Ascended Heroes has 55 Illustration Rares and Special Illustration Rares.
Illustration Rares in Ascended Heroes
Illustration Rares (IR) and Special Illustration Rares (SIR) are the full-art, scene-style cards collectors chase hardest. Ascended Heroes packs 55 of them into its 295 cards: 33 standard IRs and 22 larger-art SIRs. That puts the full-art count at roughly 19% of the set — a meaningful share of why Ascended Heroes is fun to open.
The Ascended Heroes full-art cards to hunt
They're the headline pulls and a big reason the checklist runs to 295 cards.
Star Pokémon with full-art cards in Ascended Heroes
The marquee Pokémon getting the IR/SIR treatment here, with their prints:
- Mega Dragonite — Mega Dragonite ex (#152), Mega Dragonite ex (#271), Mega Dragonite ex (#290), Mega Dragonite ex (#295)
- Mega Charizard Y — Mega Charizard Y ex (#22), Mega Charizard Y ex (#294)
- Mega Hawlucha — Mega Hawlucha ex (#116), Mega Hawlucha ex (#268), Mega Hawlucha ex (#283)
- Mega Gengar — Mega Gengar ex (#125), Mega Gengar ex (#269), Mega Gengar ex (#284)
- Mega Scrafty — Mega Scrafty ex (#135), Mega Scrafty ex (#270), Mega Scrafty ex (#285)
These cards drive much of Ascended Heroes' secondary-market value and help push a full master set to 613 cards. The rarest card overall, Mega Dragonite ex (#295) (Mega Hyper Rare), sits just above them on the rarity ladder.
IR vs SIR in Ascended Heroes
If you're prioritising, the 22 Special Illustration Rares are the scarcer, pricier tier — full-bleed art and lower pull rates — while the 33 standard Illustration Rares are more attainable but still some of the best-looking cards in Ascended Heroes. Together those 55 full-art cards are the heart of the set's chase and the reason a master set climbs to 613 cards.
Figures are from the pokemontcg.io dataset (TCGplayer pricing), as of June 2026.