# What's the best binder size for Brilliant Stars?

> The best binder for Brilliant Stars is a 9-pocket; the 172-card set fills about 20 pages, or 36 for a master set.
>
> Source: https://www.nomekop.app/faqs/best-binder-size-for-brilliant-stars — NOMEKOP, an independent Pokémon TCG binder tool
> (not affiliated with Nintendo / The Pokémon Company). Figures as of June 2026.

**The best binder for Brilliant Stars is a 9-pocket; the 172-card set fills about 20 pages, or 36 for a master set.**

## Why 9-pocket suits Brilliant Stars

A 9-pocket binder shows a full 3×3 spread and sleeves Brilliant Stars' 172 base cards in numbered order with no wasted slots. A 4-pocket is nice for a slim display of just the chase cards like Charizard V, Charizard VSTAR, Arceus V and Charizard V; a 12-pocket fits more per page but is bulkier to flip. For a full set, 9-pocket is the sweet spot.

## Brilliant Stars pages per binder size

**Base set (172 cards):**
| Binder | Pages |
| --- | --- |
| 4-pocket | 43 |
| 9-pocket | 20 |
| 12-pocket | 15 |
| 16-pocket | 11 |

**Master set (318 cards):**
| Binder | Pages |
| --- | --- |
| 4-pocket | 80 |
| 9-pocket | 36 |
| 12-pocket | 27 |
| 16-pocket | 20 |

## Displaying the Brilliant Stars chase cards

If you'd rather build a one-page showcase than a full binder, these are the cards worth front-and-center:

- [Charizard V (#154)](/card/swsh9-154) — Rare Ultra (~$356.51)
- [Charizard VSTAR (#174)](/card/swsh9-174) — Rare Rainbow (~$80.57)
- [Arceus V (#166)](/card/swsh9-166) — Rare Ultra (~$62.22)
- [Charizard V (#153)](/card/swsh9-153) — Rare Ultra (~$39.82)

## What that means for Brilliant Stars

In a 9-pocket binder the base set fills 20 pages. Going for the full master set — all 318 cards including 124 reverse holos — pushes that to 36 pages, so budget a binder (or two) and the sleeves to match. Star Pokémon like Charizard, Arceus and Pikachu are worth a dedicated spread of their own.

A common setup for Brilliant Stars: one 9-pocket binder of about 20 pages for the base 172 cards, kept in number order, and a second binder for the 124 reverse holos and 14 secret rares. Premium side-loading sleeves are worth it for the 0 full-art chase cards.

Figures from the pokemontcg.io dataset, as of June 2026.