Rockruff Japanese Pokemon Cards Guide: Every Print & the SV3 Box

The Japanese Rockruff Cards Verified in This Guide

Limitless TCG’s Japanese card search returns 24 Rockruff prints once every set code is counted, going back through McDonald’s promo sets, starter decks and Sun & Moon-era subsets. Most of that list sits outside what we can verify card-by-card, so this guide sticks to four prints with confirmed illustrator and HP data; rarity is confirmed for three, while the S8b print remains unverified:

Three of the four carry a confirmed Common rarity. The fourth, from VMAX Climax, doesn’t show a rarity marker on the source page we checked, so we’re treating that one as unverified rather than assuming it matches the others.

Scarlet & Violet Era: Ruler of the Black Flame

The current-era print — and the one behind our anchor box — is SV3/61 from Ruler of the Black Flame, illustrated by Jerky. It’s a Common-rarity print with 60 HP, 10 HP lower than the three Sun & Moon- and Sword & Shield-era prints above, reflecting the slightly different HP baselines the Scarlet & Violet era uses for early-line Basic Pokemon.

Ruler of the Black Flame itself released on July 28, 2023, as a 141-card set. Its English-language equivalent is Obsidian Flames (OBF), where this same Rockruff print carries card number 116. If you’re cross-referencing an English collection against a Japanese one, that’s the pairing to use for this particular Rockruff — see our Obsidian Flames Japanese card list for the rest of the set’s English/Japanese matches.

For the full 141-card breakdown of what else is in this set, see our Ruler of the Black Flame card list and our Ruler of the Black Flame best cards guide.

Chase Prints and What Makes Rockruff Collectible

Rarity tiers in the Japanese TCG run from Common and Uncommon up through Rare, then into the higher secret-rare and full-art tiers that define a set’s chase cards. Among the four prints covered here, the three with verified rarity are Common; the S8b print’s rarity remains unverified.

That doesn’t make the line uncollectible; it just means the appeal here is different. Rockruff’s collectibility comes from print-run variety rather than rarity-tier chasing: four different illustrators (Eri Yamaki, Tomokazu Komiya, Yuu Nishida, and Jerky) have each put their own take on the same Pokemon across four different sets and three different eras, and the 24-print total in the wider database suggests there’s a genuinely deep run to work through if set-completion is the goal. For collectors building out a Rockruff or a wider Lycanroc-line binder, the value is in tracking down each era’s distinct illustration rather than hunting a single expensive chase card.

It’s also worth noting the HP shift between eras: the Sun & Moon-era print (SM6) and the two Sword & Shield-era prints (S3a, S8b) all run 70 HP, while the current Scarlet & Violet print (SV3/61) drops to 60 HP. That’s a small but genuine design difference between how early-Basic Pokemon are costed across eras, and it’s a quick way to sort a mixed pile of Rockruff cards by era at a glance.

Where to Buy Rockruff Cards from Tokyo

We ship Japanese sealed product worldwide out of Tokyo with tracked delivery. If you’re after the current-era print, the SV3 Ruler of the Black Flame Booster Box is the direct route, with the Deck Build Box (更新：当前售罄 — 可通过 Quick Order 申请补货) as a lower-cost alternative built around the same set. For the 2021 print, the S8B VMAX Climax Booster Box carries it alongside that set’s better-known chase cards.

Browse our wider Japanese Pokemon booster box collection for what else is currently listed, or request a quote through our Quick Order page for sourcing requests on the Sun & Moon-era prints or any of the 24 Rockruff prints not tied to a listed box above. If you’re building out the rest of the Lycanroc line or comparing this set against its Scarlet & Violet-era sibling, our Pidgeot cards guide covers another species pulled from the same era of Japanese sets.