In this post, we are going to talk about all about Yu-Gi-Oh cards: the rarity system, how much they are worth, and how to sell them.
What are Yu Gi Oh! Cards?
Yu Gi Oh Cards are collectible cards based on a fictional game of Duel Monsters from the Manga series entitled Yu Gi Oh written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi. The trading card game was published by Konami and launched in Japan in 1999.
Yu Gi Oh! Card Types
There are three card types in Yu-Gi-Oh!: Monster cards, Spell cards, and Trap cards.
Monster cards are further categorized into the following: into Normal Monsters, Effect Monsters, Ritual Monsters, Fusion Monsters, Synchro Monsters, Xyz Monsters, Pendulum Monsters, Link Monsters and Monster Tokens.
A Spell Card has a single effect to provide a bonus to the user or a weakness to the opponent. It can be classified into the following:
- Normal: A spell that can only be activated during the player’s Main Phase.
- Quick Play: A spell that can be played at any time during the player’s turn, or can be set and activated during an opponent’s turn.
- Continuous: A spell with a continuous effect that remains until conditions are met or it is destroyed.
- Equip: A spell that is equipped to a Monster, providing it with support effects. It is removed if the monster leaves the field or is set face-down, or the card is destroyed.
- Field: A spell that is placed in a player’s Field Spell Zone, which affects the entire field. Each player can only have one Field Spell in play at a time.
- Ritual: A spell that is required to summon a Ritual Monster.
Trap Cards can be identified by their purple-colored borders. A Trap Card must first be Set and can only be activated after the current turn has finished. After that, it may be activated during either player’s turn.
- Normal: A standard trap that is discarded once its effect resolves.
- Continuous: A trap that remains on the field until destroyed or its conditions are met.
- Counter: A trap that is activated in response to the activation of other cards.[
Yu Gi Oh! Cards Rarity System
The rarity system details how common a card is. It also associates each rank with the relative strength of the cards.
Normal Cards
The most common cards that you pull from Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG packs and normal cards will be most of your duplicates and will range across most of your basic monsters, spells, and trap cards. These cards do not have foil embellishments.
Rare Cards
Rare cards are identifiable by their embossed silver foil card name. They are a step above normal cards, but still appear relatively frequent when compared to others. Most Rare cards begin a trend of complexity in cards as they grow in rank. Monsters, spells, and traps begin to have long card effects that work well with numerous cards.
Super Rare Cards
You can spot a super rare card by the holographic finish of the card’s artwork. Cards in this rank may be the ace of their respective decks, strong support cards, or iconic cards derived from Yu-Gi-Oh!’s detailed anime and game history.
Ultra Rare Cards
These are some of the most powerful cards in the game. One of the most sought-after cards in the trading card game, Ultra Rare cards tend to be the aces of their respective deck and are the most challenging to use in comparison to other counterparts. Ultra Rare cards are identifiable by their gold foil name and holographic card art.
Secret Rare Card
Secret Rare Cards have a rainbow-colored foil on the card name and a sparkling, holographic finish on the card’s art. The foil pattern on the artwork is unique, exhibiting a cross-hatched design. many of the cards all rank on the complexity and challenge of Ultra Rare cards but sport an upgrade in visual design.
Starlight Rare Cards
Starlight Rare Cards are identified by their holographic foil pattern that spreads across the entire card. They are relatively new, making their debut alongside the Rising Rampage booster set in 2019.
Other Rare Cards
These are cards that are available in specific promotions, themes, or settings.
Gold Rare Cards
Gold Rare cards are exclusive to the Gold Series line. The basic gold rare can be identified by the gold foil over the card name, the holographic gold foil artwork, and the gold foil over the artwork frame, text border, and card border. Other variations of the Gold Rarity, such as Gold Secrets and Gold Ghost Rares, evolve upon this design style while keeping the signature gold finish.
Prismatic Secret Rare Cards
A variation of the secret rare card, the prismatic secret rare card can be identified by its holographic pattern that spreads horizontally and diagonally on the card’s artwork and speckles of holographic foil colors on their names.
Platinum Rare Cards
Exclusive to the Noble Knights of the Round Table Box set, these cards have a platinum foil that spreads across the entirety of the card, excluding the card’s text box and associated icon.
Collector’s Rare
These cards feature embossing along the entire card, as well as rainbow, holographic designs over the artwork.
