Pokémon’s Legendary Bird Trio Gets Bold New Redesigns For 30th Anniversary
Nicholas Becher is a gaming journalist with an MFA in Creative Writing from FAU. With extensive experience playing video games, he covers all forms of gaming content at Screen Rant, from breaking news to the latest fan theories. Most-played games range from Clair Obscur to Civ to Elden Ring to Halo 2 and beyond.
Pokémon's 30th anniversary is about to hit a major high point this week with the official launch of Pokémon TCG's 30th Celebration set, one of the most anticipated releases of the year. So far, fans have seen quite a few stunning teasers for what's expected, including an incredible new Pikachu redesign and new looks for the scuffling legends themselves, Kyogre and Groudon.
This year has been more than eventful for longtime fans of the Pokémon franchise, with the announcement early in the year of Winds & Waves and several exciting announcements at Pokémon Worlds earlier this month, including the new Pokémon: Wild Card movie.
As collectors and players gear up for the 30 Celebration line's official launch in just a matter of hours as of this writing, releasing on September 16, it looks like fans will want to brace for an official and beautiful overhaul to the iconic legendary bird trio from Generation 1. Revealed earlier this week, Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos are all three getting brand-new designs from artist HYOGONOSUKE (via Pokémon.com).
Pokémon TCG: 30th Celebration is giving the original Legendary Bird trio another coordinated redesign, with Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos receiving new artwork from HYOGONOSUKE. All three have 120 HP and are mechanically designed to work as a team: Moltres' Fiery Flapping, Articuno's Frosty Flapping, and Zapdos' Flash-Pop Flapping can accelerate their respective Energy types, but only when the other two Legendary Birds are also in play.
Their attacks give each a different role, with Moltres dealing 130 damage, Articuno spreading 30 damage across every opposing Pokémon, and Zapdos delivering a hefty 210 damage while taking 60 itself. Collectors will actually have three different versions of each Legendary Bird to chase, giving Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres nine distinct card designs across the 30th Celebration release.
The versions spotlighted here feature coordinated artwork by HYOGONOSUKE, but each bird also receives a separate Illustration Rare illustrated by mashu. Moltres 130/128, Articuno 132/128, and Zapdos 133/128 retain the same basic gameplay as their standard counterparts while replacing the regular artwork with elaborate full-card scenes. You can see those below as well:
There is then a third set of designs available through the 30th Celebration Poster Collection. Rather than sharing a single artist, these foil promo cards each receive their own interpretation: Krgc illustrates Moltres, Taira Akitsu handles Articuno, and SIE NANAHARA illustrates Zapdos. The Poster Collection launches alongside the expansion and includes all three promos, three 30th Celebration booster packs, and a double-sided poster featuring more than 160 cards from the set. The Poster Collection Legendary Bird Trio variants can be seen below:
The Legendary Birds have received numerous TCG redesigns in the past, so these various redesigns won't come as a huge shocker to longtime collectors. Hidden Fates famously brought all three together on Moltres & Zapdos & Articuno-GX, while Sword & Shield—Chilling Reign gave their radically different Galarian forms individual cards. 30th Celebration features several Legendaries, with new cards featuring Ho-Oh and Lugia, Kyogre and Groudon, Reshiram and Zekrom, and Zacian and Zamazenta, among others.
Launching September 16, 2026, Pokémon TCG: 30th Celebration commemorates three decades of the trading card game with new Illustration Rares, returning cards in the Classic Collection, and 30 unique Pikachu illustrations.
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