What is the rarity order in Magic: The Gathering?

From most to least common: Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Mythic Rare, shown as a colored gem in the set symbol — black, silver, gold, and a distinct bonus color respectively. Many products also include special or bonus-sheet cards outside this core structure.

Does a Mythic Rare always sell for more than a Rare?

Not always. Rarity measures print frequency, not demand. A Rare with strong Commander or competitive playability can easily outsell a Mythic Rare that never found a home in any popular deck, even though Mythics are printed in smaller numbers on average.

When did Mythic Rare get introduced in Magic?

Mythic Rare was introduced in 2008 with the Shards of Alara set, adding a rarity tier scarcer than Rare for a set most powerful and thematically significant cards, such as new planeswalkers.

Can a common Magic card be valuable?

Yes. Reserved List commons and uncommons from older, permanently out-of-print sets can hold real value, and any common that becomes a staple in a popular competitive or Commander strategy can price above many higher-rarity cards from the same set.

Collector Guide

Understanding Magic Card Rarities

6 min read Updated 2026-01-10

The Rarity Gem

Every Magic card since Eighth Edition displays its rarity as a small colored gem built into the set symbol itself, giving you a one-glance read on how often that card shows up in packs before you even check the card's actual power level or price.

Common, Uncommon, Rare, Mythic Rare

Common cards (black symbol) fill out the bulk of every set and appear multiple times in a typical booster pack. They are usually simple, straightforward cards, though a handful of commons become genuinely important in constructed formats over time.

Uncommon cards (silver symbol) show up a few times per pack and generally offer more text, more complexity, or a stronger effect than commons, occupying the middle tier of a set's power curve.

Rare cards (gold symbol) are the cards most players open a booster pack hoping for — one per pack in most modern products — and typically represent a set's headline mechanics, strong constructed playables, and popular Commander pieces.

Mythic Rare cards, introduced in 2008 starting with the Shards of Alara set, appear less frequently than regular Rares and are reserved for a set's most powerful, splashy, or thematically important cards — new planeswalkers, and marquee legendary creatures most often carry this rarity. Not every pack contains a Mythic Rare; they replace a Rare slot only some of the time, which is exactly what makes them scarcer.

Special and Bonus Sheets

Many modern products add an additional sheet of cards layered on top of the standard rarity structure — extra reprints, alternate treatments, or thematic bonus cards inserted into packs at their own independent rate, unconnected to the set's main Common-through-Mythic distribution. These bonus or special cards often use their own distinct color marker on the set symbol rather than fitting neatly into the four core rarities, and their scarcity is usually driven by the print run of that specific sheet rather than the base set's normal rarity odds.

Why Rarity Is Not the Same as Value

It is tempting to assume Mythic Rare cards are always worth more than Rares, which are always worth more than Uncommons and Commons — but rarity only measures print frequency, not demand. Plenty of Mythic Rares from sets with large print runs settle at a low price once the initial release hype fades, while certain Commons and Uncommons that see heavy competitive or Commander play can hold a price well above many Rares from the same set. Reserved List commons and uncommons from decades-old sets are a clear example: their rarity tier by print-frequency standards is low, but scarcity from being permanently out of print, combined with real demand, keeps them valuable.

Value ultimately comes down to a combination of scarcity (how many copies actually exist, not just print frequency within one set), playability across popular formats, and collector demand for the specific card or its artwork — rarity tier is only one input among several.

How Rarity Shapes a Booster Pack

A typical modern draft booster pack is built around the rarity structure directly: a run of commons fills most of the pack, a smaller handful of uncommons sits above them, and a single rare-or-mythic slot caps the pack, with a Mythic Rare replacing that slot only some of the time rather than every pack. This is exactly why pulling a Mythic feels notably rarer at the table than pulling an ordinary Rare, even within the same box of packs, and why sealed product marketing often leans on mythic pulls as a headline draw.

Mythics vs Rares Within a Set

Within any single set, Mythic Rares are printed in smaller numbers than Rares, which is reflected in typically higher average prices for Mythics as a category. But this is an average, not a rule for any individual card — a strong Rare with broad Commander appeal or Modern playability regularly outprices a forgettable Mythic that never found a home in any competitive deck or popular casual strategy.

Foils and Special Treatments

Rarity and foil status are independent of each other — any card, regardless of Common through Mythic Rare status, can appear as a foil, and modern sets frequently add borderless, showcase, or extended-art treatments on top of the base rarity as well. These treatments layer their own scarcity and demand on top of a card's underlying rarity tier, which is why a foil showcase treatment of a Rare can comfortably outprice a plain nonfoil Mythic Rare from the very same set.

Understanding rarity is a useful starting point for reading a set, but it is never a substitute for checking an actual price. Scan any card with Tappr to see its rarity, treatment, and current price together, rather than guessing at value from rarity alone.