Japanese Sword & Shield Pokémon Card Rarities List

Basic rarities:

• R = Rare (レア - Rea) - This is a Holo card.
• U = Uncommon (アンコモン - Ankomon)
• C = Common (コモン - Komon)

RR - Double Rare

ダブルレア - Dabururea

This is the most common rarity for V cards. You can recognize them by the glossy embossing effect. 

You can get up to 4-5 RR V cards per box.

RRR - Triple Rare

トリプルレア - Toripururea

This rarity has been introduced during S1H / S1W Sword & Shield and so far is only exclusive for VMAX, V-UNION and VSTAR Cards.

V-UNION cards have been introduced in Greninja / Mewtwo / Zacian V-UNION Special Collection and have gotten new cards in sets VMAX Climax and 25th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION.

VSTAR cards have been introduced during S9 Star Birth. Both of these are textured cards similar to SR cards.

You can get up to 1-3 RRR VMAX / VSTAR Cards per box.

Update 9-7-2020: With S3a Legendary Heartbeat, when you pull a VMAX Card, you also get the matching V card in the same pack. This was meant so you could build a (Pre-release style) deck in the Charizard VMAX HR competition, instead of having a VMAX card you couldn't use.

SR - Super Rare

スーパーレア- Sūpārea

This rarity is often mistaked with the term 'Secret Rare', technically they are secret rare cards in Japanese sets, since they exceed their set number, but it's officially called Super Rare. 

These are usually Pokémon V cards or Supporter cards and are textured.

You get 1 SR card or better per box guaranteed, and maybe 2 SR cards or better per box.

Special Art

スペシャルアート - Supesharuāto

Has no individual Rarity Symbol. Is a variant on SR Cards.

Also introduced since S5R/S5I Rapid Strike Master / Single Strike Master for SR Cards: Special Art cards. These feature alternative artwork of an V card in SR rarity. 

HR - Hyper Rare

ハイパーレア - Haipārea

Hyper Rare cards, SR or RRR cards with a rainbow colour and different texturing.

Starting from Sword & Shield, these cards contain a glitter effect and Supporter SR cards also have been added.

In the same slot as the guaranteed SR card in 1 box.

Special Art

スペシャルアート - Supesharuāto

Has no individual Rarity Symbol. Is a variant on HR Cards.

Also introduced since S5R/S5I Rapid Strike Master / Single Strike Master for HR Cards: Special Art VMAX HR cards. These feature alternative artwork of an VMAX card in HR rarity. 

UR - Ultra Rare

ウルトラレア- Urutorarea

These are Gold Cards. Starting from Sword & Shield, these also contain a glitter effect.

Usually these could contain Item, Tool, Stadium, Energy or Gold Pokémon V cards.

Starting from S1a VMAX Rising, Shiny Non-V Cards from sets also have been added to this rarity.

In the same slot as the guaranteed SR card in 1 box.

In S4a Shiny Star V, Black & Gold UR cards of Zacian V, Zamazenta V, Eternatus V and Eternatus VMAX were introduced. These are in the same alot as S cards outside of the guaranteed SSR V/VMAX cards.

VMAX Climax added Black & Gold UR VMAX cards.

Introduced since S9 Star Birth: UR Gold VSTAR Cards.

SSR - Unknown Name

Could be Shiny Super Rare, the official name is not confirmed yet.

Shiny Pokemon are appearing as SR cards. Not all Pokemon are available, nor are all Pokemon included in this pack. Only some selected Pokemon are included as SSR. There are various rumors about whether it is a double Super Rare or a Shiny Super Rare, but it is still unknown.

In SM8b GX Ultra Shiny you were guaranteed 1 GX SSR card per booster box, this is the same for S4a Shiny Star V.

S - Unknown Name

Could be Shiny or Secret, the official name is not confirmed yet.

Similar to SSR cards, Shiny Pokemon are also appearing in S4a Shiny Star V. Not all Pokemon are available, nor are all Pokemon included in this pack. 

Only some selected Pokemon are included as S cards. Since S cards lack the SR wording, we are curious what it will be called.

In SM8b GX Ultra Shiny you were unofficially getting around 2-3 S cards per booster box, this is the same for S4a Shiny Star V.

CHR - Character Rare

キャラクターレア - Kyarakutārea

Introduced in VMAX Climax. These are cards with special artwork that depict the relationship between the character and the Pokémon. You may get 3 (or sometimes 4) CHR guaranteed per booster box in VMAX Climax. CHR cards are also present in 2022 sets Battle Region, Dark Fantasma & Incandecent Arcana.

CSR - Character Super Rare

キャラクタースーパーレア - Kyarakutāsūpārea

Introduced in VMAX Climax. These are cards with special artwork that depict the relationship between the character and the Pokémon. You may get 1 CSR per booster box. 1 CSR is guaranteed in VMAX Climax. V CSR cards are also present in 2022 sets Battle Region, Dark Fantasma & Incandecent Arcana.

A - Amazing Rare

アメイジングレア - Ameijingurea

Introduced in S3a Legendary Heartbeat, these are also textured. 

You can get up to 1 Amazing Rare Card per box (unofficially confirmed).