Summary
Generation 5 is home to some fans' favorite region, Pokemon, and characters and, for many more reasons, Black & White are considered the series' very best entries. Unova has one character who stands out, and he has since become iconic, and that is Natural Harmonia Gropius, otherwise known as N.
In thePokemon Trading Card Game,N has had his fair share of gorgeous cards with regal art of him representing his status as the king of Team Plasma and his Pokemon caring soul. N is one of the most popular trainers in the series and many of his plentiful cards are desired for countless reasons.
All prices listed have been taken from their Market Price onTCG Player.
10N’s Darmanitan: Journey Together (Prerelease Staff Promo, 181) – $25.74
Blazing Fury
Alongside the release of every new expansion, certain partnered stores hold prerelease events for fans to try it out before release and compete in a tournament to winPrize packsand other goodies. The staff members who run these events are given illusive promo cards, which can then become some of the most lucrative cards of any set due to low availability and exclusivity.
N’s Darmanitan is a useful piece of N’s Pokemon deck from Journey Together, being able to have its attacks copied by N’s Zoroark ex, which makes it extra valuable as a staff promo. There isn’t an illustration rare version of this card, so if you want to bling out your deck, this is the best version of the card with its unique art and rare print run.
9N’s Zoroark ex: Journey Together (Hyper Rare, 189) – $30.13
Golden Royalty
New for Journey Together, hyper rare cards for Trainer’s Pokemon now contain both the Pokemon and their trainer, and together they are now some of the most gorgeous cards around. N and Zoroark both have similar designs and colors with black and white hues and putting them on the gold holo and background, looks absolutely divine.
N’s Zoroark ex is a card that is highly valuable because it has not only fan appeal with two of Generation 5’s most beloved Pokemon and trainer, but also for its high playability and legacy. This card is pretty much a reprint of Zoroark GX from Sun & Moon’s expansion Shining Legends, but with some more modern rebalancing as that card was notoriously one of the best in its era.
There are misprinted versions of this card in the first print run of the set, Battle Partners in Japan, where it had the texture of the special illustration rare card instead of the proper texture. This misprint can go for astronomically high prices due to its unique and sparse print.
8N’s Zorua: Journey Together (Pokemon Center Exclusive Promo, 189) – $44.04
Adorable In Every Way Possible
Every expansion in the Scarlet & Violet era has had anElite Trainer boxrelease alongside it and these products are always some of the best ways to get a decent amount of packs alongside some snazzy bonuses. In the Scarlet & Violet era, however, they started giving out exclusive promo cards as well, to make them even more enticing for fans.
This adorable card came bundled in with the Pokemon Center exclusive Journey Together Elite Trainer boxes and has one tiny difference from the version that comes in every Elite Trainer box. Looking towards the bottom of the card, you will notice a little Pokemon Center stamp. That minute difference makes this cute card a lot more valuable than its regular counterpart.
7Reshiram & Zekrom GX: Cosmic Eclipse (Ultra Rare, 157) – $63.86
The Power Of The Original Dragon (Minus Kyurem)
In Black & White’s story, it’s canon that, while you get the box Legendary, N gets its counterpart. In this card, however, N breaks that and takes command of both Zekrom and Reshiram. This Tag-Team card has both the dragons combining their elements to rage through foes with two strong attacks. This card was a strong ace for many Sun & Moon decks and, combined with the popularity of N, this card has become desired by Unova fans and TCG players alike.
The GX move for these two legends is able to cause chaos all over your opponent’s Bench. For two Fire, two Lightning Energy, you get to do a whopping 170 damage to one of your opponent’s Benched Pokemon and, if you used the Supporter N’s Resolve this turn, you get to hit another. Bench-sniping attacks are usually quite weak, but since this one is a once-per-game GX attack, they went all out, making it one of the most powerful ever printed.
6N’s Resolve: Cosmic Eclipse (Ultra Rare, 232) – $83.84
Reaching For Ideals While Discovering The Truth
Cosmic Eclipse was the final Sun & Moon era set that ended that era off with a fantastic lunar eclipse of festivities and cards like no other. N got spoiled in this set with many cards featuring him, including a new Supporter that combos well with Reshiram & Zekrom GX, which he also featured on.
