Secret Rare and Special Cards in the Digimon Card Game

By CardSpicy Founder · October 6, 2026

A Digimon set’s breakdown reads like a manifest, and at the top of that manifest sit two tiers that collectors pay attention to: Secret Rare and Special. They are not the same thing, they are not interchangeable, and confusing them is one of the most common mistakes made when reading a set list. This page sets out how the two are labelled, how each sits relative to Ultimate Rare, and how to get useful answers out of the published breakdown rather than guessing at things the publisher never stated.

Quick answer

Secret Rare and Special are separate printed tiers, both at the top of a Digimon set, and the publisher publishes a count for each. In BT-26 Timeless Bonds that is 2 Secret Rares and 4 Specials out of 108 card types; in EX-13 Chivalrous XIII it is 2 Secret Rares and 4 Specials out of 81. Ultimate Rare sits alongside them as a third top tier. One useful consequence: because the counts are published, you can tell how large each tier is in a set without relying on any estimate of how often a card appears in a box.

Two tiers, not one

The breakdown published for a set separates the top of the list into distinct lines. Using BT-26 Timeless Bonds as the example, the 108 card types divide as 40 Common, 26 Uncommon, 21 Rare, 12 Super Rare, 3 Ultimate Rare, 2 Secret Rare and 4 Special. EX-13 Chivalrous XIII divides its 81 as 22 Common, 20 Uncommon, 18 Rare, 12 Super Rare, 3 Ultimate Rare, 2 Secret Rare and 4 Special.

The two sets agree on the top of the structure even though their total sizes differ by 27 cards. That is the first useful thing the breakdown tells you: the shape of the top end is a constant, and it is the bottom end that scales with set size.

How Special differs from Secret Rare

Both are top-tier printings, and both are applied to a small, fixed number of cards in a set. Where they differ is what they are for. A Secret Rare is the continuation of the ordinary rarity ladder — the same kind of card, printed at the top of it. A Special is a designation used for cards that sit outside the ordinary ladder, which is why the count is larger than the Secret Rare count and why the cards carrying it tend to be ones the set is built around.

For a collector the practical difference is that the two are counted and listed separately, so a set with 2 Secret Rares and 4 Specials does not have six cards at one tier. It has two at one tier and four at another.

Where Ultimate Rare fits

Ultimate Rare is the third tier at the top, and it sits above Secret Rare in the listing order. It is a treatment rather than a category, which is the key distinction: Secret Rare and Special describe which cards the set has singled out, while Ultimate Rare describes how a card has been finished.

That is why a set can list three Ultimate Rares and two Secret Rares without any overlap problem. They are counted on different axes, and the Ultimate Rare page covers that tier in full.

Getting useful answers out of a breakdown

A published breakdown answers three questions well.

• How large is a tier? Directly, because the count is published.
• How does this set compare to the last one? Directly, by putting the two breakdowns side by side.
• Is a card I have seen from this set top-tier? By checking the printed rarity mark, which the guide to codes and rarity marks explains.

It does not answer one question, and no published breakdown does: how often a given card appears in a box. The publisher does not state that, and this page does not estimate it.

Reading a card you are holding

Start with the set code, then the rarity mark, then check the card against the published breakdown for that set. That order matters, because a card can share a colour, a level and even an artwork treatment with a card from a different set and still be a different rarity.

The other thing worth knowing is that the top tiers are surfaces as much as rarities. They show handling marks sooner than a flat printing, so inspect them out of the sleeve at a tilt, and sleeve them before comparing two copies. the card protection range covers the holders, and the protection page covers the fit.

For the rest of the game’s structure — the set list, the rules and the other article lines — the Digimon Card Game index is the place to start.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Secret Rare and Special?

They are separate printed tiers at the top of a set, counted separately in the publisher’s breakdown. Secret Rare extends the ordinary ladder; Special is used for cards the set singles out. BT-26 and EX-13 both list 2 Secret Rares and 4 Specials.

Which is rarer, Secret Rare or Special?

The published counts are the reliable guide, and in the recent sets the Secret Rare count is the smaller of the two. That describes how many cards carry the tier, not how often each appears in a box, which the publisher does not state.

How does Ultimate Rare relate to them?

It is a third tier at the same end of the set, counted on a different basis: Secret Rare and Special describe which cards the set has singled out, and Ultimate Rare describes the finish applied to a card. The sets list 3 Ultimate Rares.

How can I tell which tier a card is?

Read the printed rarity mark, and check the set code against the published breakdown for that set. the guide to codes and rarity marks covers the encoding in detail; going by the way a card catches the light is a less reliable habit.

Do these tiers change the card in play?

No. Rarity is a printing decision. A Secret Rare and a Common of the same card have identical text, colour, level and effects, and both are legal in the same decks.

Sources

Game rules, product contents and card counts are quoted from the publisher’s own materials at the date stated and can change without notice. Prices quoted anywhere on this site are secondary-market observations and move quickly; nothing here is a valuation or an investment recommendation. Our own asking prices for the cards we hold are on each product page.

Where to go next

• The CardSpicy card index — every card we track, with its PSA 10 population and market history (195 cards).
• The illustrator index — every artist behind those cards, card by card (110 artists).