Arceus

What Arceus is

Arceus is the fourth and final main expansion of the Platinum Series, released in English on November 4, 2009 under the set code AR. It has 99 cards in the numbered set plus 12 cards past it, 111 in total, and comes from the Japanese Advent of Arceus, released on July 8, 2009 with 90 cards as the last expansion of the DPt era. The set is based on Pokémon Platinum and built around the Alpha Pokémon Arceus and its multiple Energy types, alongside Generation IV Pokémon, Pokémon LV.X and Pokémon SP.

The numbered set ends with 6 Pokémon LV.X: three Arceus LV.X at 94, 95 and 96, Gengar LV.X 97, Salamence LV.X 98 and Tangrowth LV.X 99. Beyond them sit the AR numbered Arceus cards, AR1 to AR9, each showing Arceus with a different plate and type, and three Shiny Pokémon, Bagon SH10, Ponyta SH11 and Shinx SH12, the Common Holofoils that carry the set's rarest pulls.

The Charizard 1 that opens the set also exists as a Cracked Ice Holofoil from the Evolutions Pack and the 2009 Fall Collector's Tins, and a Prerelease stamped Raichu 27 marks the set's prerelease events.

What makes Arceus different

• Nine Arceus plates The AR numbered cards, AR1 to AR9, show Arceus in its plate induced forms with different types, a subset unique to this expansion and the reason the checklist runs past 99.
• Three Arceus LV.X Arceus LV.X appears three times, at 94, 95 and 96, with different types and illustrators, and the 94 print is second only to Gengar LV.X in the set's market.
• Gengar LV.X Gengar LV.X 97 is the most valuable card in Arceus, ahead of all three Arceus LV.X prints, and its Reverse Holofoil Gengar 16 partner also ranks in the set's top ten.
• The SH Shiny trio Bagon SH10, Ponyta SH11 and Shinx SH12 are Shiny Pokémon printed as Common Holofoils past the numbered set, and Bagon and Ponyta rank among the set's top cards.
• A movie tie in Advent of Arceus released in Japan on July 8, 2009, ten days before Arceus: To a Conquering Spacetime, the twelfth Pokémon movie, premiered on July 18, 2009.

How Arceus arrived

Arceus released in English on November 4, 2009, eleven weeks after Supreme Victors on August 19, 2009 and four weeks before the Pokémon Rumble set on December 2, 2009. In Japan, Advent of Arceus released on July 8, 2009 to lead into the twelfth movie, following Beat of the Frontier and preceding the HeartGold Collection and SoulSilver Collection that opened the next era.

The launch brought the Flamemaster and Stormshaper Theme Decks, both built on Arceus in its plate forms and modeled on the Japanese Arceus LV.X Decks, Flamemaster with Fire and Grass and Stormshaper with Lightning and Psychic. Three pack blisters carried Cresselia or Darkrai promos, the Poster Pack and Poster Box carried a checklist poster and an Arceus promo, and the first wave of Arceus Collector's Tins, moved forward from December to launch day, carried an alternate art Arceus LV.X promo. A second wave of tins followed on December 16, 2009 with another Arceus LV.X.

Arceus closed the Platinum Series, and the HeartGold Collection and SoulSilver Collection opened the next Japanese era.

Arceus products

Arceus was sold in booster packs, booster boxes, blisters, two Theme Decks, Poster Packs and Boxes and Collector's Tins. The sealed table above tracks the products still trading today.

Collecting and grading Arceus

Gengar LV.X 97 leads the set, with Arceus LV.X 94 close behind, then the Shiny Bagon SH10, the Cracked Ice Charizard 1, Salamence LV.X 98, Arceus LV.X 95 and the Shiny Ponyta SH11. The AR numbered Arceus cards trade as a group, with AR4, AR7, AR5 and AR8 the strongest, and the regular Charizard 1 and the Reverse Holofoil Gengar 16 also rank high. The live chase list above ranks every tracked card by PSA 10 value.

Platinum era holofoils show scratches and print lines readily, and the LV.X cards are notorious for surface issues, so PSA 10 copies of Gengar LV.X and Arceus LV.X 94 carry a very wide premium over PSA 9. The SH Shiny cards sit past the numbered set and are the hardest cards in Arceus to find in high grade.

Sealed Arceus is one of the pricier Platinum Series boxes, and the sealed table above tracks what boxes, packs and blisters trade for today.