Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG cards come in more than a dozen rarities, and the quickest way to tell them apart is to look at three things: the card name, the artwork and the edges of the card. Gold name means Ultra Rare, a rainbow name means Secret Rare, a foil finish over the whole card means Starlight Rare, and a serial number means you've pulled a Grand Master Rare. Here's every rarity you can find in current English products, how to spot each one, and the ones that have been retired.
In this article
01 · Cheat sheet
Every current Yu-Gi-Oh! rarity at a glance
| Rarity | How to spot it | Where you'll find it now |
|---|---|---|
| Common | No foil anywhere. Black card name (white on Spells, Traps, Xyz and Link Monsters) | Core boosters, Structure Decks, Mega-Packs |
| Rare | Foil card name (silvery, more bronze on modern cards), plain artwork | 60-card sets, 6 in every pack |
| Super Rare | Foil artwork, plain card name | Core boosters, 60-card sets, Structure Decks |
| Ultra Rare | Gold foil card name and foil artwork | Almost every product |
| Secret Rare | Rainbow holographic card name and a patterned foil on the artwork | Core boosters, 60-card sets, premium box bonus cards |
| Starlight Rare | Holographic foil over the whole card except the text box. Rainbow card border since Chaos Origins | Core boosters, 60-card sets, tins, premium boxes |
| Collector's Rare | Rainbow reflective pattern on the artwork, Attribute, Level and borders | 60-card sets (15 per set) |
| Prismatic Secret Rare | Silver holographic name and a prism-pattern foil on the artwork | Mega-Pack Tins |
| Platinum Secret Rare | Platinum-coloured foil with the Secret Rare texture | Rarity Collection sets |
| "Prismatic" Ultimate and Collector's Rare | Konami's Rarity Collection-only versions of these two rarities | Rarity Collection sets |
| Grand Master Rare | Serial number (001 to 100) where the password goes, hieroglyph pattern on the card edge, always extended art | Magnificent Monsters, Magnificent Maestros |
02 · Spot the difference
How to tell Yu-Gi-Oh! rarities apart
03 · Starlight Rare
What is a Starlight Rare?
Starlight Rares are the TCG's top regular rarity: a horizontal holographic foil applied to almost the whole card, rather than just the artwork. The first ones arrived in Rising Rampage in 2019. Today a core booster set like Beyond the Brave or Immortal Phoenix has 25 cards available as Starlight Rares, five of them with extended art, and a 60-card set like Glorious Victors has 10.
From Chaos Origins (2 July 2026), Konami changed how Starlight Rares are printed. The new ones have richer colours, are easier to read and swap the grey outer border for a rainbow foil border. Konami was clear that it's the same rarity, "just a description", and that it won't reprint older Starlights with the new look.
04 · Grand Master Rare
What is a Grand Master Rare?
Grand Master Rares are the newest rarity, introduced in Magnificent Monsters (3 September 2026) and back in Magnificent Maestros (12 November 2026). Only the 18 reimagined anime cards in each box get one, and each is serial-numbered from 001 to 100.
Images: Konami (sample images)
Europe's 100 copies of each card cover Europe, Oceania, Africa and the Middle East. The Asian OCG markets get their own separate runs of 100. For the full breakdown, see our Magnificent Maestros listing.
05 · Special finishes
Collector's Rares, Platinum Secret Rares and the "Prismatic" rarities
Collector's Rares have a rainbow, reflective pattern across the artwork, Attribute, Level and borders. In the TCG they live in 60-card sets: Glorious Victors has 15 cards available as Collector's Rares. The TCG's first arrived in Toon Chaos in 2020.
Platinum Secret Rares and the "Prismatic"-style Ultimate and Collector's Rares are Rarity Collection specials. Konami published the slot chart for Rarity Collection 5 (9 April 2026), which makes it one of the few sets where you know the odds:
| Slot in each Rarity Collection 5 pack | What you get |
|---|---|
| Variant art slot | Always Ultra Rare or Starlight Rare |
| Super Rare slot | Always Super Rare |
| Ultra Rare slot | Ultra Rare, with a 1 in 6 chance to be Ultimate or Collector's |
| Ultra Rare slot | Ultra Rare, with a 1 in 6 chance to be Ultimate or Collector's |
| Secret Rare slot | Secret Rare, with a 1 in 4 chance to be Platinum or Starlight |
Prismatic Secret Rares turn up in the TCG in Mega-Pack Tins: each 2025 Mega-Pack has one Prismatic Secret Rare and one Starlight Rare alongside 3 Ultra Rares and 8 Commons.