Ghost Rare
These cards have a rainbow-colored foil on the card name and a unique three-dimensional hologram that makes up the card art.
How Much are Yu gi Oh! Cards Worth?
Several factors come into play when determining the value of a Yu Gi Oh! trading card.
Rarity
When we talk of rarity here, we mean the rarity system that we have discussed above. Common cards are less likely to carry a significant value. The higher the rarity, the higher value that the card can fetch.
Condition
Cards in mint condition command higher prices than those which have flaws. Whether the card is graded or raw also matters.
A graded card has been sent to a professional grading company such as PSA, BGS, or SGC that rates the card on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being a gem mint and 1 as a poor condition. A raw card on the other hand has not been submitted for authentication and grading to these companies.
A graded mint condition card would fetch more than a raw card in mint condition.
Scarcity
Yu-Gi-Oh! cards that are hard to come by are worth more.
Edition
First edition and limited edition cards command higher prices than unlimited edition.
The Legend of the Blue Eyes White Dragon set First edition reportedly fetched $55,000. Here is the price range of some Yu-Gi-Oh! cards in the market today.
The Legend of the Blue-eyed White Dragon
- Blue-eyes White Dragon, First Edition-$700-$20,000
- Dark Magician, First Edition – $500 – $9,000
- Flame Swordsman, First Edition -$ 100 – $1,700
Legacy of Darkness
- Yata-Garasu, First Edition -S100 – $2,400
- Dark Ruler Ha Des, First Edition -$21 – $1200
- Dark Balter the Terrible, First Edition $ 8 – $ 270
- Tyrant Dragon, First Edition $ 33 – $4,000
There are several places on the Internet that can provide you with the current prices for Yu-Gi-Oh! cards such as YuGiOhPrices.com, Pricecharting.com and TCGPlayer.com.
Where to Sell Your Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards
Do you have Yu-Gi-Oh! cards that you think are worth something? If you are in need of quick cash, here are the places where you can sell your cards.
- eBay – You can list your item for a bid on eBay and set a starting price.
- Card Market – This is a great place to list your collectible card items.
- Troll and Toad – Troll and Toad will buy directly from you and they will sell the item themselves. But your items must at least be worth $30.
- TCG Player – This is one of the most long-standing players in the trading card market.
- Mercari – You can list for free and you can even get free shipping labels
- Facebook Marketplace – this is your best bet if you want to sell your cards within your area.
- Offer-up – this is much like Facebook Marketplace.
- Comic Book Stores – If you have a local comic book store near you, it might be possible that they buy Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.
How To Get Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards
You can buy Yu-Gi-Oh! cards from the stores mentioned above. But you can also buy them in your local hobby stores.
Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME is available in Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG booster packs. These booster packs contain a number of randomly assorted cards. They come in many different configurations and varieties.
You can also get starter decks which contain everything you need to start playing. Each starter deck has 40 cards and a game mat.
They are also available in collectible tins which contain 3 extra-large Mega-Packs, each with 1 Prismatic Secret Rare, 2 Ultra Rares, 2 Super Rares, 1 Rare, and 12 Commons.
How Yu Gi Oh! is Played?
This is a two-player trading card game. Each player uses a deck containing forty to sixty cards, and an optional “Extra Deck” of up to fifteen cards. Each player starts with 8000 life points. The goal is to reduce your opponent’s life points to zero.
Players take turns in summoning monsters, casting spells, and activating traps to reduce the opponent’s life points.
During the game, you cannot summon just any monster. Sometimes, you need a tribute-a monster on your field that you have to send to your graveyard. Level 1 to 4 monsters require no tribute to summon. Level 5 or 6 monsters require one Tribute, and Level 7 or higher monsters require two tributes.
The text on the card will explain what your monster/spell/trap can do.
Summary
Yu-Gi-Oh! is a popular card game based on a popular Manga series of the same name. It also became a popular collectible card.
Yu-Gi-Oh! cards follow a rarity system, just like other trading cards. Extremely rare cards in gem mint condition have sold for millions of dollars in the past.
You can buy or sell Yu-Gi-Oh cards on eBay or collectible card trading websites such as Card Market and TCG Player.
If you are just interested in playing Yu-Gi-Oh! and don’t care much about collector’s items, you can buy them at your local hobby and comic stores, as well as mass-market retail and specialty stores.
