Silver Tempest isn't actually the last Sword & Shield Pokémon set—we're getting the Crown Zenith mini-set in January—but Silver Tempest still feels like a farewell to the Sword & Shield Series.

The set follows the tried-and-true formula of every previous major Pokémon release in 2021: we've got a Trainer Gallery, a wickedly powerful Pokémon VSTAR, and an alt-art Pokémon V that collectors will be chasing to the exclusion of nearly everything else.

This time though, the theme of the set is a bit looser. The Pokémon Company International has already showcased all the Legendary Pokémon featured in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and with Scarlet & Violet not yet released, TPCi chose Lugia to headline this last set of 2021.

Why Lugia? It's a cool Pokémon, and after three sets that carefully maximized cross-product synergy, TPCi wanted to give fans something fun and familiar. Seeing Lugia frontline a Pokémon set again is like watching a classic band play their biggest, most crowd-pleasing hit for an encore. That's our show, everyone! Thanks for coming out.

With no crazy experiments in Silver Tempest, the set's most valuable cards follow predictable patterns. Here are the most expensive cards you can find in Silver Tempest.

#10 Full Art Worker

Silver Tempest gives competitive players a new twist on the classic "Draw 3 cards" Supporter with Worker, whose appearance is based on the Workers the player encounters in the Galar Mine in Sword and Shield. Discarding a Stadium when you play Worker is mandatory, so the card doesn't fit in decks that have their own Stadiums they want to use, like Path to the Peak. For every other deck however, Worker is an effective answer to opposing Stadiums that you don't mind seeing when you don't have targets to demolish.

And of course, this is a Full Art card of a female Trainer. Those tend to be valuable.

#9 Forest Seal Stone

Holo Rares like Forest Seal Stone hardly ever make it onto lists like this. Forest Seal Stone manages to break the mold because it's so much more powerful than the average card at its rarity.

VSTAR Powers are busted once-per-game abilities that were introduced in Brilliant Stars. Because they're so strong, you're basically missing out if you don't use one every single game, but that's tricky for decks that don't want to run one of the handful of Pokémon VSTAR that were printed in the last few sets of the Sword & Shield Series. Forest Seal Stone lets any deck with at least one Pokémon V use a VSTAR ability, and it's searchable with anything that finds Trainer cards.

Earthen Seal Stone was also printed in Silver Tempest, but its effect isn't nearly useful as searching up any card in your deck. Whether you're setting up your Bench or looking for a game-winning Boss's Orders, Forest Seal Stone provides, so until it gets reprinted, expect it to command a high price.

#8 Gold Rare Lugia VSTAR

Players are snatching up all three versions of Lugia VSTAR (including this middle-scarcity gold version) to dunk on each other in Standard.

Tempest Dive hits like a truck while discarding annoying Stadium cards like PokéStop and Lost City, and Summoning Star lets you cheat Archeops into play so you can accelerate out Powerful Colorless Energy and Double Turbo Energy. Or you can bring out Regigigas and make your opponent regret playing three-Prize Pokémon.

Lugia VSTAR works best in colorless decks, but depending on what Summoning Star targets get printed, it could end up seeing play in any deck that wants access to a VSTAR Power. Players are going to be sleeving up this Pokémon in Standard for a long time.

#7 Alt Art Regidrago V

Regidrago is the Dragon-type member of the Pokémon group known as the Legendary titans. Legendary Pokémon after Generation IV sometimes have a hard time standing out in the fandom, but being part of a distinct group of Pokémon with similar names helps Poké-fans remember Regidrago, and remembering something is the first step to liking it! Regidrago's surreal dragon-jaw limbs are also hard to forget.

The popularity of Regidrago (and the Regis in general) are just half of this card's appeal. The other half is the ancient-looking ruined landscape and the way it evokes feelings of lost grandeur and loneliness—perfect given Regidrago's backstory. Cards like alt-art Zeraora V and alt-art Hisuian Sneasler V proved that Pokémon fans will pay a lot for a good landscape illustration that just happens to have a Pokémon on it.

