Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket is the newest way to collect and battle Pokemon. Creatures Inc. (the original creators of the TCG) partnered up with DeNA to create a casual trading card experience which largely focuses on building binders and showing off rare pulls, but does contain a battle feature for those who want to dive into a simple PvP experience.
While the game has only been out since October 30th, fans have already developed a few theories about how to get the most out of their virtual pack pulls. For the uninitiated, Pockets’ system allows players to choose what type of Booster pack they’d like to choose. (At time of writing, there are three “Genetic Apex” options: Charizard, Mewtwo, and Pickachu.)
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Each variant pack contains a different set of cards, providing plenty of options for players to chase. One of the most popular theories on how to get the best card revolves around inspecting each pack on the carousel, hunting for any packs with bent corners, and exclusively choosing them. You won’t find one every go ’round, but anecdotal evidence on social media has some players convinced the method is legit. However, it seems that’s just one big misconception, and Pokemon fans aren’t new to falling for those.
The biggest counterpoint to the “Bent Pack” theory is the game’s built-in Wonder Pull system, which allows you to trade in Wonder coins to pull from packs other players have already opened. So, if a friend pulls a Pikachu EX, and you see that pack in your Wonder Pack selection, you can try your hand at grabbing the game’s overpowered yellow mascot for yourself. The system throws a wrinkle in the crinkled pack theory, as friends are instantly able to identify what cards their pals will pull, even before a specific pack from the carousel has been selected—suggesting the carousel itself is a mere illusion of player agency.
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In reality, it seems the cards are preselected from the moment you choose which variant pack you’ll be opening. That’s not the only problem with the theory, either. If a player were to pull a pack, and then close the game without ever selecting an option from the carousel, they are still awarded the contents of a single pack. Now, that might otherwise seem like the game randomly selects a pack for you, but combined with the information from the Wonder system, everything paints a picture of pre-selection.
A final nail in the coffin for this theory can be found in plain sight. Every card inside a pack has set odds to be pulled, and this isn’t a case of the numbers being hidden in the game’s files. No, instead, they’re listed on the pack page, right where everyone can see them under the Offering Rates tab. Inspecting this page tells us that Regular packs have a 99.950% pull rate. Rare packs have a 0.050% pull rate. The game decides what type of pack you’ll be getting, and then what cards will be in that pack sequentially.
So, while the technique was giving some players hope they were beating the system, it seems the bent corners are nothing more than a cute nod to their IRL counterparts.
