In the history of the Pokémon TCG, there have been a total of three expansion sets centered around Team Rocket and their Pokémon: Rocket Gang (1997) in Gen 1, Rocket Gang Strikes Back (2004) in Gen 3, and The Glory of Team Rocket [SV10] (2025) in Gen 9. These sets added their own contributions to the rich and storied legacy of Team Rocket cards in the Pokémon TCG.

Following the recent release of The Glory of Team Rocket [SV10], there’s no better time than now to take a look back at these earlier sets and find out how they stack up against their modern-day counterpart.

Rocket Gang vs Rocket Gang Strikes Back vs The Glory of Team Rocket [SV10]: Card Comparison

Pokémon Card Game Expansion Pack Vol.4 Team Rocket Box

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Pokémon Card Game Expansion Pack Team Rocket’s Counterattack 1ED Box

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Pokemon Card Game Scarlet & Violet Expansion Pack “Glory of Team Rocket” Box

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In terms of quantity of cards, The Glory of Team Rocket [SV10] is far and away the largest of the three sets with 132 cards in total. This is a figure which is almost as large as that of Rocket Gang and Rocket Gang Strikes Back combined; Rocket Gang has 65 total cards while Rocket Gang Strikes Back contains 85.

Rocket Gang vs Rocket Gang Strikes Back vs The Glory of Team Rocket [SV10]: Pull Rates

It’s not really possible to compare secret rares between the three sets like-for-like because the two earlier sets were released well before secret rares became a staple element of the Pokémon TCG. That being said, when comparing each set’s percentage of cards with rarities beyond the basic three rarities of Common (C), Uncommon (U), or Rare (R), the following statistics are revealed:

Rocket Gang: 17/65 – 26.2%
Rocket Gang Strikes Back: 31/85 – 36.5%
The Glory of Team Rocket [SV10]: 42/132 – 31.8%

Looking at these figures, it thus becomes clear that when buying booster packs of any of the three Team Rocket sets, the buyer has the best chance of pulling rare cards from Rocket Gang Strikes Back, followed by The Glory of Team Rocket [SV10] and Rocket Gang in that order.

With regard to the number of cards in the set that are directly related to Team Rocket, The Glory of Team Rocket [SV10] has the highest number of such cards with 84, almost two-thirds of the entire set. Rocket Gang has 36 Team Rocket-related cards, or slightly over half the set, while Rocket Gang Strikes Back contains 40 Team Rocket-related cards—slightly less than half the set.

Rocket Gang vs Rocket Gang Strikes Back vs The Glory of Team Rocket [SV10]: Standout Cards

As one might expect, many of the standout cards of all three Team Rocket-related sets are the cards depicting Pokémon owned by Team Rocket. It’s worth noting that all three sets differentiate these Pokémon in different ways. In Rocket Gang, all Pokémon owned by Team Rocket have the prefix “Dark” affixed to their names. Rocket Gang Strikes Back brought back the “Dark” prefix and also added several other Pokémon with “Rocket’s” before their names. The Glory of Team Rocket [SV10] did away with the “Dark” prefix; in addition, the set saw the change of the “Rocket’s” prefix to “Team Rocket’s”.

Charizard : Old Back [PMCG4 No.006](Expansion Pack “Team Rocket”)

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Blastoise : Old Back [PMCG4 No.009](Expansion Pack “Team Rocket”)

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Dragonite : Old Back [PMCG4 No.149](Expansion Pack “Team Rocket”)

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The unquestioned star of Rocket Gang is Dark Charizard—one of the most iconic cards in Pokémon TCG history. The idea of an evil Charizard—a perennial fan-favorite right from the start of the Pokémon franchise—in the hands of Team Rocket represents a concept which has been irresistible to so many over the years and has made the card one of the era’s most memorable. Among the other standouts of Rocket Gang are Dark Blastoise, Dark Dragonite, Dark Gyarados, and the Here Comes Team Rocket! card depicting Jessie and James, the Team Rocket operatives from the Pokémon anime. All cards mentioned are Rare Holos except Here Comes Team Rocket!, which is a Super Rare Holo.

Treecko: Resale[PCG3 011/084](Expansion Pack “Rocket Gang Strikes Back”)

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Mudkip: 1ED[PCG3 033/084](Expansion Pack “Rocket Gang Strikes Back”)

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Torchic: 1ED[PCG3 020/084](Expansion Pack “Rocket Gang Strikes Back”)

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Interestingly, the most coveted and expensive cards of Rocket Gang Strikes Back aren’t those of Pokémon owned by Team Rocket. Instead, the three cards, which are far and away the top pick,s are those of Shiny versions of the three Gen 3 starters: Treecko ☆, Torchic ☆, and Mudkip ☆; Torchic ☆ is the top pick of this trio of the Shiny Rare Holo rarity. As for the set’s Team Rocket-related cards, Rocket’s Snorlax ex and Rocket’s Suicune ex, both Rare Holo ex cards, are the leading pickups. Finally, the Here Comes Team Rocket! The card mentioned in the previous paragraph was reprinted in Rocket Gang Strikes Back as a Rare Holo and is one of the set’s leading pickups.

Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex SAR [SV10 125/098](Expansion Pack “Glory of Team Rocket”)

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Team Rocket’s Moltres ex SAR [SV10 124/098](Expansion Pack “Glory of Team Rocket”)

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Team Rocket’s Nidoking ex SAR [SV10 126/098](Expansion Pack “Glory of Team Rocket”)

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The headliner of The Glory of Team Rocket [SV10] is a Special Art Rare (SAR) Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex; although this Legendary Pokémon with a lore so closely tied to Team Rocket had previously made appearances as a Pokémon owned by them in Rocket Gang Strikes Back as well as on two other cards, it wasn’t until this most recent set that Mewtwo took top billing in a Team Rocket-related set. The other five SAR cards in The Glory of Team Rocket [SV10]—Team Rocket’s Moltres ex, Team Rocket’s Nidoking ex, Team Rocket’s Crobat ex, Team Rocket’s Giovanni, and Team Rocket’s Ariana—are all impressive pulls in their own right.

Rocket Gang vs Rocket Gang Strikes Back vs The Glory of Team Rocket [SV10]: Legacy

Rocket Gang has left an immense legacy behind in the almost three decades since its release. Before its launch, many players were clamoring for the opportunity to play the villain’s role for a change; this desire was further strengthened by a scene in the Pokémon Red and Blue video games when the player character is forced to reject a Team Rocket operative’s recruitment overture. That scene made many Pokémon fans curious: “What if we COULD have accepted his offer?”

In the years following the debut of Rocket Gang in 1997, selected sets and their cards have indeed featured villainous teams and the Pokémon belonging to them. These cards not only spotlighted Team Rocket, but in future sets, Team Magma, Team Aqua, Team Galactic, and Team Plasma would be spotlighted. However, these cards came to an end after the Team Plasma cards of Gen 5.

Many cards from Rocket Gang today fetch serious money on the open market—in particular, several of the Rare Holo Dark Pokémon cards mentioned earlier. Dark Pokémon from the Rocket Gang were also the first cards featuring villainous Pokémon in Pokémon TCG history; even though they have since been retired from the TCG, many long-time fans still hold them in high regard.

Rocket Gang Strikes Back took things to another level entirely: to this day, many of the most valuable Gen 3 cards come from that set. This was understandable given the hype behind a new Team Rocket set as well as the fact that with the releases of the Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen video games, even more in-universe lore about Team Rocket had been revealed.

Rocket Gang Strikes Back was also the first and thus far only set to divide cards featuring Pokémon owned by Team Rocket into two categories: Dark Pokémon and Rocket’s Pokémon. This added an additional narrative layer to the Pokémon depicted because Rocket’s Pokémon were all Basic Pokémon owned by Team Rocket right from the jump, while Dark Pokémon were ordinary Pokémon that were corrupted by Team Rocket as they evolved; this also ended up being the reason why Dark Pokémon were all evolved Pokémon.

To this day, Rocket Gang Strikes Back is often cited as one of the standouts of all third-generation sets. Adding to its appeal is the fact that it came towards the end of the Pokémon TCG’s “first golden age” as due to various factors, the popularity of the TCG fell off a cliff at the end of the Gen 3 era before bouncing back late in Gen 6—and this status as the last truly iconic set of the era has elevated its legacy.

Pokemon Card Game Scarlet & Violet Glory of Team Rocket Attache Case Set

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Although it’s too early to determine what the legacy of The Glory of Team Rocket [SV10] will be, there’s already a very memorable item associated with the set. For the first time ever, a special attaché case containing 30 booster packs as well as other accessories was released in conjunction with the set. Demand for the case was at such a level that despite not even being the actual booster box, all pre-orders were completely filled within a matter of hours right after they were opened.

Another notable point about The Glory of Team Rocket [SV10] concerns the fact that it features Team Rocket executives Ariana, Archer, Proton, and Petrel. The quartet, the highest-ranking members of Team Rocket other than organization head Giovanni, had never before appeared on any Pokémon TCG cards despite the fact that they had been part of the Pokémon canon since the second generation. There’s a real possibility that years from now, this might be one of the main points about this set which many people most clearly remember.

In any case, why not consider purchasing some of the cards from any of the three Team Rocket sets on the SNKRDUNK app? Though these may be cards depicting the franchise’s most iconic villains and their Pokémon, you can be certain that there’s nothing shady about our cards—they’ve been verified by all our experts and provide excellent value for money.

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