How Palworld cards are graded — and why perfect 10s are rare
Graders score a Palworld card on four sub-grades — centering, corners, edges and surface — then weight the weakest sub-grade most heavily for the overall number. Pal Stars uses the same maths on every pull, so a flawless Gem Mint 10 lands on roughly 1.2% of cards and most raw pulls settle at Mint 9 or Near Mint–Mint 8.
Updated 2026-07-30
- ✓Centering
- ✓Corners
- ✓Edges
- ✓Surface
Centering
Borders should be within about 55/45 front and 75/25 back. Off-centre left/right borders are the single most common reason a pack-fresh card caps at 8 or 9.
Corners
Under a loupe, corners must be sharp with no fuzzing or whitening. A single soft top-left corner from pack pressure drops a card to Near Mint–Mint 8.
Edges
Factory cutting causes chipping and edge whitening, especially on foil parallels where the holo layer shows white flecks along the top edge.
Surface
Print lines, roller marks, indentations and loss of gloss are surface defects. Foil OSR and SSP cards show these most clearly under angled light.
Why perfect 10s stay rare
The overall grade is dragged down by the worst sub-grade, so a single soft corner ends a 10. That is why only about 1.2% of Pal Stars pulls come back as a flawless Gem Mint 10 — the same long odds collectors face with real submissions.