What is 30th Celebration?
It is a special set for the 30th anniversary of Pokémon, and the first Pokémon TCG set to come out on the same day all over the world. The main set has 128 numbered cards, 161 counting the secret rares, and a separate Classic Collection of 30 reprints sits alongside it.
Every card in the set is foil, even the Basic Energy. It is sold in Elite Trainer Boxes, collection boxes, booster bundles and mini tins, with more products coming out through December.
A few of the 30 Pikachu Rares
What is in a 30th Celebration pack?
Each pack has five foil cards and a foil Basic Energy. One of the five is always one of the 30 Pikachu Rares, each drawn by a different artist, and they have their own guide on Pooka. The other slots are where the hits come from: a Pokémon ex, an Illustration Rare, a Special Illustration Rare, a Futuristic Rare or one of the gold-bordered Classic Collection reprints.
30th Celebration pull rates
The Pokémon Company does not publish odds, so the best numbers come from collectors counting their own packs. One count of 652 opened packs found a Pokémon ex (Double Rare) in about 1 in 5 packs, an Illustration Rare in about 1 in 5, a Classic Collection reprint in about 1 in 10, a Special Illustration Rare in about 1 in 18, and a Futuristic Rare in about 1 in 80. In 43% of the packs, the Pikachu was the only hit.
The rarest numbers rest on small samples, 36 Special Illustration Rares and 8 Futuristic Rares, so treat them as rough. Even so, PokéBeach called these the friendliest pull rates of the modern era.
The 12 Pokémon ex
The regular Pokémon ex, or Double Rares, turn up in about one pack in five.
The Special Illustration Rares
There are 10 of them, and several lean into the party theme. On kantaro's two Pikachu ex, Pikachu leads a parade in daylight and then celebrates under fireworks at night. Salamence ex flies over a town full of hot air balloons, and Fuecoco ex runs down a street hung with bunting.
The rest go in other directions. Mew ex floats through a golden forest, Mewtwo ex is drawn in glowing line art, Jirachi ex spins through a swirl of stars, and Gengar ex hovers over a haunted house.
All 10 Special Illustration Rares
Futuristic Rare, a new rarity
30th Celebration debuts a new rarity, the Futuristic Rare, marked with a purple star next to the card number. The first two are Mewtwo ex and Mew ex, both by the Japanese artist YOSHIROTTEN in a bright, neon rainbow style. They are the rarest hits in the set.
Futuristic Rares
The Illustration Rares
There are 18 Illustration Rares, from mashu's Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres to OKUBO's three Meowth: regular, Alolan and Galarian. At about one per five packs, they are the cards you are most likely to build a binder page from.
All 18 Illustration Rares
The Classic Collection
About one pack in ten has a Classic Collection card: a reprint of a famous card from the last 30 years, with a gold border, its original card number and a small 30th anniversary Pikachu stamp. There are 30 of them, from Base Set Charizard to Crystal Lugia. The Ultra-Premium Collections coming in November also include a dedicated Classic Collection booster pack, and the full list gets its own guide.
Classic Collection highlights
Is 30th Celebration worth opening?
If you like opening packs, it is one of the most rewarding modern sets to open: every card is foil, you always get a Pikachu, and a hit of some kind turns up in more than half the packs.
If you are after one specific card, buying the single is still the smarter move. With 10 Special Illustration Rares and about one in every 18 packs, you would expect to open around 180 packs to pull one particular SIR. Either way, you can track what you pull in the Pooka app, and the 30th Celebration set page on Pooka shows every card in the set.
