Pokemon Gem Rate Rankings: the hardest and easiest cards to pull a PSA 10

Some cards gem 9 times out of 10. Others have been graded ten thousand times and produced a handful of PSA 10s. This page ranks both extremes — computed from real PSA population data across 12,087,199 graded cards.

Updated July 26, 2026 · Free to cite with a link to this page (CC BY 4.0) · Quotable as "according to PokeInvest data".

12,087,199
Graded cards tracked
44.2%
Overall PSA 10 rate
61.9%
Modern gem rate (2023+)
10.3%
Vintage gem rate (pre-2003)

The hardest cards to gem

Minimum 1,000 graded copies. These are not obscure cards — they include some of the most graded cards in the hobby, and almost nobody gets a 10.

#Card SetGraded PSA 10sGem rate
1 Typhlosion #17 Neo Genesis 3,653 4 0.11%
2 Lugia #9 Neo Genesis 10,043 15 0.15%
3 Dark Magneton #11 Team Rocket 2,765 6 0.22%
4 Machamp [1st Edition] #8 Base Set 6,796 15 0.22%
5 Vaporeon #12 Jungle 14,173 34 0.24%
6 Heracross #6 Neo Genesis 1,596 4 0.25%
7 Team Aqua's Kyogre EX #6 Double Crisis 3,988 11 0.28%
8 Magneton #38 Evolutions 3,128 9 0.29%
9 Slowking #14 Neo Genesis 2,777 8 0.29%
10 Wigglytuff #19 Base Set 2 3,759 11 0.29%
11 Kangaskhan #5 Jungle 9,090 29 0.32%
12 Charizard #4 Base Set 2 20,625 70 0.34%
13 Feraligatr #5 Neo Genesis 1,924 8 0.42%
14 Dragonite #4 Fossil 14,049 61 0.43%
15 Lapras #10 Fossil 11,627 51 0.44%
16 Entei #6 Neo Revelation 2,651 12 0.45%
17 Raichu #36 Evolutions 4,184 19 0.45%
18 Gengar #5 Fossil 11,045 51 0.46%
19 Charizard [Shadowless] #4 Base Set 12,464 58 0.47%
20 Team Magma's Groudon EX #15 Double Crisis 3,992 19 0.48%
21 Chansey [Shadowless] #3 Base Set 3,352 16 0.48%
22 Snorlax #11 Jungle 7,998 39 0.49%
23 Houndoom #8 Neo Revelation 2,252 11 0.49%
24 Sabrina's Gengar #14 Gym Heroes 6,771 34 0.50%
25 Rayquaza EX #XY69 Promo 1,475 8 0.54%

The easiest cards to gem

Modern printing and packaging is a different sport — recent Japanese cards routinely gem above 90%.

#Card SetGraded PSA 10sGem rate
1 Mega Starmie ex #111 Japanese Nihil Zero 2,242 2,126 94.83%
2 Mega Clefable ex #112 Japanese Nihil Zero 1,956 1,849 94.53%
3 Meowth ex #114 Japanese Nihil Zero 8,105 7,637 94.23%
4 Mega Greninja Ex #114 Japanese Ninja Spinner 12,033 11,328 94.14%
5 Sprigatito #75 Japanese Triplet Beat 4,663 4,375 93.82%
6 Arcanine EX #92 Japanese Violet Ex 3,312 3,089 93.27%
7 Hop's Zacian ex #128 Japanese Battle Partners 3,771 3,516 93.24%
8 Greninja ex #83 Japanese Crimson Haze 1,662 1,549 93.20%
9 Mega Froslass ex #233 Japanese Mega Dream ex 3,352 3,124 93.20%
10 Chi-Yu ex #92 Japanese Clay Burst 2,511 2,337 93.07%
11 Ting-Lu ex #94 Japanese Clay Burst 1,236 1,150 93.04%
12 Volcanion ex #124 Japanese Battle Partners 2,340 2,176 92.99%
13 Slowking ex #86 Japanese Snow Hazard 1,044 970 92.91%
14 Drapion #90 Japanese Nihil Zero 2,596 2,406 92.68%
15 Lillie's Clefairy ex #126 Japanese Battle Partners 23,530 21,783 92.58%
16 Xerneas #89 Japanese Ninja Spinner 1,074 994 92.55%
17 Mega Zygarde ex #113 Japanese Nihil Zero 2,953 2,733 92.55%
18 Fezandipiti ex #244 Japanese Mega Dream ex 3,060 2,831 92.52%
19 Iono's Bellibolt ex #125 Japanese Battle Partners 14,678 13,577 92.50%
20 Zekrom Ex #161 Japanese Black Bolt 2,000 1,849 92.45%
21 Skeledirge ex #97 Japanese Triplet Beat 2,975 2,746 92.30%
22 Iron Boulder ex #95 Japanese Cyber Judge 1,459 1,346 92.25%
23 Kyurem Ex #168 Japanese Black Bolt 3,668 3,382 92.20%
24 Fuecoco #78 Japanese Triplet Beat 3,139 2,894 92.19%
25 Iron Crown ex #94 Japanese Cyber Judge 2,997 2,763 92.19%

The long shots: biggest payoffs, worst odds

The pattern that ties this whole dataset together: the biggest grading paydays sit behind the hardest gems. A cheap raw copy of these cards is worth hundreds of times more as a PSA 10 — precisely because a 10 almost never happens.

CardSet RawPSA 10 MultipleGem odds
Heracross #6 Neo Genesis $27 $21,499 800x 0.25%
Yanma #17 Neo Discovery $20 $15,506 776x 1.04%
Rayquaza EX #XY69 Promo $38 $22,653 594x 0.54%
Chansey #3 Base Set 2 $13 $6,640 525x 0.60%
Chansey #3 Base Set $18 $8,700 484x 1.03%
Ash-Greninja EX #XY133 Promo $21 $10,081 469x 1.56%
Dark Blastoise #4 Legendary Collection $15 $6,867 447x 0.74%
Magikarp & Wailord GX #SM166 Promo $85 $37,210 436x 1.09%
Reshiram #XY74 Promo $40 $15,500 388x 1.13%
Pikachu #HGSS03 Promo $22 $8,457 387x 3.23%
Mew #19 Expedition $406 $150,000 370x 1.77%
Rayquaza #XY141 Promo $25 $8,500 340x 2.69%
Rayquaza #11 Dragon Vault $33 $10,825 331x 4.99%
Ho-Oh #10 Secret Wonders $24 $7,875 321x 2.49%
Vaporeon #12 Jungle $15 $4,743 315x 0.24%

Multiples are gross (before grading fees and selling fees), based on current market prices. The gem odds column is why "just grade it" is rarely that simple.

Wondering about a specific card?

Run it through the free grading calculator — it weighs the PSA 10 payoff against fees and real gem odds.

Open the PSA calculator

Want the full list, ranked by expected profit?

The PokeInvest Grade Report ranks the best cards to grade right now — gem odds, fees, and PSA 9 downside included.

See the Grade Report

Methodology

Gem rate = PSA 10 population ÷ total graded population for that exact card and variant, from PSA's published population report data tracked by PokeInvest. Hardest/easiest tables require at least 1,000 graded copies; long shots require 300+ graded copies and use current market prices for raw and PSA 10 values. Population data reflects the most recent PokeInvest import and updates as PSA grades more cards.

Cite freely with a link: "According to PokeInvest gem rate data (pokeinvest.io/gem-rates) …"