Pokémon TCG Pocket Rarity Guide: Diamonds, Stars, Crowns

Pokémon TCG Pocket ranks cards by a symbol in the lower-left corner: one to four diamonds for regular cards, one to three stars for alternate art and immersive cards, one or two shiny symbols for shiny Pokémon, and a crown for the rarest gold cards. From most common to rarest, the order runs from one diamond up to the crown, and as of November 2026 the newest set, Dual Fusion, uses every one of those tiers.

We checked this against the official collecting guide on Pokemon.com, Game8's card rarity, god pack and trading guides, Serebii's booster pack, Wonder Pick and Dual Fusion pages, and the October 2026 producer letter, in November 2026.

The Rarity Symbols, From Most Common to Rarest

The official collecting guide explains that rarity is shown by a symbol in the card's lower-left corner and that rankings run from one to four diamonds, then one to three stars, then a crown. Later sets added shiny rarities, which Game8 lists between the star tiers and the crown. Here is the full ladder with Game8's descriptions:

1. One diamond: the equivalent of a common in the physical card game.
2. Two diamonds: uncommon.
3. Three diamonds: rare.
4. Four diamonds: double rare, which in practice is where the playable ex Pokémon sit.
5. One star: illustration rare, alternate artwork of a regular card.
6. Two stars: special art rare, which in Dual Fusion is mostly full-art versions of the set's ex Pokémon.
7. Three stars: immersive cards, which the official guide says feature animation that brings the card art to life.
8. One shiny: shiny Pokémon versions of more accessible cards.
9. Two shiny: shiny versions of ex Pokémon.
10. Crown: golden full-art cards marked with a gold crown, the rarest tier.

Promo cards sit outside this ladder. The official guide notes that promo cards come from promo packs, the Shop, Wonder Pick and other sources, and Game8 adds that they have no rarity symbol and never come from regular booster packs. Staple Trainers such as Professor's Research are promos, which is why you will not find them in any expansion's rarity counts.

How Rare Each Symbol Is in a Booster

A standard five-card pack does not roll every slot the same way. Game8's rarity guide describes the structure: the first three cards are always one-diamond cards, the fourth card is a two-diamond card about 89 percent of the time, and the fifth card is never lower than two diamonds. Everything rarer than that lives in the fourth and fifth slots.

Game8's slot table puts the fifth card at about 19.8 percent three diamonds, 6.7 percent four diamonds, 10.3 percent one star, 2 percent two stars, 0.9 percent three stars, 2.9 percent one shiny, 1.3 percent two shiny and 0.16 percent crown. The fourth slot carries a quarter of each of those rare rates, with crowns at 0.04 percent. Put simply, roughly one pack in six has a one-star or better card in its fifth slot, and a crown in either slot is about one pack in 500.

It helps to translate those percentages into packs. Adding the fourth and fifth slots together, Game8's rates work out to roughly 13 one-star cards, two or three two-star cards, about one three-star immersive card and one-fifth of a crown for every 100 packs you open. On the two free packs a day, 100 packs is about seven weeks of play. That is why a collector can finish the diamond side of a set in a few weeks while the star side takes months, and why a single crown is a genuine event.

Those averages also explain why rare collections grow so unevenly from player to player. One player might pull two crowns in a month while another goes a year without one, and both are within normal luck. Averages describe thousands of players, not your next ten packs. If you are aiming for a specific high-rarity card, plan around Pack Points or a dependable source such as the anniversary ticket rather than around averages.

These figures come from Game8's long-running table, built on the earlier sets, and some later sets changed the formula with features such as six-card packs. The exact odds for any booster are always listed on its offering rates screen before you open it, so check there when the numbers matter. The all-rare packs players call god packs follow their own rules, covered in our god pack guide.

Rarity in Dual Fusion, Counted

The newest set shows how the tiers are distributed in practice. We counted Serebii's Dual Fusion card list by rarity symbol: the 131 numbered cards cover the four diamond tiers, and the 86 secret cards above the set number cover everything from one star to crown.

