Latias has a significantly lower likelihood of receiving a PSA 9 than Latios , despite having an almost identical number of submissions (n = 609 Latias; n = 607 Latios).
Why might this be? Well, light holos show damage more easily than dark holos. This usually results in very low PSA 10 rates among the light holos and correspondingly high PSA 9 rates.
However, what we see with the EX Deoxys Gold Stars is that Latios and Latias have similar PSA 10 rates (4.28% vs 3.61%), but the PSA 9 rates are quite different (31.80% vs 25.78%).
So what is happening to all of these expected PSA 9 Latias ? Well according to my table/chart, the largest differentials between Latias and Latios are at: PSA 8 (23.81% vs 20.26%) and PSA 6 (11.00% vs 7.41%).
I asked two people who played back then, here’s the response I got
So latias star was used in LBS, which was an extremely popular 2006 deck. However, Latios was more widely played in various decks.
It’s tough to say if LBS was popular enough to overshadow the widespread use of Latios, but it’s definitely possible
Sounds like that Meganium deck specifically was not too popular, not a serious top deck at least.
Overall sounds inconclusive. But based on the way you compared the lower grades, my mind went to playability since PSA 8 and 6 suggest damage beyond factory issues
Your thought on play-related wear is probably a contributing factor. The light vs. dark holo aspect might play a role too (i.e., damage is more easily visible).
I made this post because I’ve recently seen a fair amount of mint-looking PSA graded Latias , but almost never were they given a Mint 9 grade. I never thought the difference was so large, but the data say otherwise.
Yes, the difference in PSA 9 rates between Latias and Latios is statistically significant (χ² = 5.367, df = 1, p = .02). You can test this with a contingency table and a chi-squared test (effect size Φ = 0.066 is modest).
I don’t have actual data to back this up, but for what it’s worth, back when Deoxys set was released, Latios gold star was frequently available while Latias was rarely ever seen on eBay or the online trading forums. I wasn’t active in the competitive scene, but people online would always vent about Latias Gold Star being seen in the decks.
Yeah the Meganium deck wasn’t that big of a metagame presence, but Latios * showed up in other decks like Metanite sometimes. Here’s an example but lists weren’t shared or collected much back in the day so it’s hard to know really which was more popular.
Rayquaza * was also fairly popular in a few decks, mostly in 2006, such as BombTar and Metanite.
Generally I wouldn’t think that playability really had much of an impact on the card’s population, especially as tournaments back in 2006/2007 were often 60-100 person Regionals.
has a significantly lower likelihood of receiving a PSA 9 than Latios 
