Sun & Moon Era Pokemon TCG — Complete Era Guide
| Era | Sun & Moon era (2017-2019) |
|---|---|
| Year range | 2017-2019 |
| Sets in era | 16 |
| Total cards | 2,628 |
| Mechanics introduced | — |
| Headline chase | Reshiram & Charizard-GX, Mewtwo & Mew-GX, Charizard-GX (Hidden Fates), Tapu Lele-GX, Pikachu & Zekrom-GX, Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX |
| Top card | Latias & Latios-GX (Team Up) — $2493.70 |
| Combined market value | ~$35129 |

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
- Sun & Moon (2017) — 173 cards · most valuable · EV calculator
- Guardians Rising (2017) — 180 cards · most valuable · EV calculator
- Burning Shadows (2017) — 177 cards · most valuable · EV calculator
- Shining Legends (2017) — 81 cards · most valuable · EV calculator
- Crimson Invasion (2017) — 126 cards · most valuable · EV calculator
- Ultra Prism (2018) — 178 cards · most valuable · EV calculator
- Forbidden Light (2018) — 150 cards · most valuable · EV calculator
- Celestial Storm (2018) — 187 cards · most valuable · EV calculator
- Dragon Majesty (2018) — 80 cards · most valuable · EV calculator
- Lost Thunder (2018) — 240 cards · most valuable · EV calculator
- Team Up (2019) — 198 cards · most valuable · EV calculator
- Detective Pikachu (2019) — 18 cards · most valuable · EV calculator
- Unbroken Bonds (2019) — 238 cards · most valuable · EV calculator
- Unified Minds (2019) — 261 cards · most valuable · EV calculator
- Hidden Fates (2019) — 69 cards · most valuable · EV calculator
- Cosmic Eclipse (2019) — 272 cards · most valuable · EV calculator
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. Latias & Latios-GX — Team Up #170 — $2493.70
- #2. Gengar & Mimikyu-GX — Team Up #165 — $1454.42
- #3. Magikarp & Wailord-GX — Team Up #161 — $842.84
- #4. Mewtwo-GX — Shining Legends #78 — $681.88
- #5. Gardevoir & Sylveon-GX — Unbroken Bonds #205 — $578.85
- #6. Arceus & Dialga & Palkia-GX — Cosmic Eclipse #221 — $505.37
- #7. Charizard-GX — Burning Shadows #150 — $503.46
- #8. Lillie — Ultra Prism #151 — $455.84
- #9. Blastoise & Piplup-GX — Cosmic Eclipse #215 — $432.48
- #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
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
How PackRip approximates this era
Every Sun & Moon Era set in PackRip's catalog runs on one shared per-rarity rate table, defined as constants in the simulator's pack generator and stated on each set's pull-rate page. Those rates are PackRip's own model of how an era's rare slot behaves — they are not measurements of the real print run, and no official Pokemon TCG pull rates have ever been published. The catalog itself comes from the Pokemon TCG API plus per-card hand-curation for the chase tiers the API does not label cleanly (Crystal, Shining, Gold Star, Lv.X, Prime, LEGEND in particular). All Sun & Moon Era cards are usable in PackRip's collection, dust crafting and quest systems exactly as if you had pulled the real card, and the entire catalog is free to rip indefinitely — there is no premium currency and no paywall.
Recommended path for collecting the Sun & Moon Era
A practical path to a complete Sun & Moon Era binder combines two steps. First, use PackRip's free simulator to rip the entire era — both for the experience and to see which sets have the deepest chase pools. Second, plan a targeted singles purchase for the specific binder holes that survive: typically the chase tier (Reshiram & Charizard-GX, Mewtwo & Mew-GX, Charizard-GX (Hidden Fates)) plus a handful of sentimental favourites per set. Chasing a specific card out of random sealed product is the expensive way to do it — that is exactly the variance the simulator lets you feel for free.
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.