Pokémon TCG Cards by Rarity

Among current pack-pulled rarities, Special Illustration Rare sits at the top of the Scarlet & Violet era ladder. Historically, the rarest tiers include Rare Secret, Rare Rainbow, Rare Shining, and the limited-print 1990s Rare Holo Stars. The single rarest individual card is the 1998 Pikachu Illustrator Trophy, of which only ~40 exist.

Rare is a standard non-holographic rare - a black star symbol on the card. Rare Holo has a foil pattern across the artwork itself. Modern booster packs guarantee one Rare or Rare Holo per pack, with Rare Holo pulls being roughly 1 in 3.

Illustration Rare is a Scarlet & Violet era rarity introduced in 2023. It uses the standard card layout but with full-bleed illustrative artwork that extends beyond the usual border. Special Illustration Rare is the higher tier - same full-art treatment but with even more elaborate illustration, often featuring the trainer alongside the Pokémon, and pulls at a much lower rate.

The four filter pills above group every rarity into a strength tier: Standard (Common / Uncommon / Rare / Rare Holo), Chase (Ultra Rare / Double Rare / V / GX / EX / Trainer Gallery), Top tier (Illustration / Special Illustration / Hyper / Secret / Rainbow / Shining / Holo Star), and Promo (set-promo and tournament prints). Rarity strings come straight from pokemontcg.io, which mirrors the official rarity printed on each card.

The TCG has used inconsistent rarity strings over its 25-year history - "Rare Secret" and "Secret Rare" both appear on different cards from different eras. Catchinary preserves whatever string is printed on each card rather than normalising them, so collectors can match exactly what's on a physical card.