30th Celebration: 30 Pikachu, all-foil packs and the cards to chase
The Pokémon TCG’s 30th anniversary set is all foil, with a Pikachu card in every pack and 30 to collect. How the set works, the products still to come, and the cards worth finding.
30th Celebration is the Pokémon TCG’s anniversary set, released worldwide on the same day, 16 September 2026. It’s unlike any other set of the era: every card is foil, every pack has a Pikachu in it, and some cards can only be found in one product.
What’s in the set
There are 199 cards in all:
- 128 in the main set, including 30 Pikachu cards.
- 33 secret rares.
- 30 Classic Collection cards.
- 8 foil Basic Energy.
It brings together cards from Japan’s own 30th Celebration set and the Espeon ex and Umbreon ex Premium Deck Set.
How the packs work
Each pack has five foil cards, one of which is always one of the 30 Pikachu, plus a foil Basic Energy and a Pokémon TCG Live code card. You can’t buy single packs of this set: they only come in Elite Trainer Boxes, collections, tins and bundles.
That makes the Pikachu the set’s signature collection. Each has its own artwork, and collecting all 30 is the kind of challenge that fills a binder page and then some. We list them as Pikachu Rares, so you can see which you’re missing in one place:
The Classic Collection
The 30 Classic Collection cards only come in a Classic Collection booster, three cards to a pack, and that booster is only in the Ultra-Premium Collections, due out on 6 November. Expect them to be the hardest cards of the set to find as singles for a while.
Products still to come
30th Celebration is releasing in stages (these are the English release dates). The Elite Trainer Boxes and most collections came out on release day, the mini tins and booster bundle followed on 2 October, the Espeon ex and Umbreon ex Battle Decks are due on 30 October, the Ultra-Premium Collections on 6 November, and a Pokémon ex Tin and a Binder Collection on 4 December.
The chase cards
Top of many wish lists is the Pikachu ex special illustration rare:
Behind it come the illustration rares, every one of them foil like the rest of the set:
Pokémon ex for every deck
The Double Rares are where you’ll find the set’s Pokémon ex, and in an all-foil set even these shine:
Want to know where 30th Celebration fits in the era? Our guide to Mega Evolution lists every set so far, and our rarity guide explains each symbol. Browse the whole set on the 30th Celebration page.