06 · Not a rarity
What does extended art mean?
Extended art isn't a rarity of its own. It's artwork that breaks out of the normal square frame, and it comes in different rarities: Konami sells extended art Ultra Rares and Starlight Rares in core boosters and premium boxes, and every Grand Master Rare is extended art. Konami says the first TCG extended art cards were in Rarity Collection 5.
07 · Retired
Retired rarities: Quarter Century Secret Rare and Ghost Rare
Quarter Century Secret Rares marked the game's 25th anniversary. They have a speckled champagne-gold card name, Secret Rare foil over the whole card and a 25th anniversary logo in the text box. Konami called Quarter Century Stampede (10 April 2025) and Alliance Insight (1 May 2025) the last appearances of the rarity, and has said it never prints the same card twice as a Quarter Century Secret Rare. You'll still see plenty in binders and on the singles market; there just won't be new ones.
Ghost Rares have a pale, washed-out holographic image that makes the artwork look ghostly. They were dropped from regular booster sets in 2016 and have only returned in occasional special products since.
08 · Products
Which Yu-Gi-Oh! products have which rarities?
| Product type | What's in it |
|---|---|
| Core booster (e.g. Beyond the Brave) | 100 cards: 10 Secret, 14 Ultra, 26 Super, 50 Common; 25 also as Starlight Rare (5 with extended art) |
| 60-card set (e.g. Glorious Victors) | 3 Secret, 10 Ultra, 10 Super, 37 Rare; 15 also as Collector's Rare, 10 as Starlight Rare. Packs are 1 foil + 6 Rares |
| Premium box (Magnificent Maestros) | 3 packs of Ultra Rares, 3 Secret Rares that can upgrade to Starlight, Grand Master Rare chance |
| Rarity Collection 5 | All-foil 5-card packs with Platinum Secret, "Prismatic" Ultimate and Collector's Rares, and Starlights |
| 2025 Mega-Pack Tin | 3 Mega-Packs, each with 1 Starlight, 1 Prismatic Secret, 3 Ultra Rares and 8 Commons |
| Structure Deck | 45 cards: 40 Common, 3 Super Rare, 2 Ultra Rare |
09 · Our take
Which rarities are worth keeping?
Our take
Sleeve anything above Super Rare the moment it comes out of the pack. Starlight Rares and Grand Master Rares show every scratch, and condition matters most for their value.
If you're opening for value, Starlight Rares of the set's best cards are the realistic target; a Grand Master Rare is a bonus you shouldn't plan around. Quarter Century Secret Rares are worth looking after too, now that Konami has said there won't be any more.
- ✓Grade Starlights, Grand Master Rares and Quarter Century Secrets that come out clean
- ✓Check centering before you send anything off: try our centering tool
- ✕Don't grade Commons and Rares unless they're rare for another reason
- ✕Don't describe a card by rarity alone: extended art and set code matter just as much
Thinking about grading? Read our guide to PSA 10 and Ace 10 centering, then browse our Yu-Gi-Oh! range. New to the game? Start with how to play Yu-Gi-Oh!.
10 · FAQ
Yu-Gi-Oh! rarities FAQ
What is the rarest Yu-Gi-Oh! rarity right now?
What is the difference between a Secret Rare and a Starlight Rare?
Are Quarter Century Secret Rares still being made?
What is a Collector's Rare in Yu-Gi-Oh!?
Is extended art a rarity?
How can I tell a Rare from a Common?
Sources
- Konami, Magnificent Monsters (Grand Master Rares)
- Konami, Magnificent Maestros
- Konami, Chaos Origins ("Starlight 2.0" update)
- Konami, Beyond the Brave
- Konami, Glorious Victors
- Konami, Rarity Collection 5 (slot chart)
- Konami, 2025 Mega-Pack Tin
- Konami, Alliance Insight ("last call for Quarter Century Secret Rares")
- Konami, Quarter Century Bonanza
- Konami, Structure Deck: Yugi Muto
- Yugipedia, Rarity (and the individual rarity pages), appearance of each rarity
Images: Konami (Grand Master Rare and extended art samples, product shots). How each rarity looks follows Yugipedia's rarity pages.