Same release date. Same card number, 057/054, on both sides. And the harder of the two Japanese sets to talk about doesn’t even have an agreed-upon English name.
XY11 is where Pokemon Japan split one English expansion into two domestic releases — a pattern collectors run into again and again in the XY era, and one that gets confusing fast if you’re trying to track down a specific card. This guide untangles the two sets, verifies exactly what each chase card is, and clears up why you’ll see the same Japanese set called three different things in English depending on where you look.
XY11 is two Japanese sets released the same day — Cruel Traitor (冷酷の反逆者, XY11r) and Fever-Burst Fighter (爆熱の闘士, XY11b) — each built around its own Mega Evolution chase card: PSA 10 M Gardevoir EX SR :1ED, currently listed at ¥100,940 (~$619) on the Cruel Traitor side, and PSA 10 M Steelix EX SR :1ED, currently listed at ¥49,440 (~$303) on the Fever-Burst Fighter side.
Prices below are our own listed prices for graded singles shipped from Tokyo, current as of August 2026. USD figures use a ¥163/USD conversion (July 2026 basis) for reference only — they are not third-party market quotes.
What Is XY11? Two Sets, One Release Day
If you’ve been told “XY11” is a single Japanese Pokemon set, that’s not quite right. XY11 is actually two separate Japanese expansions released on the same day: Cruel Traitor (冷酷の反逆者), tracked under the internal set code XY11r, and Fever-Burst Fighter (爆熱の闘士), tracked as XY11b. Both share the same “XY11” numbering slot because they correspond to a single English-language set — but in Japan they were sold as two distinct booster releases with two distinct chase cards.
This isn’t a one-off. The Japanese TCG has split several XY-era English sets into paired domestic releases this way — our XY9 Rage of the Broken Heavens guide covers a single-release set from the same stretch of the XY era for comparison, and we’ve documented the same two-set pattern for XY5 (Gaia Volcano and Tidal Storm). If a Japanese XY set feels like it’s missing cards you’d expect from the English version, there’s a good chance it was split.
Release Date, Card Count & the Steam Siege Connection
Both halves of XY11 released in Japan on June 17, 2016. Each set carries a print-run denominator of 054 and totals 58 cards by card-database count.
| Set | Japanese name | JP release date | Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cruel Traitor (XY11r) | 冷酷の反逆者 | June 17, 2016 | 58 · /054 |
| Fever-Burst Fighter (XY11b) | 爆熱の闘士 | June 17, 2016 | 58 · /054 |
The English-language counterpart is XY—Steam Siege, released August 3, 2016 with 116 cards — roughly the combined card pool of both Japanese sets folded into one international release. Steam Siege’s own headline theme is the Mythical Pokemon Volcanion, marketed in English as wielding “the dual powers of fire and water.” On the Japanese side, that single English theme splits into two separate Mega Evolution axes: M Gardevoir EX anchors Cruel Traitor, and M Steelix EX anchors Fever-Burst Fighter. The English marketing copy for the set specifically calls out “Shiny Mega Gardevoir-EX lays siege to the mighty Gear Palace,” which lines up with the Cruel Traitor side’s chase card below.
Cruel Traitor Side: M Gardevoir EX 057/054 SR
On LimitlessTCG’s Japanese card database, this card’s display name is listed as “サーナイトEX” (Gardevoir EX) without a printed “M” in that data field — but the physical Japanese card itself prints the full name as MサーナイトEX (M Gardevoir EX). The card type field confirms it as Pokémon – Mega Evolution, evolving from the non-Mega Gardevoir-EX. It runs 210 HP and carries a Fairy/Psychic dual type — worth noting because it’s a genuinely different printing from the mono-Fairy M Gardevoir EX SR printed a year and a half earlier in XY5 Tidal Storm (076/070), despite the shared “M Gardevoir EX” name.
Its attack, Despair Ray, deals 110+ damage for a YC energy cost, with an effect that lets you discard as many of your own Benched Pokemon as you like — adding 10 damage per Pokemon discarded that way. The card is confirmed as a Secret Rare (SR) at number 057/054, sitting in the secret-rare number range above the set’s /054 print denominator. Illustration credit goes to 5ban Graphics.
For comparison, that earlier mono-Fairy M Gardevoir EX SR from Tidal Storm is pictured above — a different type combination and a different set number from the Fairy/Psychic M Gardevoir EX covered here, even though both are printed as MサーナイトEX / M Gardevoir EX.
Our in-stock copy is graded PSA 10 and marked :1ED (1st Edition). A June 2016 release date puts Cruel Traitor inside Japan’s 1st Edition print window, which ran from 2001 through the September 2016 launch of the 20th Anniversary CP6 set — XY11 lands right near the tail end of that period. Because this is a single graded copy rather than an ongoing print run, once it sells it’s gone from our listing.
