Published July 21, 2026 · 10 min read
Preliminary guide — updated July 21, 2026. ME: 30th Celebration launches worldwide on September 16, 2026, and it is still early: barely 20 of its 128 cards have been revealed anywhere — the official site included — and none carry a market price yet, because nothing has sold. This is an early-look guide to what has been revealed, written to grow. We will expand it card by card, and add live prices, as the rest of the set drops. Every card below already links to its live page on Swaptio, so you can start a wishlist before the crowd does.
Even at 19 cards, the shape of this set is clear, and it is unapologetically a birthday party. 30th Celebration leans on the most bankable names in the franchise — the Eeveelutions, Pikachu, Mewtwo and Mew — and debuts a brand-new rarity, the Futuristic Rare, on two of the most iconic Pokémon ever printed. If ME: Pitch Black was a darkness-themed battle set, this is the fan-service victory lap.
A quick orientation for collectors: this is the English 30th Celebration expansion (set code we track as 30c, printed total 128), the international sibling of Japan's M6a: MEGA Expansion 30th Celebration. Trading across regions? The collector number — Sylveon ex is 071/128 — is your shared language. Read on for the Eeveelution core, the Futuristic Rare pair, and honest notes on all 19 cards revealed so far.
Let us separate fact from hype. Confirmed by the first market data: 30th Celebration carries a 128-card printed total plus secret rares numbered above it (Lapras is already showing as 131/128), and the reveal wave leads with Eevee and its evolutions, a Pikachu sub-set, and the two Kanto legends. The set is the anniversary centerpiece of the Mega Evolution block and its product lineup is unusually deep — an Elite Trainer Box, a Pokémon Center ETB, tins for Sylveon ex and Greninja ex, mini tins, a binder collection and a booster bundle have all appeared alongside the singles.
What we do not know yet, and will not guess: final pull rates, street-date pricing, or the full 128-card checklist. Presale card data with no sales means no honest market price exists — so unlike our Pitch Black and Chaos Rising guides, you will see no dollar figures beside these cards yet. That is deliberate. A made-up number is worse than no number.
The one genuinely new thing here is a rarity: the Futuristic Rare (FUR), an opalescent finish debuting on Mewtwo ex and Mew ex, illustrated by graphic artist YOSHIROTTEN. Anniversary sets are historically where the Pokémon Company experiments with premium treatments (think Celebrations in 2021), and a fresh rarity tier on two flagship Pokémon is exactly the kind of chase the secondary market fixates on. Watch those two closely.
Two more confirmed pillars shape the release. It contains 30 unique Pikachu, each by a different artist, with one Pikachu guaranteed in every pack — the three visible so far (#036, #037, #047) are a sliver of that run. And in true anniversary spirit, 30 classic cards from across TCG history return with special foil treatments — a Celebrations-style subset whose early reveals include Charizard and a Pikachu & Zekrom GX. None of these extra cards are in our card data yet, so they are described here but do not appear in the list below.
The emotional and, almost certainly, the financial heart of the reveal is the Eeveelution line. Two Eevee printings (#117, #118), Espeon and Umbreon in both Common and Double Rare ex form (#069/#070, #091/#092), and Sylveon ex (#071) headline the wave. Umbreon in particular has been the most collectible Eeveelution for years — the market treats a good Umbreon like a blue-chip stock — so a fresh ex printing in an anniversary set is a natural magnet for demand.
For traders, the play writes itself: Eeveelution ex cards move the moment a set is trade-legal, because everyone wants the one that matches their favorite and nobody opens the whole rainbow from a single box. This is the page to complete through swaps, not singles-buying, and it is why we are pointing you at your offers feed early.
The two cards most likely to define this set's ceiling are Mewtwo ex (#157) and Mew ex (#158), both in the new Futuristic Rare finish. Mewtwo and Mew are the original 150-and-151 bookends of the entire franchise, so putting a never-before-seen rarity on precisely this pair, in the 30th-anniversary set, is not an accident — it is the marketing thesis of the whole product.
Until copies actually sell we will not attach a price, but history is a useful guide: novel rarities on flagship Pokémon in celebration sets tend to open high and stay wanted. If you only track two cards from this set before launch, make it these two — add them to your wishlist now so a match finds you the week boxes crack open.
Eevee and its evolutions anchor the reveal — the Common/ex pairs for Espeon and Umbreon, Sylveon ex, and two Eevee printings. No prices have settled yet; these notes are about what each card is and why it matters.
Common
Espeon in its Common printing — the entry point to one of the set's two marquee Eeveelution pairs. Pull this from bulk and set it aside: Espeon line collectors will want clean copies to sit alongside the ex, and the Common is the cheapest way onto that page.
Double Rare
Espeon ex, the Double Rare payoff of the Psychic Eeveelution. Espeon has one of the strongest adult-collector followings of any Eeveelution, and an anniversary-set ex is a natural centerpiece. A prime early trade target before launch-week attention peaks.
Double Rare
Sylveon ex, our cover card and one of the most broadly beloved Eeveelutions since its Kalos debut. As a Double Rare with a dedicated tin, it is positioned as a flagship of the release. If your collection has a bias toward the Fairy-type fox, this is the page to complete first.
Common
Umbreon in Common form — and Umbreon is the name to watch in this entire set. The Moonlight Pokémon has been the single most collectible Eeveelution for years; even the humble Common gets swept up by line collectors. Do not bulk this one blindly.
Double Rare
Umbreon ex, the Double Rare that may well be the most-wanted single of the whole reveal. Umbreon's market pull is in a class of its own among Eeveelutions, and a fresh ex in the 30th-anniversary set is exactly the card people will build trades around. Watch it closely once sales begin.
