Riftbound card rarities explained

When I opened my first Riftbound packs I could tell some cards felt more special than others, but I couldn't have told you what the tiers actually were or how many existed. Here's the version I wish someone had handed me.

The six rarities

Riftbound uses six rarity levels. Here's how many distinct printings of each are in the catalog at the time of writing.

A quick warning about that table, because it's the thing that confused me for weeks: these are printings, not distinct cards. One card can appear several times across the catalog with different artwork or a different collector number. So "292 Rares" doesn't mean 292 different rare cards.

Why Rare looks more common than Common

That table has Rare at the top, which looks wrong until you understand what's being counted.

Commons are printed in enormous quantities but there are relatively few different ones. Rares are printed far less, but there are more distinct rare cards, and they're much more likely to get alternate printings, which each count separately.

So the table measures variety, not scarcity. Rarity tells you how hard a card is to pull; the count tells you how many different ones there are to chase.

What each one actually means

Common is the backbone of a set. You will end up with stacks of them and that's fine, because plenty of commons are genuinely good.

Uncommon sits a step up. Still easy to find, and a lot of the cards that make decks work quietly live here.

Rare is where most people start caring. There are more distinct rares than any other tier, which makes them the most interesting bracket to complete.

Epic is the scarce tier. 173 printings catalogued, and this is where the cards people specifically hunt tend to live.

Showcase is about presentation. These are cards given special treatment — the artwork is the point. 103 printings, and they're the ones that look best in a binder page.

Promo cards come from outside normal packs: events, organised play, prerelease kits and bundles. 133 printings catalogued, spread over several promotional sets rather than one.

The bit that trips up new collectors

Rarity is not the same thing as value, and I learned this the annoying way.

A Showcase card and a Rare card of the same character are two different collectibles. One is not simply "the better version". Which one people want depends on the character, the artwork and how many were made, and those don't move in step with the rarity symbol.

If you're collecting to complete something, pick the thing you're completing — a set, a champion, a domain — rather than chasing a tier.

How to see this in your own collection

Rarity gets interesting once you can see your own. Sorting by rarity shows the shape of a collection instantly: whether you're 80% commons from cracking packs, or you've been buying singles and skipped the base of the pyramid entirely.

RiftPocket sorts and filters by rarity across your cards and the whole catalog, so you can ask "which Epics am I missing from Origins" and get an actual answer rather than a guess.

Where to go next

• The six domains explained — the other way every card is categorised
• Set codes and collector numbers — how to read the small print at the bottom of a card
• Browse every set — full card lists, sorted and filterable