It's no longer such a shock to see the resurgence of the Pokemon Trading Card Game as a popular hobby and an attractor to many of the world's foremost collectors. For some, it's nostalgia. For others, it's the simple thrill of opening a booster pack and catching them all.

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And for others, still, it's all about their favorite monsters. Among those, Gyarados' popularity has never diminished. The fierce dragon-like sea creature, as well as its ironically pathetic origins, combines to fuel collector desire. Let's take a look at the most expensive Gyarados cards currently in the Pokemon TCG market.

Updated on July 29, 2022 by Quinton O'Connor: Lists like these need to be updated periodically because there's nothing worse than clicking on them only to discover they're woefully out-of-date. Folks want to know how much a Gyarados card is worth in 2022, not 2020. To that end, we'll be sure to keep this primed in the future as well.

10 Dark Gyarados (Team Rocket) ($65)

Pokemon TCG Dark Gyarados

As with every other card on this list, it's important to understand that the prices we list here reflect the going market rate at the time of typing. You may find that each of these cards has been sold, on occasion, for exponentially more money. If this happens, the state of the card was pitch-perfect to the point that is seldom seen.

Team Rocket is one of the earliest expansions in Pokemon TCG history — third, in fact, after Jungle and Fossil. Team Rocket cards came to represent "bad" versions of popular pals, and Gyarados certainly looks the part on a good day. No wonder folks are dropping over $65 on average right now.

9 HeartGold & SoulSilver Red Gyarados ($70)

TCG Pokemon Red Gyarados

Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver are commonly considered to be among the best games in the series. The Nintendo DS remakes of the Game Boy Color's Gold & Silver versions improved upon their predecessors in virtually every conceivable way. There's a reason that streamers replay HGSS well into 2022.

Naturally, there's a market to be made for cards from the HeartGold & SoulSilver era of the Pokemon Trading Card Game. Red Gyarados, the "shiny" (and clearly quite angry) Gyarados who inhabits Lake Rage, instantly became a fan favorite.

8 FireRed & LeafGreen Gyarados ex ($90)

Pokemon TCG Gyarados ex FRLG

Speaking of remakes, FireRed & LeafGreen pre-date HGSS by a full generation. Indeed, Kanto's Game Boy Advance reimagining took the world by storm, securing future remakes in the minds of Game Freak's top marketers. Even folks who didn't quite love Ruby & Sapphire, Gen 3's own new mainline games, had a pleasant return trip to the place that started it all.

FRLG's graphical improvement over Red & Blue may not come across as substantial to modern eyes, and as the years have gone on, a growing number of people have realized they prefer the ultra-tinny soundtrack of the inferior hardware over the objectively more powerful, but arguably less charming, GBA speakers. But be that as it may, there was nothing like seeing a Gyarados in brand-new graphics way back in 2004. Here's his card.

7 Gym Challenge Misty's Gyarados ($135)

Gyarados Misty Pokemon TCG

When the Gym Challenge set of Pokemon cards was released fans were excited to be able to have versions of Pokemon that were associated with iconic gym leaders. Every fan had their favorite gym leader and inside of that had their favorite Pokemon that gym leader trained. Misty was a part of the games but a bigger character in the popular anime. Her having the ever-popular Gyarados in a card titled Misty's Gyarados set the first card on our list, as of mid-2022, cracks the $100 mark.

6 Gym Challenge Giovanni's Gyarados ($175)

Pokemon TCG Giovanni Gyarados

Well, that's sort of rude. No sooner do we finish discussing the prominence of Misty's Gyarados than Giovanni comes strolling along with a card that's not only worth more money, but it's a stronger variation overall.

Indeed, Giovanni's Gyarado is from the same exact set as Misty's. What gives? Is it the more ruthless-looking creature? The more practical move set (for the era)? Or perhaps it's just rarer, elevating its status by proxy.

5 Nintendo Pre-Release Promo Gyarados ($180)

Nintendo Prerelease Pokemon TCG Gyarados

It's hardly uncommon for limited-time event cards to feature on Pokemon TCG pricing lists. They are, by their very nature, designed to grow in collectibility through the years. Factor in the popularity of Gyarados, and the Nintendo Prelease card has frequently crossed the $200 mark. (We're sticking with present market price, but this one's especially tumultuous, never quite settling down at a given point for long.)

If we had to think of one thing and one thing only to say about this card, it's that the Dragon Crush attack has confounded players for ages. Specifically, its citation that something will affect "each defending Pokemon", when there is always just one defending Pokemon. Yes, there's an unofficial double battle ruleset, but... why would The Pokemon Company International acknowledge it?

4 XY Ancient Origins Promo ($210)

Ancient Origins Promo Gyarados TCG

Newer players to the Pokemon TCG might look Ancient Origins Gyarados and find it hard to believe that it was a tournament-winning ace back in the Pokemon X & Y era, but that's just how much "power creep" (a rise in overall strength/stats/so forth across an entire game) we've seen since Sun & Moon.

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Ancient Origins Gyarados played into a technique that simply wouldn't amount to nearly as much today; filling your bench with Magikarp and watching your rival stare in horror at the results. Its status as a promo card means it never popped up in regular booster packs or even theme decks, enhancing its rarity and thus its cost.

3 Delta Species Gyarados Star ($300)

Delta Species Gyarados TCG

Perhaps the most spectacular piece of worldbuilding the Pokemon TCG has ever done for the overarching franchise is the creation of a region outside the games, called Holon, where "Delta Species" Pokemon existed with exclusive powers. These strange Pokemon developed as a result of electromagnetic waves broadcast by scientists seeking the ever-elusive Mew.

It's kind of a lot, and it took place across the third-generation era before disappearing, never to be seen again. Owing to its odd prestige, Delta Species Gyarados Star, a Fire-type rather than Water, fetches quite a pretty sum.

2 Base Set Shadowless Gyarados ($340)

Pokemon TCG Shadowless Base Set Gyarados

The OG among OGs, a Base Set Gyarados that lacks the familiar "shadowization" as seen in Base Set's far more prevalent Unlimited run. It can contain the First Edition symbol, in which case it will hike that much higher in market value, but not by a ton; once you're in the realm of shadowless cards that aren't listed as First Edition, you're still dealing with incredibly early prints. They just happen to be slightly less early.

Shadowless Gyarados, as with all other shadowless cards, is either First Edition or comes from an extremely limited transitional run that still omits the shadows but isn't the actual first printing. It's a strange little subset, and a pricey one at that.

1 Neo Revelation Shining Gyarados ($900)

Shining Gyarados Neo Revelation Pokemon TCG

What a beautiful bit of cardboard, no? We try to remain reasonably objective about such things, but Neo Revelation Shining Gyarados is one of our weak spots. The combination of the majesty of the infamous Red Gyarados, the way the deep, dark blue comes across like an underwater horror scene, and... frankly, what the heck is that guy doing chilling nearby?

Neo Revelation was a fun time to be a Pokemon TCG player. The game had shifted fully into the Gold & Silver Pokedex at this point, and the manufacturers were clearly having a fun time integrating Pokemon beyond Kanto's 151 for the first time. Shining Gyarados is likely the rarest card of the set, and also quite powerful for its day.

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