Since tier lists seem to be quite popular at the moment, I thought it’d be fun to see people’s rankings if we pitted what are commonly thought of as the best subsets within the whole tcg: Shinings, Crystals & Gold Stars!
Here’s how my updated list is looking right now:
(EDIT: So I had a brain blip & missed a few Gold Stars… they’re added now. 
)
And here’s the link for anyone wanting to make their own:
You’re also missing the regi gold star trio
Wow, I must rate them so low, they didn’t even register as missing! 
It’s hard not to skew higher since these are all great cards. I may or may not be biased towards crystals…
Updated with regi trio and kyogre
Shining Tyranitar should have been so much cooler. What a waste.
Yeah, I’m the same. There’s something about the Crystals that’s just chef’s kiss.
I’m curious to see how people rank them all, since as you say, these are all great cards!
I know we’ve done one of these before, but sure, it’s fun to always reassess.
Gold star are just overrated man. I’m never taken with any except Gyarados. Celebi and Umbreon are especially forgettable. Wouldn’t even buy them for $50. Though I admit the Japanese version would rank maybe a B.
The top 2 have both double holo versions, and massively killer JP versions, they are god tier. Most crystals are perfect cards.
Theyre card design is definitely the best out of all these so it just kinda auto bumps them up regardless of art and yet they still have the best artwork out of all these cards for the most part. They truly are the pinnacle of secret rares for the tcg IMO. It’s just a shame that the aquapolis crystals dont quite have the same holo treatment that the skyridge ones do which is what bumps them down a tier for me.
I agree, they’re almost flawless examples of what the Pokémon TCG can be. The holo differences between Aquapolis & Skyridge are something I only noticed a while ago…so strange how they revised the holo placement just for that final WoTC set release.
Also, just added the missing GS to the list. Here’s mine with them added:
Am I blind or are Latios and Latias gold stars missing?
Had the photos & forgot to upload them!
They’re added now. Surely I couldn’t have missed any other Gold Stars?!
Where is the most important gold star: Greninja 
?
Thought about it, but I know the poor thing couldn’t have handled the heat it’d be getting right now!
A bit different than how I’d rate cards exclusively for their art. Price and scarcity does affect my perception on how much I’d consider something a “grail”.
Happy to at least own a couple of the cards in my S & A tiers. 
It’s so interesting to see how differently some of these are getting rated!
Same here on the appreciation for being lucky enough to own some of the cards in this list.
Glad to see Crystal Ho-oh consistently topping lists!
