How To Understand Pokémon Card Rarity

If you have ever opened packs of Pokémon cards, I’m sure you know that cards have different levels of rarity within each pack.

The rarity system underwent a massive shake up at the beginning of the Scarlet & Violet era, with lots of new rarities being introduced. This little guide will tell you everything you need to know about the rarity level system and how to spot those ultra rare Pokémon cards.

Historical Sets and the Evolution of Card Rarity

When the Pokémon Trading Card Game was first released to us, the rating system was simple. Each card had a symbol in the bottom corner, just next to the card/set number. If it was a circle then the card was common. As the name suggests, these are the easiest cards to pull and you would receive most of these in a pack of cards. The next step up the rarity ladder was the uncommon cards and these were identified by a diamond symbol in the corner. Uncommon cards were a little rarer than commons, but were certainly not the most difficult to pull. Next up we had the star symbol, which told you that you had a rare card on your hands. Once we got to rare cards, there were two main types, holo rares and non holo rares. These were very easy to distinguish and the holo rares featured a holographic pattern in the art box of the card, much like holo cards today have. These holo rares were the absolute pinnacle of collecting during those times, the holy grail of card rarity and they still hold a place in many collectors' hearts.  

Rarities have been introduced and then faded away across the years and we have seen many different iterations. Now, with the introduction of the Scarlet & Violet series, we have loads of new rarities to hunt down and collect. I think it is good for the game and gives people lots of exciting and interesting cards to chase. Let’s take a look at the new rarity rating system.

The Current Card Rarity Guide for Scarlet & Violet

Let’s start at the least common and work our way up to the most difficult to find cards. We begin with the same symbols as we found earlier, the circle, diamond and star and these still represent the same card rarities as they always have done. They are probably, and likely always will be, the most consistent and constant thing about the Pokémon Trading Card Game! These symbols still represent common, uncommon and rare cards respectively and this also includes their reverse holo versions.

Once we get past these symbols, we start to be faced with the new symbols, which seem to cause a lot of confusion for some people. The next symbols are both two solid black stars. One pair is just standard, solid, black stars next to each other and this represents a Double Rare. These are usually your ex cards. The other symbol in this tier is the same two stars but this time they are the shiny, holo versions of those stars. These stars mean you have an Ultra Rare and this is usually your Full Art ex’s and your Full Art Supporters.

Moving onto the next tier and this is where we find lots of the most exciting and collectable cards. First up we have the Illustration Rares and these are denoted by a single, gold star. These are a new type of rarity that has been introduced with the latest series and they have been a really big hit with collectors. These Illustration Rares are alternate-art versions of some lucky common, uncommon and rare cards. These tend to feature stunning artwork of the Pokémon in their natural habitat, usually up to some sort of mischief! After the Illustration Rares, we have Special Illustration Rares and these feature the Pokémon ex and Supporters. Again, these are similar to the Illustration Rares but are a bit more difficult to find. Their symbol is two gold, shiny stars. Last but certainly not least, we have the Hyper Rare cards. These are what you might have known previously as secret rare cards and they are full art gold versions of certain cards from the set. They are easily identified by their three gold shiny stars in the bottom corner next to the set symbol.

Does The Rarity Affect The Value Of My Cards?

The simple answer to this part is yes, generally speaking, the rarer a card is, the more valuable it will be. But of course, there are many other factors which can affect a card's value. If you’re lucky enough to find one of the cards that have those gold star rarities that we mentioned earlier, you are likely to have a pretty valuable card on your hands. These levels of rarity are usually pretty tough to find, sometimes as rare as 1 in every 350 packs, or more!  

Even within each of those rarity bands, we can see huge variances in price. This is affected by things such as the popularity of the Pokémon or character on the card, the playability of the card and also the collectability of the card. We have recently seen quite a lot of crossover in these areas which has made prices go quite high. Popular Pokémon have been given very playable cards and so there is greater demand from both collectors and players, ergo the price increases.

Of course, these rare cards now, that are not worth too much, may become very valuable in the future. Take the Base Set for example, the rarest cards in that set were the rare holo cards, which by today’s standard is nothing, you get one in every pack! What’s to say that in a few years time we aren’t getting an Ultra Rare in every pack as standard and we look back at how rare they actually were!

Tips For Collectors

Firstly, you will need to ensure that you are purchasing authentic cards. This is the easiest bit and by purchasing from trusted retailers, you can ensure that your cards are genuine. You could have a copy of the rarest card in the world, but if it is a fake then it is worth nothing!

Once you have your beautiful, rare cards, you will need to keep them in pristine condition to achieve the highest prices. You may have a super rare card, but if it looks like your dog has chewed on it then it is unlikely to be worth very much! Protect your rarest cards with sleeves and toploaders, or keep them closed in a binder for safe keeping.

You can find a selection of the rarest cards from all the newest sets on our website at MagicMadhouse as well as everything you will need to keep them well protected.