After teasing a new expansion that no-one seemed to understand a few months back, the Pokemon TCG has finally revealed its full 30th Celebration set alongside a brand-new rarity.
Unveiled in a flashy promo video that shows off cards both old and new, the Pokemon TCG 30th Celebration launches on September 16, 2026 and tips its hat to all eras of the franchise. As an example, it brings back 30 classic cards that fans are sure to recognize along with introducing 30 new Pikachu foil cards… not to mention the new 'Futuristic Rare' rarity tier. Considering how vehemently fans of the best card games chase existing rarities, I can only imagine how feral folks are going to be for those.
Around the world
We don't have pre-order info for the 30th Celebration yet, but we do know it'll be a global launch with a simultaneous release around the world. I'd keep a very close eye on Miniature Market in the US and Wayland Games in the UK for stock, because they tend to be some of the fastest on the mark for pre-orders.
Because this set celebrates three decades of the Pokemon franchise, no expense seems to have been spared; every single booster will contain 100% foil cards, and a guaranteed unique Pikachu (one of the 30 mentioned earlier) can be found in each pack. As for those Futuristic rare cards, they feature illustrations from renowned Japanese artist YOSHIROTTEN that the press release says is "evocative of hope toward an unknown future."
However, fans are already doubting they'll be able to find any in stock thanks to resellers. The Twitter/X announcement is full of comments bemoaning existing availability issues and doubting it'll be any different here. Even as a glass-half-full kinda guy, I don't blame them for being cynical in this case. Pokemon cards are notoriously hard to find in the wild as is, never mind when you're introducing a celebratory set with an all-new rarity everyone wants to chase.
Speaking of which, I think I agree with dizzie07 on reddit and their 2K upvoters that the 'Pikachu squishes his face through stair banisters' card by Okacheke deserves to be this set's chase. It's painfully adorable and is much too cute for this world.
Anyway: brace yourself for when pre-orders go live. I suspect there's gonna be a stampede for 'em.
- See today's Pokemon card deals at Amazon
For something else to play, why not try the best board games or the best tabletop RPGs?
