Pokémon 30th Celebration card list: every highlight (30C)

By Eduard Mihaila · August 10, 2026

30th Celebration (set code 30C) is the Pokémon TCG’s 30th anniversary set. It released on September 16, 2026, the first-ever simultaneous worldwide launch in the game’s history, 30 years after the TCG debuted in Japan in October 1996. This page brings the whole set together: the numbered cards, the legendary lineup, the Pikachu sub-collection, the secret rares, the Classic Collection reprints and the promos sold in sealed products. For current prices on every card, open the 30th Celebration set in our card database.

Quick answer: 30th Celebration has 158 cards: 128 numbered cards plus 30 secret rares above 128. Every 6-card booster is all foil: five shiny cards (one of them a Pikachu) and one shiny basic Energy. The chase cards are the two Futuristic Rares, Mewtwo ex 157/128 and Mew ex 158/128, the two day and night Pikachu-ex Illustration Rares, and the Base Set Charizard reprint from the Classic Collection.

The set at a glance

• Release: September 16, 2026, worldwide, in English, French and Japanese at once.
• Size: 158 cards: 128 numbered cards plus 30 secret rares (129 to 158). Early announcements had put the total at around 150.
• Boosters: 6 cards, all foil: five shiny cards, including one of the 30 Pikachu illustrations, plus one shiny basic Energy.
• New rarity: the Futuristic Rare, illustrated by YOSHIROTTEN.
• Classic Collection: reprints of 30 landmark cards from the game’s history, Base Set Charizard first among them.

Numbers above 128 (131, 136, 157…) are the secret rares, much scarcer than the printed total suggests. Some set numbers also exist as a stamped promo with the anniversary Pikachu stamp: that is a distinct card on a distinct market. Here’s how to read a card’s set and number so you don’t mix them up.

Numbered cards revealed before release

These are the main-set cards revealed ahead of launch, with number and rarity as compiled by PokéCottage. The full set page lists every card with its live Cardmarket value.

The legendary lineup

A week before launch, The Pokémon Company previewed the set through a team of legendaries spanning almost every generation. Each generation brought its signature pair, all in the set’s shiny style:

The Alola entry is the most complete: the preview showed the full Cosmog (60 HP) → Cosmoem (100 HP) → Solgaleo / Lunala line, a good sign for anyone completing evolution chains. The Kanto birds carry a “Beat” Ability matched to their type, a nod to the three cards that headlined the game in 1996.

The same preview included the mythical Mew ex (160 HP, Memory Spiral Ability + Teleport Break), which is not the same card as the Mew ex Futuristic Rare 158/128, plus Unown (80 HP) and Drifloon (70 HP).

The Pikachu sub-collection

Every booster holds at least one Pikachu card, split across two very different tiers.

30 Pikachu Rares. Each has its own Pikachu numbering, illustration, artist and attack, so the series works as a collecting project inside the set. You’ll pull them often; a few, prized for their art or artist, stand out on the resale market.

Two Pikachu-ex Illustration Rares, built on the day and night theme that runs through the whole anniversary:

• Day Pikachu-ex (190 HP): Pikachu amid a crowd of colourful Pokémon, with Pika-Pika Parade and Thunderbolt (200).
• Night Pikachu-ex (190 HP): dark background, purple highlights and fireworks, with Zip-Zap Frenzy and Thunder (200).

These two hold most of the sub-collection’s value. Don’t confuse them with the Pikachu ex promos illustrated by YOSHIROTTEN and sold in the anniversary boxes: same Pokémon, different card, different market.

Secret rares and the Futuristic Rare

The Futuristic Rare is the set’s modern counterweight to all the reprints. Where the Classic Collection looks back to 1999, YOSHIROTTEN’s neon artwork looks forward. Mewtwo ex and Mew ex, the Kanto pair that launched the game, were the first two shown and are among the hardest pulls in the set. For a ranking by current price, see the most valuable 30th Celebration cards.

The Classic Collection and the Charizard reprint

The Classic Collection reprints 30 iconic cards from the game’s history, led by Base Set Charizard with its 1999 artwork in textured holofoil. It’s the set’s most talked-about card and its biggest edition trap.

The reprint shares the artwork of the 1999 original but carries the 2026 set’s own symbol and number. It is a different, far cheaper card. Only the set symbol and collector number separate them, so if you catalogue by picture alone, a reprint and a four-figure original blur together. Will the reprints hurt originals? Not directly: they add supply of the image, not of the original print run, and the two trade on separate markets.

How the set was revealed

Weeks before launch, a list of about 34 card names circulated through Reddit threads and fan sites, with no numbers or rarities. It named Pikachu (day and night), the Eeveelutions, Mew, Mewtwo, Greninja, the legendary birds, Ditto, Jirachi, Victini, Zeraora, Alolan Exeggutor, Lapras, Hisuian Zorua and more.

Pokémon’s official product showcase then confirmed most of it. The one clear miss: the leak named Nidoqueen as the Elite Trainer Box promo, and the final card is Nidorina, with a separate Pokémon Center variant. A leaked name is a rumour; a printed number is a fact.

Promos and products by release date

The promo cards carry the anniversary’s Pikachu-silhouette stamp and come in sealed products, not boosters. They rolled out in waves:

• September 16, 2026: Elite Trainer Box (Nidorina), Pokémon Center ETB, ex Box (Sylveon ex and Greninja ex), Poster Collection (Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres), Tech Sticker Collection (Alolan Exeggutor or Lucario) and Eevee blisters.
• October 2, 2026: Binder Collection, Booster Bundle and ten day-and-night Mini Tins.
• October 30, 2026: Espeon ex and Umbreon ex Battle Decks, with Victini and Zeraora illustration rares.
• November 6, 2026: Ultra-Premium Collection in a Day (Espeon ex) and a Night (Umbreon ex) version, Mew and Mewtwo Figure Collection, and Ditto Premium Collection.

Our 30th Celebration product guide covers each box in detail, and the 30th anniversary collector guide puts the set in the wider anniversary calendar.

How to value your 30th Celebration cards

With two Mew ex, two Pikachu-ex plus their promo twins, and a Charizard reprint sharing art with a 1999 icon, mixing up versions is the easiest way to misprice a binder. Two habits keep it straight:

1. Browse. Open the 30th Celebration set and sort by price. Each card shows its number, rarity and live Cardmarket value.
2. Scan. Frame a card with PixelBinder. It reads the name, language and collector number, so a Mew ex 158/128 is never filed as an MEP promo or a reprint, and shows the card’s value from live Cardmarket and eBay data. You start free with 25 scans, no commitment.