One Piece Card Rarities & Artwork Types

The One Piece Card Game launched by Bandai in 2022 has swiftly become a great success for a TCG, blending strategic gameplay with the iconic world of Eiichiro Oda's manga and anime. For newcomers and seasoned enthusiasts alike, the game's card rarities and diverse artwork types add layers of excitement, from building competitive decks to curating prized collections. This article delves into the core rarities, the variations in artwork that elevate certain cards, and insights into which ones resonate most with players and collectors based on community trends, market values, and social discussions.

Common cards live up to their name. They are the easiest and literally most common cards for someone to come across. They have the standard template layout for one piece cards surrounded by a white border. Event cards have their own unique layered beige border. They can feature all types of artwork styles as you can see from the example cards here. Straight anime concept art, with Boa Hancock, direct manga art from Oda himself or just original art with the style of other hired artists. Even in Common cards multiple different characters can be featured in the artwork and it could be based from an actual scene from the story in the case of the Inuppe card. It will all come down to the artists creativity! You get several Common cards in most booster packs and even the ones that see high tier play are still usually pretty cheap. When buying a one piece booster box you will find that you can obtain all Common cards from that set easily and likely even in 4 copies each.

Uncommon cards may be called that way but they are still very easy to obtain when buying booster packs. You don't get as many in every booster pack like with Common cards which is why there is a slight difference but you still get a bunch no matter what which is why they're treated as almost the same. You will find that when buying booster boxes you can obtain all Uncommon cards in copies of 2-3 and very rarely miss out on those numbers. In terms of art, everything I said about Common cards applies in Uncommon cards too.

Although many players and collectors still wouldn't call them "hits" or "main pulls" I do see Super Rares that way when opening booster boxes. That is because finally in this class of rarity, Super Rare cards are going to be very limited even if you open a booster box. Depending on the booster box you will open 6-7 of them and never acquire all of the different ones from 1 booster box. You may pull 2 copies of the same Super Rare from a box, but no more than that. Super Rare cards share the standard one piece card layout but their white border is now layered and holographic, giving them a shiny silver look. The card artwork is also holographic of course. All of the different art styles I described above can be featured on these cards and the shiny silver borders will usually help you identify them as Super Rares even if you don't check their card rarity at the bottom right corner.

Here's some interesting trivia though, the only Super Rare event card ever printed is New Genesis associated with Uta as of me writing this. Since you would need to open multiple booster boxes to obtain 4 copies of a specific Super Rare, prices on these cards can range from a few euros and all the way to double digits depending on how popular and powerful they are in high tier play. The weakest ones can still be prized as low as Rare cards but the rule still stands: you only get 6-7 of them in every booster box and are not guaranteed in every pack like Rares.

Rare cards is where you can visibly tell the difference between Common and Uncommon cards since all Rare cards have a holographic effect in their artwork. In the case of Event cards, their beige layered border is also holographic now acquiring a shiny golden look to it. Despite these cards being holographic they are still relatively easy to obtain and are also almost always cheap, since you will get 2 of them in every normal booster pack if you don't pull another card of higher rarity. When opening a booster box, you will probably pull at least 1 or 2 of every Rare from that set but depending on the box, it's possible for you to miss out on some of them completely. This is when you can start noticing potential price spikes if a Rare card is very strong and popular in high tier play. Besides the holo patterns, Rare cards share the standard one piece card layout and feature the same variety of artwork styles I mentioned above.

Secret Rare cards are when we get into the territory of "high end pulls". These are some of the main cards considered as big pulls from a booster box since you will only get 1 or none depending on the box you're opening. These cards are obviously holographic but the border around the card is golden shiny. Excluding the effect text, the rest of the letterings on these cards are also golden colour, along with their cost and attack power. They always feature original and flashy artwork and are usually strong cards with high costs, attack power and effects. Because of these factors and their rarity, Secret Rare cards usually are some of the most expensive cards from the sets they belong to and are usually one of the main contributors to the value of a booster box.

