It may not actually matter which pack Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket players pick when making their daily pulls, as the developers remain coy on the mechanic. One part of the Pokémon TCG Pocket experience is choosing which pack of cards to open. After choosing one of the three Genetic Apex pack types, each of which contains a different subset of cards, the app sends players to a carousel of packs from which to choose. However, this carousel might not actually provide fans with any sort of real choice and the developers won't provide a clear answer.
Several datamines indicate that the carousel selection doesn't actually matter in Pokémon TCG Pocket. Players can actually skip over the carousel experience altogether, which seems to indicate that it's an empty animation rather than an actual meaningful selection. Responding to Polygon on the matter, The Pokémon Company remained coy, telling the publication:
“ While Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket draws inspiration from the experience of opening physical Pokémon TCG booster packs, we are unable to share specifics at this time. ”
Pack Choices May Not Matter In Pokémon TCG Pocket
Players Are Conflicted Whether The Pack Carousel Is Real Or Just Flair
There are currently two camps on whether the carousel selection actually matters in Pokémon TCG Pocket. The first group points to datamines, evidenced here by Redditor Rustywolf, and other evidence that suggests that the game chooses cards when players "open" a pack. Not only does this track with how other digital card games work, it's also common sense. Why would any app take the time to pull card selections for 10+ card packs every time the carousel appears? That feels like a lot of wasted functionality and computing power.
The other camp points to anecdotal evidence about pulling rare cards from packs that have a slight wrinkle to them. While there's no code or datamining to suggest that the wrinkle actually affects card pulls, a persistent rumor spread on YouTube from creators such as AboveTheTableNews.
Do Backwards Packs In Pokémon TCG Pocket Have Rarer Cards?
With Pokémon TCG Pocket in full swing, players have begun to create new traditions about finding rare cards, but is there any truth to these?
Users on Reddit and elsewhere also suggest that rare cards like Pokémon ex cards are more likely to appear in these wrinkled packs. More than likely, players who have random success with the wrinkles are spreading that it's legitimate, while the players who haven't found success with the packs are keeping silent.
Our Take: Does It Matter?
Pokémon TCG Pocket Already Contains Enough RNG As Is
Pokémon TCG Pocket already has enough RNG to frustrate players. Anyone who has ever picked the common card in a Wonder Pick with multiple rare cards available knows how frustrating it can be to miss out on something special. It honestly would be even more disappointing to know that a god pack was sitting in a pack carousel unchosen, so I very much hope the game is just presenting the illusion of choice, rather than pure luck, since there's already plenty of randomness built into the game.
However, it's hard to truly program true randomness into any game, and Pokémon TCG Pocket is likely no exception. Luck is always going to be a factor in games like Pokémon TCG Pocket, but hopefully not too much luck.
Source: Polygon, Rustywolf/Reddit, AboveTheTableNews/YouTube
