Pokémon Card Rarity Symbols: The Complete Chart

Where the rarity symbol is on a Pokémon card

On cards printed since Scarlet & Violet (March 2023), everything you need sits in one short row in the bottom left corner. Sun & Moon and Sword & Shield cards use the bottom left too, with a small set symbol in place of the set code. Older cards, from Base Set through the XY era, put the number and the symbol in the bottom right corner.

The diagram uses one of Pullwise's own fantasy cards, not a real Pokémon card. The labels copy the row on a real Scarlet & Violet card, which you can see in the close-ups further down.

1 G SVI EN 025/198 ● 2 3 4

1. Card name. It tells you which Pokémon, not which print. Miraidon ex appears four times in the Scarlet & Violet base set alone, at four different rarities.
2. Regulation mark and set code. The boxed letter (G here) decides tournament legality, not rarity. English cards have carried it since Sword & Shield. Next to it, a three-letter code plus the language, like SVI EN, names the set. That code replaced the little set-symbol picture with Scarlet & Violet.
3. Collector number. 025/198 is card 25 of the 198 in the set's printed list.
4. Rarity symbol. Right after the number. Shape, color and count all matter.

Pokémon card rarity chart

This chart covers English cards from the Scarlet & Violet series (from March 31, 2023) and the Mega Evolution series that followed it (from September 26, 2025). The first eight rows run roughly from least to most rare, in the order TCGplayer uses. The rest are special rarities that appear only in some sets.

Sources disagree on one color: Bulbapedia and CGC call the Ultra Rare stars silver, TCGplayer calls them white, and the Pokémon Company says "two shiny foil stars". On the card they look pale and foiled, as the close-up of Miraidon ex 227/198 below shows. Either way, they aren't the solid black of a Double Rare or the gold of a Special Illustration Rare.

Here are the first three tiers on real cards from the Scarlet & Violet base set. Under each card is a close-up of its number and rarity symbol.

Sprigatito013/198 · Common

Floragato014/198 · Uncommon

Meowscarada015/198 · Rare

A rarity symbol tells you how often a card was printed compared with other cards in its set, not what it's worth. TCGplayer's own example: an old Common Pikachu can sell for more than a new Ultra Rare.

How to tell if a Pokémon card is a secret rare

Check the collector number. If the first number is bigger than the second, the card is a secret rare: 244/198 in the Scarlet & Violet base set, or the vintage Shining Charizard at 107/105. "Secret rare" isn't one of the official rarity names. It's what collectors call any card numbered past the set's printed total.

In Scarlet & Violet sets, all the full-art cards are secret. The base set prints 198 as its total but has 258 cards. Cards 199 to 258 are all secret, in this order:

• 199–222: Illustration Rares
• 223–242: Ultra Rares
• 243–252: Special Illustration Rares
• 253–258: Hyper Rares

Mega Evolution works the same way. Its first set prints 132 as the total and ends with two Mega Hyper Rares at 187/132 and 188/132.

The same Pokémon ex can sit on both sides of the line. Miraidon ex appears three times below: once inside the set list, twice above it.

Miraidon ex081/198 · Double Rare

Miraidon ex227/198 · Ultra Rare

Miraidon ex244/198 · Special Illustration Rare

How to tell if a Pokémon card is an SIR

A Special Illustration Rare passes three checks:

1. Two gold stars. They sit right after the number. One gold star is an Illustration Rare; three is a Hyper Rare.
2. A number above the set total. For example 244/198.
3. New full-card art of a Pokémon ex or a Supporter. Compare Miraidon ex 244 with 227: same attacks, a whole new scene.

The two gold neighbors are easy to tell apart. An Illustration Rare has one gold star and shows a regular Pokémon, not an ex. A Hyper Rare has three gold stars and a gold card.

