12 Best Yu-Gi-Oh! Booster Packs For Expensive Cards

Pulling the YuGiOh card you want is great, but pulling a $500+ card is exhilarating. If you’re like me, you check card prices before you decide which pack to buy. In this post, we count the top 12 YuGiOh booster packs to buy for potential money hits, in no particular order. Let’s go!

12. Rising Rampage (2019)

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Rising Rampage was a huge hit due to its introduction of Starlight Rares. Available in the expansion are 4 Starlight Rares, all selling for a pretty penny these days. The Starlight Rares are:

• Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess ($1,400)
• Wynn the Wind Charmer, Verdant ($900)
• Mariness Sea Horse ($230)
• Storm Dragon’s Return ($70)

Apollousa is the most expensive, selling for a whopping $1,400 USD, making it one of the most expensive cards currently in the TCG. However, none of the non-starlight cards in this set sell for a lot. The most expensive non-starlight is the secret rare Apollousa, which sells for about $30.

11. Gladiator’s Assault (2007)

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The English (TCG) version of Gladiator’s Assault has more secret rares than any other set before it, making for massive hype upon release. Moreover, this set contained a Ghost Rare.

The Ghost Rare in question is Elemental Hero Chaos Neos and sells for about $1,400 USD if it is the Rainbow Dragon misprinted version. After that banger of a card, we’re looking at another 6 cards over the $100 mark.

• Elemental Hero Chaos Neos (Rainbow Dragon Misprint) ($1,400)
• Necroface ($420)
• Gil Garth ($300)
• Security Orb ($200)
• Soul Taker ($170)
• Elemental Hero Chaos Neos ($120)
• Evil Hero Inferno Wing ($100)

In total, this expansion has 7-8 cards that can sell for over $100. Those are decent odds compared to many of the sets sitting on store shelves today. The only downside is that you’re going to have to spend a little extra for a 2007 booster pack.

10. Chaos Impact (2019)

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Released in late 2019, Chaos Impact had an impact (heh) due to its crazy amount of hits. In this set, we saw 4 Starlight Rares, 8 Secret Rares, 10 Ultra Rares, and 14 Super Rares.

Because of this, players loved this set for its pull rates. Of course, the odds of pulling a Starlight Rare were still astronomically low, but all of the Ultra and Super Rares made up for it. That being said, only 3 cards from this set break the $100 mark.

• I:P Masquerena ($1,500)
• Unchained Twins – Aruha ($145)
• Gorgon, Empress of the Evil Eyed ($130)

The big pull of the set is obviously I:P Masquerena, but you won’t find her in a non-1st edition booster. Other than that, this set is relatively tame on pricey cards.

9. Retro Pack 1 (2008)

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A European-exclusive set was released in mid-2008, known as Retro Pack 1. This set contained reprints from the original Legend of Blue-Eyes set including cards never before released in Europe.

The exclusivity of this set drives the prices of many cards up, making this one of the best Yu-Gi-Oh! Booster packs for expensive cards. We see huge hits like Blue-Eyes, Exodia, Red-Eyes, and more, all worth hundreds of dollars.

• Scapegoat ($1,000)
• Ancient Lamp ($800)
• Copycat ($800)
• Exchange of the Spirit ($400)
• Amazoness Chain Master ($350)
• Blue-Eyes White Dragon ($250)
• Kaibaman ($200)
• Red-Eyes B. Dragon ($180)
• Exodia the Forbidden One ($150)

With 9 cards over the $100 mark, this set is a smash hit. However, with a vintage release of 2008, you’ll be paying big bucks for even a single booster pack.

8. Retro Pack 2 (2009)

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This time, the Retro Pack was released globally and featured many out-of-print cards. This was done intentionally to help duelists get their hands on otherwise unobtainable cards. 

Right out of the gate, we have Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon which sells for $1,500 USD if in mint condition. Aside from this, there are a handful more cards over the $100 mark.

• Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon ($1,500)
• Valkyrion the Magna Warrior ($1,200)
• Dragon Master Knight ($500)
• Light and Darkness Dragon ($280)
• Harpie’s Pet Dragon ($220)
• Archfiend of Gilfer ($200)
• Ring of Destruction ($160)

With 7 cards over the $100 mark, this means that you should get a fairly decent chance at pulling a hot card. But once again, a booster pack from 2009 isn’t cheap, and might not even be worth the gamble.

7. Battles of Legend: Armageddon (2020)

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Finally, we have a non-vintage set that we can sink our teeth into! This set only has 2 cards over the $100 mark, but the booster packs aren’t that expensive yet, so it might be worth picking up a booster box and going for the gamble. 

