Yu-Gi-Oh Card Rarities

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Common cards
Common cards are the most basic type of card available. They have no special properties at all and as the name implies, they are generally the most widely available with 8 of 9 cards (or 12 of 13 cards in reprint sets) in every booster pack being Commons.

Duel Terminal Common cards
A Duel Terminal Common (my nickname) is a Common card with the Duel Terminal foil over the entire front of the card. They can be considered related to Normal Parallel Rares. The pattern on the front of the card typically consists of irregular shapes that can form different colors depending on the lighting. These cards were only available at Duel Terminal machines, where a special version of the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG could be played. Generally, when viewed in lower light, they can be somewhat foggy in appearance.

Normal Parallel Rare cards
A Normal Parallel Rare is like a Duel Terminal Common except that the foil over the front of the card features a rainbow pattern in a grid-like formation. This pattern tends to come off rather easily and has a a very glossy feel and look to it.

Mosaic and Shatterfoil Rare cards
Mosaic Rares and Shatterfoil Rares are basically variations of the Duel Terminal Commons. The only main difference is the shapes found on the foil on the front of the card. Mosaic Rares are only found in the Battle Packs while Shatterfoil Rares are only available in the Star Packs, which were pretty much the next version of Battle Packs, minus the added Battle Pack Rares.

Short Print Common cards
Short Print Commons are identical to Commons but less of them are printed. They generally do go for a higher price.

Rare cards
A Rare card (not to be confused with cards that are hard to obtain) is a Common card but with a silver card name. These types of cards are generally guaranteed in all standard booster packs but not all Rares are easily obtainable.

Duel Terminal Rare cards
A Duel Terminal Rare (my nickname) has all the properties of a Rare card but with the Duel Terminal foil over the entire front of the card. As with Duel Terminal Commons, they were only available at Duel Terminal machines where the variation of the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG could be played. Much like Duel Terminal Commons, these cards can take on a slightly foggy appearance in areas with less light.

Duelist League Rare cards
Duelist League Rares (my nickname) are cards with the only property of regular Rare cards but with the name in a more metallic color. They were only availabe generally at special events, though tournament stores can have leftovers and give them out for entering the tournament. These cards are available in the following colors: Red, blue, bronze, green and purple.

Battle Pack Rare cards
Battle Pack Rares (my nickname) are cards identical to Commons, except that the name is engraved onto the card, similar to a regular Rare. Xyz Monsters are the only ones to feature an engraved card name in white as all other ones are black, even Spell and Trap Cards.

Super Rare cards
Super Rare cards are cards with the properties of a Common but with a generally darker card border and a rainbow foil over the front of the card (though it is generally only visible in the artwork and in recent years, the Level if it's a monster and the Attribute next to the card's name). They are generally harder to obtain but in recent years have been made a bit easier to get.

Duel Terminal Super Rare cards
Duel Terminal Super Rares (my nickname) are cards with the prperties of Duel Terminal Commons but with the same properties as regular Super Rares. They were also only available at Duel Terminal machines. As with other Duel Terminal cards, these cards can have a somewhat foggy apperance in daylight or other instances with low light.

Super Parallel Rare cards
Super Parallel Rares are cards with the properties of a Super Rare but with the grid-like rainbow pattern of Parallel Rares.

Ultra Rare cards
Ultra Rare cards are among the highest rarities a card can be found in and thus often among the most expesnive, depending on supply and demand. These cards have all the properties of a Super Rare card but with a gold card name.

Duel Terminal Ultra Rare cards
Duel Terminal Ultra Rares (my nickname) have all the properties of regular Ultra Rares but with the standard Duel Terminal foil on the card. These too were also only available at Duel Terminal machines. These cards also can appear somewhat foggy in low light conditions.

Ultra Parallel Rare cards are cards with the properties of Duel Terminal Ultra Rares but the foil is a grid-like rainbow pattern that covers the entire card. Hobby League cards are considered Ultra Parallel Rares as well and have a much darker card border than regular Ultra Rares. They are also very glossy in appearance and when held.

Ultimate Rare cards
Ultimate Rares are cards with the properties of an Ultra Rare card, except that the foil is now in a metallic silver and doesn't really change appearance with light angles. In previous instances, these cards also had an embossed artwork but have since also applied a metallic look to the outermost edge of the card and the card artwork's border. The Link Arrows of Link Monsters also have this foil, though they're also more orange.

Secret Rare cards
Secret Rare cards have a pastel rainbow-like appearance that becomes visible in proper lighting when the card is turned to around 45 degrees in either direction. The card arwork itself also features diagonal lines of sparkles that are also in a rainbow-like pattern. In recent years, these cards also have the foil applied to Levels on Monster Cards and card Attributes. They are also sometimes released for special occasions such as Collector's Tins.

Prismatic Secret Rare cards
Prismatic Secret Rares are similar to Parallel Rare cards but the foil stays within the card's artwork and isn't as prone to coming off, not to mention has a slightly different rainbow look to it. The name also has a kind of sparkly glossy look to it. These cards are typically found with video games as promo cards, but Japan has kept this for their regular booster sets as well.

Extra Secret Rare cards
Extra Secret Rares are currently limited to specific releases. The foil is somewhat of a mixture of Platinum Rare (see below) and Gold Secret Rare (also below) but the foil is also seen on the icons for the Pendulum Scale in the TCG.

20th Secret Rare cards
20th Secret Rares are currently exclusive to Japan. Cards in this rarity have a holographic name that is dark red and a foil that is a mix between Prismatic Secret Rares and Extra Secret Rares.

Quarter Century Secret Rare cards
Quarter Secret Rares are

Platinum Secret Rare cards
Platinum Secret Rares are

Ghost Rare cards
Ghost Rares are cards where the artwork appears to not exist from one angle, then suddenly becomes visible as the card is turned, hence the card's name. These cards are called Holographic Rares with the Japanese cards but are essentially the same thing. The card's name also has a Secret Rare foil. Generally, these are associated with Cover Cards (the ones featured on the booster pack they come in) but this hasn't always been the case. They are generally a quite high rarity and thus often expensive but in certain cases, they can be obtained almost effortlessly (wiich was the case with Light of Destruction Special Edition boxes, where they proved to be found much more easily than normal).

Gold Rare cards
Gold Rares have varied a bit over the years, with the original Gold Rares having all the properties of Ultra Rares but with a foil over the Level of Monster Cards and the Attributes of all cards, though the artwork's foil simply became more reflective in later releases. These tend to be harder to obtain as they are only available in the Gold Series products, which are sometimes hard to find in general and the cards inside could thus be expensive as a result.

Gold Secret Rare cards
Gold Secret Rares are pretty much Gold Rares with the Secret Rare foil applied on top around the card's outermost border and card artwork border. They are limited to Premium Gold products.

Ghost Gold Rare cards
Ghost Gold Rares follow the properties of Ghost Rares and Gold Rares but essentially combine the two together. Similar to Gold Secret Rares, they are only found in Premium Gold products.

Platinum Rare cards
Platinum Rares are only found with the Noble Knights of the Round Table box set. They have an even darker card border (the one that identifies what type of card it is) than past cards with a foil and have a more metallic silver card border and card artwork border, similar to recent versions of Ultimate Rares. They also have a foil in the card's name similar to Prismatic Secret Rares.