Dual Fusion cards by rarity, counted from Serebii's card list (November 2026)

Rarity	Cards in set
One diamond	57
Two diamonds	42
Three diamonds	20
Four diamonds	12
One star	21
Two stars	30
Three stars (immersive)	4
One shiny	20
Two shiny	8
Crown	3
Total	217

A few things stand out. The twelve four-diamond cards are the set's ex Pokémon, including Mega Mewtwo X ex, Mega Greninja ex and Pikachu ex, and each of them comes back at two stars in at least one special art version. The three crowns are Fuecoco ex, Pawmot and Giratina ex, and Serebii lists all three in both boosters. Two of the four immersive cards, Pikachu ex and Mega Mewtwo X ex, have no booster attached on Serebii's list, which matches the producer letter's note that some immersive cards are now earned through missions. For more on the set itself, see our Dual Fusion guide.

Does Rarity Change How a Card Plays?

No. The official collecting guide says many diamond cards have star counterparts with alternate artwork but the same game text, and that crown cards share the same stats as their more common versions. A four-diamond Mega Greninja ex and its two-star art version are identical in a match.

That has a practical consequence for deck building. You never need a rare version to compete, so if your goal is winning, target the diamond printing of every card in your deck. Higher rarities are for collecting, display and flair, not power. The one exception worth noting is the ex rule itself: four-diamond ex cards are both rarer than basic diamonds and stronger, and they give up two points when Knocked Out, or three for a Mega Evolution ex.

It also explains why four-diamond cards are the most in-demand cards to trade, even though they sit below the star tiers. A crown is impressive in a binder, but a missing ex is what stops a deck from working.

How Rarity Affects Pack Points, Wonder Pick and Trading

Rarity sets the price of almost everything you do to target a specific card:

• Pack Points. Every pack gives five points, and Serebii lists exchange costs of 35 for one diamond, 70 for two, 150 for three, 500 for four, 400 for one star, 1,250 for two stars, 1,500 for three stars and 2,500 for a crown.
• Wonder Pick. The stamina cost depends on the rarest card in the pack: Serebii lists one heart when the best card is one or two diamonds, two hearts for three diamonds, three for four diamonds or one star, and four for two stars. Game8 adds that three-star and crown cards cannot be obtained through Wonder Pick at all.
• Trading. Game8's current rules allow trades from one diamond up to two stars and both shiny tiers, always for a card of the same rarity, with Shinedust costs rising from free at one and two diamonds to 30,000 per player for a two-shiny. Three-star and crown cards cannot be traded. Our trading guide lists every cost.

The takeaway is that crowns and immersive cards can only come from opening packs or from Pack Points, which is what makes them the true prestige cards of the game.

Special Cases Worth Knowing

A few newer pack types bend the usual rarity picture. The First Partners special pack, available until December 26, 2026, uses its own weekly stamina, and every pack always includes a one-star card; Game8 notes the set is made up mostly of one-star cards and includes secret cards that do not appear in the offering list. The Second Anniversary ticket, available until December 14, opens a booster that always includes a two-star card.

Six-card packs are another wrinkle. Game8 dates them to Wisdom of Sea and Sky, where a bonus sixth card could be a baby Pokémon, and Mega Rising, where the bonus card was a shiny. Those extra cards are on top of the usual five, so they do not replace a rare slot. When you plan which booster to open for a specific rarity, our best packs guide shows how to use the offering rates screen.

Chasing High Rarities Faster

With crowns at well under one percent per pack, a full set of high-rarity cards can take a very long time on free packs. Some collectors look instead at accounts that already hold the rare cards they want, and the store's Pokémon TCG Pocket page lists accounts from independent sellers, each describing its own crown rares, shiny totals and card counts.

Know the rules before going down that path: The Pokémon Company International's Terms of Use say every card and item in the game is licensed to the individual player, is not transferable and may not be resold or transferred except as the company explicitly allows.

Frequently Asked Questions