Fever-Burst Fighter Side: M Steelix EX 057/054 SR
The Fever-Burst Fighter side mirrors the same structure at the same card number. LimitlessTCG lists the display name as “ハガネールEX” (Steelix EX), again without a printed “M,” and confirms the card type as Pokémon – Mega Evolution, evolving from the non-Mega Steelix-EX. It carries 240 HP and a Steel/Fighting dual type.
Its attack, Canyon Axe, deals 160 damage for an MCCCC energy cost, and also puts 10 damage on each of the opponent’s Benched Pokemon (Weakness and Resistance aren’t applied to that bench damage). Like its counterpart, it’s confirmed as a Secret Rare (SR) at number 057/054, illustrated by 5ban Graphics.
Our in-stock copy is also PSA 10 and :1ED, sitting inside the same June 2016 1st Edition window as the Cruel Traitor side. It’s currently listed at ¥49,440 (~$303) — roughly half the Gardevoir side’s price, which tracks with how the two chase cards have generally been perceived: Gardevoir as the marquee card on the set’s own English-language marketing, Steelix as the strong secondary pull.
Fever-Burst Fighter, Heat Burst Fighter, or Explosive Fighter?
If you’ve seen the Japanese set 爆熱の闘士 referred to by three different English names, you weren’t imagining it — and there’s a simple reason none of them is “official.” Because Fever-Burst Fighter never got its own standalone English-language release (its cards were folded into Steam Siege alongside Cruel Traitor’s), there is no English company-published name for it. Every English label you’ll see is an unofficial translation of the same Japanese title:
- Fever-Burst Fighter — the translation used by Bulbapedia’s reference entry for the set.
- Heat Burst Fighter — the translation used in LimitlessTCG’s card database page title for XY11b.
- Explosive Fighter — a third translation used elsewhere in our own site’s XY Mega EX coverage.
All three point to the exact same Japanese set, XY11b, released June 17, 2016 with the same 58 cards and the same M Steelix EX chase card at 057/054. This guide uses Fever-Burst Fighter as its primary label, following the Bulbapedia translation — but if you run into either of the other two names while researching a card, they’re describing this same release.
Cruel Traitor doesn’t have this problem: 冷酷の反逆者 translates consistently to “Cruel Traitor” across the sources we checked.
Where XY11 Fits in the XY Era
XY11 sits late in Japan’s XY block, released in the middle of 2016 as the era was winding toward its close. Its June 17 release date puts it just under three months ahead of the 20th Anniversary CP6 set that closed out Japan’s 1st Edition printing period that September — our 20th Anniversary CP6 guide covers what came right after.
Not every deep-cut XY-era set followed the two-way split covered in this guide. If you want a single-release example from roughly the same window, our XY9 Rage of the Broken Heavens guide covers a set that stayed as one Japanese release rather than splitting in two.
For the full run of Japanese XY-era sets in order, with release dates and the split-set pattern flagged where it applies, see our XY-era Japanese Pokemon guide.
Where to Buy XY11 Cards from Japan
We ship graded Japanese singles out of Tokyo with tracked delivery. Both XY11 chase cards covered in this guide are currently in our PSA 10 graded inventory as single verified copies:
Browse our full range of PSA 10 graded Japanese singles in the PSA 10 graded card collection, or if you’re building a mixed order across multiple sets and cards, our Quick Order page is the fastest way to check availability and get everything into one shipment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is XY11 in the Pokemon TCG?
XY11 refers to two separate Japanese sets released on the same day, June 17, 2016: Cruel Traitor (冷酷の反逆者, XY11r) and Fever-Burst Fighter (爆熱の闘士, XY11b). Both correspond to a single English-language set, XY—Steam Siege, released August 3, 2016.
Why does the Fever-Burst Fighter side have three different English names?
Because Fever-Burst Fighter (爆熱の闘士) never had its own official English-language release — its cards were merged into Steam Siege alongside Cruel Traitor’s — there’s no company-published English name. Fever-Burst Fighter, Heat Burst Fighter, and Explosive Fighter are all unofficial translations of the same Japanese title referring to the same set.
What’s the chase card in Cruel Traitor (XY11r)?
M Gardevoir EX SR at 057/054, a Secret Rare with 210 HP and a Fairy/Psychic dual type. It’s a Pokemon – Mega Evolution card evolving from the non-Mega Gardevoir-EX, illustrated by 5ban Graphics.
What’s the chase card in Fever-Burst Fighter (XY11b)?
M Steelix EX SR at 057/054, a Secret Rare with 240 HP and a Steel/Fighting dual type. It’s a Pokemon – Mega Evolution card evolving from the non-Mega Steelix-EX, also illustrated by 5ban Graphics.
Is XY11 the same as Steam Siege?
Steam Siege is the English-language set that corresponds to the combined card pool of Japan’s Cruel Traitor and Fever-Burst Fighter releases. It isn’t a direct 1:1 reprint of either Japanese set on its own — it’s the international release built from both.
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