Pokémon TCG Pocket Players Think They’ve Discovered a Secret Way to Get Super Good Cards

Some Pokémon Trading Card Pocket players believe they’ve discovered a secret way to get super good cards such as Charizard ex or alternate arts.

When opening a booster pack, Pokémon TCG Pocket players must first pick from a dozen or so options, and these are seemingly (almost definitely) completely random despite the occasional booster appearing backwards or with bent corners and so on.

As reported by Kotaku, some players have taken to social media to share their conspiracy theory on which packs are best, claiming it’s the packs with slight imperfections such as wrinkles or bent edges that are worth opening.

Nevermind it’s real pic.twitter.com/PjvUGnGEmV

— Jeudy ➡️ Pokemon Pocket (@SoulSurVGC) November 1, 2024

This requires a careful analysis of each pack, spinning it around and pushing it up and down to see which one has a barely perceptible blemish, but many online are claiming it is worth the effort. Plenty of others are saying they tried this method to no avail though.

We tested this theory ourselves at IGN and admittedly pulled an alternate art Meowth, but also acknowledge this means nothing and it is more likely pure chance. Developer Creatures does share the odds of getting each card, with “rare packs” coming in at one in every 200 picks, and the rarer cards come in at just a small percentage of these.

Creatures therefore doesn’t intend for specific packs to have secret increased odds, but it’s not impossible that some sort of bug connects these twisted packs with a rare card. Regardless, the technique has gained enough attention online that, if it is in fact real, it will likely be patched out soon.

Pokémon TCG Pocket arrived in October on iOS and Android as a digital version of the beloved trading card game. It lets players open packs, collect cards, build decks, and battle others, a simple formula that has already proved popular given it made $12 million in just four days.

It’s also hitting fast and hard with events, and players may want to take its two strongest decks into the latest. The Lapras ex Drop Event adds a new category in the Solo Battle menu that lets players take on four increasingly difficult Lapras decks with a chance of winning a special booster pack after each, which can include the brand new Lapras ex.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.