Digital Vault Wiki

Image courtesy of TCGdex.net

Overview

Within the Pokémon Trading Card Game, this Altaria entry represents a Stage 1 evolution from Swablu, printed as a Rare in the EX Deoxys expansion. The card embodies the mechanics of the early EX era, where Trainers and Pokémon-ex were central to strategy, and Safeguard, a Poke-BODY on Altaria, offered a defensive countermeasure against the excesses of opponent’s Pokémon-ex. As a Colorless-type card, Altaria presents flexibility in energy attachment and suits decks that leverage a mixture of energy types or multi-purpose colorless energy strategies. The artwork, attributed to Kyoko Umemoto, complements the card’s defensive ethos with a serene, airborne depiction that aligns with Altaria’s dragon-like silhouette in flight.

Card Information

Card name: Altaria
Set: EX Deoxys (ex8)
Card count in set: 107 official cards, 108 total (including secret/foil variants)
Rarity: Rare
HP: 70
Type: Colorless
Stage: Stage 1
Evolves from: Swablu
Illustrator: Kyoko Umemoto
Attacks:
- Double Wing Attack — Cost: Lightning. Effect: 20 damage to each Defending Pokémon.
- Dive — Cost: Water, Colorless, Colorless. Damage: 50.
Poke-BODY: Safeguard — Prevent all effects of attacks, including damage, done to Altaria by your opponent's Pokémon-ex.
Weakness: Lightning ×2
Resistance: Fighting −30
Legal formats: Not currently legal in Standard or Expanded formats

Gameplay and Strategy

Altaria’s design reflects the balancing act characteristic of the EX Deoxys era. The Poke-BODY Safeguard provides a strong defensive layer against Pokémon-ex threats, a type of opponent’s card that dominated many matchups during the period when EX-era mechanics were in full swing. This protection means that, while on the bench or in play, Altaria can persist longer against powerful ex-attacks, encouraging players to stage a defense while pressing the board with other threats.

The two attacks offer complementary approaches. Double Wing Attack requires a Lightning energy and deals 20 damage to every Defending Pokémon, creating broad, board-wide pressure that can help offset the vulnerability of slower decks or the presence of multiple Defending Pokémon. This is especially relevant in formats where the opponent’s active Pokémon is supported by multiple threats or a bench-heavy lineup. Dive, requiring Water and two Colorless energies, delivers a straightforward 50 damage with a more conventional energy cost, enabling Altaria to contribute solid direct damage when the game narrows to a few key exchanges.

In practical terms, Altaria fits into decks that can reliably meet its energy requirements and protect it from Pokémon-ex strategies. Because its rarity is high and its HP modest by contemporary standards, players often used Altaria as a mid-game stabilizer—present to absorb some damage, dish out consistent pressure with Dive, and leverage Safeguard to discourage opponents from targeting it with ex-attacks. While not a finisher on its own, Altaria’s presence can influence how an opponent sequences their attacking plays and can enable other Stadium or Supporter-driven plans that rely on longer, attrition-based games.

From a deck-building perspective, Altaria’s Colorless typing provides flexibility. Its weaknesses and resistances align with the era’s common archetypes, and its energy costs can be met with a mix of basic Energy types depending on the deck’s overall design. The combination of protection against ex-attacks and the dual-attack kit makes Altaria a reasonable inclusion for players seeking a resilient, midrange option that can glue together various strategies around the EX Deoxys set’s broader ecosystem.

Collector and Market Information

Altaria from EX Deoxys represents a notable collectible card from the early 2000s era of the Pokémon TCG. The set, identified as ex8, marks a period when Pokémon-ex and Return-Style mechanics produced distinctive synergies and counterplays. The card’s rarity as Rare and its holo variants (as indicated in the set’s variant details) contribute to its collectibility among both vintage collectors and players revisiting the format for nostalgia or historical analysis.

Pricing data—sourced from two major marketplace aggregators—illustrates how card condition and print variants influence value. CardMarket’s EUR-based pricing shows an average around 9.66 EUR for standard copies, with holofoil versions typically commanding higher figures (average around 15.61 EUR, with holo-related metrics showing a greater spread and higher potential pricing). The holofoil market tends to reflect the higher demand and supply constraints for foil cards from older sets, where pristine copies are less common today.

TCGPlayer’s USD pricing demonstrates a clear distinction between non-holo and holofoil prints. For standard (normal) copies, the market price hovers around 5.47 USD, with a low of 10 USD observed in some listings reflecting regional or listing nuances, while prices often align with a variance around 10 USD for inexpensive options. Holofoil copies show stronger market activity, with low prices around the upper teens and mid-to-high range values near 31–40 USD, and market prices around 30.3 USD. Reverse-holofoil variants show even wider spreads, with market prices sometimes exceeding 40–50 USD depending on condition and demand. These figures reflect market dynamics as of late 2025 and can fluctuate with supply, grading trends, and general interest in the EX Deoxys subset.

For researchers and collectors, the pricing snapshots underscore the value placed on holofoil and rare prints from early EX-era sets, where card rarity and presentation—combined with the distinct ex-era mechanics—drive collector interest. The data also highlights how modern retrospective valuation often differentiates between base copies and variant formats, providing a clearer lens on how this Altaria contributes to a broader collection strategy.

Art and Lore

The illustrated artwork by Kyoko Umemoto captures Altaria in a graceful, mid-air pose consistent with other dragon-like Pokémon from the era. Umemoto’s style for this card emphasizes a soft yet dynamic atmosphere, with Altaria depicted against a relatively uncluttered backdrop that foregrounds the Pokémon’s rounded, cloud-dwelling silhouette. The composition aligns with the game’s emphasis on elegance and movement, and the color palette tends toward cool tones that complement Altaria’s evolution lineage and overall aesthetic within the EX Deoxys release.

Lore-wise, Altaria is a Dragon-type-inspired Pokémon in the broader franchise, and the TCG representation during the EX era often focused on elegant, airborne silhouettes paired with protective or strategic text. While individual card narratives in the TCG are not typically expansive in terms of in-world storytelling, the Safeguard ability ties into a thematic continuity: Altaria serves as a shield against destabilizing threats, reflecting the card’s defensive utility in gameplay and its visual motif of grace under pressure.

Trivia

Card ID: ex8-1, placing Altaria as the first listed card within the EX Deoxys set’s card numbering.
The Poke-BODY Safeguard is notable for its interaction with Pokémon-ex, a central mechanic in early EX-era play that emphasized powerhouses and riskier card types.
Altaria’s dual-attack design—combining a mass-target buff with a solid single-target option—demonstrates the era’s emphasis on flexible resource management and multi-purpose offense/defense.
The set’s official card count (107 standard, 108 total) reflects the era’s practice of including a secret or foil variant within the same expansion, a common practice for collectors seeking complete sets.
As a holo and non-holo variant in the same print window, Altaria offers a useful case study in how foil treatment impacts rarity perception and market value during vintage card markets.

📘 Altaria — Pokémon TCG