Oh, and Lugia's in the background, that's half of this card's appeal too. The… third half. Let's move on.

#6 Rainbow Rare Alolan Vulpix VSTAR

If Lugia is the headliner of Silver Tempest, Alolan Vulpix is the opening act. The arctic fox appears on the front of Silver Tempest booster packs, booster bundles, and Elite Trainer Boxes (both the normal and the Pokémon Center-exclusive ones. TPCi apparently knew what they were doing, because the Secret Rare version of Alolan Vulpix VSTAR is a big card in Silver Tempest solely due to its rarity and the popularity of the snow-white Pokémon among fans.

#5 Alt Art Unown V

The mysterious Symbol Pokémon have been an enigmatic part of the Pokémon franchise since Generation II. Almost all we know about them is that they tend to appear in groups around ancient ruins.

Well, this alternate-art version of Unown V gives us a group of Unown floating above some ruins, so characterization accomplished. The few Unown TCG cards before this often failed to make the Unown look like they belonged in their environment, but the cartoony art style and off-kilter angle in Toshinao Aoki's illustration do a lot to make the Unown fit in with their background, even though they're weird, alien letter-guys.

#4 Full Art Serena

Serena plays crucial roles in both the X & Y video games, where she's either the player character or their rival, and in the Pokémon anime, where she follows Ash for a whole series and (allegedly) steals his first kiss.

Somehow she's never gotten a Full Art card before Silver Tempest, so The Pokémon Company International made up for lost time by giving fans this card, as well as a Rainbow Rare version and a Full Art card featuring Serena and Braixen in the Silver Tempest Trainer Gallery. Given Serena's popularity, it's no wonder this card is as valuable as it is.

#3 Rainbow Rare Lugia VSTAR

Rainbow Rare Lugia VSTAR is the rarest Lugia VSTAR card in the set, and it may also be the single rarest card in Silver Tempest. But with two other cards sharing its artwork, it doesn't stand out as much as some other collectibles in the set. It's not even the most expensive Lugia in Silver Tempest.

#2 TG20 Rayquaza VMAX

The illustration on the alternate-art Rayquaza VMAX from Evolving Skies always felt a little underwhelming. The high camera angle makes it hard to appreciate Dynamax Rayquaza's size, and the Dragon itself sort of blends in with the trees, a problem only slightly mitigated by the pink Dynamax glow surrounding it.

The new Trainer Gallery version of Rayquaza VMAX addresses those problems. The low camera angle emphasizes Rayquaza's intimidating stature, the red and violet background colors make Rayquaza's green pop, and Zinnia gives the art another point of focus and reference for scale. Plus, Zinnia's cool.

All these factors make Rayquaza VMAX (TG20) the most valuable Trainer Gallery card in Silver Tempest.

#1 Alt Art Lugia V

Like Lost Origin in September, Silver Tempest is a top-heavy set dominated by the one alt-art Legendary Pokémon card that both players and collectors are chasing. In Silver Tempest, that alt-art is Lugia V.

Alt-art Lugia V is the most expensive card in Silver Tempest by an order of magnitude. Buyers and sellers largely anticipated this fact, based on the ridiculously high price of the Japanese version of the card in Paradigm Trigger.

Japanese Lugia sold for $559.99 on eBay

I have mixed feelings about the alt-art's illustration, especially since the regular Lugia V card has much better art than these Ultra Rares normally receive. Mitsuhiro Arita did incredible work capturing a stormy sea—if I look at it too long I feel like I need a raincoat—so do we really need another take on basically the same idea?

Fans certainly think so, and I can't deny that the alt-art feels dramatic. The sailor caught in the storm adds another layer to the story, implying that this was the only glimpse they saw of Lugia as it was momentarily backlit by lightning. The framing makes Lugia feel wild, untamable, and legendary, qualities that can be lost when you're used to seeing Lugia on Rares and Holo Rares.

Good card, TPCi. Keep it up as we close out the Sword & Shield Series and head into Scarlet & Violet.