“Pokemon TCG Pocket” New Cards, Crown Rares, Gameplay, Mechanics, and Soft Launch Date!
Last week The Pokemon Company held media events around the world to demo Pokemon TCG Pocket. The review embargo was just lifted.
Here’s all the newly revealed information:
New Cards
More cards may be added here throughout the day, keep checking back!
Soft Launch
The game will soft launch in New Zealand on Thursday, September 26th at 6 AM PDT.
For the rest of the world, the app will launch on October 30th.
Battles
Players will construct 20-card decks. You can’t have more than two copies of a card in your deck.
At the start of the game, you draw five cards and put down your Active Pokemon and up to three Benched Pokemon.
There are no Prize cards. The first player to win three points wins the match (one point for a regular Pokemon, two for a Pokemon ex).
The player going first can’t draw a card on their first turn or use an Energy. You can use a Supporter card. You can’t have more than 10 cards in your hand.
As we’ve known for a while, there are no Energy cards in the game. Instead, when it’s your turn, an Energy will be generated in your Energy Zone. You will also be able to see the Energy that will be generated during your next turn. The Energy Zone only holds one Energy at a time. If a card lets you attach another Energy, such as Meltan, that Energy will appear in your Energy Zone for usage.
The generated Energy are based on the types of Pokemon in your deck.
Ranked Mode
There will be no ranked mode available for the game, at least at launch.
Real-World Events
There are currently no plans for integrating Pocket with Play! Pokemon events.
Pack Opening & Collecting
By default you can open one booster pack every 12 hours, for a total of two packs a day. The app will begin a countdown timer for when you can open your next pack.
This means you will have to check in to the app at least every 12 hours.
The app will send your phone a notification when you can open another pack.
Pack Hourglasses
An in-game currency called “Pack Hourglasses” allows you to reduce the pack opening timer by one hour. If you use 12, for example, you’ll be able to open another pack right away.
You can earn Pack Hourglasses in a variety of ways, such as by increasing your player level or as mission rewards. You can use Pack Hourglasses as soon as you get them.
Poke Gold
The other in-game currency is “Poke Gold,” which you purchase with real money.
- 5x Poke Gold costs $0.99
- 15x costs $2.99
- 50x costs $9.99
- 500x costs $99.99
Each Poke Gold reduces the pack opening timer by two hours.
If you want to open another pack right away, it will cost 6x Poke Gold (around $1). If you want to open 10 booster packs, it will cost 60x Poke Gold (around $12).
You can’t use more than 720x Poke Gold per day (120 packs, or $150).
Poke Gold can also be used to purchase virtual TCG accessories.
Pack opening will thus work by using a combination of your daily packs, Pack Hourglasses, and Poke Gold.
Pack Points
You will earn 10 “Pack Points” for every booster pack you open.
You can exchange these points for any card in the game. This is handy if you can’t pull a certain card.
- 35 points: a ♢ card.
- 70 points: a ♢♢ card.
- 150 points: a ♢♢♢ card.
- 400 points: a ☆ card.
- 500 points: a ♢♢♢♢ card.
- 1250 points: a ☆☆ card.
- 1500 points: a ☆☆☆ card (immersive cards).
- 2500 points: a ☆☆☆☆ card (crown rares).
The rarest cards in the game will be gold full art cards with a ☆☆☆☆ rarity. These are called “crown rares” and there are only three in the game. None have been revealed yet.
Premium Pass & Premium Missions
As posted before, the $9.99/month “Premium Pass” allows you to open a third booster pack each day and also unlocks “Premium Missions.”
These Premium Missions will reward promo cards and accessories, like card sleeves and coins. The promo cards will be alternate art versions of existing cards.
Meowth’s full art will be one of the exclusive promos for Premium Missions. Meowth is still available in Genetic Apex, so these alternate art promos won’t affect deck building if you don’t buy the Premium Pass.
Players will be allowed to try the Premium Pass two weeks for free.
Pull Rates
To comply with certain gaming laws, the game tells you the chances of pulling any one card. A specific ♢ card will have a 0.02% chance of being pulled. A ☆☆☆☆ card will have a 0.013% of being pulled.
The game will not be available in the Netherlands, Belgium, or other countries with strict gaming laws.
Shine Dust
You can convert duplicate cards in your collection into “Shine Dust.” This allows you to add custom animations or flares to individual cards, such as shiny stars or Poke Balls.
Connecting with Friends
You can use a custom code to battle or trade other players, whether locally or online.
Trading will not be available at launch.
Starter Pokemon
When you first open the game, you’ll get a booster pack with one of the three Kanto Pokemon as well as its ☆ version.
Item Cards
Item cards like Poke Ball are not available in Genetic Apex‘s main set. This will prevent them from clogging up pack openings. You can easily get Item cards through tutorials and other means.
Future Sets
There will be no predetermined schedule for releasing new sets. The developers will assess how much of the playerbase has collected sets before releasing another one.
Missions & Progression
There are countless daily missions you can complete to earn rewards, such as Pack Hourglasses. A few examples include:
- Log in
- Open 4 booster packs
- Reach Player Level 3
- Trade
- Collect cards following certain themes, such as all Electabuzz & Magmar cards, all Kanto Starter Pokemon, all Eeveelutions, etc.
There is a solo mode for battling against the AI.
You can use AI to battle for you and even create decks based on cards you have. The game will also offer preconstructed decks for rental.
More Information
The following pages have been updated with all of today’s information: