M Rayquaza EX Shiny Full Art
Quick take
- Card 98 of 98, a secret rare sitting above the printed set total
- Shiny recolor swaps Mega Rayquaza's green for black and gold
- Full-art frame, illustrated by 5ban Graphics
- The chase card of Ancient Origins and a flagship of the XY era
Collector's readWhat it means for your master set
Set landscapeWhere this card sits in XY - Ancient Origins
VariantsCard variants
Holofoil 98/98 · $1112.00 — the only variant this card was printed in (no reverse holo or special pattern), so a master set needs just this one copy.
The storyThe black-dragon chase that closed out the XY era
Ancient Origins ran 98 cards, and this is card 98. That placement is the point. Secret rares sit past the printed set total, so 98/98 marks the very top of the set. The shiny full-art Mega Rayquaza is the card this release is known for.
“Card 98 of 98, a secret rare sitting above the printed set total”
What sells it is the recolor. Mega Rayquaza is normally a deep emerald green. The shiny version flips it to black and gold, so collectors who already loved the Mega design got a darker, rarer take on it. Add the full-art treatment, where the artwork runs to every edge of the card, and you get one of the most recognizable cards of the whole XY run.
There's a bit of flavor for the people who track this stuff. The card's attack is Emerald Break, which is also the name of the Japanese set where it first appeared in 2015. Small detail, but those are the things that keep a card in conversation a decade later.
By the numbersMarket analysis
This sits at the top of Ancient Origins. Among the set's full-art secret rares it's the one collectors go after first, and raw copies in clean shape carry a clear premium over the rest of the set.
Like most popular XY-era Megas, it has trended up over the long run as the set ages out of print and Rayquaza demand holds steady. Day to day it moves with broad vintage-modern interest rather than any single event.
A blue-chip XY-era chase. Demand rests on the Pokemon itself rather than a passing meta, which tends to make these cards hold value better than set filler. At this age, condition is the swing factor.
Graded gem-mint copies pull a real premium over raw, and the gap widens fast at the top of the scale. Centering and edge wear are common on this print, so high grades are scarcer than the raw population suggests.
Ancient Origins is a 2015 XY-era set, so it predates the Scarlet and Violet rarity ladder and its published per-rarity odds. Secret rares like this one sat at the very back of the set numbering and were the hardest pulls in the product. Expect to open a lot of packs, or more realistically a lot of boxes, before this specific card turns up. Most collectors buy it as a single rather than chasing it from sealed product. One thing to clear up: despite the word Shiny in the name, this is a full-art shiny recolor, not a vintage Gold Star. Gold Stars were a 2004 to 2007 thing, illustrated by Masakazu Fukuda, with a gold star next to the name and a shiny alternate-color print. Different era, different rarity, no overlap here.
Within Ancient Origins this is the headline secret rare. It outranks the set's regular full-art EX and Mega cards in both rarity and demand, and it's the card the whole set is known for.
ArtworkWhy the art matters
5ban Graphics is a Japanese studio, not a single illustrator, and it handled a large share of the EX-era full-art and secret-rare cards. If you collected Pokemon-EX and Mega cards through the BW and XY years, you have stacks of 5ban work. The style leans on digital rendering, metallic textures, and the dynamic foil patterns that made full arts feel like a step up from standard holos.
Mega Rayquaza fills the frame in its shiny coloring, black-bodied with gold accents instead of the usual green. The serpentine body coils across the card and the art runs edge to edge with no border. Japanese text is worked into the design across the dragon.
Full-art secret rare with the textured holo finish typical of 5ban's XY-era work. There's no inset window, so the foil pattern and the etched texture carry the whole card face. Card stats: Colorless type, 220 HP, the theta-Max Ancient Trait, and the Emerald Break attack.
The shiny recolor is the hook. Plenty of cards feature Mega Rayquaza. This is the one that turns it black and gold, and the full-art frame gives the recolor room to breathe. It's the rarest and best-looking version of a fan-favorite Pokemon in the XY era.
BackgroundAbout M Rayquaza EX Shiny Full Art
Rayquaza is the Legendary Dragon-Flying Pokemon at the center of Pokemon Emerald and the Hoenn weather trio. It has stayed a marquee Pokemon across generations, and its Mega Evolution, introduced in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, raised its profile further. In the TCG it has anchored multiple chase cards and tournament decks over the years.
- ›Top-tier Legendary with a huge built-in fanbase
- ›Mega Rayquaza is one of the most striking Mega designs
- ›Long history of sought-after cards across sets
- ›Hoenn nostalgia for players who started in the GBA era
- ›Box art Legendary of Pokemon Emerald
- ›Member of the Hoenn weather trio with Kyogre and Groudon
- ›Anchor of Mega Rayquaza decks in the XY competitive era
Mega Rayquaza EX saw real competitive play in the XY format, built around bench-counting damage and fast setups. That history is long past for current Standard, but it adds to the card's legacy for collectors who remember the era.
Own it wellCollector guide
Full arts from this era are notorious for edge whitening and centering issues. Check all four corners and the front-to-back centering before you buy raw. The textured surface can also show print lines and light scratches under angled light.
Worth grading if you have a clean copy. The premium for a top grade over raw is meaningful, and a slab also settles the authenticity question on a card this valuable. If the corners or centering are off, drop your grade expectations accordingly. Read the grading guide →
Sleeve it, then put it in a toploader or a one-touch. For a card at this value tier, a graded slab is the safest long-term home. Keep it out of direct light and away from humidity to protect the foil. See the storage guide →
For serious money, buy graded from a reputable seller, or buy raw only with clear, well-lit photos of corners and surface. Confirm it's the full-art secret rare 98/98 and not the jumbo promo. The jumbo version from the 2015 Shiny Rayquaza-EX Box is a different, much cheaper item, so don't let listings blur the two. See the singles buying guide →
This card gets faked, so verify before paying. Hold it to a light to check for the internal black core layer that genuine Pokemon cards have. Feel the surface texture, since real full arts have a distinct etched finish that flat reprints miss. Compare the holo behavior and the rosette dot pattern under magnification, and watch for blurry text or off colors. For anything above pocket money, buy it already graded by PSA, BGS, or CGC.
Protect your card
High Chase Score — protect and consider grading. · Amazon affiliate links · Storage guideWord on the streetCommunity sentiment
Widely regarded as the chase card of Ancient Origins and one of the standout Mega Rayquaza cards of the XY era. Collectors consistently rank it among the most desirable cards from the set.
Shows up regularly in XY-era pack-opening videos and want lists as the card people hope to hit. Steady, long-running interest rather than a hype spike.
Good to knowFrequently asked questions
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