This set’s chase cards are both unique and very desirable. The Ten Thousand Dragon has its own special rarity called the 10000 Secret Rare, and the Number 390: Utopia (Astral) is a special reprint where the card’s text is now replaced with Astral glyphs.

• Ten Thousand Dragon ($1,400)
• Number 390: Utopia (Astral) ($250)

The Ten Thousand Dragon alone is worth a few booster packs for sure, as it is one of the most beautiful cards in the TCG. But if you actually pull one, could you sell it?

6. Eternity Code (2020)

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The main draw of Eternity Code is the 5 Starlight Rares that it brings to the table. Each sell for a few hundred bucks and is extremely rare.

• Eria the Water Charmer, Gentle ($950)
• Effect Veiler ($760)
• Chamber Dragonmaid ($420)
• Ghost Mourner & Moonlit Chill ($320)
• Traptrix Allomerus ($300)

Being released in 2020, Eternity Code booster boxes are still affordable. With 9 cards per pack and 24 packs per box, you have a decent chance at pulling a Starlight Rare, but it’s not guaranteed. 

5. Champion Pack: Game One (2006)

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Champion Pack comes in as the smallest set on this list, with a grand total of 20 cards. In fact, each pack only contains 3 cards with a breakdown of 1 Rare and 2 Commons. The cards are comprised of super-competitive cards from previous tournaments.

Satellite Cannon, however, was previously only available in the OCG, outside of North America.

5 of the cards in this set sell for over $100, making 25% of the set expensive!

• Book of Moon ($840)
• Metamorphosis ($750)
• Sakuretsu Armor ($400)
• Night Assailant ($300)
• Satellite Cannon ($100)

With such a small set, you may as well complete it! After the 5 expensive cards, the other 15 costs between $0.25 and $15.

4. Dawn of Majesty (2021)

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Dawn of Majesty isn’t really that impressive of a set, but the 5 Starlight Rares that it offers are simply amazing. The 2 that stand out are Stardust Dragon and Shooting Majestic Star Dragon. Both of these are some of the most beautiful cards to ever grace the TCG, and have a price tag to reflect that!

• Stardust Dragon ($800)
• Shooting Majestic Star Dragon ($175)
• The Iris Swordsoul ($105)

Only 3 of the 5 Starlight Rares are over $100, which makes the other 2 relatively affordable. Either way, picking up a few booster packs or a booster box of this set might be a good idea, especially because these Starlight Rares will go up in value over time.

3. Elemental Energy (2005)

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As an older set, released in late 2005, Elemental Energy has had time to increase in value and so have the cards it offers. But part of that could be that this was the first set to introduce Dark World monsters, that have abilities triggered upon being discarded. 

Either way, since this set contains a whopping 25 Ultimate Rares, surely there are some valuable pulls to be had!

• Elemental Hero Tempest ($700)
• Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster ($240)
• Elemental Hero Bladedge ($200)
• Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman ($200)
• Water Dragon ($160)
• Elemental Hero Wildedge ($150) 

Of 6 cards worth more than $100, 5 of them are Elemental Heroes. It’s pretty cool that these cards are worth a lot now, as they have proven to be sought-after even after all this time.

2. Rise of the Duelist (2020)

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Another set with 5 Starlight Rares keeps its value high on the list. All of these Starlight Rares are worth more than $100 and are all amazing pieces in any collection. 

• Triple Tactics Talent ($700)
• Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous ($530)
• D.D. Crow ($500)
• Wynn the Wind Channeler ($300)
• Gaia the Magical Knight of Dragons ($125)

With the top 3 selling for over $500, this is a great chance at an expensive pull. Even the Secret Rare versions of these cards are going for $20 to $50 which is pretty good, considering the price of a single booster pack. 

1. Lightning Overdrive (2021)

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Lightning Overdrive was a hugely hyped set, probably due to its delay in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Trading cards were at an all-time high in terms of popularity, and anyone interested in collecting cards was waiting for the newest Yu-Gi-Oh! set to check out.

With 5 Starlight Rares, the set sold like hotcakes, so it’s kind of surprising that the card’s market price remind high.

• Lyna the Light Charmer, Lustrous ($660)
• Black Rose Dragon ($530)
• Live Twin Ki-sikil Frost ($175)
• Book of Lunar Eclipse ($100)

For the final entry on our list, Lightning Overdrive is just ok. 3 cards above $100 are pretty good, but there are other sets on this list that would be a better buy. However, Lightning Overdrive is recent enough that the boosters are cheap, so it might be a good one to pick up!

Conclusion

We hope this list helped you make an educated purchase! As a side note, we didn’t include the original Legend of Blue-Eyes set because, well you know, it’s ridiculously expensive. But it’s worth mentioning that this is number one on the list of best Yu-Gi-Oh! booster packs for expensive cards.