Card Identification Guide

How do I identify the condition, rarity and set of my cards? Here are the most important features, simply explained.

Condition assessment: The condition of your cards is assessed according to the official Cardmarket guidelines. You don't have to assess the condition yourself; I take care of that during the valuation.

Pokémon coming soon: This guide currently covers Yu-Gi-Oh! and Magic. A dedicated guide for identifying Pokémon cards (rarities, reverse holos, 1st Edition) will follow shortly.

Identifying Yu-Gi-Oh! cards

Rarities

Yu-Gi-Oh! cards come in different rarity levels, which you can recognise by their shine and texture:

Common

No shine, normal card name

Rare

Silver card name

Super Rare

Holo image, normal name

Ultra Rare

Holo image + gold name

Secret Rare

Diagonal rainbow pattern

Ultimate Rare

Raised, embossed image

Gold Rare

Gold frame and name

There are a few more rarities (Ghost Rare, Collector's Rare and others), but in practice they appear much less often in a typical collection.

Platinum, Starlight and Quarter Century Secret Rare

These three rare premium variants look similar at first glance but can be told apart easily:

Platinum Secret Rare

Holo pattern runs diagonally

Starlight Rare

Holo pattern runs horizontally/vertically

Quarter Century Secret Rare

Like Starlight, but with a 25th stamp in the text box

Identifying set and number

Every Yu-Gi-Oh! card has a set number below the image on the right (e.g. LED8-DE055). It consists of the set code (here: LED8 = Legendary Duelists: Synchro Storm), the language code (DE = German, EN = English) and the card number.

You can enter this code directly into the Cardmarket search to reach the right product page. Be careful though: some cards exist in several versions. In that case, check the rarity and the product image to select the correct version.

Identifying First Edition

Yu-Gi-Oh! cards can carry the print "1st Edition" (or "1. Auflage" in German) on the left side of the card, either above or below the card text (depending on the card's age). This exists in almost all sets.

Important: For Yu-Gi-Oh! and Magic, First Edition is only really price-relevant for some older and more expensive cards. For newer and cheap cards it usually makes no difference. For Pokémon, by contrast, 1st Edition is relevant for all cards. Pokémon reverse holos (glitter across the whole card surface instead of just the image) are valued as a separate category, like holos.

Identifying Magic: The Gathering cards

Seltenheiten

Magic cards show their rarity through the colour of the set symbol (below the card image on the right):

Common

Black set symbol. The most common, lowest single value.

Uncommon

Silver set symbol. Slightly above average.

Rare

Gold set symbol. Valuable cards can be found here.

Mythic Rare

Red-orange set symbol. The rarest regular level.

Set symbols: Common (black), Uncommon (silver), Rare (gold), Mythic Rare (red-orange)

In addition there are foil versions (holographically shiny cards), which occur in every rarity and are usually worth a little more than the normal version.

Special card variants

For Magic, besides the normal version of many cards there are also special variants with different artwork or frame design. You can recognise them by the card looking clearly different from usual, for example through a missing frame, extended artwork or a completely different card design. Such variants are often worth more than the standard version. When looking them up on Cardmarket, make sure to select the right version.

Examples of special card variants in Magic

Identifying the set

The set symbol is located below the card image on the right. On Cardmarket.com you can search for the card name and identify the matching set by its symbol.

At the bottom edge of the card you'll also find the collector number (e.g. 142/280). For newer sets there is also a three-letter set code there.

Not sure? No problem. You don't have to identify your cards yourself; I do that for you. This guide just helps you get a rough idea of what's in your collection.

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