Pokémon TCG · 2012 Set Guide
Dark Explorers Set Guide
A set built around Darkness Pokémon, with Darkrai-EX and Dark Patch. Its most valuable card is the secret-rare Gardevoir, just ahead of the full-art Darkrai-EX.
Overview
Dark Explorers is the fifth Black & White set: 108 cards up to the printed total and three secret rares above it, Gardevoir, Archeops and Pokémon Catcher (109 to 111).
Its theme is Darkness. Darkrai-EX's Dark Cloak gives each of your Pokémon with Darkness Energy attached no Retreat Cost, and Dark Patch attaches a basic Darkness Energy from your discard pile to a Benched Darkness Pokémon. The set has six Pokémon-EX, each printed again as a full art.
Cards and rarities
Dark Explorers has 111 cards. Every card shows its number over the printed total along the bottom, as in "1/108", next to the set code DEX.
The printed total is 108, so the 3 cards from 109 to 111 are secret rares. 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
Six Pokémon-EX, each a Basic Pokémon that gives up two Prize cards when Knocked Out, and each printed again as a full art:
Darkrai-EX
Dark Explorers #63
180 HP. Dark Cloak: each of your Pokémon with any Darkness Energy attached has no Retreat Cost. Night Spear does 90, and 30 to a Benched Pokémon.
Kyogre-EX
Dark Explorers #26
170 HP. Dual Splash does 50 damage to two of your opponent's Pokémon.
Groudon-EX
Dark Explorers #54
180 HP. Giant Claw does 80, or 120 if the Defending Pokémon already has 2 or more damage counters on it.
Trainers worth knowing
Three Items, two of them reprinted many times since:
Dark Patch
Dark Explorers #93
Item. Attach a basic Darkness Energy from your discard pile to one of your Benched Darkness Pokémon.
Ultra Ball
Dark Explorers #102
Item. Discard 2 cards from your hand to search your deck for any Pokémon.
Rare Candy
Dark Explorers #100
Item. Put a Stage 2 from your hand onto the Basic Pokémon it evolves from, skipping the Stage 1.
The chase card: Gardevoir
Dark Explorers' chase card is Gardevoir, numbered 109/108, a Rare Secret, illustrated by 5ban Graphics, at $946.33 on October 22, 2026.
The Rare Ultra Darkrai-EX (107/108) was second at $822.10 and the Rare Ultra Groudon-EX (106/108) third at $427.46.
Gardevoir is printed only once in Dark Explorers, here.
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
The secret Gardevoir and the full-art Darkrai-EX are far ahead of the rest, and the other full-art Pokémon-EX follow.
| Card | Rarity | Market price, October 22, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Gardevoir | Rare Secret | $946.33 |
| Darkrai-EX | Rare Ultra | $822.10 |
| Groudon-EX | Rare Ultra | $427.46 |
| Raikou-EX | Rare Ultra | $320.40 |
| Kyogre-EX | Rare Ultra | $318.96 |
| Entei-EX | Rare Ultra | $257.00 |
| Archeops | Rare Secret | $185.90 |
These are each card's headline TCGplayer market price on October 22, 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 Dark Explorers, bought as singles, cost $4,076.90 on October 22, 2026. That is the third most expensive of the twelve sets in the Black & White series.
The three most valuable cards, Gardevoir, Darkrai-EX and Groudon-EX, come to $2,195.89, or 54% of the total. Without them the set costs $1,881.01. Of the 111 cards, 65 were under $2.00, together $46.41; the other 46 add up to $4,030.49.
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
No Dark Explorers card carries a regulation mark, so none is Standard-legal as printed. Standard has allowed only the H, I and J marks since April 10, 2026. Dark Explorers is legal in Expanded, which takes every set from Black & White on, except for Sableye (62/108) and Archeops (110/108), on the Expanded banned list.
A reprint with a legal mark makes older printings of the same card legal again, so check a card's name before you rule it out.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Dark Explorers release?
May 9, 2012. Its set code is DEX.
How many cards are in Dark Explorers?
111. The printed total is 108, and the 3 cards numbered above it are secret rares.
What does Darkrai-EX's Dark Cloak do?
It is an Ability: each of your Pokémon that has any Darkness Energy attached has no Retreat Cost, so a Darkness deck can switch its Active Pokémon without discarding Energy.
What is the most valuable Dark Explorers card?
The Rare Secret Gardevoir (109/108), at $946.33 on October 22, 2026, ahead of the Rare Ultra Darkrai-EX (107/108) at $822.10. Prices move daily, so check each card's page for the current figure.
Track your Dark Explorers cards.
Scan cards in by the set code and number at the bottom, see how much of the set you own, and value every copy from daily TCGplayer prices. Free to start.
Create Free AccountPokémon and Pokémon character names are trademarks of Nintendo. ©Pokémon. ©Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAME FREAK inc. TurnZero HQ is not affiliated with, sponsored, or endorsed by Nintendo, The Pokémon Company, Creatures Inc., or GAME FREAK inc. Card data comes from the open PokemonTCG dataset, and prices from TCGplayer.