of the small print and the set symbol, and do a light bend or weight check against a known-genuine card. For a card in this price range, raw is fine from a reputable seller.
Protect your card
High Chase Score — protect and consider grading. · Amazon affiliate links · Storage guideWord on the streetCommunity sentiment
Coverage of White Flare focused on the Reshiram and BWR cards, with the SIRs treated as the solid mid-tier of the set. Keldeo is liked for the Nishida art and for being an attainable checklist card, not hyped as a marquee chase.
Discussion has centered on White Flare's Gen V nostalgia and the headline secret rares. Keldeo shows up in master-set and Nishida-collector conversations rather than as a standalone hype card.
Good to knowFrequently asked questions
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