Celestial Storm

What Celestial Storm is

Celestial Storm is the seventh main expansion of the Sun & Moon Series, released in English on August 3, 2018 under the set code CES. It has 168 cards in the numbered set plus 15 secret rares, 183 in total, and combines the Japanese Sky-Splitting Charisma, released on June 1, 2018 with 112 cards, with the Champion Road subset of May 30, 2018. The set is based on Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, returns to the Hoenn region and is built around the Sky High Pokémon Rayquaza.

The set holds 11 Pokémon-GX, from Shiftry-GX and Blaziken-GX to Stakataka-GX and Rayquaza-GX, three Prism Star cards in Jirachi 97, Latias 107 and Latios 108, and 28 ultra rares: the regular GX prints, nine full art GX at 152 to 160 and eight full art Supporters at 161 to 168 including Lisia, Steven's Resolve, Tate & Liza and Copycat. The 15 secret rares run from 169 to 183 with rainbow rare prints of the nine full art GX and gold Acro Bike, Hustle Belt, Life Herb, PokéNav, Rainbow Brush and Rainbow Energy.

Celestial Storm also carried modernized reprints of cards from the Neo, e-Card and EX Series, with HP, Abilities, attacks, Resistance and Retreat Cost updated to the current format, which is why Ken Sugimori's art appears on so many of its commons and uncommons.

What makes Celestial Storm different

• Rayquaza in four prints Rayquaza-GX appears as the regular GX at 109, the full art at 160 and the rainbow rare at 177, plus an alternate art 177a from the Hidden Fates Ultra-Premium Collection, and the rainbow rare is the most valuable card in the set.
• Three Prism Stars Jirachi 97, Latias 107 and Latios 108 are the set's Prism Star cards, one per deck and sent to the Lost Zone when discarded, and the Eon duo lead the three in the set's market.
• Modernized reprints Cards from the Neo, e-Card and EX Series return with updated HP, Abilities, attacks, Resistance and Retreat Cost, bringing Ken Sugimori's original artwork back onto modern card stock.
• The Hoenn Supporters Lisia, Steven's Resolve, Tate & Liza, Copycat, Bill's Maintenance, TV Reporter, Apricorn Maker and Underground Expedition fill the full art Supporter slots, and Lisia 164 trades among the set's Pokémon-GX.
• Champion Road The English set merges the Japanese main expansion with the Champion Road subset, which is why it is far larger than its 112 card Japanese source.

How Celestial Storm arrived

Celestial Storm released in English on August 3, 2018, three months after Forbidden Light on May 4, 2018 and five weeks before the Dragon Majesty special set on September 7, 2018. In Japan, Champion Road released on May 30, 2018 and Sky-Splitting Charisma on June 1, 2018, following Forbidden Light and preceding Super-Burst Impact.

Prereleases ran on the weekends of July 21 and 22 and July 28 and 29, 2018, with Build & Battle Boxes of four packs and an Evolution pack carrying one of four stamped promos: Kyogre, Manectric, Celesteela or Delcatty. The boxes went on general sale on August 17, 2018. Launch day brought the Leaf Charge and Hydro Fury Theme Decks with Cracked Ice Holofoil Sceptile and Swampert, the Rayquaza Elite Trainer Box with eight packs and 65 sleeves, three pack blisters with Tapu Koko or Tapu Lele promos and single pack blisters with Tapu Bulu or Tapu Fini.

Three card Mini Packs reached Dollar Tree stores from mid September 2018, and the set's Rayquaza-GX carried into later products as the alternate art 177a.

Celestial Storm products

Celestial Storm was sold in booster packs, booster boxes, blisters, two Theme Decks, the Rayquaza Elite Trainer Box and Build & Battle Boxes. The sealed table above tracks the products still trading today.

Collecting and grading Celestial Storm

The rainbow rare Rayquaza-GX 177 leads the set by a wide margin, with the full art Rayquaza-GX 160 second and the regular Rayquaza-GX 109 also in the top five. The Latios 108 and Latias 107 Prism Stars, the rainbow Scizor-GX 175, the Jirachi 97 Prism Star, the full art Lisia 164 and the full art Blaziken-GX 153 fill out the top of the market, and stamped variants such as the Legendary Pokémon Groudon 81 and the Dragon Tins Salamence 106 rank high as low print oddities. The live chase list above ranks every tracked card by PSA 10 value.

Sun & Moon rainbow rares are textured and show scratches under grading lights, so a PSA 10 Rayquaza-GX 177 carries a wide premium over PSA 9, and the Prism Star cards show edge wear easily and grade harder than they look.

Sealed Celestial Storm is a mid priced Sun & Moon era box, and the sealed table above tracks what boxes, packs and Elite Trainer Boxes trade for today.