Gastly
Quick take
- Card 177 of 162 marks it as a secret-tier Illustration Rare, not a base card
- A 60 HP Basic with no competitive use, valued for the art and the Gastly line
- Mousho's full nighttime scene gets it named among the best art in the set
- A required, generally affordable slot for any Temporal Forces master set
Collector's readWhat it means for your master set
Set landscapeWhere this card sits in Temporal Forces
VariantsCard variants
Holofoil 177/162 · $94.22 — 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 ghost-line city scene that punches above its rarity
Gastly sits at number 177 in Temporal Forces, past the printed set total of 162. That number alone marks it as a chase pull rather than a basic card you toss in the bulk box. It is an Illustration Rare, the tier where the art breaks out of the standard frame and fills the whole face. Mousho gave it a full nighttime scene instead of a portrait, and that choice is most of why people want it.
“Card 177 of 162 marks it as a secret-tier Illustration Rare, not a base card”
The card has no competitive job worth mentioning. This is a collector card. A 60 HP Basic with a coin-flip attack does not move tournament needles, so its value comes from the art and from how attached people are to the Gastly line. That keeps it grounded. It is not a hype rocket. Think reliable favorite that holds attention long after the set stopped being the newest thing.
For master set builders, it is a must-have slot. Temporal Forces is not done until the Gastly IR is in the binder. Because the art is this good, most collectors are happy to chase it rather than treat it as a chore.
By the numbersMarket analysis
This sits in the mid-tier of Temporal Forces secret rares. It trades well above the Double Rares and the bulk of the set, but it lives below the headline Special Illustration Rares and Hyper Rares. Raw copies stay friendly for a clean card, and graded gem-mint examples carry a real premium over that.
Pricing has been stable since the early post-release dip settled. Temporal Forces opened in 2024, supply is deep, and this card trades like a popular IR with plenty of copies in the wild. No sharp spikes, no collapse. You can buy when you see a fair one rather than timing the market.
Treat it as a hold-for-love card, not a flip. Supply is plentiful and the rarity is mid-tier, so do not expect outsized gains. The upside is durability. Art this strong on a fan-favorite line tends to keep a floor and slowly appreciate as sealed product dries up. A graded gem copy is the version most likely to reward patience.
Raw copies are easy to find, so a PSA 10 or equivalent carries a meaningful step up over near-mint raw. The big foil surface and dark borders make perfect-grade copies harder than the supply suggests, which is what keeps the gem premium honest.
In Scarlet and Violet sets, any Illustration Rare lands around 1 in 12 packs. That sounds frequent, but the rate covers every IR in the set, so the odds of pulling this specific Gastly run much longer, often into the hundreds of packs once you account for how many cards share the tier. For comparison, any Double Rare is about 1 in 5 packs, any Ultra Rare about 1 in 15, any Special Illustration Rare about 1 in 90, and a Hyper Rare anywhere from 1 in 300 to 1 in 700. If you want this card specifically, buying the single is far cheaper and faster than ripping packs for it.
As a single card, it is one of the more common chase pulls in Temporal Forces, which is good news for collectors. Supply is healthy and prices are reasonable, so the difficulty is in finding a clean, well-centered copy rather than in scarcity.
ArtworkWhy the art matters
Mousho is a newer name in the Pokemon TCG. The first cards came in the 151 set with Drowzee and Hypno, and the portfolio leans into atmospheric, scene-driven illustrations across Scarlet and Violet sets, including Carnivine and a run of other Pokemon. The Temporal Forces Gastly is one of the most visible cards in that catalog and a big reason collectors started watching the name.
The art skips the usual single-Pokemon portrait. You get a nighttime city scene with the full ghost line, Gastly drifting alongside Haunter and Gengar through a neon-lit alley, set against buildings and glowing light. The palette runs deep purples and blues with warm light spilling onto the ground. It reads less like a card and more like a frame from a quiet, slightly spooky evening in town.
Illustration Rare treatment, so the artwork extends across the full card face with a holo finish over the scene. The dark background makes the foil pattern and the light sources pop, and it also makes surface flaws easy to spot under angled light.
Most IRs show one Pokemon doing one thing. This one tells a small story with the whole evolution family sharing an environment, and that is what lifts it above a typical Illustration Rare and gets it onto best-of-set art lists.
BackgroundAbout Gastly
Gastly is a Gen 1 Ghost and Poison type from the original Red and Green releases, the first stage of the line that becomes Haunter and then Gengar. The trio has been a franchise staple since 1996 and is tied to the spooky, prankster side of Pokemon. In the TCG, Gastly cards usually play the role this one does, a low-cost basic that exists mostly as a stepping stone or as art bait, while Gengar gets the spotlight in play.
- ›Part of the iconic Gen 1 Gastly to Gengar evolution line
- ›Ghost typing makes it a Halloween and spooky-theme favorite year-round
- ›Carries strong nostalgia for the original 151 generation
- ›The full evolution family appears together in the art, not just Gastly
- ›Original Red, Green and Blue games as the first stage of the Gengar line
- ›A long history of TCG printings across nearly every era of the game
Own it wellCollector guide
The dark background and large foil surface are unforgiving. Edge whitening shows instantly against the near-black borders, and the open foil areas pick up scratches and print lines you only see under angled light. Inspect carefully before buying raw, especially the corners and the flat dark zones.
Worth grading only if your raw copy is genuinely clean, meaning sharp corners, no whitening, centered front and back. Because raw copies are affordable and easy to find, a mid-grade slab rarely justifies the cost. Aim for gem mint or leave it raw in a sleeve. Read the grading guide →
Sleeve it in a penny sleeve inside a toploader or one-touch, and keep it out of direct light to protect the dark surface and the colors. For a master set binder, use side-loading pages so the holo face is not dragged in and out. See the storage guide →
Buy the single. The pull odds for this exact card are long, and the price is friendly enough that chasing it in packs makes no sense unless you are opening the set anyway. Prioritize centering and a clean surface over a slightly lower price, since those are the traits that hold value and grade well later. See the singles buying guide →
Modern Scarlet and Violet cards are faked far less than vintage, but still buy from reputable sellers. Check the texture and holo behavior against a known-genuine IR, confirm the Mousho credit and the 177/162 number, and compare the back's blue swirl and border to a card you trust.
Protect your card
High Chase Score — protect and consider grading. · Amazon affiliate links · Storage guideWord on the streetCommunity sentiment
Collectors like this one a lot. It regularly turns up in conversations about the best art in Temporal Forces, and the appeal is broad because it pairs a fan-favorite ghost line with a genuinely cinematic scene. The card has a reputation as one of the set's standout Illustration Rares.
Most of the chatter centers on the art and the Gastly to Gengar nostalgia rather than price speculation. It shows up in ghost-type collection posts and Halloween display threads, the kind of steady, low-drama attention that fan-favorite art tends to attract.
Good to knowFrequently asked questions
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