But there are some unfortunate exceptions. When Secret Rares are perceived as too weak or just generally have low demand they can end up as valuable as some typical Super Rares. When that happens it's one of the main factors of lessening a sets appeal. Nevertheless, Secret Rare cards are one of the main reasons to open a whole booster box as some guarantee you will get one; or if not you will get another high end card of similar rarity.

I sometimes call these cards "full arts" because of my experience with Gen 5-6 pokemon cards but the more common term is "alternate arts". Whatever you may call them though these cards are in the same bracket of rarity as Secret Rares in that you will only 1-2 of them in a typical booster box. Some of the luckier booster boxes may include 2 Alternate Arts and a Secret Rare but even with an extra one these cards are still obviously sparse per box.

Alternate Arts are some of the most coveted cards for both players and collectors even compared to Secret Rares. If we go by a booster box case ratio, Secret Rare cards would still technically be rarer, but since a set usually includes only 2 kinds of Secret Rares it's not much of a task for collectors to obtain both of them. However, Alternate Arts are numerous in every set and it's a much bigger challenge to collect them all.

The other reason these cards are so coveted is because they are essentially premium versions of already existing cards. Hence the name "Alternate Arts". They feature original and flashy artwork and the standard card border is replaced by the background art already in the artwork. That's also why it really makes sense for me to call them "full arts", they just really meet that criteria. In the first 2 sets, even Common and Uncommon cards could potentially have an Alternate Art version, but starting with the third set, Alternate Arts are now given to cards that at least start out as Rares originally. Secret Rare cards always have their Aletrnate Art version too that's always more valuable and rare than the original, and Event cards can also have their own Alternate Arts.

Since these cards are eyed up by both collectors that want to have everything and players that want to pimp out their decks prices on these cards are some of the highest, especially if an Alternate Art Card ticks all the boxes of featuring a popular character, has awesome artwork and it's also very strong for high tier play. At the same time though since there is such a big variety in different Alternate Art cards, the least popular ones can end up falling to the bottom in terms of price value.

The term "special" can sound pretty vague for a card rarity given the other rarities we've seen so far, but I assure you these cards live up to that name. To the unfamiliar viewer, they might look like your usual Alternate Arts, but they are in fact much rarer with key visible differences to distinguish them too. The standard Alternate Art/Full Art maintain hold of the layout lines around the card artwork and text boxes for key information such as the counter amount for a given card and the text area that lists a card's trait. These Special Rare cards though disregard that and go completely full art to the max. Compare Buggy and Doflamingo in these examples here with some of the Alternate Arts above if you're still unsure. Doflamingo has a counter, but it's not printed in the usual text box.

Special Rare cards however also come in this Lucci, Ace and Boa genre. The art direction and overall style in these definitely and easily distinguishes them from a typical full art. They feature the character's body fully in frame and the background art consists of vibrant and colourful shapes and patterns. If anyone is familiar with the art style of Muramasa Rebirth on the PS Vita then this is what these cards closely resemble for me.

Whether it's the Buggy or Lucci type of design though, Special Rare cards are rarer than every type of other rarity we looked at so far and only appear in 2 out of 12 booster boxes from a booster box case. I shouldn't need to tell you that all these factors together make these cards some of the most expensive one piece cards to buy and collect with prices ranging from $40-$100 depending on what Special Rare we're talking about. Even so, some of the really unpopular ones can still be found at around $25, the range of many full art Leader cards you could say.

Common and Uncommon Cards

Rare Cards

Super Rare Cards

Secret Rare Cards

Alternate Art Cards/Full Arts

When it comes to playing the game, Leader cards are the only true mandatory card you must have in your deck to play the one piece card game. For that they are obviously the face of any starter deck but they can also be obtained in booster packs too. Leader cards in starter decks get a holofoil treatment in their artwork but Leader cards found in booster packs are treated almost as Common and Uncommon cards since they are non holo. That doesn't mean they're pulled in those numbers however. In fact you will only pull around 8 in a typical booster box, but that's more than enough since you only need 1 copy of each different Leader card to use them for a deck. Every set usually comes with around 6 new different Leaders and a booster box includes a copy of each of them at least once. This means that when you open a booster box you will obtain a copy of every Leader from that set along with some secondary copies on some of them.

