Kingdra Cards Guide: Every Japanese Printing 2012–24

Who Is Kingdra

Kingdra is the final evolution of Horsea and Seadra, a Water/Dragon-type that has been part of the Pokemon roster since Generation II. On the Japanese TCG side it has never been a set-defining chase card, but it has been reliably reprinted as a mid-set holo or rare across roughly every major card generation since the Black & White era — which gives collectors a genuine “one from every era” run to chase without needing five- or six-figure budgets.

What makes Kingdra worth tracking as a line, rather than a single card, is consistency. Between the Spiral Force printing in 2012 and the Night Wanderer printing in 2024, Japan went through five major TCG design eras — Black & White, XY, Sun & Moon, Sword & Shield, and Scarlet & Violet — and Kingdra shows up in at least one mainline set in each of them. That’s the reason a Kingdra binder page reads almost like a timeline of how Japanese card design itself has changed: from a plain holo rare, to an EX secret rare, to a GX secret rare, to a Character Holo Rare, and finally to a 310 HP ex card.

Kingdra Cards Worth Knowing

Kingdra 038 R — Spiral Force (BW8f, late 2012). This is the earliest Kingdra printing verified for this guide, released during the Black & White era’s BW8 wave. It’s a standard holo rare with no secret-rare treatment, and its denominator isn’t confirmed in our research — the card is catalogued by number only. That makes it a straightforward, accessible entry point for anyone assembling a full-run Kingdra collection rather than chasing a single grail piece, and it’s also the card that anchors the entire timeline this guide is built around: everything else on this page is a later reprint of the same evolution line.

Kingdra EX 085 SR — Awakening Psychic King (XY10, released March 18, 2016). The XY-era EX line gave Kingdra its first secret-rare slot, illustrated by Ryo Ueda. Secret rares in the XY block sit above the set’s numbered base checklist — card 085 in a set whose base run tops out lower than that number is the giveaway that you’re holding the secret-rare version rather than a base-set rare. It remains the only EX-era (as opposed to ex, lowercase, from the modern Scarlet & Violet mechanic) Kingdra secret rare verified for this guide.

Kingdra EX 085 SR, Awakening Psychic King (XY10)

Kingdra 018 R, Did You See The Fighting Rainbow (SM3H)

Kingdra 018 R — Did You See The Fighting Rainbow (SM3H, released June 16, 2017). A year and a half after the XY10 secret rare, Kingdra returned to a standard R-rarity slot in this Sun & Moon-era set. It’s a quieter printing than the EX or GX versions on either side of it chronologically, but it fills the gap between the XY-era secret rare and the SM6a GX version below, and it’s the only verified Kingdra printing from the SM3-wave sets.

Kingdra GX 055 SR — Dragon Storm (SM6a, released April 6, 2018). Two years after the XY10 EX version, Kingdra returned as a GX secret rare in Dragon Storm, illustrated by 5ban Graphics. Between the XY10 EX and this SM6a GX, Kingdra effectively got the two headline treatments the mid-2010s design eras offered.

Kingdra 019 R — Rapid Strike Master (S5R, released January 22, 2021). This printing carries the ability “Master of the Deep,” giving it functional relevance beyond being a checklist filler. Kingdra’s Water/Dragon typing made it a natural fit for the Rapid Strike side of that Sword & Shield-era set.

Kingdra 019 R, Rapid Strike Master (S5R)

Kingdra CHR 190, VMAX Climax (S8B)

Kingdra CHR 190 — VMAX Climax (S8B, released December 3, 2021). VMAX Climax is built almost entirely around Character Rare (CHR) and Character Super Rare art treatments for non-VMAX Pokemon. Kingdra’s CHR slot places it alongside dozens of other Pokemon getting the same illustrated-scene treatment in that set, which is a meaningfully different presentation from the straightforward holo-rare and secret-rare versions earlier in its print history.

Kingdra 019 R — Ancient Roar (SV4K, released October 27, 2023). Illustrated by Tomoji Matsuno, this is the first Kingdra printing of the Scarlet & Violet era proper, arriving in the same “kodai” (ancient) design wave that introduced Paradox Pokemon like Roaring Moon into the Japanese card pool. It’s a standard R-rarity card, reusing the same base-rarity approach the line has followed for most of its history.

Kingdra ex 077 SR — Night Wanderer (SV6a, released June 7, 2024). The most recent printing in this guide. As a Scarlet & Violet-era ex card, this version carries 310 HP. Where the XY10 and SM6a versions were built around a single flashy secret-rare slot, the SV6a ex version reflects the current design standard where evolution-line Pokemon routinely get ex treatment.

Where to Buy

We ship Japanese sealed product and singles from Tokyo. The four booster boxes above are the most direct way to open into a Kingdra card yourself, and each links to a full chase-cards breakdown for that set if you want to see what else is inside before you buy alongside the Kingdra printing. For anything not currently listed — including any of the eight Kingdra singles in the table above — use our Quick Order page to request it directly, and we’ll check availability against current stock.

If Kingdra is one piece of a larger themed collection you’re building, it’s worth cross-referencing our other single-Pokemon guides — the Zygarde cards guide and Goodra cards guide both track similarly long, multi-era Dragon-type print histories, and follow the same set-by-set format used here.