Black Bolt Set Guide

Overview

Black Bolt and White Flare are paired special sets that close the Scarlet & Violet series, both released July 18, 2025 and both set in Unova. Black Bolt has Zekrom ex; White Flare has Reshiram ex.

The shape is unusual. The printed total is only 86, and 86 more cards sit above it, 69 of them Illustration Rares. Each set also has one card at a rarity of its own, the Black White Rare.

Cards and rarities

Black Bolt has 172 cards. Every card shows its number over the printed total along the bottom, as in "001/086", next to the set code BLK.

The printed total is 86, so the 86 cards from 087 to 172 are secret rares, exactly half the set. Set completion in TurnZero HQ counts a set against its printed total and keeps the secret rares apart, so finishing the main set and chasing the cards above it read as two separate goals. How set completion works →

Headline Pokémon

Three Pokémon ex worth knowing, each giving up two Prize cards when Knocked Out:

Zekrom ex

Black Bolt #34

A Basic with 230 HP. Voltage Burst does 130 plus 50 for each Prize card your opponent has taken, and 30 to itself.

Kyurem ex

Black Bolt #28

Blizzard Burst does 130 and 10 to each of your opponent's Benched Pokémon for each Prize card they have taken.

Genesect ex

Black Bolt #67

Metallic Signal searches your deck for up to 2 Evolution Metal Pokémon, once a turn.

Trainers worth knowing

The Supporter the set's chase list includes:

N's Plan

Black Bolt #83

Moves up to 2 Energy from your Benched Pokémon to your Active Pokémon.

The chase card: Victini

Victini

Black Bolt #171

Rarity Secret rare

Card number 171/086

Market price, September 30, 2026 $627.44

Illustrator 5ban Graphics

Black Bolt's most valuable card isn't Zekrom. It is Victini 171/086, a card numbered far above the printed total, at $627.44 on September 30, 2026. The catalog lists its rarity as plain Rare; its number is what makes it a secret.

Zekrom ex is right behind it. The Black White Rare Zekrom ex (172/086) was $614.15, $13 less, so the two trade places easily. The Zekrom ex Special Illustration Rare was third at $273.96.

Victini is printed twice in Black Bolt. The regular Rare at 012/086 was $0.16.

Every Victini in Black Bolt

Only the exact version is worth its price. The number at the bottom of the card and the rarity symbol beside it tell you which one you pulled. Reading the number and rarity symbol →

Chase cards and prices

Two cards are far ahead of the rest. With 69 Illustration Rares, some regular Pokémon also chart: the Seismitoad Illustration Rare was fourth.

These are each card's headline TCGplayer market price on September 30, 2026. Prices can move a long way, most of all in a set's first months, so treat them as a snapshot. Each card's page shows today's price for every variant and its 90-day chart. How Pokémon card prices work →

What a complete set costs

One copy of every card in Black Bolt, bought as singles, cost $3,413.42 on September 30, 2026. That is the second most expensive of the seven sets released in 2025.

The three most valuable cards, Victini, Zekrom ex and Zekrom ex, come to $1,515.55, or 44% of the total. Without them the set costs $1,897.87. Of the 170 cards, 89 were under $2.00, together $20.28; the other 81 add up to $3,393.14.

Two cards had no TCGplayer price on file and aren't counted: Antique Cover Fossil and Professor's Research.

Each card is counted at its cheapest priced variant, a Normal copy rather than a Reverse Holofoil where both exist, at its TCGplayer market price. This is what it costs to buy the set as singles. It is not what opening packs returns, and not what a complete set would sell for, which after fees and the many cards worth cents would be noticeably less.

Playing it

Almost every Black Bolt card carries the I regulation mark, legal in Standard under the April 10, 2026 rotation.

Zekrom ex and Kyurem ex both get stronger as your opponent takes Prize cards, so they hit hardest when you are behind.

Standard, Expanded and deck building rules →

Frequently Asked Questions