YU-GI-OH! RARITY COLLECTION II isn’t as bad as people say

When the 25th Anniversary Rarities Collection released for Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG in November 2023, duelists of all stripes agreed that it was perhaps the best set Konami had ever released. Now, Konami has released Rarities Collection II and it’s time to see how it performs. Rarities Collection II officially released on May 24, 2024, and like the first set, included a total of 79 cards each available in all seven rarities: three standard rarities (Super, Ultra, and Secret) and four deluxe rarities (Quarter Century Secret, Platinum Secret, “Prismatic” – Ultimate style and Collector’s “Prismatic” style). For the second time, though, Konami has filled each pack with nine cards instead of five, increased the chance of getting deluxe rarities, and raised the cost per pack from $4.99 to $9.99. So far, nothing too controversial really.

As the duelists became more aware of the contents of Rarities Collection II however, more confusion and concern has crept in. I think we all knew from its announcement that it wouldn’t be as crazy as the first Rarity Collection, and as more details emerged we became more and more divided in our opinion on it. I want to dive deeper into this, but before I get there I’ll reveal that Konami sent me a box of 18 packs and you can check out my pulls below. I’d love to hear your thoughts on set in the comments too.

We learned for the first time the contents of the complete set of Rarities Collection II on May 13th, so I had about 11 days of thinking about it. Self Rarity collection it was S-rank (which it was 100%), so in my opinion Rarities Collection II is a solid B-tier and perhaps a case could be made for A-tier. But let’s talk about the cards and how they fit into the three main pillars of Yu-Gi-Oh! consumers: competitive, occasional and collectors.

I have reviewed all the cards entered Rarities Collection II to see how competitive the cards actually are. For a card to meet the “competitiveness” criteria, it had to be included in the main, secondary, or extra deck of several tournament meta decks for YGOPRODECK in 2024 events, typically Championships, YCS, and Regionals. I also want to point out that the seven alternate art cards are not included in this count. Of the 72 cards left to count, 50 met this qualification. This means that 50 cards from this set will be used in competitive decks this year. This is in stark contrast to the attitude many have had and the narrative they have created regarding the set. Now, I have to admit that many of these “competitive” cards aren’t that big of a deal. This includes Mystical Space Typhoon which was printed in 55 sets before, Book of Moon which was printed in 33 sets before, and many more double digit sets from previous sets (15 to be exact).

If a card didn’t qualify for the “competitive” moniker, I labeled it “casual” or “Edison.” There are five cards from Rarities Collection II which were not competitive in today’s format, but tend to be popular in the Edison format. If you don’t know what the Edison format is, it is an incredibly popular format based on the banned and restricted list for SJC Edison in April 2010. This and the Goat format are the two most popular formats for Time Wizard tournaments. This means there are only 17 cards that I have labeled “casual.” This included Blue-Eyes support, fan-favorite archetypes like Traptrix, etc.

And collectors? Well, I didn’t label any cards specifically for collectors just because I figured collectors targeted every card for one reason or another. Each card in the set is available in seven different rarities, and collectors will hunt for cards in the four deluxe rarities, especially QCSE. Plus, everyone wants cards with alternative art, but especially collectors.

So that’s it. Rarities Collection II offers a decent amount of cards for everyone. The difference is that big names like Accesscode Talker, Crossout Designator, and I:P Masquerena don’t sound as good in the current format as November’s deluge of big names. Having said that, I want to share two interesting curiosities about it Rarities Collection II.

• There are 13 cards that have only had one printing before Rarities Collection II regardless of their competitive status.

• Xyz Encore has the widest gap between its last reissue in 2014 and Rarities Collection II in 2024.

Now, I feel like I defended a lot Rarities Collection II so far and I admit I think it’s not as bad as many in the community say. However, there are some changes that I would have liked to see in a big way. For starters, I’m thinking of most, if not all, cards with previous double-digit reprints Rarities Collection II it should have been left out and replaced with other cards. What are those cards? I’m so glad you asked.

I really think Visas Starfrost should have been included. We have the four Field Spells on the planet and so I think it makes sense to include this card. Additionally, Aromaseraphy Jasmine has become a big player in plant-focused strategies and has only one print since 2019! Especially with the recent release of the Ragnarika archetype including plant strategies, this would have been a huge win. Also, I think at least the Fusion Tearlaments should have been included. Branded Fusion is an exclusive card from Structure Deck: Albaz Strikes and the one released in 2022. I think a reprint was needed, especially since the Branded strategy is still very popular. Trident Dragion was a no-brainer that Konami screwed up with. Tenpai is a massive strategy, they knew that Trident Dragion was an important part of said strategy and therefore they decided not to include it Rarities Collection II even though it hasn’t been printed since 2014. This card alone would sell tons of Rarity Collection II without interfering with sales of recent sets. Finally, the big wishlist items that everyone knew wouldn’t be included: S:P Little Knight, Super Starslayer TY-PHON – Sky Crisis, and all the cards for the Snake-Eyes strategy. Again, these would be huge inclusions, but they’re also the least likely to make this list since they were just released The era of the Overlord in October, but it would have been crazy to see them re-released seven months later. Of course, we know that most of these cards will be reprinted in the near future 25th Anniversary Tin: Dueling Mirrorsbut modern cans have huge problems that should be addressed in a future article.

At the end of the day, I stand by my statement Rarities Collection II it’s a solid B-tier set. I hope Konami can find a better balance and push the project forward Collection of rarities series with more A-tier card listings in the future. Let me know what you think Rarities Collection II In the comments below, include your favorite cards, your thoughts on missed opportunities, and what you think Konami should do next.