Top 10 Pokémon 30th Celebration Hits & Chase Cards
30th Celebration split its highest chase cards between a stacked Special Illustration Rare lineup and a brand new Futuristic Rare tier built around just two Pokémon. These are the ten priciest chase cards from the set's first week on shelves, ranked by market value, Classic Collection reprints not included.
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10. Greninja ex - $38.38
Set: 30th Celebration
Card Number: 148/128
Rarity: Special Illustration Rare
Greninja slices through a neon lit crowd, silhouettes of other Pokémon caught mid cheer somewhere behind it in the light. At 300 HP it's the single toughest card in this entire top 10, and Aqua Edge's 160 damage already feels like it landed before you finish reading the attack box. Rounding out the list, it's the most affordable seat at a genuinely stacked table.
9. Jirachi ex - $76.20
Set: 30th Celebration
Card Number: 155/128
Rarity: Special Illustration Rare
Jirachi twists through a starfield that looks more like a wish caught mid-motion than a fixed scene, gold and blue trailing off its ribbons. AKIRA EGAWA strikes again with a stunning card art that looks even better in person, and Wish Granter topping your hand to seven cards gives collectors a real reason to want it in a deck too, not just a binder.
8. Pikachu ex - $85.57
Set: 30th Celebration
Card Number: 149/128
Rarity: Special Illustration Rare
kantaro leads Pikachu through a full blown parade, Eeveelutions, Slowpoke, and Cosmog all crowded into one massive celebration scene built to look like the whole Pokédex showed up for the party. It's the busier of two Pikachu ex prints kantaro illustrated for this set, and getting the mascot two separate Special Illustration Rares from the same artist is a rare bit of double treatment even by anniversary standards.
7. Sylveon ex - $91.93
Set: 30th Celebration
Card Number: 153/128
Rarity: Special Illustration Rare
Sylveon floats through a garden completely overrun with roses and ribbon, its feelers curling into the flowers around it. Colorful Harmony scales its damage with how many different Basic Energy types you've attached across your whole board, and the mix of pink, blue, and gold blooming around Sylveon mirrors that "the more types, the better" idea nicely. One of the prettier cards in the whole set, and it carries real weight in a Rainbow Energy build too.
6. Mewtwo ex - $102.55
Set: 30th Celebration
Card Number: 157/128
Rarity: Futuristic Rare
Yoshirotten's Mewtwo ex is one of two Futuristic Rare prints in the whole set, and it looks the part immediately, a glossy holographic ring of color and energy symbols standing in for a painted background entirely. Photon Bullets spreads 50 damage across every ex Pokémon your opponent has in play, which is exactly the kind of splashy, high concept attack this brand new rarity tier seems built for.
5. Pikachu ex - $114.08
Set: 30th Celebration
Card Number: 150/128
Rarity: Special Illustration Rare
Another Pikachu ex, again from kantaro, this time taking the same parade idea into a fireworks-lit night instead, Eevee, Umbreon, and Gengar joining the crowd. It edges out its daytime sibling for the higher rank here, and now we're getting into the real chase cards this set has to offer, mascot cards winning on nostalgia and legendary cards about to win on scarcity alone.
4. Mewtwo ex - $125.78
Set: 30th Celebration
Card Number: 151/128
Rarity: Special Illustration Rare
Leave it to a Legendary Pokémon to scream aura. This artwork looks like something that belongs in a shrine or a museum, not printed on cardboard, every shade of pink and purple imaginable wrapped around a Mewtwo that looks more like a mad king than a lab experiment. It ranks well ahead of its own Futuristic Rare printing, proof the painted version still has the edge with collectors.
3. Mew ex - $146.52
Set: 30th Celebration
Card Number: 158/128
Rarity: Futuristic Rare
Mew ex shares Yoshirotten's holographic treatment with the Mewtwo ex a few spots back, the same iridescent ring and energy symbols in a softer, pastel colorway. Memory Helix lets Mew borrow any attack sitting on your Bench, and pairing the game's two most flexible Psychic types with the same brand new rarity, from the same artist, feels like a matched set rather than a coincidence. It's also the underdog half of a two-Mew showdown this list settles at the top.
2. Gengar ex - $171.11
Set: 30th Celebration
Card Number: 154/128
Rarity: Special Illustration Rare
There's never a shortage of love for the original Kanto ghost, and CHORISO gives Gengar its full menace here, one hand stifling laughter while it prances through a field ringed with haunted house architecture. It's the priciest non-Mew card in the entire set by a wide margin, which says something when the two cards above and below it both feature the game's most flexible Psychic type.
1. Mew ex - $211.09
Set: 30th Celebration
Card Number: 152/128
Rarity: Special Illustration Rare
Kuroimori settles the question. This Mew ex, painted rather than Futuristic, drifting through a sunlit wall of forest greenery and tiny white flowers, is the undisputed top chase of 30th Celebration's opening week, easily outpricing its own Futuristic Rare printing. Soft beats shiny here, at least for now, and there's something fitting about the game's most gentle Mythical topping a list built entirely around the franchise's biggest legendary names.
Final Thoughts
30th Celebration's opening week makes one thing clear: painted Special Illustration Rares are still beating the brand new Futuristic Rare tier at the register, even when it's the exact same Pokémon in both slots. kantaro and Yoshirotten each landing two cards in this top 10 says just as much about illustrator draw as it does about the Pokémon themselves. This set came by its name honestly, and Classic Collection hasn't even been counted yet.
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FAQ
What are the best pulls from Pokémon 30th Celebration?
The most valuable pulls from release week are the Mew ex Special Illustration Rare (#152) and the Gengar ex Special Illustration Rare (#154), the top two chase cards on this list. Both come from the extended pull sheet above the base 128 cards, and Classic Collection reprints aren't factored in.
Is the Mew ex Special Illustration Rare from 30th Celebration worth buying?
It's the top chase of the set's opening week and the only Mew ex printing to outprice its own Futuristic Rare counterpart. As 30th Celebration's most gentle Mythical topping a legendary-heavy lineup, collector demand should hold well past launch.
What is a Futuristic Rare in Pokémon TCG?
Futuristic Rare (FUR) is a brand new rarity tier debuting in 30th Celebration, appearing on exactly two cards: Mewtwo ex and Mew ex. It swaps the usual painted background for a glossy, holographic ring of color and energy symbols.
How many cards are in the Pokémon 30th Celebration set?
30th Celebration has 128 standard cards in the base set, with an extended pull sheet reaching at least #158 that includes Illustration Rares, Special Illustration Rares, and the two Futuristic Rare prints of Mewtwo ex and Mew ex.
What Pokémon are Futuristic Rare in 30th Celebration?
Only Mewtwo ex (#157) and Mew ex (#158) received the Futuristic Rare treatment in 30th Celebration. Both were illustrated by Yoshirotten, giving the set's two most flexible Psychic types a matched, holographic look instead of a painted one.