Artwork on Leaders can range from anime concept art, original art and even sometimes manga art ripped straight from Oda's original manga. Borders on these cards will match the leader's colour and if they're a dual type Leader then the two different colours will be split across on the card evenly. These "regular" versions for Leader cards are always dirt cheap to obtain even if the Leader card in question is very powerful.

Leader Cards

Just like regular cards that can get Alternate Art versions, Leader cards will also always have their Alternate Art/Full Art versions if the come from booster sets. These are some of the most popular and in demand cards since if you're going to have 1 premium version of a card in your deck, might as well be the Leader card that represents your deck. Unlike your standard full art cards, full art Leader cards are not guranteed at all in a booster box only making them even more sought after. In terms of booster box case ratios, 4 out of 12 booster box are likely to contain an Alternate Art Leader card making them rarer than Secret Rare cards too.

Alternate Art Leaders that are not the strongest in high tier play can still be purchased for around $20 despite their rarity, but popular ones can go for double that or more. Artwork on these cards can range from original full art portraits zoomed on the leaders face, face portraits using manga art ripped directly from Oda, or original full arts featuring other characters as well.

Alternate Art/ Full Art Leader Cards

We've now finally reached the cream of the crop! Outside of some championship tournament cards or other very exclusive promos, Manga Rare cards are the most sought after and highest rarity cards you can pull from booster sets. These cards almost never sell for less than $200 and for the ones with most demand it's usually double that price and more. If you're a hardcore collector, these prices are understandable, since your odds of pulling a Manga Rare are slim to none even if you open a booster box case. Information on pull rates for these cards is somewhat conflicting; but the general notion is you'll find 1 Manga Rare in every 3-4 booster box cases but there isn't even any guarantee. It's no surprise that most people agree that if you're serious about obtaining one of these, you might as well buy it directly and not take any chances.

The art backgrounds in these cards match up to their name being sleek official manga panels from Oda, the One Piece author himself. The character of the card in question is also always fully in frame or all but close. Every one piece booster set features its own manga rare but some sets even feature even more than one.

Special Rare Cards

Treasure Rare Cards

Treasure Rares can also sound vague as a card rarity, especially since the cards in question don't have treasure boxes in their artwork as a common theme. Name aside, they do have a very simple explanation though, and when you understand them the term "treasure" might seem a bit more fitting. Simply put, these are special full art versions of cards exclusive to their regions. Essentially, the cards you see above can only be pulled in the non Asian versions of their booster sets. By the same token, Japan and China get their own Treasure Rare cards that are only printed in their language. Given this manner of distribution, you could say these types of cards are "treasures" to be discovered and obtained by players and collectors from other regions when they are language and region exclusive.

Nearly anything goes when it comes to art variety on these cards, and the Nami and Law cards here stand out by being drawn in this GTA style of concept art. Treasure Rares are technically rarer than even Special Rare cards since you may only find 1 or none out of a booster box case. However, I must admit I am a bit confused here since certain Treasure Rares can be found in very high numbers in online market places and at prices lower than even average Full Art Leaders. I can only assume that it depends on the specific Treasure Rare in question as some of them are genuinely very are and expensive, going over $180 in some examples.

Manga Rare Cards

This is where this guide article come to an end. I want to emphasize that the different card rarities we looked at here are not the only types of one piece cards available. There are all types of unique promo cards, special illustration cards and even the Don!! cards that get their own art treatment. After all, Bandai doesn't just release one piece booster sets and starter decks but various types of other products too. Tournament cards from organized play are also their own unique category. However, if you familiarize yourself with these types of card rarities you'll have more than a good enough gist of one piece card hierarchy. Thanks for reading and I'll catch you guys next time!!