Dragons Exalted

What Dragons Exalted is

Dragons Exalted is the sixth main expansion of the Black & White Series, released in English on August 15, 2012. It has 124 cards in the numbered set plus 4 secret rares, 128 in total, and it combines the Japanese Dragon Blast and Dragon Blade dual expansions of March 16, 2012, 55 cards each, with cards from the Hydreigon Half Deck and Garchomp Half Deck.

The set introduced the Dragon type to the card game. Because there is no Dragon Energy, Dragon Pokémon attack with Energy of other types, which is why the set also brought the Blend Energy GRPD 117 and Blend Energy WLFM 118 Special Energy cards. Rayquaza, Giratina, Hydreigon and Garchomp lead the 18 Dragon cards, and Rayquaza EX and Giratina EX are the first Dragon type Pokémon-EX. Fittingly, 2012 was the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese calendar.

Six Pokémon-EX sit in the numbered set with full art prints at 119 to 124: Ho-Oh EX, Mew EX, Terrakion EX, Registeel EX, Rayquaza EX and Giratina EX. The four secret rares at 125 to 128 are Serperior, Reuniclus, Krookodile and a shiny Rayquaza, and the full art Mew EX 120 and the secret rare Rayquaza 128 are the two cards the set is known for.

What makes Dragons Exalted different

• The first Dragon type Dragons Exalted made the Dragon type a card type for the first time, with Rayquaza EX and Giratina EX as its first Pokémon-EX and Garchomp 90 and Hydreigon 97 as the Dragons its two Theme Decks were built around.
• The full art Mew EX Mew EX 120 is the most valuable card in the set in PSA 10, ahead of the secret rare Rayquaza 128 and the full art Giratina EX 124, and it is one of the best known full art cards of the Black & White Series.
• Four secret rares Serperior 125, Reuniclus 126, Krookodile 127 and the shiny Rayquaza 128 are the secret rares, and all four rank among the top seven cards in the set, with Rayquaza 128 second overall.
• The Magmortar that changed Magmortar has different artwork in the English and Japanese prints. The Japanese card showed Magmortar pointing its cannon straight at the viewer, and the English print changed it to Magmortar holding one of its cannons.
• The Hoppip misprint Early prints of Hoppip 1 carried the Pokédex entry for Skiploom instead of Hoppip, a small error that collectors of the set look for.

How Dragons Exalted arrived

Dragon Blast and Dragon Blade released in Japan on March 16, 2012 as the fifth expansion block of the BW Era, and the English Dragons Exalted followed on August 15, 2012, nine weeks after the McDonald's Collection 2012 on June 15, 2012 and seven weeks before the Dragon Vault mini set on October 5, 2012 that continued the Dragon theme.

The two Theme Decks, DragonSnarl and DragonSpeed, focused on Hydreigon and Garchomp, the two Dragon Pokémon that carried the type's debut, and included exclusive Cracked Ice Holofoil prints of Hydreigon 98 and Garchomp 91.

Four blisters released with the set the same day: Three Pack Blisters with a Cracked Ice Holofoil Chandelure from Next Destinies or Scolipede from Black & White and a Reshiram and Zekrom coin, and Stage 1 Blisters with the Excadrill or Lilligant line, a Dragons Exalted pack and a Sampling Pack.

Dragons Exalted products

Dragons Exalted was sold in booster packs, booster boxes, two Theme Decks and four blisters. The sealed table above tracks boxes, packs and the Three Pack Blister.

Collecting and grading Dragons Exalted

The full art Mew EX 120 leads the set in PSA 10, with the secret rare Rayquaza 128 second, then the full art Giratina EX 124, the secret rare Serperior 125, the full art Rayquaza EX 123 and the secret rares Krookodile 127 and Reuniclus 126. Ninetales 19, the regular Rayquaza EX 85, the full art Terrakion EX 121, the Cosmos Holofoil Gyarados 24, Garchomp 90, the full art Registeel EX 122, Hydreigon 97 and the full art Ho-Oh EX 119 complete the top fifteen. The live chase list above ranks every tracked card by PSA 10 value.

Black & White full arts and secret rares show scratches and edge whitening easily, so PSA 10 copies of Mew EX 120 and Rayquaza 128 are scarce and the gap between PSA 9 and PSA 10 on both is very wide. The holofoil rares Ninetales 19, Garchomp 90 and Hydreigon 97 cost little raw but grade far above their raw prices.

Sealed Dragons Exalted is scarce, and the sealed table above tracks what boxes, packs and blisters trade for today.