Pawmot209/198 · Illustration Rare

Miraidon ex253/198 · Hyper Rare

Numbers with letters

Some subsets number their cards with letters. Sword & Shield's Trainer Gallery, from Brilliant Stars on, runs TG01/TG30 and up: full-art cards of a Pokémon with a Trainer. Keep the letters when you look the card up.

Holo, reverse holo and non-holo: a finish, not a rarity

Foil is the finish of a card, not its rarity. There are three basic finishes:

• Non-holo: no foil anywhere.
• Holo: the picture itself is foil.
• Reverse holo (the official name is Parallel Foil): everything is foil except the picture.

A reverse holo Sprigatito is still a Common, and it still has a circle. Because reverse holos exist at the lower rarities, TCGplayer notes that you can't tell a card's rarity from the foil alone.

Since Legendary Collection, English booster packs have held at least one reverse holo. With Scarlet & Violet, every Rare in a pack became holo, and packs went from two guaranteed foil cards to three. Some sets add their own foils: Black Bolt and White Flare added reverse holos with a Poké Ball or Master Ball pattern, and Mega Evolution brought back Mirror Holofoil.

The finish changes the price, even when the rarity doesn't. Our guide on how to check a Pokémon card's value shows how to match the finish before you read a price.

Older rarity symbols: Sword & Shield and earlier

Before March 2023 the ladder was shorter, and one star did a lot of work. Use this table for cards printed before Scarlet & Violet.

Sword & Shield's big Pokémon have their own rarity names in the card databases: Holo Rare V, Holo Rare VMAX and Holo Rare VSTAR. A Pokémon V such as Zacian V (138/202) also carries a white star, so the quickest tell is the name on the card itself. Radiant Rares, from Astral Radiance on, show a Shiny Pokémon with a special foil, and a deck can hold only one.

Promo cards: the black star with PROMO

A black star with the word PROMO across it means a promo card. Promos aren't pulled from regular booster packs. They come from events, tins, boxes and other products, and how scarce they are depends on how they were handed out.

Not every promo carries that star. Some promos are reprints of set cards and keep their original rarity symbol. A stamp or a different foil pattern usually marks them. Mega Attack Rares are a special case: Bulbapedia notes that until Ascended Heroes put them in an expansion, English Mega Attack Rare cards came out only as MEP Black Star Promos.

Vintage Base Set: 1st Edition and Shadowless

For 1999 cards, the print run can matter as much as the rarity. These are not rarities: a 1st Edition Charizard is still a holo Rare with a black star.

1. Look for the stamp. A 1st Edition card has a small round "Edition 1" stamp near the lower left corner of the picture frame. English 1st Edition runs went from Base Set to Neo Destiny, skipping Base Set 2.
2. No stamp? Check the right edge of the picture frame. Unlimited cards have a drop shadow along it. Shadowless cards don't. Shadowless exists only in the 1999 Base Set.
3. Check the HP. 1st Edition and Shadowless Base Set cards use a thinner HP font. Unlimited cards print it thicker.

PSA notes that collectors usually want 1st Edition most, then Shadowless, then Unlimited. Before you price one, see what your Pokémon card is worth for the condition and grading side.

Check the exact print and price

The rarity gets you halfway. To price a card you also need the exact print and finish. Pullwise's free card scanner reads the number at the bottom, like 025/198, finds that exact print and shows its price after a pack-opening reveal. A finish picker switches between normal, holo, reverse holo, 1st Edition and Unlimited, because each one has its own price.

Prices come from TCGplayer (USD) and Cardmarket (EUR), each with its date, and the app says so when a finish has no price. You get 5 free scans a day plus unlimited free search by name or number. The photo is read on your phone and deleted, and there's no account. Pullwise covers English Pokémon prints, doesn't grade cards, and isn't affiliated with Nintendo or The Pokémon Company.

For sharper scans, see how to scan Pokémon cards for value. Collect Yu-Gi-Oh! too? Our Yu-Gi-Oh! rarity guide covers its foils and set codes.