The Pokémon Trading Card Game is turning 30 this year, and The Pokémon Company is pulling out all the stops. On 1 June 2026, they officially revealed Pokémon TCG: 30th Celebration — a landmark expansion that introduces a new rarity, guarantees a foil Pikachu in every single pack, and is set to drop simultaneously across the globe on 16 September 2026. That last part alone is a big deal for us here in Singapore.

What Is the Pokémon TCG 30th Celebration Set?

The 30th Celebration expansion (Japanese set code: m6a) commemorates three full decades of the Pokémon Trading Card Game since its 1996 debut in Japan. The set takes a dual approach: brand-new cards designed for 2026 play standards, alongside lovingly foiled reprints of iconic cards from across the game’s history.

Every single card in the set — including Basic Energy — is a foil card. There are no non-holographic commons here. Crack a pack and every card you pull will have that shine.

A Pikachu for Every Trainer — 30 Unique Designs

Here is the headline mechanic: each booster pack is guaranteed to contain one of 30 different Pikachu card variants, each illustrated by a different artist. Among the confirmed illustrators are Atsuko Nishida (who drew the original Base Set Pikachu back in the day), Yuu Nishida, and OKACHEKE. Completing all 30 Pikachus will be the collector challenge of 2026.

Each pack contains five foil game cards, one foil Basic Energy, and one Pokémon TCG Live code card — a lean but premium format that keeps every pull meaningful.

Meet the Futuristic Rare — a Brand-New Rarity

Futuristic Rare is a completely new card rarity debuting with this set. The inaugural Futuristic Rares are Mewtwo ex (157/128) and Mew ex (158/128) — both illustrated by renowned Japanese visual artist YOSHIROTTEN, whose work blends retro-futuristic aesthetics with vivid, almost holographic colour. The result is unlike anything we have seen on a Pokémon card before.

Beyond rarity, these are competitive cards. Mewtwo ex arrives with 230 HP and the attack Psychic Powers (230 damage, with a recovery restriction on the following turn), while Mew ex features Memory Helix for creative attack-copying plays. Both are set to be noteworthy in tournament metas.

Other new competitive additions include Greninja ex and Sylveon ex, alongside Illustration Rares for Espeon, Umbreon, Lapras, Hisuian Zorua, Drifloon, and Lycanroc.

Classic Reprints with a 30th Anniversary Touch

The set also includes 30 classic reprints drawn from across the game’s eras — each receiving a special foil treatment and a 30th anniversary stamp. Confirmed so far: the legendary Base Set Charizard, and the Pikachu & Zekrom-GX from 2019’s Sun & Moon — Team Up expansion, among others. Classic reprints are not legal in the Standard format, but they can be played in formats that permit the original printings.

Think of them as wearable nostalgia — cards that look stunning in binders and feel great to pull.

What This Means for Singapore Trainers

Here is the part that matters most to us: 16 September 2026 is a worldwide simultaneous launch. In the 30-year history of the Pokémon TCG, international markets — including Singapore — have consistently received sets weeks or even months after Japan and the US. A coordinated global release date is genuinely historic, and it means local game stores and hobby shops in Singapore will have product on the same day as everyone else.

With the Pokémon Center Singapore reopening at Jewel Changi Airport on 1 July 2026, there is every reason to expect the Center to carry 30th Celebration stock from day one. Pricing in SGD is to be confirmed closer to launch.

If you are a competitive player, mark 16 September on your calendar — the new Mewtwo ex and Mew ex Futuristic Rares will almost certainly shake up the post-Worlds meta, and having them on release day rather than weeks later puts Singapore players on equal footing with the rest of the world for the first time.

Last words

Thirty years. Every card foil. Thirty Pikachus. A new rarity. A simultaneous global launch. The Pokémon TCG has not had a set this loaded with significance since the original Celebrations in 2021 — and even that set did not come with a worldwide day-one release. Whether you collect, play competitively, or just love the nostalgia hit of cracking a shiny Charizard, 30th Celebration is the one to watch in 2026. Keep an eye on GameTrader.SG as we get closer to September for local pricing, pre-order alerts, and whatever else The Pokémon Company announces for Singapore.