Pokémon TCG: Rarest Brilliant Stars Cards

The Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars expansion set of the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) was released on February 25, much to the excitement of card game players invested in the franchise. It contains its fair share of rare and valuable cards that dedicated Pokémon TCG collectors will undoubtedly want to get their hands on. Officially, the set includes 172 cards – not including those featured as part of the Trainer Gallery subset, of which there are 30 – but there is also an additional collection of Secret Rare items to keep an eye out for. So which Brilliant Stars cards are overall the most uncommon to pull?

Pokémon TCG cards have become increasingly valuable within the last couple of years, sometimes spiking in price up to almost a million dollars. Even booster packs have become difficult to obtain. Demand has become so high that physical sellers such as Walmart and Target have had to implement new policies to combat scalpers. Even digital storefronts like eBay have taken additional steps to reduce the number of fake cards and other scams circulating in the Pokémon TCG community. Values tend to fluctuate when it comes to new Pokémon TCG packs such as Brilliant Stars, both because of the relatively small number of prints in circulation when the set is first being distributed as well as gradual adjustments needing to occur as Pokémon trading card collectors take note of pull rates.

Now that Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars has been out for just over a month, several Pokémon TCG collectors have analyzed the expansion enough to figure out the approximate pull rate of some of Briliant Stars‘ rarest cards, from Pokémon‘s highly-sought-after Charizard cards to some of those included in the pack’s VMAX Trainer Gallery. For example, one Pokémon TCG player – Boring-Journalist-66 – took to Reddit after opening 1034 booster packs from the Brilliant Stars set, reporting which individual cards were hardest to find and which appeared with the highest frequency. Though harder to verify, other sources claim to have opened upwards of thousands of Pokémon booster packs to gather similar data. In both cases, the pull rates paint more or less the same picture of which Brilliant Stars cards are the hardest to obtain. Lucky collectors who manage to get their hands on any of them could be sitting on quite a profit.

Rarest Gold Cards In Pokémon TCG Brilliant Stars

Gold cards can easily be spotted by the gold foil that decorates them, and in the Brilliant Stars expansion of Pokémon TCG, the majority of them are only included as part of the set’s secret cards. Furthermore, almost all of them have incredibly low pull rates, sometimes in the range of nearly 1/1000. This makes them all the more exciting to spot when opening Pokémon TCG booster packs, and their appearance makes them a worthwhile addition to any Pokémon TCG display. As far as Brilliant Stars goes, the Gold version of the Ultra Ball has a pull rate of just 1/500, give or take, as does the Gold Galarian Moltres. Others, like Galarian Articuno and Galarian Zapdos, are twice as difficult to find in Gold form.

Trainer & TG Cards In Pokémon TCG Brilliant Stars

Brilliant Stars contains several Supporter cards, quite a few of which include iconic Trainers from throughout the Pokémon franchise. Cynthia’s Ambition, Roseanne’s Backup, and Marnie’s Pride are a few examples of these. All three come in a Full Art print, which, when compared to its more standard alternative, is a good example of a rare Pokémon trading card in and of itself. Cynthia’s Ambition and Roseanne’s Backup both come in Rainbow variants, too, which have been reported as having pull rates of nearly 1/1000. On top of their rarity, they can be fun mementos for Pokémon TCG collectors who also enjoy the video games and the characters featured within.

There are also a fair amount of rare cards to be found in the Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars Trainer Gallery. The Trainer Gallery subset was previously seen in packs such as the Pokémon TCG‘s Cosmic Eclipse expansion, released in 2019, and features Full Art reprints of Pokémon alongside their Trainers. As expected, the Trainer Gallery’s additions to Pokémon: TCG – Brilliant Stars are relatively rare by default due to only consisting of 30 cards out of well over a hundred, but even then, there are a few to keep a watchful eye out for. The V and VMAX Tainer Gallery cards are among the most uncommon, with some, like Mimikyu V and Sylveon V, having a draw rate of nearly 1/1000. Pokémon Mimikyu and Sylveon’s VMAX prints are similar, and other VMAX additions such as the highly popular Umbreon, follow suit.

Pokémon TCG Brilliant Stars’ Charizard Cards Are Pretty Uncommon

Cards featuring Charizard – the third evolution of Charmander – have consistently remained among the most valuable Pokémon cards, with certain holographic Pokémon: TCG Charizard cards selling for over $100,000 in some cases. So it shouldn’t come as much surprise that the Sword & Shield – Brilliant Stars expansion set seems to continue this tradition. Several of the pack’s Charizards are already among the most expensive in the collection, and their rarity only adds to their value. Charizard makes up 5 of the 172 official cards in Brilliant Stars, and nearly all of them are hard to come across and worth up to hundreds of dollars.

The most notable of these is the Rainbow Rare Charizard VSTAR, which reportedly has a pull rate of anywhere from 1/500 to 1/1000. As with all Pokémon cards, much of it comes down to luck, so no two lucky Pokémon card collectors will encounter the same pull rate even if they’re opening boosters from the same set. That said, Rainbow Rare cards are typically among the most uncommon in any given Pokémon TCG collection. Their value tends to be relatively high compared to more standard reprints as a result. Other Charizard cards in Brilliant Stars include the Full Art and Alt Art versions, which have pull rates of around 1/400.

Which Of Pokémon TCG Brilliant Stars’ Arceus Cards Are Hard To Get

Arceus cards are only slightly more common than Charizard in Pokémon TCG‘s Brilliant Stars set, with six different cards sporting the iconic Mythical Pokémon. Like Charizard, the Rainbow Rare VSTAR Arceus is among the rarest, having similar pull rates. According to some calculations, Pokémon TCG‘s Gold VSTAR Arceus card follows suit and may even be slightly more uncommon. This is also the case with some of the Alt Art Arceus’. As time goes on and newer Pokémon TCG expansions come out, the cost and rarity of many Brilliant Stars cards are sure to increase further. Still, for the time being, it’s safe to say the Rainbow Rare VSTAR collection is likely to remain the most valuable overall.

Source: Reddit/Boring-Journalist-66

About The Author

Ky Shinkle
(528 Articles Published)

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Ky Shinkle is a Senior Gaming Features Writer for Screen Rant as well as an overall avid gamer and writer. Her prior experience is primarily that of a narrative designer for video games, although her writing has covered all formats from screenplays and novels to stage scripts. A graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design, when she isn’t writing she works on digital media projects and other types of fiction writing. Ky currently works out of Ohio and enjoys spending her free time either playing RPGs or running with her dog.

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