Two Supporter cards, no Pokemon in the artwork at all, and one of them is currently listed above ¥800,000 in PSA 10. That’s the pull most collectors remember from The Best of XY — not a Mega Evolution, not a GX, a purple-clad trainer who quietly became one of the most-discussed cards of her era.
XY-BEST, “The Best of XY” (ハイクラスパック THE BEST OF XY), released in Japan on April 21, 2017, as the last high-class-pack subset of the XY BREAK era. It reprinted a run of popular XY and XY BREAK cards and then topped the checklist off with a set of new full-art Secret Rare Supporters — two of which, Hex Maniac and Karen, are still discussed in competitive circles today, years after the format they were designed for has moved on.
This guide covers what The Best of XY actually is, what its two headline secrets do and why they mattered competitively, how the set’s 171-plus-secret structure works, and where it sits relative to the high-class packs Japan has released since. We source and ship graded Japanese singles out of Tokyo, so the numbers below reflect our own current listings.
The Best of XY’s two headline secrets are Hex Maniac (181/171), a Full Art Supporter that shuts off Abilities set-wide, and Karen (183/171), a Supporter that shuffles the discard pile back into the deck. A graded PSA 10 Hex Maniac is currently listed at ¥845,177 (~$5,186) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order), and a PSA 10 Karen is currently listed at ¥220,420 (~$1,352) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order). Both are single graded copies in our shop — when either sells, availability depends on our sourcing.
Prices below reflect our own Tokyo stock listings as of August 2026, converted at approximately ¥163/USD. Card names, numbers, and effect text are cited from Serebii, Bulbapedia, and TCGplayer listing pages. Competitive usage notes are drawn from community forum discussion (PokeBeach) and are marked as community-reported, not official tournament statistics.
What The Best of XY Actually Is
The Best of XY’s full Japanese name is ハイクラスパック THE BEST OF XY — “High Class Pack THE BEST OF XY” — and store and database listings in English shorten it to the code XY-BEST. It released on April 21, 2017, closing out the XY BREAK era as its final high-class subset before the Sun & Moon block took over.
As the name suggests, the set’s job was to gather marquee cards of the XY era — Yveltal EX, Shaymin EX, N, Shauna — into one release, most of them in the secret-rare tier, then add a tier of brand-new full-art Secret Rare Supporters on top that hadn’t existed anywhere before. That reprint-plus-new-secrets format is a defining trait of Japanese high-class packs, and Best of XY is a set that carries the category name Japan later reused for VMAX Climax and VSTAR Universe.
The base numbered checklist runs to 171 cards. Above that sits a Secret Rare tier numbered 172 and up, and the highest individually confirmed card in the set is Shaymin EX at 188/171 — putting the full checklist, base plus secrets, at 188 cards.
Hex Maniac (181/171): The Ability-Lock Card
Hex Maniac first appeared as a regular-rarity Supporter in Ancient Origins, but The Best of XY is where she got the treatment that made her a target for collectors: a full-art Secret Rare printing at 181/171. The card’s effect is blunt and set-defining — until your opponent’s next turn ends, every Pokemon in play, in either player’s hand, and in either player’s discard pile loses its Ability.
That single line of text is why Hex Maniac became a competitive fixture. Community discussion on PokeBeach’s forums has repeatedly pointed to Hex Maniac as one of the most reliable “Ability lock” tools available in the format — a card that could reach into an opponent’s hand or discard pile, not just the board, and shut a deck’s engine off cold. It’s referenced as a piece that showed up in multiple Regional Championship-winning lists during its playable window. Those are community-reported observations rather than official Pokemon Company tournament statistics, but the consistency of the discussion across forum threads is itself part of why the card carries the reputation it has.
The Best of XY is the home of her Full Art printing. It’s the same effect as her earlier Ancient Origins printing, but the artwork, rarity tier, and the scarcity that comes with a 181/171 secret-rare slot are exclusive to this set.
Karen (183/171): The Discard-Pile Reset
Karen sits two slots after Hex Maniac at 183/171. Her effect: both players return every Pokemon in their discard pile to their deck and shuffle.
That effect made Karen a direct answer to discard-pile-dependent archetypes. PokeBeach forum discussion from her playable era — in a thread titled “Is Karen the Death of Night March and Vespiquen?” — treated her as a clean counter to those two decks specifically, since Night March and Vespiquen both depend on stacking Pokemon in the discard pile as a resource. The same discussion noted that Battle Compressor-style recursion couldn’t get around it because she moves Pokemon, not cards in general.
The flip side, also raised in that same community discussion: outside of a discard-reliant matchup, Karen can be close to dead weight, since giving your opponent their discarded Pokemon back is not something most decks want to do. That’s the trade-off that made her a genuine tech choice rather than an auto-include — again, a community-reported read on the card’s competitive role rather than an official statistic.
Inside the 171-Plus-Secret Structure
Below the two headline Supporters, The Best of XY’s checklist is built the way most Japanese high-class packs are: a wide base set of reprints, followed by a tier of new-to-the-set Secret Rare cards layered on top of the base number.
| Number | Card | Rarity |
|---|---|---|
| 180/171 | N | SR, Supporter |
| 181/171 | Hex Maniac | SR, Full Art, Supporter |
| 182/171 | Blacksmith | SR |
| 183/171 | Karen | SR, Full Art, Supporter |
| 184/171 | Delinquent | SR |
| 185/171 | Shauna | SR |
| 186/171 | Team Flare Grunt | SR |
| 187/171 | Yveltal EX | SR |
| 188/171 | Shaymin EX | SR |
Below the Secret Rare tier, the base 171-card checklist carries the reprints that make the set a genuine “best of” — recognizable XY and XY BREAK-era cards brought back in their original or refreshed form, including Mew at 044/171, a mirror-holo reprint from lower in the base numbering. Up in the secret-rare tier, Yveltal EX at 187/171, one of the era’s signature Legendary EX cards, sits alongside the new Supporters rather than in the base checklist.