This card’s art has an incredible style and features N revealing the truth about some ancient text while also reaching for his own ideals, all of which are represented in white light and a dark black background. N’s story in Black & White is one of the deepest of any Pokemon character and, while the art doesn’t specifically reference any moment from the games, it perfectly encapsulates the drive of N and his resolve.
5N’s Zoroark ex: Journey Together (Special Illustration Rare, 185) – $90.14
Plotting, Plotting And More Plotting
N was seemingly the main mascot of theJourney Togetherexpansion as he was featured on the Elite Trainer box and got an exclusive N’s Reshiram promo included with enhanced booster boxes. So, it’s no surprise that Megumi Mizutani went all out on the artwork for N and his iconic partner in this special illustration rare of N’s Zoroark ex.
Side by side, N and Zoroark are in-sync with a stunning, almost hand-painted-like style that puts a mischievous grin on Zoroark’s face. N has the ability to converse with Pokemon due to being raised by them and the art of this card shows that well - it almost looks like they’re hatching a plan together or scheming some more ways to liberate Pokemon from humans.
4N: Fates Collide (Alternate Art Promo, 105a) – $106.17
Reaching Out For The Truth
The artwork on this card is phenomenal, with a gorgeous sunset holo behind him, N reaches a hand out toward you while smiling, creating such a dynamic full art Supporter that is really like no other. While it may be quite simple compared to the special illustration rare Supporters in the modern era, this card still manages to stick out stylistically as a beautiful promo card worthy of any collection.
The only problem with the card was its limited availability, only being found in the X & Y Premium Trainers Collection box, which contained many of the best Supporter cards from the X & Y meta in brilliant full-art alternate art cards. At the time, this box was expensive, and now it is even more so with all the exclusive reprinted promo cards inside being some of X & Y’s most sought-after Supporters.
3Reshiram & Zekrom GX: Cosmic Eclipse (Rainbow Rare, 259) – $121.92
Bursting With Color
This card is a rarer version of the ultra rare Reshiram & Zekrom GX but, despite this, it is much less valuable, just like all rainbow rare cards tend to be. The issue many fans have with these cards is that the rainbow colors and holo effect tend to overwhelm the artwork and leave alot to be desired.
Rainbow Rare cards are very premium but the regular-colored ultra rare versions of these cards tend to look much better and are much more desired because of this, despite being more common. On this card, however, the colors work really well to make N, Reshiram, and Zekrom all pop out in their own way to make it one of the most prestigious-looking N cards and one of thebest rainbow rarestyled cards.
2N: Noble Victories (Ultra Rare, 101) – $139.39
N’s Noble Beginning
This card is N’s very first chase card, and it is powerful and elegant at the same time. This Supporter card is a classic powerhouse from the Black & White era, being identical in function to Scarlet & Violet’s Iono card in effect, making both you and your foe shuffle your hand into your deck and draw cards equal to the remaining Prize Cards you have.
This card was released back when there were fewer rarities, making ultra rare Supporters actually worth something. It’s even the most valuable chase card forNoble Victories.The Black & White era is one of the most niche of the whole TCG and many fans are now craving some of the amazing cards from the era they missed out on and, considering how important N is to Black & White, this card is one of the most prized of the era.
1Reshiram & Zekrom GX: Cosmic Eclipse (Alternate Art Ultra Rare, 222) – $289.57
The Ultimate Unova Love Letter
With the power of both box Legendaries from Black & White by his side, N looks to strike the heart of all Generation 5 fans right in their wallets with this card. This powerful card features both Reshiram and Zekrom as aTag-Team GXcard with N joining in to command the two in harmony, taking the reins of both truth and ideals and fusing together their fire and electricity.
The shocking blue lightning and the burning orange flames compliment each other well to perfectly show off both Zekrom and Reshiram’s powers. N being in the center brings the entire art together with his complimentary black and white outfit and striking lime-green hair. This card is a great example of how trainers can bring so much to a card and N reigns king of them all as one of the best in the TCG, no matter the card.