Common
One of two Eevee printings. Eevee itself is the connective tissue of the set — the Pokémon every evolution page starts from — so clean copies always find homes with Eeveelution collectors. Cheap, charming, and endlessly tradeable.
Common
The second Eevee printing. Two base Eevee cards signal how central the evolution family is to this release. For master-set builders these are simple checkboxes; for everyone else, the friendliest trade throw-ins in the set.
Beyond the Eeveelutions, the first wave brings a Greninja ex, plus two mono-type fan favorites in Victini and Zeraora that round out the early checklist.
Common
Victini, the Victory Pokémon, opens the revealed checklist as a Common. A cheerful, low-stakes inclusion whose appeal is nostalgia rather than value — but every celebration set needs its feel-good commons, and Victini has always been a fan favorite mascot for exactly that mood.
Double Rare
Greninja ex arrives as a Double Rare and already has its own themed tin in the product lineup, which tells you the Pokémon Company rates its pulling power. Greninja is a perennial top-tier fan pick, so expect steady demand for this printing regardless of where prices land once the set is trade-legal.
Common
Zeraora returns as a Common, a Mythical with a devoted following from its movie and event history. No hit rarity attached in the reveal so far, but Zeraora line collectors are real, and Mythicals in celebration sets tend to be quietly wanted long after launch.
Three of the set's 30 unique Pikachu are revealed so far — one is guaranteed in every pack, each drawn by a different artist. Special Pikachu cards are the quintessential celebration-set collectible: low barrier to love, endless variants to chase.
One of three distinct Pikachu in the reveal. Special Pikachu cards are the heartbeat of every anniversary set — accessible, endlessly collectible, and the cards most likely to be handed to a kid at a launch event. Which of the three becomes the sought-after one usually comes down to the artwork.
The second Pikachu printing. Collecting all three anniversary Pikachu as a mini-set is the kind of low-cost, high-charm goal peer-to-peer trading is perfect for — nobody pulls the full trio from one box, so swaps do the work.
The third Pikachu of the wave. Numbered apart from the other two, which hints these are spread across the set rather than clustered — a classic anniversary treatment that rewards completionists hunting the full Pikachu run.
Four full-art Illustration Rares have surfaced, numbered above the 128 base total. These are where set artists usually do their most memorable work in an anniversary release.
Illustration Rare
Lapras as an Illustration Rare, numbered 131/128 — above the base total, confirming the secret-rare tier. Lapras is a classic Kanto gentle giant with enduring art appeal, and full-art IR treatments of nostalgic Pokémon are exactly what anniversary-set collectors chase.
Illustration Rare
Drifloon Illustration Rare — an unexpected but delightful pick. The balloon Pokémon has a cult following and IR artists love its shape and whimsy. The kind of characterful card that ends up more wanted than its rarity suggests.
Illustration Rare
Lycanroc Illustration Rare. With multiple forms and a strong Alola-era fanbase, Lycanroc IRs have a track record of standing out. A solid mid-tier chase within the IR page once the set is live.
Illustration Rare
Hisuian Zorua Illustration Rare — the Hisui regional twist, and one of the more distinctive art subjects in the reveal. Regional variants with strong IR art tend to punch above their weight with collectors who chase the Hisui line specifically.
The set's signature new rarity, on the franchise's two most iconic Pokémon. The chase pair to watch.
Futuristic Rare
Mewtwo ex in the brand-new Futuristic Rare finish — one half of the set's signature chase. Mewtwo is the franchise's original apex legend, and a never-before-seen rarity on it in the anniversary set is the headline the whole product is built around. Track this from day one.
Futuristic Rare
Mew ex, the other Futuristic Rare and Mewtwo's eternal counterpart — #151 to Mewtwo's #150. Debuting a new rarity on precisely this pair is the set's marketing thesis made physical. If any two cards define 30th Celebration's ceiling, it is Mewtwo ex and Mew ex.
With no prices and a partial checklist, the smart pre-launch move is positioning, not spending. Build your wishlist around the cards you actually want — the Eeveelution ex trio and the Futuristic Rare pair are the obvious anchors — so that when boxes crack open and duplicates flood the offers feed, matches find you automatically instead of you chasing a rising market.
Anniversary sets reward patience twice over: launch-week prices peak, and celebration products get reprinted more than standard sets, which softens the long-term floor. The Pitch Black story on this very blog is the cautionary tale — presale highs that halved within days of release. Let this set teach the same lesson before you pay the tuition.
Nineteen cards is the opening chapter, not the book. As the Pokémon Company reveals the rest of the 128-card checklist and the first sales set real prices, we will expand every section, add per-card market prices, and fold in pull rates and product-versus-singles math — the same card-by-card depth as our completed set guides. Bookmark it and check back near street date.
September 16, 2026 — a worldwide simultaneous launch confirmed on Pokémon's official 30th-anniversary site, in both English (30th Celebration) and Japanese (M6a). That is about two months out as this preliminary guide publishes, which is why only around 20 of the 128 cards have been revealed so far.
Because no honest price exists yet. The revealed cards are presale listings with no completed sales, so any market figure would be invented. As soon as cards actually sell, we will add live TCGplayer market prices beside each one — the same real-data approach as our other set guides.
It is a new rarity tier debuting in 30th Celebration, appearing so far on Mewtwo ex (#157) and Mew ex (#158). New premium rarities on flagship Pokémon are a hallmark of anniversary sets and typically become the release's top chase cards.
It is the same set. 30th Celebration is the anniversary MEGA expansion, released worldwide on the same day (September 16, 2026) in English and, as M6a, in Japanese. The artwork is shared; only the language, the collection numbering (Mewtwo ex is #157 in English, #134 in Japanese) and the pack configuration differ. Because it is one simultaneous global release — not a Japan-first drop like Abyss Eye — there is no early-import window this time.
