With the 30th Anniversary featuring yet again a new rarity being the Futuristic Rares. Lets do a small round-up of the types of rarities that are available from the Sword and Shield era up to the 30th Anniversary Expansion.
Before we start, let's briefly talk about your standard rarities that have existed since the beginning 30 years ago.
So in your standard WOTC-era packs you were expected to pull the following rarities:
- Common (●) — Black circle symbol. The majority of any pack.
- Uncommon (♦) — Black diamond symbol. A slight step up from Common.
- Rare (★) — single black star. Traditionally the pack's first holo-foil card, although there was a chance of getting a non-holo Rare instead.
Now, fast forward to 2020 and we enter the Sword and Shield era where they introduced "V" cards and several other rarities that are still used today.
- Pokémon V — Marked with a "V" after the Pokémon's name (And also on the top left). Knocking these stronger cards out awards two Prize cards.
- Pokémon VMAX — The evolved, "Dynamax" form of a V card. Printed with dramatic, oversized-effect full-art backgrounds. The reward for knocking one out awards three Prize cards.
- Pokémon VSTAR — introduced later in the era as an alternate evolution path to VMAX. Each VSTAR card has a one-per-game "VSTAR Power" ability layered onto it. Also worth two prizes on knockout.
- Alternate Art V / VMAX / VSTAR — This era is where "alternate art" became a defined, named chase category. Rather than the standard pose, these reprint the same card with entirely different, often character- or scene-focused artwork.
- Rainbow Rare — A pastel rainbow foil wash spread across the entire card. This became the direct predecessor of today's Hyper Rare.
- Gold Secret Rare — Gold-foil cards numbered beyond the set's official print run, sitting at the very top of Sword & Shield-era pack odds.
When Scarlet & Violet arrived in 2023, the V line was retired. However, a lot of what Sword & Shield had built stuck around. Rainbow Rare 'evolved' into Hyper Rare, Alternate Art rares became a permanent fixture but were later referred to 'Illustration rares' , and the idea of a 'doubled-up' premium tier carried straight through into the new ex cards.
Below is the list of rarities along with some examples:
- Double Rare (★★, black) — Pokémon ex cards with a full-art-style border, but standard-size artwork.
- Ultra Rare — The umbrella term collectors use for anything above a standard Holo Rare in this era.
- Illustration Rare (IR) — Extended full-art illustrations that cover the entire card.
- Special Illustration Rare (SIR, ★★ gold) — The era's premier chase tier: elaborate full-bleed artwork.
- Hyper Rare — Gold-foil, "rainbow rare"-style cards with foil covering the entire card, including the text box. This is functionally the direct successor to Sword & Shield's Rainbow Rare.
- Monochrome Rare — A single-color textured finish introduced in Black Bolt & White Flare, also with a roughly 1-in-1,260 pull rate.
The next shift came in 2025, when Mega Evolution returned to the mainline games and the TCG introduced Mega ex cards to match, keeping the ex system while reviving the old mechanic of Mega Evolution..
On top of this, the 30th Anniversary has since introduced a new rarity, which we'll cover later on!
- Mega Pokémon ex — Mega Evolution versions of ex cards, following the same Double Rare / Ultra Rare conventions above.
- Mega Attack Rare — identified by a distinctive pink-and-green star, a colour combination unique to this tier.
- Mega Hyper Rare — Gold-foil Mega ex cards with additional etching, holographic stamping, and a stippled background. Currently the rarest standard pull in English-language sets, at roughly 1 in 1,260 packs.
- Futuristic Rare — The newest tier of all, debuting in the 30th Celebration set (September 2026). It breaks from the star system entirely in favour of an opalescent, colour-shifting foil finish, and is illustrated exclusively by artist YOSHIROTTEN.
I hope this has helped make sense of all the different rarities that are in the TCG scene. Feel free to comment below with your favourite rarity or which set is currently your favourite!
