Pokémon TCG announces 30th Celebration set

The Pokémon Company International said on June 1 that Pokémon TCG: 30th Celebration will launch worldwide on September 16, 2026, marking the trading card game’s first simultaneous global release. The company said the anniversary expansion will combine new cards with reprints tied to the game’s 30-year history. Pokemon.com said every card in the set’s booster packs will be foil, including Basic Energy. The announcement followed a February teaser that said the 30th anniversary campaign would include a coordinated worldwide launch later this year. ### What exactly did Pokémon announce on June 1? Pokemon.com said the new product is called Pokémon TCG: 30th Celebration and is scheduled for a worldwide release on September 16, 2026. The company described it as an expansion built to mark 30 years of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, which debuted in 1996. The June 1 post said the set will mix “cards familiar and new,” with classic reprints alongside newly designed cards. (pokemon.com) The company also said the expansion will introduce a new “Futuristic rare” rarity, with Mewtwo and Mew among the first cards shown in that treatment. ### What is in each booster pack? The June 1 announcement said every card in each 30th Celebration booster pack will be foil. (pokemon.com) That includes Basic Energy, which the company singled out in the product description. Pokemon.com also said each booster pack will include “one of 30 different Pikachu cards” with unique illustrations. The company used the June 1 reveal to show three of those Pikachu cards, illustrated by OKACHEKE, Yuu Nishida and Atsuko Nishida. (pokemon.com) ### Which cards and Pokémon have been named so far? Pokemon.com said the set will feature Pokémon from multiple regions and named Espeon, Umbreon, Lapras, Drifloon, Zorua and Lycanroc among the cards planned for the expansion. (pokemon.com) The company also said Greninja and Sylveon will appear as new Pokémon ex cards. The June 1 post also pointed to reprints tied to earlier eras of the game, naming Base Set Charizard and Pikachu & Zekrom-GX from Sun & Moon—Team Up as examples. (pokemon.com) Pokemon.com said those reprinted cards will not be legal in the Standard format, though they can be used in formats that allow the original printings. ### Why is the September 16 date notable? The Pokémon Company International said on February 27 that its 30th anniversary plans would include a “simultaneously coordinated global launch in participating markets.” The June 1 announcement identified 30th Celebration as that product and gave the exact date: September 16, 2026. (pokemon.com) Pokemon.com said that makes 30th Celebration the first Pokémon TCG expansion to release globally at the same time. (pokemon.com) The company framed the move as a way for collectors in different markets to open the set together. ### What are fans reacting to first? Social posts circulating on May 31 and June 1 focused on the guaranteed Pikachu card in every pack and on images from the initial reveal materials. (pokemon.com) The official June 1 announcement supports that reaction by stating that each booster contains one of 30 Pikachu cards and by previewing three of them. The June 1 post also directed fans to a trailer tied to the expansion and said more cards are still to come. (pokemon.com) That leaves additional reveals, including more Pikachu variants and other anniversary cards, to be detailed before the September release. September 16, 2026 is the next key date for the set, and Pokemon.com said fans should expect more 30th Celebration reveals ahead of that launch. (pokemon.com) The company’s TCG news pages have already been used for both the February teaser and the full June 1 product announcement.