Several other numbers in the 172–188 secret tier — M Camerupt EX, Jolteon EX, M Manectric EX, Regirock EX, M Lucario EX, Zygarde EX, M Sharpedo EX, Aegislash EX among them — are documented on Serebii’s set-level card list, but not individually confirmed against a standalone listing page, so we’re not putting exact numbers on every one here. The two headline Supporters are confirmed against multiple sources; the remaining secret-tier numbers are documented on Serebii’s set list.
Best of XY and the High-Class-Pack Lineage
“High Class Pack” isn’t a fan nickname — it’s the product category The Best of XY’s own Japanese name uses, and it’s the same category name Japan has attached to two more recent flagship releases: VMAX Climax (December 3, 2021) and VSTAR Universe (2022). All three sets share the same basic construction — a large base checklist of reprinted, popular cards, topped with a tier of new-to-the-set secret rares that didn’t exist in any earlier release.
It’s worth being precise about what that means. The shared product category name and the shared reprint-plus-new-secrets structure are confirmed facts. What isn’t confirmed, and what we’re not claiming, is that Best of XY was the direct starting point VMAX Climax and VSTAR Universe were built from — no official Pokemon Company statement makes that connection. What can fairly be said is that these three sets share a naming category and a format, five years apart, and collectors who like one tend to recognize the pattern in the others.
If you’re comparing the modern end of that lineage, our VMAX Climax vs VSTAR Universe box guide breaks down how those two current-era high-class packs compare on pull rates and box value, and our Japanese high-class pack roundup covers the category more broadly across eras.
Which Card Fits Your Collection
Best of XY singles split into a few clear tiers for a collector deciding where to start:
- The competitive-history piece — a graded PSA 10 Karen is currently listed at ¥220,420 (~$1,352) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order). A Full Art Supporter with a documented niche as a discard-pile counter, at a meaningfully lower entry point than Hex Maniac.
- The set’s top chase — a graded PSA 10 Hex Maniac is currently listed at ¥845,177 (~$5,186) (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order). The set’s signature Secret Rare, an ability-lock Supporter with a community-reported track record across Regional-level play, in the format’s top full-art grade.
- The record collector’s stray reprint — for anyone building out an XY-era binder more broadly rather than chasing a specific secret, sets like this one are also where cards such as Yveltal EX and Shaymin EX picked up standout printings. Our Japanese 1st Edition cards guide covers a different, earlier era of collectible Japanese Supporters and EX cards if you’re weighing print eras against each other.
Both cards in our shop are graded singles, not sealed product — The Best of XY booster product itself is not something we currently carry, so these two are our direct route into the set.
Both the PSA 10 Hex Maniac and the PSA 10 Karen listed in this guide are single, individually graded copies — not restocked inventory. When either one sells, availability depends on our sourcing.
Where to Buy The Best of XY Cards from Japan
We ship graded Japanese singles worldwide out of Tokyo with tracked delivery. Both of The Best of XY’s headline secrets are in stock as individual PSA 10 copies right now.
View Product → (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order)
View Product → (update: currently sold out — restock requests via Quick Order)
For the full range of graded Japanese Supporters, EX, and GX singles beyond this one set, browse our PSA 10 collection or the visual PSA 10 card list. If you’re building a mixed order across multiple sets and eras — a Best of XY Supporter alongside a modern VMAX Climax or VSTAR Universe pull, for instance — our Quick Order page is the fastest way to put it together in one shipment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Best of XY?
The Best of XY (ハイクラスパック THE BEST OF XY, code XY-BEST) is a Japanese high-class pack released April 21, 2017, closing out the XY BREAK era. It reprints popular XY-era cards and adds a tier of new full-art Secret Rare Supporters, most notably Hex Maniac and Karen.
What does Hex Maniac do?
Hex Maniac (181/171) is a Full Art Secret Rare Supporter. Until your opponent’s next turn ends, every Pokemon in play, in either player’s hand, and in either player’s discard pile loses its Ability. Community forum discussion has cited it as a reliable Ability-lock tool used in multiple Regional Championship-winning lists during its playable window.
What does Karen 183/171 do?
Karen (183/171) is a Full Art Secret Rare Supporter. Her effect has both players return every Pokemon in their discard pile to their deck and shuffle — community discussion has treated her as a direct counter to discard-pile-reliant decks like Night March and Vespiquen.
How many cards are in The Best of XY?
The base checklist runs to 171 cards, with a Secret Rare tier numbered 172 and up. The highest individually confirmed card is Shaymin EX at 188/171, putting the full set at 188 cards.
Is The Best of XY the same product category as VMAX Climax or VSTAR Universe?
They share the same official “High Class Pack” category name and the same reprint-plus-new-secret-rares structure. Whether Best of XY was a direct design influence on the later sets is not confirmed by any official source — only the shared naming category and format are established facts.
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