PackRip

Sun & Moon Era Pokemon TCG — Complete Era Guide

Sun & Moon Era quick facts
EraSun & Moon era (2017-2019)
Year range2017-2019
Sets in era16
Total cards2,628
Mechanics introduced—
Headline chaseReshiram & Charizard-GX, Mewtwo & Mew-GX, Charizard-GX (Hidden Fates), Tapu Lele-GX, Pikachu & Zekrom-GX, Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX
Top cardLatias & Latios-GX (Team Up) — $2493.70
Combined market value~$35129

Latias & Latios-GX — top Sun & Moon Era chase pull

Gen 7 in full — the Sun & Moon era introduces Pokémon-GX: high-HP ultra-rares with a once-per-game GX attack that give up 2 prizes when knocked out (~1-in-9 pulls). It layers on two more chase tiers: Rainbow Rare hyper rares (full-spectrum foil, ~1-in-36) from Guardians Rising onward, and Prism Star (◇) galaxy-foil specials (~1-in-12) from Ultra Prism. Tag Team GX (Pikachu & Zekrom-GX, Mewtwo & Mew-GX, Reshiram & Charizard-GX) headline the later sets. The era runs the full thirteen-set arc from Sun & Moon base (2017) through the 272-card Cosmic Eclipse finale (2019), with Hidden Fates as a fan-favourite mini set.

The Sun & Moon Era spans 16 booster sets across 2017-2019, with 2,628 unique cards and a combined TCGPlayer market value of approximately $35129. Chase cards include Reshiram & Charizard-GX, Mewtwo & Mew-GX, Charizard-GX (Hidden Fates), Tapu Lele-GX, Pikachu & Zekrom-GX, Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX.

Every set in the Sun & Moon Era

Top 10 most valuable Sun & Moon Era cards

Across all 16 sets in this era, ranked by current TCGPlayer market price. Click for pull odds and the set context:

  1. #1. Latias & Latios-GX — Team Up #170 — $2493.70
  2. #2. Gengar & Mimikyu-GX — Team Up #165 — $1454.42
  3. #3. Magikarp & Wailord-GX — Team Up #161 — $842.84
  4. #4. Mewtwo-GX — Shining Legends #78 — $681.88
  5. #5. Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX — Unbroken Bonds #205 — $578.85
  6. #6. Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX — Cosmic Eclipse #221 — $505.37
  7. #7. Charizard-GX — Burning Shadows #150 — $503.46
  8. #8. Lillie — Ultra Prism #151 — $455.84
  9. #9. Blastoise & Piplup-GX — Cosmic Eclipse #215 — $432.48
  10. #10. Reshiram & Zekrom-GX — Cosmic Eclipse #222 — $402.58

Open Sun & Moon Era packs free on PackRip

Every set above is playable for free on PackRip with the same per-rarity pull rates the real product had. Pick a set from the list and click "open" — no signup, no install, mobile-friendly. Track your virtual collection across the entire era and compare which sets gave you the best chase pulls.

Why the Sun & Moon Era matters in TCG history

The 2017-2019 span captured by the Sun & Moon Era is one of the most-cited reference points in modern Pokémon TCG collecting.

Rarity evolution within the Sun & Moon Era

The Sun & Moon Era did not have a single static rarity ladder — each new set within the era added or refined the chase tiers.

Market context for the Sun & Moon Era

The Sun & Moon Era's position in the broader Pokémon TCG market has shifted dramatically across the last decade. Before 2020,

How PackRip approximates this era

Every Sun & Moon Era set in PackRip's catalog uses pull rates and rarity tiers derived from the documented WotC / EX / DP / HGSS / BW / XY-era print-run distributions. The simulator does not invent rates — it mirrors the math collectors have been documenting since 1999 through pack-opening videos, sealed-box yield reports, and PSA pop reports. Each tier in this era (—) fires at the same per-pack frequency the real product did, which is why the empirical hit rate on PackRip over a large sample converges to the published rates rather than drifting. The catalog itself comes from the Pokemon TCG API plus per-card hand-curation for the chase tiers that the API does not label cleanly (Crystal, Shining, Gold Star, Lv.X, Prime, LEGEND in particular). All Sun & Moon Era cards in the simulator are usable in PackRip's collection, dust crafting, and quest systems exactly as if you had pulled the real card. There is no premium currency or paywall gating — the entire Sun & Moon Era catalog is free to rip indefinitely.

Recommended path for collecting the Sun & Moon Era

The financially-rational path for collecting a complete Sun & Moon Era binder usually combines three approaches in sequence. First, use PackRip's free simulator to rip the entire era — both for the experience and to build a mental model of which sets have the deepest chase pools (this is the "stress test" phase). Second, plan a small targeted singles purchase via TCGplayer for the specific binder holes that survive the simulator phase — typically the chase tier (Reshiram & Charizard-GX, Mewtwo & Mew-GX, Charizard-GX (Hidden Fates)) plus 5-10 sentimental favorites per set. Third, hold sealed product as a separate appreciation play if you have the budget — sealed Sun & Moon Era packs and boxes are non-replenishable inventory and have historically appreciated faster than the underlying singles. The combined approach gives you the rip experience, the binder completion, and an asset hedge — without the catastrophic variance of trying to pull a specific chase from random sealed product.

Collecting the Sun & Moon Era today

Building a complete Sun & Moon Era binder in real-world cards is a meaningfully harder lift than collecting a modern set. The 16 sets in this era are out of print, which means the singles market is the only path — sealed product trades at multi-x the original retail and pulling a complete binder from sealed is not a financially rational option. The chase cards in particular (Reshiram & Charizard-GX and similar) typically trade for 10-100× the average common from the same set. PackRip exists in part to remove that financial gate from the experience: you can rip the simulator for as many Sun & Moon Era packs as you like, collect every card, and use the chase + binder + EV math to decide which real-world acquisitions actually make sense. Most collectors end up using PackRip's catalog to plan a small targeted singles purchase rather than gambling on sealed product. The full priced catalog for this era spans 2,565 cards and totals approximately $35129 in combined raw market value — the chase cards alone account for the majority of that.

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