Welcome to a new era of Pokemon!
Generation 9 is almost here and with it are some exciting changes to the Pokemon TCG. One of the biggest changes has to do with booster pack configuration and card rarities.
Booster Pack Configuration
Instead of the rarest cards being in the middle of the booster pack when you open it, the rarest cards will now be in the back. No more pack tricks anymore. (Yay? Nay?) Not only that, there will now be EVEN MORE rare cards in your packs.
A booster pack will contain 12 cards
- 4 Common cards
- 3 Uncommon cards
- 2 Reverse holo cards
- 1 Holo card
- 1 Basic energy
- 1 Code card
Compared to the original configuration, you get 1 more reverse holo in your pack. This can make creating a master set much easier!
Just like in previous sets, your typical Trainer Gallery subsets and Secret Rares can potentially be in the 2nd reverse holo slot and the Holo slot respectively. This will make pulls feel a lot more exciting.
New Card Rarities
English and Japanese sets are becoming more closely related and this is even more obvious with how they are consolidating rarity classifications between the two languages. The table below summarizes the changes
| New Rarity | Symbol | Old Rarity |
| Common | ● | -- |
| Uncommon | ◆ | -- |
| Rare | ★ | -- |
| Double Rare | ★★ | Ultra Rare |
| Illustration Rare | ★ | Trainer Gallery |
| Special Illustration Rare | ★★ | Secret Rare/ex Alt Art/Supporter Alt Art |
| Ultra Rare | ★★ | Full Art |
| Hyper Rare | ★★★ | Gold Rare |
Hopefully with these changes, it makes it a lot more clear how much rarer your pulls are and makes things so much more exciting.
I'm definitely looking forward to this next generation of Pokemon. I hope you are too! Don't forget to drop by our website to pre-order the newest set Pre-order Here
- J.R.