As we await the much-anticipated release of Pokémon's 30th Anniversary Celebration trading card set in September, let's take a look at the biggest Pokémon release so far this year. The Ascended Heroes expansion was released in English on January 30, 2026.
CGC has certified about 30,000 Ascended Heroes English cards so far from this set. Here are the Top 5 most-submitted cards:
Mega Gengar ex (2026) Mega Attack Rare Holo – 269/217
The Ascended Heroes expansion introduced a new type of card rarity to English cards: Mega attack rare. It was originally released in the Japanese MEGA Dream ex subset. Near the bottom of the card, the pair of pink and green stars represent this rarity symbol. The full-art cards were designed by Taiga Kasai, who has designed 24 other cards since being Japanese runner-up in the Pokémon Trading Card Game Illustration Contest 2022 illustration contest. Leading all cards in this set in the CGC Cards Population Report is Mega Gengar ex (2026) Mega Attack Rare Holo - 269/217. An example graded CGC Pristine 10 realized $576 through Fanatics Collect in May 2026.
Charmander (2026) Mega Charizard Y Tech Sticker Collection (Cosmos Holo) – 020/217
This is one of two Ascended Heroes Tech Sticker Collections that were packaged with Ascended Heroes blisters that included three booster packs. In addition to the base card, this is one of three variants, the others being Energy Symbol Reverse Holo and Friend Ball Reverse Holo (which both have far fewer totals in the CGC Cards Population Report).
About 4% of these have earned the highest grade of CGC Pristine 10, and one of them realized $26 through Fanatics Collect in June 2026.
Mega Charizard Y ex (2026) Holo – 022/217
One of the most powerful cards in Ascended Heroes features a longtime favorite character: Charizard. According to the CGC Cards Population Report, about 30% of these cards submitted to CGC have earned a CGC Pristine 10. The one shown here realized $46 through Fanatics Collect in August 2026.
Mega Dragonite ex (2026) Mega Attack Rare Holo – 271/217
Like the Mega Gengar card earlier, this is another Mega attack rare, one of seven total in Ascended Heroes. They all feature Japanese text on the artwork of the English cards. (Meanwhile, their Japanese counterparts from Mega Dream ex all feature English text.)
About a third of the examples in the CGC Population Report have earned the CGC Pristine 10 grade, including this one, which realized $311 through Fanatics Collect in June 2026.
Gastly (2026) Mega Gengar Tech Sticker Collection (Cosmos Holo) – 123/217
Rounding out our list is the other of the two Ascended Heroes Tech Sticker Collections (in addition to the one above) that were packaged with Ascended Heroes blisters. In addition to less-popular Energy Symbol Reverse Holo, this is the other variant listed in the CGC Cards Population Report. Of nearly 1,000 examples list there, their CGC Pristine 10 rate was outpacing its Charmander tech sticker counterpart, but still less than 10% of the total graded.
Like the Charmander, this Gastly is relatively affordable at auction, with a CGC Pristine 10 realizing $37 in May 2026.
About CGC
Since revolutionizing comic book grading in 2000, CGC has grown to include certification services for a vast variety of pop culture collectibles. These divisions include CGC Cards, CGC Video Games, and CGC Home Video. CGC Cards provides expert card grading for sports cards, TCGs, and non-sports cards. CGC Video Games is dedicated to video game grading for the most popular consoles, including Nintendo, Sega, Atari, PlayStation, and more. CGC Home Video provides expert VHS grading in addition to other types of videocassettes, DVD, Blu-ray, and more. CGC also offers seamless solutions for autograph collectors with CGC Signature Series and JSA Authentic Autograph services.
CGC is part of the Certified Collectibles Group, a global provider of expert and impartial authentication and grading services for collectibles. Since 1987, the Certified Collectibles Group companies have certified more than 110 million collectibles, including coins, banknotes, comic books, cards, autographs, and stamps.