Summary
Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG’s25th anniversary marked the start of a special rarity class that could be found in packs released during the event. This is the quarter century secret rare, which has a special 25th anniversary stamp embossed onto the card’s body as a glittering foil to finish it all off.
Quarter century secret rares replaced the starlight rare cards during the celebration. Only a select handful of cards in each set have this rarity with a few being exclusive to the rarity bracket. Seeing as the 25th anniversary of Yu-Gi-Oh! only happens once, this rarity will one day be replaced by the 50th. So which sets that contain these special cards were the best?
10Phantom Nightmare
A Nod To The GX Era.
Phantom Nightmareis a direct sequel to the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX set, Phantom Darkness. From Dark Souls-inspired cards to the addition of Snake-Eyes Poplar, this card is vital to the year of Fire. However, it also helped in making Ritual Monsters more viable with the addition of the Voiceless Voice archetype.
There are plenty of neat quarter century cards in this set, including the Yubel retrain. However, what makes the selection great is that there are also plenty of generic cards that aren’t tied down to their specific archetype.
9Rage Of The Abyss
From The Depths Of Yu-Gi-Oh!
Rage of the Abyssgives support to some of the oldest monster card types in the game. The good old vanilla monsters. It does so through the introduction of the Primite engine, which can easily bring out your Normal monsters straight from the deck.
In addition to the Primite cards, Rage of the Abyss also contains the second Mulcharmy, Dominus Impulse, and Lacrima the Crimson Tears. It also stays true to its name, taking you into the depths of the ocean with Atlantean and Mermail support.
8The Infinite Forbidden
The Past And The Future
The Infinite Forbiddenfeels like a neat tribute to the past while also looking towards the future. The signature monster of the set is none other than Exodia, with different ways to utilize the Forbidden One’s pieces other than just drawing them all to win.
This set also introduced the Fiendsmith archetype, many of which get quarter century secret rare printings. Let’s also not forget how much of an impact Mulcharmy Purulia made as the reincarnation of the Maxx C strategy.
7Age Of Overlord
Great Generic Support
Age of Overlord has some pretty decent generic cards that can make any deck better just by being included. S:P Little Knight is one of the best Link-2 extra deck monsters. Meanwhile, Super Starslayer TY-PHON - Sky Crisis can easily shut down your opponent’s most powerful monsters.
The Horus archetype makes it easy to recycle the same Horus monsters over and over again from the grave. This also marks the grand entrance of Diabellstar the Black Witch. These are just some top-tier quarter century printings.
6Crossover Breakers
Three Great Archetypes
Crossover Breakersis a deck-build pack meant to help you build decks across specific archetypes. Crossover Breakers include the Ryzeal, Maliss, and the Ryu-Ge cards, which all made an impact on competitive play.
While this set has fewer quarter century secret rare cards to find, all of them are cards you would want to pull and use in a deck. This is a neat contrast to other sets where you can pull a really awesome quarter century secret rare, but most of the time, you end up with one that isn’t as playable.
5Battles Of Legend: Terminal Revenge
A Collector’s White Whale
A good set needs to make you care about the cards you can pull from it. Quarter century secret rares are meant to be the ultimate flex. If you can’t get a card as a quarter century secret rare, at least you can always find it as a regular secret rare.
Enter, Dragon Master Magia. This one card made opening a box ofBattles of Legend: Terminal Revengefeel like a treasure hunt. It isn’t just rare in this set, but the fact that it was useable and not just a collector’s item made it one of the best chase cards during the 25th anniversary celebration.
4Rarity Collection 2
The Weakest Rarity Collection Is Still Strong
The Rarity Collection series consists of four different sets. Each one contains plenty of reprints across a variety of different rarities. This not only made them easier to pull, but also provided some rarity bumps for a lot of good cards.
Rarity Collection 2is considered the weakest one in the set. However, it is still one of the best sets during the 25th anniversary celebration due to the sheer number of cards getting reprinted. This includes nostalgic cards with a quarter century reprinting for older formats.
3Quarter Century Bonanza
Nostalgic Cards Everywhere
The Quarter Century Bonanza set may have a different name thanRarity Collection, but take a closer look, and you’ll find the RA03 set prefix on the card. That officially makes it Rarity Collection 3. While not as potent as Stampede or the original Rarity Collection, this one is great for nostalgia.
This set has so many popular cards that are good for Edison format, such as the Cyber Dragons, Monarchs, Lightsworns, and Elemental Heroes. It really feels like a love letter to the older formats. You can even find max rarity alt arts of the Egyptian God cards.
2Quarter Century Stampede
Alt Arts Galore
Quarter Century Stampede has the best alternate art cards. It also has a decent quarter century collection ranging from nostalgic monsters from old formats to modern cards with a twist. One card in particular to steal the show is Dragon Master Magia’s cheaper reprints
Out of all the Rarity Collection sets, this one has an abundance of alternate arts. Sure, they might be locked behind the quarter century secret rare bracket, but they depict some of the most popular monsters. Two highlights include the alt art for Nibiru and Diabellstar.
1Rarity Collection
The Hopes And Dreams Of Yu-Gi-Oh! Fans Everywhere
Rarity Collection is the first set to release in the Rarity Collection series. This set succeeds at creating a relevant list of cards that can be found in any deck. It also answered a problem that many decks have during deckbuilding.
Staples can get expensive due to how necessary they are. This just adds to the price of entry for the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. The original Rarity Collection includes every essential hand trap, board breakers, and draw cards. It made the game accessible in a way no other rarity collection after would be able to replicate.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game
The Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME (TCG) allows kids, teenagers, and adults of all ages to relive the exciting Duels that take place in the animated Yu-Gi-Oh! series. In the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, players use the cards they’ve collected to construct Decks consisting of 40 to 60 cards. Then, they use their Decks to face off against opponents in a game of strategy, luck, and skill.
