Matching (and Understanding) TCG Rarities

I keep mentioning the aspect or element of card rarity, and it is a vital one for the Pokémon TCG or any other TCG for that matter. I'd already discussed the aspect as it is implemented in TCGP, which is simple to understand even if it is different from the physical and TCGL versions. For that, it is pertinent to discuss the latter to understand it in light of the TCGP implementation, and being that I have the necessary materials for making this discussion.

So, in the regularly numbered section, there are the rarities of Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Double Rare (RR). These roughly correspond to the Diamond rarities in TCGP in increasing order, making it the best way to think of them for those already getting familiar with this version. Ace Spec cards, though, are classed in their own rarity level - fittingly, "Ace" - no doubt because of the way they're found and played. They may be thought of like the Shiny Star rarity for Shiny Pokémon in TCGP, even though they don't play the same way.

Meanwhile, the cards in the overnumbered section have rarities of Art Rare, Super Rare, Special Art Rare, and Ultra Rare. Here, things may be considered to start to overlap, for although the rarities can correspond to the Star and Crown rarities, they still may be considered to be not exactly the same. The Ultra Rare cards, for example, have a mix of Pokémon and Trainer cards, for which the former might be considered deserving of the Crown rarity like in TCGP and the latter might suit a three-Star rarity instead. The other three rarities may be considered to have similar overlaps among the lower Star rarities, in consideration of how TCGP does things.

Overall, the rarities of the physical-TCGL cards are mostly straightforward once the cards can be examined more closely, and there is a certain understanding of the system imbued in the TCGP rarities, which can then be used to understand the former. Still, they do have their unique parts as the reserved Ace rarity in the former and Shiny rarities in the latter, not to mention the "immersive" cards that pretty much hold onto a certain rarity level. Apart from these, the rarity levels might still be considered self-evident in some ways between and across the two.

Rarity of cards in different TCG systems, even for Pokémon that has recently developed a second system (TCGP in comparison to the already-established physical and TCGL), is always relevant for the purposes of collecting and playing. Gaining an understanding of the systems of concern, in this case the latter vis-a-vis the former, might just help in the pursuits of cards for either purpose and bring about certain pleasantries that are associated with them.

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