A Beginner's Guide to Card Rarities in Pokemon TCG Pocket

Even if you are experienced Pokemon Trading Card expert, Pokemon TCG Pocketrarity systems can be confusing at first. The Pokemon Company has simplified the card rarity mechanics to make the game more accessible to casual players. As a result, veterans and newcomers alike may wonder how card rarities work and what the new symbols and categories mean. If you're one of those players, don't worry – this guide explains everything you need to know Pokemon Pockets rarity system and walks you through the changes from the original physical Pokemon TCG.

How to Identify Card Rarities in Pokemon Pocket

Pokemon Pocket has eight rarity levels: one-diamond, two-diamond, three-diamond, four-diamond, one-star, two-star, three-star and crown. Each level has a smaller card pool and is progressively rarer, with crown cards being the most elusive.

Rarity in Pokemon TCG Pocket indicated by three symbols: diamond, star and crown. These symbols appear below the illustrator's name in the lower left corner. Different art styles and borders, such as full art, immersive art, and rainbow borders, also distinguish rarity.

Here's what each rarity is in Pokemon Pocket means:

• One-diamond: Basic Pokémon
• Two of diamonds: Basic or Stage One Pokémon
• Three-diamond: Stage one or stage two Pokemon
• Four diamonds: ex Pokemon
• One star: A complete art of a Basic, Stage One, or Stage Two Pokemon
• Two star: A full art of a former Pokemon
• Three star: A special immersive card of a former Pokemon
• Crown: Gold Edition of rare ex Pokemon

How Pokemon Pocket Rarities Compare to the Pokemon TCG

Then Scarlet & Violet renew 2023, the physical Pokemon TCG uses three primary symbols to indicate card rarity: Circle, Diamond, and Star. Higher rarities, such as Hyper Rare, are marked with variations of these symbols. (For example, a three-star stamp at the bottom for Hyper Rare.)

Pokemon TCG Pocket further simplifies this system by removing the circle symbol and rarities such as Shiny Rare or Shiny Ultra Rare. While most of the Pocketcard rarities have counterparts in the physical game, not all physical rarities are represented in Pocket.

The following table shows Pocket the rarities' counterparts i Pokemon TCG.

Pokemon Pockets Pack Rarities

Pokemon Pocket offers three booster packs in each expansion. The current packs are Charizard, Pikachu and Mewtwo. Each pack can be either common or rare. Common packs contain five cards of any kind, with a very small chance of including three-star or crown cards. Rare packs, on the other hand, are guaranteed to contain at least one-star or better cards, but the odds of getting a rare pack are only 0.05%.

Card price based on rarities

Pokemon Pocket allows players to purchase cards of all rarities, provided they have enough Pack Points. These points are earned by opening booster packs, meaning players who open the most packs – called whales – have a guaranteed way to acquire rare cards.

The following table shows how many packs you need to open and how much money you should spend to buy a card from each rarity.

Card release prices based on rarities

Booster packs in Pokemon Pocket contains five cards, with each slot having a different drop rate for different rarities. The cards at the back of the pack – slots four and five – have the highest chance of containing rare cards. However, the cards in the front (slots one through three) are almost always guaranteed to be common Pokémon.

Pokemon TCG Pocket Card Rarity FAQ

Here are the most frequently asked questions about card rarities i Pokemon Pocket:

What rarity is missing from Pokemon Pocket?

Shiny Rare and Shiny Ultra Rare are currently not available in Pokemon TCG Pocket. While it is unclear if they will be introduced in the future, it is unlikely as the game focuses on simplistic gameplay. Shiny cards may eventually appear as part of one- to three-star illustration cards, not as a separate rarity level.

What is the rarest card in Pokemon Pocket?

The rare cards in Pokemon TCG Pocket are the four Immersive three stars and the three crown rarity cards: Golden Pikachu ex, Golden Charizard ex and Golden Mewtwo ex. While these are extremely rare in packs, you can purchase them from the Pack Point store for 1500 points each for immersive cards and 2500 points for each golden edition crown card.

Are promo cards a rarity in Pokemon Pocket?

Promo cards are not considered a rarity level Pokemon Pocket. You can earn them by opening exclusive one-card packs, usually awarded during limited events. There are currently 24 campaign cards in the Genetic Apex expansion, identifiable by the unique blue icon on the right side of their illustrations.

Are there secret rare cards in Pokemon Pocket?

As of now, the only secret rare i Pokemon Pocket is Mew. Pocket do not have cards with a number higher than their expansion's total, unlike the physical Pokémon Trading Card Game. However, this may change in the future.

Do rarities affect card strength in Pokemon Pocket?

As rarity increases, the card's HP, ATK, and abilities can become stronger, but illustration-based rarities don't affect the card's stats—these are simply alternate art versions of regular Pokemon cards. Rarities such as one-star, two-star, three-star, and crown affect the art style of the card; they do not affect the statistics.